What Was Your First Post 9/11 Flight?

dl757md · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:09 pm

For me it was Sat. 9-15-01 ATL-SLC DL709 Boeing 763. I remember scanning the other pax in the boarding area and "profiling" them, as if it would do any good. The flight had maybe 50 pax and the atmosphere was very tense. I identified myself as a DL employee to the flight attendants and offered help if needed. The flight was very smooth and uneventful of course and it wasn't long before I felt comfortable flying again.

Please share your own experiences getting back into the air after 9/11.

Dl757md

N328KF · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:13 pm

ORD->AB) (FRA / FRF / EDDF), Germany">FRA->MUC->ORD, at the end of November, 2001.

N777UA · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:13 pm

My first post 9/11 trip also included my first 777 flight. It was United 103 and 52, Chicago-Los Angeles-Honolulu, A320/B777. I wasn't tense as far as security was concerned, as it was July 2002, and things had somewhat settled down by then. My only beef was that I was a random security search at the jetway....the people being searched the same time I was were a mother and her 2 year old daughter, and all three of us were being searched by Middle Eastern men who could barely speak English.....

.....Yeah, GO TSA......you guys rule.......HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

MontanaFL · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:13 pm

Nov 1, 2001 TPA-ATL-LGW. Tickets were purchased 2-3 weeks before 9/11. After 9/11, I wasn't so much worried about an incident happening as I was about not being able to take my vacation. Was glad to see planes back in the air and able to take my vacation.

gigneil · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:17 pm

9/15/2001. DL ATL-IAD, what should have been ATL-DCA. I had been stuck in Atlanta after having already been there for a week.

We were the third passenger carrying flight to depart ATL.

N

flyboy36y · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:20 pm

I think it was January 8th, 2002. That is only 4 months after 9/11. I was goint to go to Europe, but post 9/11 I wanted to see America. I booked LGA-CLE-LAS-CLE-LGA on CO CoEx... My first flight then was a CoEx ERJ...

deltaffindfw · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:22 pm

9/18/01 - DFW - HOU on a CRJ. Nothing exciting - about 10 people on the flight. DL terminal was eerily empty, of course. Came back on 9/20 and landed on 13R - it was extremely sad for me to see all the AA planes parked by the hangars and even on the taxiways. So many uphappy MD-80s parked wingtip to wingtip Sad

BH346 · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:26 pm

For me it was mid-November 2001, MCI-ATL-TPA-ATL-MCI. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary except for the TSA getting set up and the beefed up security. ATL was still fairly busy. The flights were pretty good.

[Edited 2004-06-05 05:27:04]

freshlove1 · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:33 pm

11/22/01 PIT-ATL-RSW on DL flights. They were full (MD-80 & 757), security was tight, they checked everything we had but thats ok with me, better to be safe then sorry.

COEWRNJ · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:35 pm

Mine was on 9/14/01 from EWR to PBI on CO. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get from check in to the gate.

prosa · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:42 pm

WN ISP-PBI in early October 2001, I can't remember the exact date. It was completely uneventful.

cancidas · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:49 pm

my first flight was nov 12th. i took a 172 down to PHX. but my first airline flight was april 2002 when i came home from PRC. i was flying F9 from PHX to LGA thru DEN. i had my flight bag as a carryon item (that bag was worth more than my car at the time and i wasn't going to let it out of my sight). i had a POH for a cessna caravan, my logbook, pilot's certificate, medical certificate, charts, approach plates and other such documents, Garmin GPS 196, scanner, etc…. anyway, the screeners decided i was a threat to the flight and had me detained for 8 hours (handcuffed to a fucking chair) pending verification of my identification. once they decided to compare my passport, driver's license, pilot certificate, medical certificate, EMT certificate and ID from the EMS provider i was working for (badge included) they let me go, all of which i had on me to begin with.

after i told the pilots that story and where i was going to school they let me jumpseat all the way to LGA.

sllevin · Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:51 pm

9/14/01 SFO-MCI on Vanguard. I was very glad that I had a seat up front on their MD-80 since we spent something like two hours after pushback on the ground (ground stop, then ended up back at the gate for more fuel, then finally departed, the a brief bomb scare in the terminal at MCI).

Steve

LHRman · Sat Jun 05, 2004 6:19 pm

5/2/02 Flight was LHR - JFK on AA101, 777-200. I have to admit that I had no fear of flying american. There was no reason to be with all the checks that were going on!

Thanks Dave Big thumbs up

citationjet · Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:29 pm

First flight after 9/11 was AA from ICT - DFW - CLT in October 2001.
Last flight before 9/11 was HP from ANC- PHX - ICT on Sept 3, 2001.

September11 · Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:06 am

about 2 weeks after 9/11... on DL CMH-CVG (72S) CVG-ATL (764) ATL-CMH (M88)

USairways16BWI · Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:38 am

it was december 18 2001. BWI-PHL-FLL. other than the rainy and windy weather landing in PHL, the rest of the trip was ok. comming back, dec. 26 2001, FLL-PHL-BWI was ok too, but security in FLL was very tight. it was the first time i had to take off my shoes at the security checkpoint.

teva · Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:40 am

my first flt was MEM-DTW-CDG with NW, Saturday 09-15.
My DTW-CDG leg was with a DC10 and is my worst flight. Even worse than my trip with an Aviogenex TU134, a long time ago.
Teva

NIKV69 · Sun Jun 06, 2004 11:32 am

I flew UA from JFK-GRU in December 01. Uneventful.

Adam T. · Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:43 pm

Early April 2002 on a US Airways A321 from Charlotte to Boston. Uneventful, but kind of weird for me.

Adam

Tango-Bravo · Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:22 pm

9/22/01 PHX-DEN (737-300), DEN-MSP (737-500) on United. Counted less than 50 pax on both flights.

mfricke · Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:27 pm

My first post 9/11 flight was not until March, 2002, from LAX to FLL on AA:

View Large View Medium
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Photo © Fabrice Nelson

Then I connected on to Southwest from FLL to MCO:

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Photo © Brian Bartlett

Then I connected again on to Southwest from MCO to AUS:

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Photo © Brodie Brazil

I flew the LAX-FLL flight overnight, and the other two the netx day. It was a great way to start experiencing air travel all over again after 9/11.

clipperno1 · Sun Jun 06, 2004 9:02 pm

First flight was in may02, when I was carrying a consignment of spare parts for a vessel from Frankfurt to Muscat, Oman as an onboard courier.
I was booked on BA and flew via LHR.
As I was carrying the box with spare parts heavier than 10kg, I had to open it at least 9 times when going through securities checks and xrays, so at the end the box looked like sh*t, but I led each security officer seal & sign the box after screening, which not only cost my nerves but theirs too.
First thing I noticed when entering the A319 were the new stainless steel cockpit doors BA had put on their planes.
Other than that, queueing seemd to be what flying was about now.
Pax was about 50-50 christian and muslim, which didn't bother me at all.
We flew along the iraqi-jordanian border, which, as I looked down on to the iraqi terrain, made me think about where we are today.
Yeah, it was kind of odd, that my first flight after 9-11, went to arabian country . When I was there, albeit the warmness of all omani people I met there, I didn't feel safe and stayed mostly at the beach and the hotel resort, rather than exploring the cultural goods and treasures of Salalah. I don't know why, and I could kick my ass today for not doing so, but I think that it was alsio after the attacks on german tourists in Tunesia. Well, that is still a pretty bad excuse, but somehow the little 'propaganda-man' was constantly banging with his little hammer against my head from the inside. Oman is No.1 on my list of countries I want to re-visit.

ScottishLaddie · Sun Jun 06, 2004 9:02 pm

GLA-KEF-BOS-KEF-GLA at the end of March '02.
BOS still had a slightly eerie atmosphere about it then, and security was still very strict.

ba97 · Mon Jun 07, 2004 4:31 am

Sept 14 YYZ to CDG. About 3/4 of the way there something in my gut felt really weird and I got the sweats. My neighbour across the street had been killed at Canter Fitzgerald-went for a 9am meeting there, leaving his wife and 2 year old at the Marriott across the street. For some unknown reason I really felt I was not going to make it home. When I got to Helsinki 2 days later, I found jetway doors open and no security--very odd.

COAB767 · Mon Jun 07, 2004 7:06 am

My first flight was on 9/15/01 on CO2 from GUM-HNL.
we had a light load that day probably about 160 pax or so.

mikedlayer · Mon Jun 07, 2004 7:28 am

My first was in the end of July 2002, as I simply hadn't got anything booked any earlier this certain year. I went on Futura (spanish airline) from LTN-AGP...I'd never heard of it before so I was a bit alert on this aircraft. I don't think I was scared - never have been on aircraft, but everytime someone got up to go to the toilet I'd follow them with my eyes down the aisle and back again, just paranoia I guess!!

Mike

leviticus · Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:18 am

ARN-WAW on a LOT 737-500 about 7 months after.
We had a 40% load.

JuniorSpotter · Tue Jun 08, 2004 5:16 am

9/20/01, if I don't remember it wrong. GOT-PMI. Pretty freaky, yes.

kgin11 · Tue Jun 08, 2004 6:51 am

My 1st post 9-11 flight was 10-6-01 UA from SFO-ONT (a few days before the end of Shuttle by United). The load was light and the flight crew requested that we stay in our seats for the duration of 1.1 hour flight unless we had to use the 'head'. In that case, we were only to go one at a time. The flight back on 10-8-01 was even lighter--about 20 pax and four UA mechanics in F-class. That was surprising to me because the ONT-SFO flights used to be packed solid. In both flights, there weren't that many people in the terminals and security wasn't much of a problem.

My pre-9-11 flight was 9-7 and 9-9-2001. The outbound leg was SFO-LAX on a 737, full load, and the return flight was SNA-SFO on a 757 that continued on to EWR (it wasn't the same AC that went down as UA 93).

On a related note, a friend of mine used to work in United Operations at LAX and had started his 9-11-01 shift at 5:00 AM PDT. I'll try to get him to post what it was like to be there when the incidents occurred. One thing I remember him saying was that he was one of the last employees to leave the terminal area and he had to walk to his car in Employee parking. With LAX empty, he said he felt like the apocalypse had occurred.

worldoftui · Tue Jun 08, 2004 9:18 am

My first flight after 9-11 was PUY-LGW on a 737-200 with the now defunct European Air Charter.

I then flew to Boston with UA in November, just a couple of days after the AA A300 crash in JFK. A week later, and I went to MIA.

Mark

vatveng · Tue Jun 08, 2004 12:35 pm

Jaunuary 2002, AA/Eagle ORF-ORD-Stranded at Ramada-ORD-SJC-DFW-ORF

Mostly full flights on all segments, my first ERJ flight, my first (and last if I can help it) AA Eagle flight, my first trip to California, my first business trip. And yet another horrible AA experience. Ugh!

Cactus739 · Tue Jun 08, 2004 12:57 pm

My first post 9/11 flight wasn't until October of 2002.. it was an America West Express (Mesa) CRJ from Phoenix to LA.... other than a 2 hour maintenance delay, no problems...

whaley · Tue Jun 08, 2004 5:47 pm

My first (and so far only) transatlantic flight, AMS-CPH-SEA on SK, around the 20th of October, so a little over a month after 9/11. I had already bought the tickets and it was an easy decision to go. Obviously I was looking around more than usual, checking out fellow pax, but wasn't too nervous. Unfortunately I was in the center seat (in 2-3-2 configuration if I recall correctly) but the guy to the left of me was really nice, a Seattleite of Scandinavian descent and the girl to the right of me was just very quiet. As it was my first time in the US, that was kind of exciting too and the customs screening seemed to take forever, but I was allowed in, had a great week and got back without any problem.

A housemate of mine had just departed New York on the early morning/night of 9/11 and got the news when they had a stopover in Iceland...

trekster · Tue Jun 08, 2004 7:40 pm

7th December, 2001 Qantas from london toBrisbane with an internal flight half way thru december to melbourne for a few days.

Only thing that i noticed 9/11 related was my mum and sister would not go to the top of the tallest building in melbourne becasue u could see the airport from the top of it.

MerC · Tue Jun 08, 2004 10:00 pm

3 August, 2002. GOT-AYT on Pegasus 734.

dtwclipper · Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:07 am

9/17/01, the first Monday after. DTW-CVG.

I might also add, I was flying DTW-ORD on 9/11/01, and arrived at the AAdmirals Club just as the fist plane hit.

Had to return by car that day!

EGHHwizard · Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:00 am

My first Post 9/11 flight wasn't until January 2003, a charter flight with TUI (Britannia) from Gatwick to Palma on a B757-200.

navairjax · Wed Jun 09, 2004 11:06 am

Nov 02 FUK-NRT-ATL-BOS NH/DL
First time back in BOS for over a year (last visit prior 8/2/01)
On most trips up to BOS in the past year I have used gate C19
(departure gate for UA 175) which seemed very eerie after a f/a told me which gate it was.

luv2fly · Wed Jun 09, 2004 11:17 am

December 4th, 2001 an overnight to NYC. We flew B6 from BUF to JFK for a mere $40.00 roundtrip. They were doing a promotion to get people to fly and to support New York City as well. What I remember most it was the first week of December and oddly enough the temperature was close to 90 degrees. And to see the effects of 9-11 and what had happened up close, was well unforgettable to say the least.

[Edited 2004-06-09 04:18:14]

speedbudgie · Wed Jun 09, 2004 12:51 pm

BWI to LAS on America West. We left on September 26th and hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and then back out). A much needed breath of fresh air at the time.

airforum · Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:13 pm

Actually I was on a Transavia flight from Amsterdam to Djerba (Tunisia) just a few hours prior to the attacks. I went to my hotelroom and then on to the beach. There I got a text message on my cell phone about what had just happened in the US. One week later (9/18) I left Tunisia and flew back to Amsterdam, which was my first flight after the towers had been collapsed.

DABZF · Thu Jun 10, 2004 4:42 am

Mine was next day: 12Sep ARN-HEL

miaskies · Thu Jun 10, 2004 5:32 am

For me it was AA B752 flight from MIA TO LGA leaving at 735am...it was bit nerve racking...but a great flight!

Following that, I took AA 763 that December to CDG from MIA. That same flight was involved in a terrorism plot the previous year with the shoe bomber...so yes that was a bit nerveracking also!

But I love flying...what can I tell you!

Douglas7Seas · Sun Jun 13, 2004 4:20 pm

Trying to return to PDX form LAX. Was home to visit family. Got out as soon as they started flying again. It was spooky at LAX. No people, no planes moving... and very, very quiet.

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