To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, AIN asked our readers–many of whom are corporate pilots–to write the narrative by sharing their own personal stories of that day, and share they did. While some 3,650 days have passed since then, their accounts still include minute details and raw emotion, evidence that 9/11 is indelibly etched in their minds forever. Some were in the New York City metro area that fateful day, while others were across the country or even on the other side of the world. Their stories are varied, yet at the same time similar. These are their accounts:

Where was I when the world stopped turning? On Sept. 11, 2001, I was driving to Waukegan Regional Airport, from where I was scheduled to fly our boss to his weekly meeting in Manhattan. It was a perfect clear morning as I drove through the Northern Illinois countryside with the windows down and the radio up. As the radio newscaster reported the first tower being hit by an airplane, it occurred to me that we might be facing delays getting into Teterboro. I called my chief pilot, who was also driving in. While we discussed the possible implications of the “accident” in New York, the news reports of the second tower strike came on. It was very clear to us that something sinister was happening. When we reached our hangar, we joined everyone in the FBO watching the terrible spectacle unfold on television. As reports of the Pentagon attack came in, we witnessed a half dozen unscheduled business jet arrivals as all air traffic was being ordered to land at the nearest available airports. Shortly thereafter, the feds ordered the FBOs locked, the airport closed and the entrances to the airports secured, which sent us back home without even rolling our Learjet 60 from the hangar. We were lucky that we never left the ground. I had many friends and colleagues who weren’t as lucky and had to deal with the uncertainty of being grounded indefinitely far from their homes. On that day, many aspects of our industry changed forever. Robert W. Thompson, Wheeling, Illinois