I was flying to America when 9/11 changed the world

I was on a plane to America on September 11th, 2001: while the world watched in horror as two planes flew into the World Trade Center Twin Towers, I was heading to America for the Emmy Awards.

I was 27-years-old, a magazine entertainment editor at the time. LivingTV, then home of Will & Grace, Charmed and CSI, invited me to the Emmys to cover it. The PR for LivingTV was Gail Garcia (then Davidson), who had planned a week of glam parties, set visits and talent interviews. It was going to be a trip of a lifetime, which it did end up being, but tragically for all the wrong reasons.

Four hours into our 11-hour flight, we felt the plane do a U-turn, shortly followed by the pilot announcing that we were heading back to the UK. They explained only that there was an issue with American airspace and we had to turn back.

I gripped Gail’s hand, my knuckles white, my palms sweaty. We knew something was wrong. We had absolutely no idea what. The plane fell silent. Were we going to crash? The image that has never left me is the fuel streaking past my window as the plane emptied its tanks; it couldn’t land with a half-full tank.

We finally landed back in London eight hours after we’d taken off and were kept on the runway for another two hours. We were told not to turn our phones on, but of course I did. Twenty-seven new frantic, desperate messages. ‘Are you OK? Where are you? We are so worried about you, please call me.’ One revealed what had happened: ‘The Twin Towers have collapsed. They’re hijacking planes. We think it’s Bin Laden.’

I couldn’t fathom the magnitude of what had happened. I’d never heard of Bin Laden. Who was he? Why would he hijack planes and crash them into the World Trade Center?

In the following hours, I learned the truth: that four fully loaded US planes had been hijacked with the intention of crashing them into US landmarks. Two crashed into the Twin Towers and one into the Pentagon. On the fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, passengers and crew fought back, and the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board but preventing the hijackers from reaching their intended target, believed to have been the US Capitol.

There was fear that more US-bound planes could have been hijacked, hence why ours was turned around so abruptly. I also heard of people who had entered US airspace being kept for days before they could continue their journeys. We’d been lucky our plane had turned around in time. Many of my magazine colleagues were in New York at the time for Fashion Week and told of the horror, the desperation, the dust. The incomprehensible nature of it all.

It’s incredible to me that such a seismic event in our lives is not taught in schools. My children don’t understand the significance of it. Some teachers weren’t even born in 2001

After another two hours stuck on the runway, we arrived at Heathrow dazed, greeted by the Evening Standard front page, an image forever imprinted in my mind of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. It looked like a scene from a movie.

I didn’t know it at the time, but as I stepped into a cab, I drove into a world that was forever changed.

It’s incredible to me that such a seismic event in our lives is not taught in schools. My children don’t understand the significance of it. Some teachers weren’t even born in 2001.

I marked today’s 25th anniversary at a commemoration hosted by the charity SINCE 9/11 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where a piece of steel from the Twin Towers by artist Miya Ando stands in memory of the 2,977 people, including 67 British nationals, who perished that day. In a full-circle moment, it was the very same PR, Gail, who invited me to the event. It felt only apt that we should spend it together.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham gave an online address, saying, ‘Terror still knocks on the door of democracy’. Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis spoke, asking, ‘What can we learn from the past for the sake of our future?’

He acknowledged that the threat to our values and civilisation has not gone away and said: ‘When confronted with terrorism we must stand tall with pride. When confronted with hate we must increase our love for fairness. When confronted with those who want to increase death we must sanctify life.’

Among others, they spoke alongside Ashfaque Chowdhury, chair of the Association of Muslims, who recited a poem calling for unity: ‘The world is one human body, every border crosses a human heart.’

Twenty-five years ago was one day in history, and yet the world has never been the same since.

SINCE 9/11 is a charity founded by Peter Rosengard 15 years ago to teach children about the events, causes and consequences of 9/11 in an attempt to create a better, peaceful and harmonious future. www.since9/11.com