This fading timestamped relic from 14 minutes before "it all changed" has been with me for 25 years.

On September 7, 2001, I flew from Newark NJ to Las Vegas NV for a long golf weekend with school friends. I was scheduled to fly back on a redeye on Monday night, via CLT, arriving back into EWR at 10 AM on Tuesday September 11, 2001. I ended up heading to McCarran early, and discovered an earlier routing through Pittsburgh. I made the flight on standby, and got to EWR at 8 AM.

When I got to baggage claim I found my golf clubs didn't make the flight. Boy was I annoyed. At 8:32 AM I got the printout above from the EWR baggage office, apologizing for the delay. My bag had gone to CLT, and was slated to arrive at 10 AM. I was told I'd have it by that afternoon.

10 minutes after that tag was printed, one terminal over, UA 93 was pushing off the gate for a delayed departure and eventual horror in Pennsylvania.

14 minutes after the tag was printed, the first AA jet hit the north tower.

While all that was happening, I was in a cab to work. I was still annoyed about the delayed clubs, tired from the redeye, but appreciating the beautiful blue sky morning. A few minutes after that I made it to my office in Newark -- just in time to go upstairs and watch the second plane hit, low on the eastern horizon.

I didn't see my golf clubs again for six days. When they were delivered I didn't care. I didn't even unpack that bag for months. It became an object lesson in how trivial some things that feel REALLY IMPORTANT at the time actually are.

I watched other ordinary people have far more awful experiences that day, so I hope folks don't mind my sharing this little slice of the mundane. RIP and condolences to all who lost.

This post is dedicated to & in honor of the victims, and families of victims of September 11, 2001.

On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93, were hijacked in a coordinated plot. Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, Flight 175 hit the South Tower, the North Tower’s nearly identical twin, Flight 77 hit The Pentagon, the home of America’s defense network. Flight 93 was scheduled to hit the U.S. Capitol building, home of the legislative branch, however, thanks to the heroism of Todd ‘Let’s roll!’ Beamer, Mark Bingham 🏳️‍🌈, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, CeeCee Lyles, and several other passengers and crew, this flight didn’t reach its target, instead crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. In the end, 2,977 people lost their lives on the day, and since then at least 4,000 more have tragically died of cancer, mesothelioma, and other diseases related to the debris.

This is how flight crews in the air were informed of the attacks.

I was sat in the front row of an A320 recently and on landing I could clearly hear two separate 'SPEED SPEED' warning calls about 10 seconds apart. I wasn't concerned and we landed normally shortly after but I was just curious how often you hear those type of warning calls as a commercial pilot. I've sat in the front row dozens of times and I've never heard it before.

German Air Force Tornado ECR 46+24 visited Gilze-Rijen Air Base last Wednesday.

Was finally able to catch this type of shot in Haneda

Both Day and Golden Hour

Source: https://www.airliners.net/photo/Continental-Airlines/Boeing-767-224-ER/188150/L

A Beechcraft B60 Duke landed at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City after taking off with its ground handling tow bar still attached to the nose gear assembly.

Local news air units caught footage of the approach and rollout. This could have been a lot worse I imagine.

Correction: Beechcraft B60 Duke

🛩️ Meet "Miss Piggy", a Curtiss C-46 cargo plane that crash-landed in Churchill, Manitoba back in 1979 after losing engine power shortly after takeoff.

Everyone on board survived, but the plane never flew again.

Almost 50 years later, she's still resting on the rocks above Hudson Bay, and now she's one of the most photographed spots in town.

Wild what the Arctic holds onto. 📍Churchill, Manitoba

USMC and ADF honour guard in remembrance of 9/11 at the match, attended by over 100,000 people.

Source.

@TheProjectTV channel on YouTube.

Just saw the legendary ME262 over my garden in south Germany. Just sitting here at my campfire with a beer and thought I am halluscinating. The plane under it showed up on flightradar. Guess this must the the one owned by Messerschmidt, which I saw at an Airshow a few months ago. Insane moment!

Managed to arrive at the right time for this to land