On a day that remains etched in the memory of countless Americans, Vaughn Allex, an American Airlines employee, shared his heart-wrenching experience of unknowingly checking in two of the 9/11 terrorists. This fateful action at Dulles International Airport would haunt him for years to come.
September 11, 2001, is a date that many remember vividly—where they were, how they felt, and the shock of watching the tragic events unfold on television, witnessing the smoke rising from the Twin Towers, or scrambling to contact loved ones.
For Allex, it was just another day at the office, as he assisted passengers boarding Flight 77. Little did he know, this particular flight would be commandeered and used as a missile to strike the Pentagon, claiming the lives of 189 people.
Reflecting on the ordeal 15 years later in a Story Corps interview, Allex revealed the immense personal turmoil he endured upon realizing his inadvertent role in the tragedy.
He specifically recounted how, under the pressure of a typical busy morning, he checked in two late-arriving passengers, Salem and Nawaf Al-Hazmi. These brothers were later identified as hijackers on the ill-fated flight.
The weight of his actions dawned on Allex the following day at work, where he faced the uneasy glances of his colleagues. This realization marked the beginning of a long, painful journey of self-reproach.
Allex also remembered other passengers he interacted with that day, adding another layer of grief and complexity to his experience.
“I checked in a family that was a retiree and his wife, I had time to talk to them,” he said.
“There was a student group and I checked in a lot of those kids, and the parents, teachers. They were gone, they were just all gone. Once it became known people didn’t talk to me.”
He painfully noted, “I felt that there was no place for me in the hostility of the aftermath, where support groups formed and I was left in solitude, unable to share my grief without being reminded of my indirect connection to the tragedy.”
Despite the years, the memories still shadow Allex, yet he finds solace in opening up about his experiences, which for a long time he kept to himself.
His story is a poignant reminder of the invisible wounds carried by those even peripherally involved in tragedies, struggling with the unforeseeable consequences of everyday actions.