9/11: Where were you?

[thatonekid]

No. As i understand (from people i know) they were told they had plane maintenance issues and needed to divert their route to a close airport. Once they landed they were told what really happened.

True. Some people who were already in the air and close to landing in NY or DC were also told that the airports were having issues with their communication systems so their planes had to land at other airports.

[tdunks]

I was in grade 4, in the principals office because i was such a sh*t disturber back then.

[LostLamb]

I was starting my last year of undergrad at McGill. My mom called me and woke me up, telling me that I should turn on the TV because there had been a plane crash in NY. While talking together on the phone, we both watched the second plane hit the other tower.

 

In one breath we went from 'what a horrific accident' to 'this was no accident!!!!' It was surreal. I then went on to get ready for my class that was starting in 30 mins. Walking to school, everyone was speaking in hushed tones and there was a general look of concern on all. Since McGill has such a large contingent of US students, there were some who were visibly upset.

 

I arrived at my class (Intro to the Study of Canada) and our teacher tearfully told the class that she had friends who worked at the WTC and that she had not heard from them. She also mentioned that she knew our class had a lot of relatives and family in the US and that all classes would be cancelled today because it was a day to be with/get in contact with family.

 

I was in a daze for the rest of the day. Even trying to look things up online, every news website was either down, and when up, were text only. It was a day that shook the world.

[larva]

I was in my first week at military college.

 

My classmates and I were shining boots in a hallway, and the senior students brought a radio out for us to listen to, because when they told us what had happened everyone thought it was a prank. I spent the rest of the day in a daze.

 

I remember seriously questioning my decision to join the military that day.

[Curi0user]

I was starting my last year of undergrad at McGill. My mom called me and woke me up, telling me that I should turn on the TV because there had been a plane crash in NY. While talking together on the phone, we both watched the second plane hit the other tower.

 

In one breath we went from 'what a horrific accident' to 'this was no accident!!!!' It was surreal. I then went on to get ready for my class that was starting in 30 mins. Walking to school, everyone was speaking in hushed tones and there was a general look of concern on all. Since McGill has such a large contingent of US students, there were some who were visibly upset.

 

I arrived at my class (Intro to the Study of Canada) and our teacher tearfully told the class that she had friends who worked at the WTC and that she had not heard from them. She also mentioned that she knew our class had a lot of relatives and family in the US and that all classes would be cancelled today because it was a day to be with/get in contact with family.

 

I was in a daze for the rest of the day. Even trying to look things up online, every news website was either down, and when up, were text only. It was a day that shook the world.

 

Did her friends die?

 

Also, how did people get a video recording of the first and second plane crashing, like who was filming before they knew it would happen?

[preppy038]

I immigrated to Canada

 

I flew into Pearson Airport in Toronto at 3:04 am. I slept through the whole event (which happened at around 8:30am~?). I never really had a chance to see the footage on TV because I didn't have access to a TV until a few months afterr

I was just 10.

 

So yeah, 9/11 is a special date for me:)

[vanillabear]

Did her friends die?

 

Also, how did people get a video recording of the first and second plane crashing, like who was filming before they knew it would happen?

 

The second plane was captured all over, because people were recording the carnage of the first plane in the building and just happened to catch the other one too.

 

The first plane... not as common. I assume that since it is a tourist area, many people would be recording things?

 

 

Speaking of tourist... I was at the WTC in August 2001, a couple weeks before the attacks. It was amazing, we went all the way to the top of the buildings and you literally felt like you were at the top of the world. I was shocked that two weeks later they would crumble to the ground.

[seegibson]

I dont remember where I was exactly when I found out, I was much too little, only in Grade 2, but i do remember the affect it had on our school.

 

I was living in Vienna at the time with my family, going to an international school specifically for children whose parents worked at the UN.

 

The school was completely gated, with men armed with machine guns around the enterences under normal circumstances. All parents and teachers entering the grounds had to have identification badges. But afterwards, security majorly increased. It went from two men guarding the gate, to dozens of them guarding the entire perimeter.

 

I didnt know this at the time, but my mom told me a few years later that there was a little girl in my class whose father was the liason between Afghanistan and the US. He sent his family into hiding for a month or so after the attack. After that she used to come to school in a bulletproof SUV.

[kylamonkey]

vanillabear- I visited NewYork just a few weeks before the attacks too! Weird.

 

I was in Vancouver, and I was 22. I was woken by a phone call from a friend. He told me that a plane had flown into the WTC, and then another plane had flown into the other WTC. I didn't have a TV at the time, so I really couldn't get any other news except the radio.

 

I remember kind of waking and coming to, and having it dawn on me what was going on. I called my dad and asked him if he thought it was safe for me to leave the house, and when he said he though it would be fine, I rode my bike to the college. I remember thinking that I was glad I lived in a safe city like Vancouver.

 

By the time I arrived at the college the first tower had fallen, and the pentagon had been hit. Everyone was in the library watching TV together. We watched the second one fall too, it was only 730 in the morning, Vancouver time, and already the library was full of people. The news reporters were totally confused that whole day.

 

The next day, I was riding my bike over the 2nd narrows bridge and I remember stopping at the top of the bridge. I looked at the sky and realized that no planes were flying that day- that was a surreal feeling.

 

I don't think at the time I realized how calmly and cooly Canadian politicians handld the whole thing. Looking back, I think they did a really good job.

 

This year, I spent much of sunday watching coverage. I've found over the years that I keep seeing new footage, because I didn't have a TV during that time period and missed a lot of the video footage. It's just... remarkable. We were all so confused. I know that many of you probably have really fuzzy memories because you were so young, but for people in the young adult age like I was, it was a strange thing. When you're that age, your future is already so uncertain, and something like that just makes it even more tenuous.

 

-I bought the Sept 12, 2001 issue of the New York Times and I still have it

-I booked a flight to Asia within a month of the attacks. What can I say, you could get great deals on flights! I had been planning my trip fr months already, and after a week or so after the attacks I knew that it wasn't really going to impact my plans to go abroad. My parents were livid that I was leaving and going to a place with heathen, non-christian buddhist types. My mom's exact words were: "You're going to Asia? They have BUDDHISTS there! You.... you don't know WHAT they're going to do next!"

-In asia, between Jan and April of 2002, I don't think I heard sept 11th mentioned even once. It was just a non-issue.