A piece of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center is now on display at Albany International Airport. As Barry Wygel reports, it reminds TSA employees how important their work is.
COLONIE, N.Y. -- It was the morning of September 11, 2001, as American Airlines Flight 11 made its regular takeoff from Boston's Logan Airport en route to Los Angeles. As the plane approached Albany, air traffic controllers received the first warnings of the day that something was wrong. At 8:24 a.m., ATC got a message from a hijacker aboard the plane as it crossed the Massachusetts/New York border.
Two minutes later, the plane flew directly over the Albany airport, where it is believed it was using the Hudson River as its guide to New York City. At 8:46 a.m., the plane that flew over Albany crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
"By the day's end, we watched as rental cars covered with ash and gray dust, dust that quickly covered the tip of Manhattan after the tower fell,” said John O'Donnell, with Albany International Airport.
The south observation area became one of the many memorials dedicated to the victims of the terror attack.
"I really want to thank the security and compliance workforce, the blue shirts you see seated in the audience, behind me and the people at the checkpoint. They do a great job protecting your family and mine,” said TSA Federal Security Director Bart Johnson.
It was those members of the Transportation Security Administration, born of that day, who worked to make sure their workplace would have a permanent reminder of why they show up to work each and every day.
"I was part of the team that went to get the item from the Port Authority at JFK airport. It was pretty somber. It was like going into a graveyard almost. We were very quiet I think on the way home, thinking about what that meant and what it symbolized,” said Michael Kilcullen, the TSA security manager.
The piece of the I-beam from the World Trade Center will now forever live at the Albany International Airport in sight of the people passing through security and the professionals tasked with making sure that history never repeats itself.