09/11/2026
“Never Forget” Captain Mike’s story is part of our (FosterHobbs) story. “I’ve spent the day reflecting on 9/11 and wondering what one might write so as to help do my part in making sure we don’t forget.
Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives. That could have been any of us. I lost a lot of co-workers that day, those on American Airlines flights 11 and 77 of which I have flight time in both of those particular planes.
The somber tone in the pilot and flight attendant operations in the days that followed is something I will never forget. Seeing counselors in operations to counsel anyone that needed help and there were plenty.
Commuting to New York trying to rest with one eye open wondering how I was going to react if something happened in the cabin again.
Flying the Hudson River visual approach and going right over the fallen buildings that were still billowing smoke. Or, pushing back from the same gates used in the attack out of Boston and Newark….you know the ones that have the American flags.
Seeing the pilots names removed from their mail boxes. Or, all the extra procedures we went through to prevent another unwanted entry into the cockpit (flight deck) and praying those techniques would work….until we were able to get the added door locks and fortified doors and guns on the flight deck.
Or, how every person I flew with knew one of the AA employees that were on those flights...”He was on my flight last week”, “She was my roommate as a new hire”…the flight attendants would say and on and on.
Those first few months were stressful for all AA employees. But, I also remember how professional everyone was. We were one team. No Bickering. No talks about contracts. No complaining about monthly bid sheets. Just looking out for one another.
Years past, new safety procedures came about. Layoffs came. Then the pay cuts. Then the poor work rules. Before long we were back to a fairly normal routine. We recovered but we must never forget.”
Photo B757 during preflight at Vail Eagle Co airport 2006. Mike wrote this one year after 9/11.
