I remember exactly where I was on that terrible day of September 11, 2001. I was an Operational Supervisor for American Airlines at DFW (Dallas Ft. Worth airport). I had been called to A19 gate about an irate passenger who was upset about his middle seat assignment. He was so irate and losing his mind. He wanted my manager, so I went back into the office where the TV was always on. I saw a plane going into the world trade center. I remember how I and a couple other coworkers started pulling manifest sheets of flights for any 767 flights. We had pulled the list for AA flight 11. We knew those would be locked out soon and we wanted to know which of our family members were on board. In the airline business, we consider all airlines family. We live crazy lives that we can relate to each other. We do not have to know each other’s names to love one another.

The TVs in our area of the airport were immediately shut off, and the middle seat problem was no longer an issue. We began clearing the airport out. Passengers knew something big was happening and just had to get far away from the planes. DFW was cleared out within 20 to 30 minutes, but we still had some incoming flights. DFW rental car facility is not connected to the airport but down the road with access by shuttle bus so that is where most of the passengers were going.

At this point, the American flight 77 had crashed into the Pentagon. Full blown panic was in the airport as we were clearing passengers off aircraft just landing. The FAA had now ordered a complete airspace shut down and all operating aircraft had to land at the closest airport.

DFW was cleared except for a few of us. I and another manager were meeting one of the last aircraft in the sky. It was a 767 scheduled flight from Miami to Los Angeles. At this point, the reality was setting in that our country was being attacked by using the aircraft, our crew, and passengers as their weapon. I remember being very nervous to open the door to the aircraft, not knowing if there were hijackers possibly on this plane too.

Upon opening the door, the flight attendance face was one of confusion and scared. My heart was heavy but relieved to see our crew and all were ok. We did not have time to explain the situation as the most important thing was to get everyone unloaded and out the doors of the airport. Most of them were on their phones running for the exits.

I quickly ran through areas of my gates to make sure all passengers were out and then the rest of us left for safety too.

Once in my car, I started calling all my flight crew friends since I was not sure who was on AA 77. We did not pull that manifest list. Although my closest friends were safe, my heart was hurting for my coworkers that had lost their lives.

I think I was in shock for the first couple of days once I was home. At that point I had been with American for 16 years and we train ever year for all kinds of situations with terrorist or others that want to blow up a plane. We had not ever thought about one using the aircraft as the weapon itself with passengers and crew.

I made several calls to my airline family as well as my family checking in on everyone. It was a reminder to not take anyone for granted.

Although I did not eye witness our crew members that were in the air that day, I can assure you they were heroes in action taking care of the passengers on board. I did witness AA managers who stayed calm as we cleared our part of the airport and waited for that last flight to come to DFW.

One thing that always comes to my mind when remembering 911 is that having to sit in a middle seat or having to experience an inconvenience is NOTHING compared to those who lost their lives that day. It puts things in perspective. The men and women who put their lives on the line everyday for our freedom should never be taken for granted.