Journal
- Description
- Spiral-bound “Dreamswork Journal” belonging to Trans World Airlines (TWA) Captain David Friel. The cover of the journal includes a photograph of Friel in a plane cockpit. The journal was kept from May 2000 through October 2001 and includes several pages covering Friel's experience on September 11, 2001. The journal entries are handwritten.
- Historical Notes
- David Friel was an airline pilot for the U.S. Navy and Trans World Airlines (TWA) for over thirty years. On the morning of September 11, 2001, he was scheduled to pilot a flight from St. Louis International Airport to San Francisco, California. Minutes before departure, he would learn about the attacks in New York by word of mouth before gathering more concrete information from TWA colleagues and air traffic controllers. When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of all flights, Friel remained in St. Louis and experienced the confusion, fear, and uncertainty that ruminated nationwide in the hours and days following the attacks. Friel was scheduled to retire only six weeks after 9/11.
Friel began writing in this journal in May 2000 and maintained the practice throughout the final months of his career as a TWA pilot until mid-October 2001. Its extensive, detailed entry from September 11, 2001, includes a serial account of Friel’s day and features impromptu notes scribbled from the cockpit as he learned of the unfolding attacks.
- Accession Number: C.2023.21.1
- Dimensions: 8 5/8 in X 6.25 in X 5/8 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 20.32 cm X 15.875 cm X 12.7 cm
- Source: David Friel
- Credit Line: Gift of Captain David J. Friel (TWA)
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