The Thing of the Moment generally does not get all misty eyed at the departure of Top Administration Officials (With the Exception of former EPA Chief Carol Browner, "Roowr!") But today Norm Mineta has submitted his resignation and the Government is less good for it.
Below is an except of an interview showing his humble nature where he discusses his role during the September 11th attacks:
"Monte [Belger, acting deputy administrator]," he recalled saying that day, "bring all the planes down. If they are coming eastbound, turn them around and get them out of here. If they're westbound, have them go on to their destinations or get them down as quickly as possible."
As a result, 4,836 planes landed in 2 hours and 12 minutes without further incident.
"The skill and the professionalism of the air traffic controllers, the dedication of the pilots and flight attendants really, they worked as a team all the way around to bring those planes down safely," Mineta added. "My job was the easiest part."
Moved and modfied from it's original post date of Sept 11th 2005.
Wow, I had forgotten the significance of today until I read this. In my own defense, though, I've only been awake for a 1/2 hour.
ReplyDeleteAt the time I worked for Boeing and I remember being stunned that our airplanes had been used as weapons. Being located in a facility next to the Salt Lake International Airport I was used to hearing planes take off all day. During the grounding of flights in the days that followed, the silence was an eerie reminder of the events.
ReplyDeleteMany good and bad things have happened since then, lessons learned (or not); I miss the days prior to this tragedy.