'The day that changed everything': KC area pilot reflects on being 4 months into her career on 9/11

WEATHERBY LAKE, Mo — KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.

—
Mindee Jackman was just 4 months into her airline career on Sept. 11, 2001 — living her dream, headed to Newark, and watching the world change in real time.

Flying wasn't always the plan for Jackman. A decision to join the Army National Guard to help pay for college eventually put her in the cockpit.

Steve silvestri

"I never even got on a plane until I was 19 years old," Jackman said.

Once she was there, she never looked back.

Mindee Jackman

"I love it! Absolutely love it," Jackman said.

By September 2001, she had made it — just 4 months into her airline career.

"You're just living the dream. You're just so happy you're there... you think, 'Okay, I'm settled,'" Jackman said.

That morning began with a routine flight from Richmond to Newark, with a quick stop in Baltimore. When Jackman walked into airport operations, everyone was staring at a television.

"I'm thinking there must have been some really good show on TV... they're like, 'Oh, they're saying a plane accidentally hit the World Trade Center,'" Jackman said.

Then, as she looked over their shoulders, everything changed.

"Literally, as I do, the second plane hit the second tower, and we knew immediately... this was an act of terrorism. We're at war," Jackman said.

Then the Pentagon was hit.

"There were police and air marshals just everywhere... and there's people running and screaming, and it was just terrifying," Jackman said.

Mindee Jackman

Jackman wasn't only thinking like a pilot that day — she was thinking like a military wife. Her husband was active-duty Army on two-hour recall, and in those hours, she couldn't reach him.

"We just sat there for five days. Are our careers gone? Is this going to keep happening? Is America at war? And for me personally, is my husband gone?" Jackman said.

Twenty-five years later, she still thinks about the crews who never came home.

"They've got kids at home. Their brains are thinking, my husband, my children," Jackman said.

Jackman never thought about walking away from flying. Twenty-five years later, she is still flying for an airline.

For her, there will always be an America before that morning — and the day after.

"That next day when everybody was outside holding hands, I was really hoping that that was the America that was going to last... and I hope someday we get back to that," Jackman said.
—