On this day 25 years ago, none of us knew the next day would be one of the most devastating in United States history.
Read more South Florida family stresses water safety after child’s drowning
The Al Qaeda terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people on September 11th, 2001, and the way they did it, by hijacking commercial airliners and crashing them into buildings, forever altered the aviation world.
“Everything changed dramatically, everything in the industry changed dramatically,” said George Farinas, a retired Delta Airlines pilot who is now an inspector with the FAA.
“Certainly, I feel safer,” added Tony Montalto, a United Airlines pilot, when asked if airline safety has improved since 9/11.
The FAA shut down the nation’s airspace at 9:45 a.m. that day. Some 4,500 aircraft landed within the next couple of hours.
A month later, Congress created the TSA, the Transportation Safety Administration, to beef up security at airports and create uniform standards.
Until that point, every airport had its own security protocols. Cockpit doors were reinforced to prevent hijackers from breaking in, and airlines revamped their security training.
“Twenty-five years after this happened, you know, it’s practically impossible for hijackers to take over an airliner like they did back then, why? Because there’s a lot of new security measures,” said Farinas, who was in the air when the attacks happened and was ordered to land in Memphis.
Read more Pair charged in kickback scheme targeting Miami-Dade HOA, state attorney says
“I’m reminded of the sadness of the day, the failures that occurred to let that happen,” Montalto said.
You might know Montalto as a founder of the advocacy group, Stand With Parkland. Montalto lost his daughter, Gina, in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting. On 9/11, he had landed in Ireland, and then watched the news in horror.
“Immediately, of course, we knew the country was under attack,” Montalto said.
He and his crew flew back to Newark after being stranded five days in Shannon, Ireland, and as they approached the area, they saw tragedy on the horizon.
“As far away as Albany, New York, we could see the plume of smoke rising from Ground Zero; it was very difficult to control our emotions in the cockpit and focus on flying the jet,” he said.
A New York native, every September 11th, Montalto remembers friends from high school who died at the World Trade Center.
“I wish that our nation would return to the togetherness that we felt when we realized that we were all Americans and we needed to come together to protect our country,” Montalto said.
Read more Concerned about the cost of living in South Florida? We want to hear from you