Only Plane in the Sky

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M Graff, 425 pages

Even now, twenty years later, when the subject of 9/11 comes up, the conversation almost invariably turns into an exchange of personal experiences:  "This is what I was doing when..."  Virtually every person in the United States, and large numbers outside the US, were affected, emotionally if in no other way, by the events of that day.  The Only Plane in the Sky collects the "Where were you?" stories of hundreds of people, most of them uncomfortably close to the horror as it unfolded.

There are some notable lacunae - for example, the stories of the passengers and crew of Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 and Korean Air Flight 85, both erroneously believed to have been hijacked, are completely absent -  but those are filled elsewhere in the considerable amount of literature produced on the attacks.  This same literature poses other challenges - those seeking a comprehensive account of what happened inside the WTC are far better served by the excellent 102 Minutes, and detailed accounts of what happened in the White House and onboard Air Force One are not hard to come by, while the ATC and military response was recreated in a manner more truthful than most documentaries in United 93.  Where The Only Plane in the Sky shines is its relatability.  The current of testimonies of ordinary people suffering through what seemed unimaginable draws the reader on and on.  The result is a compelling portrait of a moment in time.