All flights across nation grounded
Published Sept. 12, 2001
The terrorist attack in New York City and Washington, D.C., created chaos in the nation's airports Tuesday. All flights within the United States were suspended as a result of the crashes. Passengers were left stranded in airports throughout the country.
This marks the first time in U.S. history that flights have been canceled nationwide.
The halt will last through at least 11 a.m. today.
Just after 8:30 a.m. Central time, all commercial aircraft in flight were ordered to land as soon as possible.
According to the FAA, 50 planes were still in U.S. airspace at 11:30 a.m., but none reported problems. By mid-afternoon, all domestic airborne flights had landed.
Columbia Regional Airport was under high security. Police were monitoring the premises and questioning anyone who tried to enter the airport. Departures from the airport have been delayed indefinitely.
St. Louis' Lambert International Airport was evacuated, leaving many travelers stranded.
"I was scheduled to leave at 8:30 this morning, but we were unloaded off the plane," said Jim Brucks, a native of San Jose, Calif. "I don't really know how I'll be getting home. I thought about driving, but I guess I'll probably just wait."
Brucks' main concern was not having to wait. His mother-in-law and sister-in-law stayed in a hotel a quarter-mile away from the World Trade Center last night and were planning to visit the buildings the day of the attacks.
Although Brucks heard from his mother-in-law, he had not heard from his sister-in-law.
"Francis is probably helping people on the street right now — she's just that type of person," Brucks said. "I would like to make sure she's OK, though."
Kansas City International Airport was inundated with diverted and stranded passengers Tuesday morning when 89 normally departing flights were grounded, said KCI spokeswoman Erica Hupp.
"We have 18 diverted flights that also landed, and we are not sure when they will fly again," she said.
Hupp said the general mood among passengers was very somber.
Several stranded international passengers were down to their last $20 and planned to spend the night camped out on the floor of KCI.
The hotels in Kansas City filled up almost immediately after news of the groundings reached the travelers, said Sharon Ross, operations manager for the shuttle airport service.
"The last rooms were at the Plaza downtown," Ross said. "They were very expensive, but people were snapping them up. The Salvation Army has set up shelters to take in the passengers who could not find hotel rooms."
Ross said the Missouri National Guard has been mobilized to guard the empty airport overnight. Although the FAA has said that planes could lift off as early as 11 a.m., Ross said it could be as long as three days.
A Grounds Security Coordinator at a small airport in Missouri reported this type of hijacking incident shouldn't have happened if people were doing their jobs correctly.
"Hijacking prevention is the first thing we are taught when we get on staff," said the coordinator who wished to remain anonymous. "This is what they teach us to prevent."
The planes involved in Tuesday's terrorist attacks probably didn't have bombs on them, just forceful people with guns, he said.
"There's no way they could have gotten to the cockpit unless they had a gun," he said. "It just shows that somebody screwed up somewhere if a passenger got on a plane with a gun. It's just crazy."
The coordinator confirmed the notion that the pilots whose planes crashed into the Trade Center and the Pentagon would not have flown the planes into the federal buildings.
"A pilot would be killed before he would purposely fly into a building like that," he said.
St. Louis airport officials were unavailable for comment" however, a patrolman for St. Louis County police monitored people outside the airport.
"I am supposed to keep all vehicles with one occupant," patrolman Mark Koeller said. "I have no knowledge of other security measures the airport is taking."