Tuesday, September 11th.

My phone rang early (for me; I was a new line holder, so I finally had a regular schedule. Based in Chicago at ORD, back home, life was good,) and it was my mom.

"A plane just flew into the World Trade Center."

I told my mom she must be watching a preview of a new Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and tried to go back to sleep. I had been up late the night before, I had the day off, and I wanted to sleep in for the first time in ages.

My phone rang again about 10 minutes later.

"Scott, it's Kathy. A plane just flew into the World Trade Center."

"A Cessna, or something? Is there a lost Learjet?"

"I'm looking at the fire on the news, it must have been something bigger."

"Wow, crazy. You would think in this day and age with GPS and LORAN and everything, that wouldn't happen."

We talked for a bit, and she said it looked like someone had caught the crash on camera, they were replaying a plane hitting it.

Then she started screaming into the phone, because it was not a replay, she was watching the second tower get hit.

I scrambled out of my apartment (I had gotten separated from my first wife a few months prior, didn't have a TV, and for the first time in a long time I wished I had a TV.) and ran up the stairs to my neighbor's apartment. I knocked on her door, and she said that she was listening to CDs.

We watched the news together on her TV for a bit, and then she had to run to work; she left me her key, and let me stay in her apartment to watch. Thanks to cell phones, I knew I could get ahold of my friends on the East Coast.

There were reports that the flight that crashed into the Pentagon was an Eagle flight. I called numerous friends to see who knew what. My friend OJ Saxby had just landed at Islip (ISP) NY. They were turning to final, and his FO said

"Wow, OJ, you should see the fire in Manhattan."

When they parked the plane, ATC came on and asked them if they were headed back to Boston. They said yes, and then home. The controller said

"You need to call me on the phone. You're going to be here a while."

A fellow pilot who lives in Memphis was flying a trip from DFW to DAY (I think.) He heard over the radio words that were spoken by ATC the only time since the building of the modern ATC system. Words that were a relic of the Cold War, words that pilots never thought they would hear once the cold war ended...

"SCATANA...SCATANA...SCATANA. All aircraft on my frequency, I will be issuing orders for diversions. If you do not have an airport when I call your flight number, you will be given an airport to divert to. There are no exceptions. This is a National Emergency. SCATANA...SCATANA....SCATANA."

He was about 60 miles or so southwest of Memphis, and was the 2nd flight called by ATC. He said they were diverting to Memphis, and he managed to be home for the next few days.

I know dozens personally, and I am sure I have flown with hundreds, who ended up spending the days after 9/11 away from home. I happened to be off that day. I had OT for Thursday, and then Friday I was flying to Austria for a friend's wedding. In the jumpseat. I did not make it to Vienna, obviously.

That same friend called me about an hour after 9/11 happened. He asked me what should he do? His fiancee had flown to Austria the day before, and he was trapped in Chicago! He made it out on Friday, they drove him straight to the Church, and he made it in time for his wedding.

My friend Kathy who called me that morning was schedule to go down for her physical to be a pilot at American Eagle. She never made it down there, got hired by Chicago Express, made Captain, they closed, got hired by SkyWest, made Captain, and is still there. (Yes, she made Captain at 2 airlines before I upgraded at AE. Funny...)

I called our scheduling people, and told them that I had planned on taking my vacation, but there was no way to get to where I was going. I was available when they needed me. Corey said he would call me when he knew more.

A friend of mine flew the CARE Team from ORD to BOS. She said she had never had an emotional flight like that. They gave them Position and Hold on the runway, and an amended clearance (we usually fly 'canned' routes, planned routes that thread us through and around other flights.)

"American Airlines, you are cleared Direct Boston Logan, climb and maintain FL 350, you take our prayers with you, cleared for takeoff, and Godspeed."

(... at least, that is what I remember her telling me later that day... )

I got called on Thursday afternoon, they had gotten permission to fly limited flights, and if I was available, they could use me.

I flew to Peoria and back, and Charlotte and back, landing back in Chicago about 11pm. We were the 4th or 5th flight by Eagle out of ORD, I think. We had zero passengers to PIA, 1 coming back, zero passengers (but about 10 employees) to CLT, and 3 pax back.

There are as many stories of 9/11 as there are people who were alive that day. Stories of heroism, stories of panic, terror, heartache. Friends and loved one were lost, dreams were shattered, our world changed forever.

I will never forget.....