Nine years ago today I received a phone call from a friend at approximately 8:10 A.M. My friend said in a rather quiet and measured tone, “I think you need to turn on the TV. A plane has hit the World Trade Center.”

I responded, rather disinterestedly, “What kind of plane?”

“Don’t know,” he said.

“Turn on the TV,” he directed.

“So how bad is it?” I asked, still, obviously, not grasping the seriousness of the situation.

“Turn on the TV. Now,” was his only response.

I hung up. I turned on the TV.

And so the morning of September 11, 2001 began to unfold. In horrible fashion.

This year, the anniversary of that horrible day hits on the same weekend PlaneBusiness Banter resumes its weekly publishing schedule — after our usual August hiatus from almost all things airline-related.

As we always do, we will honor those airline employees who lost their lives that day in this week’s issue of PBB.

Here too, we do the same.

While the world takes a moment today to commemorate the events that happened that day in a much larger sense — particularly the thousands of people who died in New York City — we here at PlaneBusiness, as we have since that awful day, focus on our departed airline family members. Those crew members who went to work on what was a beautiful day in the Northeast that day — but never came home.

American Airlines Flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

CREW: John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant.

United Airlines Flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

CREW: Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant.

American Airlines Flight 77, Washington to Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon.

CREW: Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant.

United Airlines Flight 93, Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

CREW: Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant.

May they all continue to enjoy peace in a much better place.