INTERVIEW: ‘9/11: Control the Skies’ tells story of air traffic controllers on that fateful day
Nat Geo is set to premiere 9/11: Control the Skies Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 11 p.m. The TV special details the challenges and skills of the air traffic controllers in Gander, Canada. On that fateful day, they were tasked with ushering in 224 planes, carrying 33,000 passengers across the Atlantic Ocean, as the airspaces over Canada and the United States closed following the terrorist attacks.
They relied on their training, their patience and their uncommon talents to make sure all 33,000 passengers landed safely. Their efforts paid off because no incidents were reported.
The small community of Gander, Canada, has become something of a bright spot when thinking about the terrible losses of 9/11. The community and their stories are currently being represented on Broadway and in theaters around the world thanks to the musical Come From Away, and programs like 9/11: Control the Skies continue the story of how everyone pitched in when the circumstances became dire in the U.S.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Beverley Bass, the first female captain for American Airlines who was in the air on 9/11 and landed her plane in Gander. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did you realize you wanted to become a pilot?
I was fascinated with flying and airplanes beginning at 4 years old, but it wasn’t until I was 8 that I told my parents I wanted to be a pilot.
What was it like to become American Airlines’ first female captain?
It was certainly a very daunting experience since American was such a large airline, and being the first female captain brought about a lot of attention towards me, which was a bit unexpected. I didn’t think of myself as being any different from my contemporaries, i.e. the male pilots who were becoming new captains. American was no doubt proud of the fact that they had a female captain and seemed to thrive on the publicity it generated along the way. I just wanted to be exceptional in my new role, which required tremendous responsibility, and at times the attention and publicity was somewhat distracting. My goal was to never let it stand in the way of being the [ultimate] professional.
Where exactly were you when you heard about the terrorist attacks on 9/11?
We were flying from Paris to Dallas and were westbound over the middle of the North Atlantic when we heard on our air-to-air frequency that the towers had been hit. It was an aircraft that was ahead of us who announced it for all airborne jets in the area to hear.
What were your experiences like in Gander? Was it truly a community-driven effort?
From the minute we landed on 9/11 at approximately 10 a.m. we [were] cared for and treated magnificently. We were on the airplane for 28 hours before deplaning the morning of Sept. 12. It was evident the moment we walked into the terminal that every stove in Gander had been turned on throughout the night. There were tables and tables lined with all sorts of food for each and every one of the nearly 7,000 passengers that showed up in a three-hour time frame. We wanted for nothing. They filled over 2,000 prescriptions for free and served 285,000 meals during the five days we were there.
They took passengers into their home for showers and comfort. I was personally pretty much sequestered to the Comfort Inn (where we stayed) since I never knew when American was going to call for us to go to the airport. We didn’t have the luxury of cell phones in 2001 like we do now!
How much did you have to rely on your training that fateful day in 2001?
I will tell you that we did not have a checklist to follow on that day, but as airline pilots our demeanor and skill set provide us with the innate ability to think outside of the box and to always have a plan. We pretty much operated minute by minute, hour by hour as the time turned into days. It was important to me to maintain a calmness on my aircraft and to keep the passenger as much in the ‘know’ as possible. I was truthful with them, but in all fairness I had very little information to work with. I would say that our many years of training kicked in for all of the flight crew as we dealt with the issue at hand, but we certainly had never trained for that fateful day. You can believe that procedures are very different today!
Has it been difficult reliving those memories for this TV special?
Honestly, I am proud to be but a small contributor to this piece and am honored to have the opportunity to share our experience in Gander with the rest of the world. They deserve every ounce of gratitude that comes their way.
When we launched out of there on a very rainy Saturday morning on Sept. 15, I remember wanting to tell the whole world about our experience that we had just had, and it’s pieces like this that are now allowing that to happen. Having the musical Come From Away with five casts playing in four countries, on three continents eight times a week is proving to be the story that portrays the beautiful folks in Gander who took such good care of us while our own country was suffering through the worst tragedy in American history!
There is almost a bit of survivor’s guilt as we were all being so well taken care of, and we seemed almost removed from what was happening on our home turf. I think that reality really began to sink in once we got home and saw how somber life had become. Every car had an American flag hanging on the window, and every yard had flags displayed. There has never been a time that I know of where our country was truly ‘one’ like it was in the aftermath of 9/11.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
9/11: Control the Skies premieres Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 11 p.m. on Nat Geo. Click here for more information.
