AIBU to judge passengers complaining about grounded flights on 9/11?

[doosesmarket]

I’m watching an old Airline UK episode and it’s from 9/11. The way people were behaving at not being able to get on their flights blows my mind. I keep trying to think well they hadn’t processed 9/11 the way we have now, but realistically they’d all seen screens of the news and watched 2 planes smash into the towers and the towers collapse full of people.

Surely you’d have enough understanding of the need to ground flights and change security measures even then?

I know it was 25 years ago but AIBU to hope those people demanding/shouting at the staff/the entitlement that they need to get to Benidorm that day because ‘we’re not in America’ were ashamed when they seen themselves on the telly and how they acted during the most horrific terrorist attack any of us have ever lived during?

I was sitting in the tarmac waiting to fly to America for a year when it happened. Long delays then eventually they told us American airspace was closed, so i knew it must have been something bad. The terminal was chaos but what shocking news, couldn't get my head round it although we only really got snippets of information. I had a week to wait in London before I flew. My memory of it is reasonably good but to be honest I don't recall any complaints, just stress and worry. Perhaps it was too fresh at that point? Or maybe I've just forgotten those bits.

They did have mobile phones back then.
I brought my first mobile phone in 1996/7 as I was working away from home and wanted to keep in touch with my parents and my parents with me, as my grandparents were elderly…
It was either a Motorola or a Nokia can’t remember which.

I've only recently listened to the ATC audio of all flights it's all been out together lasting hours from botson control,new York, Washington etc it was utter mayhem and total confusion that day even after flight 11 hit the WTC the management in ATC where being told it flew on and was heading to Washington,there was initially so much confusion that day staff at Heathrow Gatwick etc would have been told so many different things and relaying it to customers.

Nobody at that time could have even imagined the sheer destruction and devastation that happened.

Nothing like 911 had ever happened before, in fact it was inconceivable that it happened at all. We weren’t so globally aware as we are nowadays, and information wasn’t available. If you were travelling from your hotel to airport, you may not have had access to tv screens and so were unaware what was happening or the magnitude of it.

Jeez and FFS. Some people never miss an opportunity to be racist assholes.

@Nomorepants well done on making the decision to immediately refund travel. People must have been relieved by your kindness. How did that play out further up the chain of command? Hopefully you weren’t reprimanded for it.

Having travelled extensively, yabu.
Travel was completely different in the past.
For example there weren’t any weight restrictions on checked in bags. If you could carry your suitcase then you could take it.
Smoking was allowed on planes, they had a smoking and a non smoking section but you all sat on the same plane.
The crew would stock the full range of perfumes and you could test as many as you liked whilst travelling.
You could pull up right outside the airport and get dropped off, no charge either.

Also the UK was not as influenced by the USA or any other country as it is now. To see a woman with her face covered was unheard of where I grew up. I had never heard of Bin Laden until 9/11.

Times change.

They weren’t smart phones and not everybody had one.

I also saw this live on TV. The idea that it was deliberate was quite frankly preposterous.

I worked at a big theme park at the time and we got a lot of really unhinged phones calls when we were closed (like everywhere else at the time).

Looking back I think some people really externalized their need for normality. It was a really crazy time and like the first lockdown no one went anywhere for a few months.

Same here..I had the day off work, sat down with coffee and turned on the tv, which happened to be on a news channel, which I hadn’t realised at the time and thought I was watching a film! It was just in time to see the second tower being hit!

I was in the UK giving a training course to a company who were American owned and whose HQ was in New York. There were text messages coming I. And phone calls and we abandoned the training.

In 2001 there were very few if any so-called low cost airlines in Europe. The notion of a weekend away via easyJet or Ryanair for say a hen or stag do was not commonplace. Many people I expect only flew once a year for their annual holiday in Spain or Greece.

A lack of understanding of flight schedules etc is no surprise.

My husband worked for an American company in the uk so had been alerted by colleagues to switch the tv on. We didn’t even know what the twin towers were and rarely had the tv on in the day.

I had just started my first Proper Job in London and we didn't know if London was going to be attacked that day. It felt like a Sliding Doors moment between life before and after, as 2020 did more recently. But with hindsight, once the enormity begins to sink in. It was the true end of the 1990s hedonistic optimism and reality dawning.

It was early afternoon in the UK as the first plane hit at 8.15am in New York. We had a late lunch on the training course I was doing for work and during that time we heard about the first plane hitting. We heard about the second plane and it sunk in that it was deliberate during the afternoon session. We carried on, I went home on the bus and watched it on the news at home. It was later in the afternoon by then, but it had only just happened in NYC.

there was little immediate footage. It was hours before there was a shot if the first plane hitting the tower. It was the next day before there was film of the second plane

That’s not true actually. My neighbour rang me to put Sky news on as it was happening. We saw the second plane hit in real time.

In terms of the grounding of flights, initially nobody knew whether there were other attacks planned. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to get on a plane.

People whinge when someone kills themselves on a train line so the train can’t go and it’s going to make them late for work. It’s just human nature to not want to be inconvenienced, however selfish that may be.

British people are funny when it comes to holidays. God forbid anything should get in the way of them 😳

In terms of the grounding of flights, initially nobody knew whether there were other attacks planned.

...and according to some involved there was certainly concern/thoughts for a short while amongst those in ATC management that UK airspace might be closed...

I wasn't in the UK on the day but I can certainly understand why some flights didn't depart and why there would have been a lack of definite information that could be passed on to passengers.

nats.aero/blog/2021/09/the-ocean-is-now-effectively-closed-remembering-of-9-11/

I was on a flight to Mexico City with my mum when it happened. We were grounded for about 6-8hours and passengers weren’t told why or where we were. I don’t think the crew knew why either until shortly before we could get off the plane. Everyone was mainly quiet apart from complaining about being hungry.

We found out we had been rerouted to Newfoundland, as were many other transatlantic flights. We were taken to a school hall which was set up with 100s of camp beds and given a pack of toothbrush and toothpaste etc as we only had hand luggage. They fed us for the days we were there. The locals were as shocked as us and were very kind to us. The school let us email or phone home to let worried family and friends know we were ok. There were big screens up showing the news constantly. I think we were there for 3 days. There was a Wal-Mart to buy underwear from.

These passengers landed in Tenerife!

Got 24-48 hrs AI in a 5* hotel!

OK, no one actually knew what was happening next and I can understand the anxiety around that but compared to many they got a good deal!

@NeedToKnow101

We were grounded for about 6-8hours and passengers weren’t told why or where we were. I don’t think the crew knew why either until shortly before we could get off the plane I don't think the crew knew why either

From what I've heard the crews had a general idea that US Airspace was closed for securiry reasons whilst in flight. More info got round via radio conversations between flights as shortwave news broaddcast got picked up or companies started to contact crews direct.
After landing the crew would have got the specifics (either by listening to generally news on their short wave receivers, talking to their airline operations or just by discussion with ground staff...)

The big unknown for a while was "what next" and there was a hope maybe some flights could just get a quick refuel and then hop off to somewhere more hospitable that could accept them or even head back for Europe...that's one reason why not much was said to passengers initially.

Of course as you experienced the authorities eventually said "nothing moves" and a lot of eople went nowhere for a few days.

Remember people didn’t have mobile internet then wouldn’t necessarily have known more than one or two headlines they had been passed on by airline staff. I must admit it does seem disproportionate now to ground domestic flights from London to Scotland because something happened in the USA - horrific situation there but our security was already so much stricter due to the Lockerbie bombing and Northern Ireland “troubles” etc. European flights within Europe or east looking back should not have been fully cancelled though the clear bags for hand luggage makes sense initially

Sorry I didn't say what I mean to say, I meant didn't have mobile phones with the internet on!
Yes I had a little Nokkia and could get text messages and pay snakes but noone had a phone where they could go online and see news in real time

But at the time everyone was very worried London would be next.