By Betsy Scheinbart
Thousands of travelers at LaGuardia Airport, some of whom witnessed the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center from the air, camped outside the airport after it was evacuated Tuesday morning.
“I saw the second plane hit,” said Cheryl Christiansen, who was on a flight from Nashville, Tenn. to LaGuardia when the second World Trade Center tower was struck. “It was like it wasn’t real.”
“It was like a Bruce Willis movie,” said her husband, Brian Christiansen. As his plane flew by the inferno, he thought: “Why is there smoke coming out of the Twin Towers?”
The first plane plowed into the north tower at about 8:48 a.m. and another plane flew into the south tower at around 9:16 a.m.
The Christiansens had hoped to vacation in New York this week and had tickets to the hit Broadway musical “The Producers” Wednesday night.
“It is not a good time for a vacation,” Brian Christiansen said.
Emma Pollack saw one tower on fire at the World Trade Center as she flew into LaGuardia from Los Angeles, the intended destination point of one of the domestic flights that crashed into the Twin Towers.
“I flew right by the towers and saw all the smoke,” Pollack said. “A lot of smoke was coming out — it was pretty scary.”
Pollack’s plane arrived at LaGuardia at 9:15 a.m., right before the second tower was hit. She joined thousands of other travelers on a outside the main terminal of LaGuardia Tuesday morning. English as well as a smattering of other languages could be heard as some travelers sitting on a grassy patch tried to assess their options.
New York’s LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark airports were closed shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon Tuesday morning as the Federal Aviation Administration closed all commercial airspace in the nation. Passengers and airline personnel were forced to leave the three New York area terminals.
Peg and Walter Schnellinger, an elderly couple from Phoenix, Ariz. were sitting out under a tree outside the main LaGuardia terminal.
“It’s very frightening,” Peg Schnellinger said. She was so concerned about her daughter, who works in Manhattan, that she covered her face with her hand and nearly became hysterical.
The Schnellingers were among those at the airport who were unsure where to go because they had intended to fly out of New York or to stay in Manhattan.
Travel into Manhattan was nearly impossible Tuesday morning as traffic backed up on the westbound side of the Grand Central Parkway. Cars and buses were turned at odd angles as police and emergency vehicles dotted the landscape, unable to move.
A U-turn spot on the highway was set up just west of LaGuardia so cars could return eastbound into Queens and Long Island.
Meanwhile, air travelers scrambled for taxis or buses to get out of the airport area. Police separated people who wanted transportation from those who were seeking hotel rooms.
All subway and Long Island Rail Road service was suspended.
Elderly people, families with children and others with special needs were given priority for transportation and hotel rooms.
“For us, we have no set schedule. It would just be nice if we had some bathrooms,” said Peter Vebber, who sprawled out under a tree with his wife, Susan.
The couple was trying to return to their home in Milwaukee, Wis. when the first assault on the Twin Towers happened at 8:48 a.m.
“It’s scary,” Peter Vebber said. “We saw this big cloud of smoke when we were driving over the Triboro Bridge.”
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 138.
