November 12th, 2001

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I can't believe that this slipped my mind  ... nine years ago yesterday, 266 people were killed as a result of an airliner crash in the Rockaways.  I remember pulling the rig out of quarters, switching to the Queens frequency and immediately hearing an engine company notifying the dispatcher that he had a "second plane down into a gas station". We thought we were responding to another terrorist attack. The "second plane" turned out to be a secondary fire that I believe was started by an engine from the plane that came down. Howie Carlson (R.I.P.) was the first due B.C. and Chief Hayden responded from home to provide initial assistance running the incident. This would have been the most serious incident with the largest loss of life that I responded to in my career with F.D.N.Y., but it was dwarfed by the events of 9/11. May those who were killed that day rest in peace...
 
REST IN PEACE TO ALL & Prayers for the comfort of the Families........a Sister of a FF who i worked with at the time was on the plane & the young fellow & his Mother who were killed in the initial house that the plane impacted into were relatives of a Ret. Member who i had worked with in R*2.......we responded the next day as a relief unit ......by sundown the next day we had completly dug out the initial impact house still searching for the Mother......when the cement foundation was exposed the full force of the crash was visualized .......the foundation was actually cracked in half like 2 pieces of a shell.....the plane hit this house nose first like a missle.......Yesterday there was an Annual Memorial service at the site of the Memorial....( a large wall with all the names inscribded) which is at the end of Beach 116 St at the Atlantic Ocean which is about 15 blocks east of the crash site which has been rebuilt with private homes......The mayor & the FDNY & PDNY Ceremonial Units participate.....the FDNY tolls a Bell as each name is read.......a sad day .
 
My wife and I were in Florida when that plane came down in Far Rockaway on November 12, 2001. As we watched it on the News, most people thought that we were again under attack as we were two months earlier. I had given thought to cancelling our flight back home and renting a car instead.

 I also remember that crash at JFK in 1975.

 In a City with Two Major International Airports, Subways above ground and under ground, Major Ships docking along its 450 miles of waterway, and every type of building from a single family ranch house, to huge warehouses, to those 1,000 plus high rises, it is the Members of the FDNY that millions of people depend on to protect them daily. It is only through constant training, and the wealth of experience and dedication that any department can face these daily challenges.

 As an example, I had a friend who was a firefighter in a very busy city in Connecticut. He happened to be staying at a Midtown Hotel when there was a "Working Fire" in it. He saw the FDNY in action for himself. He knew I was a buff, and his words to me were; "That was the Smoothest Fire Dept Operation I've ever seen". A large Hotel full of people and everybody got out, some with the assistance of the FDNY Members. "No wonder you buff there".
 
Unbelievable this happened 9 years ago felt like yesterday. I was finishing high school that year. It was i think a monday and veterans day too, so no classes for me.I woke up to fighter jets roaring overhead, since regular patrols were still going on after the 11th i thought nothing of it.I turn on the news to see a rooftop shot of a billowing smoke cloud from the angle it looked like it was coming from lower manhattan and obviously thought it was happening again. I wasnt relieved when i found out that it was a accidental plane crash as so much innocent lives were lost. I heard a few people crying in my building not knowing if they had lost relatives on the flight or it was just too close too home for them i never have asked them as i never wanted to and few years later they moved out. Rip to all the victims of the flight and their families.
 
I remember exactly where I was. In bed, sleeping off a night out partying for a friends 30th birthday and celebrating my 28th. My phone woke me up. It was a friend of mine from California. She had told me what was going on, and I immediately turned on the scanner. I heard Deputy Director Joe Higgins(ret.) giving companies instructions on the Queens radio, and then turned on the TV. My heart sunk because this was right by my brothers house. I got word he was at the scene and helping out in his capacity as a Paramedic. I called the Bronx CO and Manhattan to see if they needed anyone to come in and help out. I then went about my regular routine.
 
also does anyone remember if this was a verbal,a call from laguardia,or did someone actually call it in??
 
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