Thoughts on 911 and Britain

[Chavster]

Just to follow on from Mike's rather excellent post, I wanted to tell a little story of my own. Its not an especially important story to anyone who wasnt there, but it was a memory that his post stirred, so I thought I'd share.

On 9/11 itself, the UK came to a total standstill. It was as if time stopped, and the world stopped turning. Just as in NYC itself, the people here are quite resilient and strong, so although there was plenty of pain around, lives quickly started to take shape again.

Around 2 weeks after 9/11, I was due to go into London to see a stage show. We Will Rock You. At the time, I was living around a 20 minute drive into the centre/center of London (we dont call it 'downtown', we call it central London ), so we jumped in the car and drove into town, parked the car, and walked to the theatre. And the show was great

We left the theatre at around 10.45pm, and on the walk back to the car, a really HUGE military helicopter appeared in the very dark night sky. It was shining a VERY bright light down onto the streets, kind of like a spotlight, but it was as bright as a million suns.

I was utterly terrified. I froze on the spot, and literally couldnt move. The lady known as the Former Mrs GSG fainted, purely at the sight of the helicopter, and other people in the area fell to the ground. Some clambered their way underneath trucks or buses, and one young kid was hit by a car, because I assume he was separated from his parents and he ran into the street.

There was a feeling of blind terror in the whole area. Literally everyone was in a panic.

London has a population of around 12 million people (depending on how you define 'London'), and on a Saturday night in central London, the streets are jam packed with people, and for as far as the eye could see, people were frozen with panic, and it was because we all feared it was our turn. Purely because of one helicopter shining one light down onto the streets of the capital.

So as I said, 9/11 was truly a global event. At times of peace, I certainly wouldnt have frozen in my steps at the sight of a helicopter. I'm pretty rough and tough, I've been through many 'situations', and few things frighten me, but that night, my body solidified, as did many thousands of other bodies close to me.

I think we should always remember that 9/11 drilled a hole into all of our souls, even those of us that were many thousands of miles away. As one of my favourite bands (Tears for Fears) once sang, 'memories fade but the scars still linger'.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. Boring I know...

[Mikekoz13]

Good story....... and a bit of a lesson for me.... and I'm sure, others.

[TheSlyBear]

Not boring. Not at all.

[Chavster]

Thanks

[Slynito]

'memories fade but the scars still linger', very true, just ask a vet who has fought a politician's war.

[gumbii]

great story, thx for sharing...

but... what was the chopper doing...? srsly...? what was that all about...? if i were the military, i wouldn't do a stunt like that... knowing that it was still fresh in everyone's head and to do something all "war of the worlds" style into a huge crowd of people is wrong...

at least everyone is safe... but that sucks you had to experience that...

[Chavster]

I dont know, we never found out. It was literally a terrifying experience, and as I said, I dont get spooked easily. Im the type that usually does the spooking

[tomgallagher]

A lot of big city police departments use these kind of choppers to illuminate a suspected crime scene for their forces on the ground. Maybe they were just practicing..who knows. Too bad they scared eveybody.

[Chavster]

No it was definitely military. Even with that big light shining down, it very clearly said 'RAF' (Royal Air Force) on the fuselage. Plus, I doubt they'd be doing exercises over central London at that time of night on a weekend. There must have been a million people there. Theatre-goers, bar hoppers, prostitutes...

I absolutely crapped myself. Not literally, but metaphorically.

Before 9/11, I loved flying in helicopters, but I havent been in one since.

[tomgallagher]

Having spent six years in the US Army I know that the emotional well being of the civilian population isn't really high up on their list of priorities but that does seem like they crossed the line a bit.

[Chavster]

I agree. It was something that literally could have caused death, either from panic, or from hysteria.

Whatever the reason for it, it was made much more horrific because it was only a few days after 9/11. After NYC (and a few other American cities), London is obviously a high priority for terrorists (as the London bombings proved), so I think all of us in the UK were waiting for a similar attack.

Also - and I dont know if this is still the case - but at one time until very recently (and it might still be), London is the only one of the world's major cities where commercial aircraft can directly over-fly the centre of the city, on their approach to Heathrow airport.

Most flights arriving at Heathrow enter the UK at the Thames estuary (east of London), follow the path of the Thames directly through the centre of the city, and then descend into Heathrow (west of London). I think flights are now still banned above Buckingham Palace, but they can still fly over any other major landmark in the city (Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Oxford Street etc). Still, as long as the Queen and Prince Phillip are protected, thats fine. The rest of the 14 million people in the city dont really matter

9/11 is one of the reasons I moved away from London.

[tomgallagher]

Interesting...Does the no fly zone move with QE2 and whats his name when they go to one of their other palaces or does it just apply for Buckingham Palace.

[Laser Man]

New York City has similar flight path issues.  The normal approach to Newark Airport is to fly south on parallel with the Hudson River with Manhattan directly on the left and Newark on the right.  Some days due to weather conditions, take off from Newark comes north.  There are times when planes have to adjust their approaches and you'll see one suddenly turn left toward Manhattan on its descent.  For a few moments, your heart races as you wait to see the plane bank right and continue into Newark.  

Flights into LaGuardia from the west and south fly directly over the very densely populated sections of New Jersey and NYC.

That all seemed perfectly normal until 9/11...

[Chavster]

Well, where I live now, I only see a military plane in the sky, just once a day. I live in a military town, so thats the only airborne activity. But when I go into London, it still gives me the willies to see 747's and A380's  so close to the ground that you'd think you could touch them. And of course, it was even more crazy in Hong Kong, when they still used Kai Tak airport.



I dont like to fly anymore and I avoid it whenever possible. I cruise as much as I can (in the non-sexual sense)

[tomgallagher]

A problem yes indeed but where else are you gonna go. Having worked in the airline business for 30 years I know that there are not many options.