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NYC air traffic controller recalls his experience working on 9/11: 'Completely aghast'
Christopher Tucker, an air traffic controller in New York City on the morning of September 11, 2001, said the day started off just like any other, but quickly became the most unforgettable of his long career. (www.foxnews.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I happened to be @ my Army Reserve unit for specialized computer training on 9/11. Initially, we thought it was part of the scenario until told to stay off the Internet to save bandwidth. Huddling around TVs, we watched both towers fall. Eventually we were told to go home..
We as Americans owe every ATC person our deepest gratitude for their actions on that day. How the heck did they get thousands of plane down safely so fast. It was a modern miracle.
So very true!
I was at my computer doing paperwork that morning when on my radio scanner I heard on the FBI channel a call to an agent. The agent replied to the base station. The base station told him to contact the base. The agent then said, "Hey did you hear about the plane that hit the World Trade Center?" My first thought was a small aircraft had flown into one of the towers by accident somehow. The FBI base station then said, "Call base immediately. They just hit the other tower." I was thinking to myself 'What the hell?' I got up from my desk and turned CNN Headline news to the horror that would forever change the world. I watched the news until the Pentagon got hit at 9:37am. Then I knew we were in for it. At 10am my phone rang and my reserve military police unit was activated. Within an hour I was on my way to my base.....
I spent a large chunk of my youth at the WTC having lunch with my father, who was an electrician during the construction of Building 7. I still don't like talking about it. I have not been back to the site. I will not see the movie.
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Over 20 years later and it's still surreal.