kenjenkins

With regards to an aviation disaster, one of the most important things the public (and the media) can do is to respect the privacy of the survivors and the family members.

Thankfully there are not many accidents to have to respond to. The day to day work is ER planning. Coordinating with other departments, exercising our plans etc. It can take months to successfully prepare for a full scale exercise. In addition, with in the airline industry we are prepared to respond to airline partners etc.... The amount of coordination, training and preparation is extensive.

Thank you for your kind words. It is hard at times. For the most part, we are able to compartmentalize the response from our everyday life. However, I have found over the years the importance of critical incident stress debriefs, defusing's etc are of great benefit.

Please thank your family for the help they provided. I am sure they made a difference in someones life.

9/11 was the by far the most significant event where I saw the best of humanity. In the aftermath of 9/11 we saw an out pouring of support to the passengers and crew of all the affected flights. American and United received countless cards, flags, memory books, financial donations etc for the crew and passengers on the affected flights. It was a huge undertaking to collect all the items and then send them to the families. It was an amazing thing to experience. Complete strangers reaching out to other strangers. It still warms my heart today.

Good morning Martha! I was in NYC for the American Airlines response to 9/11. On 9/11 AA was able to send 4 aircraft to the following cities: Boston, Los Angeles, NYC and Washington, DC. I went to NYC. The flights had CARE Team Members on board who went to assist family members in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The 15 year anniversary was particularly hard. It was very emotional for me as I am sure it was for those who lost someone that day and for those who responded. For some reason the 15 year anniversary hit me very hard.