‘We Were Freaking Out’: Former Brigantine Mayor Recalls Daughter’s Escape From World Trade Center on 9/11

Ed Kline says his daughter was beneath the World Trade Center when the first plane struck; back in Atlantic County, the 177th Fighter Wing was mobilizing to defend American skies

BRIGANTINE — Twenty-five years later, former Brigantine Mayor Ed Kline can still remember the agonizing period when he didn't know whether his daughter had survived the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

His daughter worked at the World Trade Center.

On most mornings, Kline said, she would take the subway downtown, stop for coffee below the complex and then head upstairs to her office.

Sept. 11, 2001, was different.

“My daughter worked at the World Trade Center, and she takes the subway downtown, and then she gets a cup of coffee down underground,” Kline recalled Friday during an appearance on The Don Williams Show on WOND.

That morning, she noticed people running and screaming.

Instead of proceeding to her office as usual, Kline said his daughter went up to street level to find out what was happening.

“That’s when the first plane hit directly above her almost,” Kline said.

“So she ran. She ran and got away.”

‘We could not get a hold of her’

Back in South Jersey, Kline had no idea whether his daughter had made it to safety.

Telephone networks were overwhelmed as people across the New York metropolitan area desperately tried to contact family and friends.

“We could not get a hold of her,” Kline said. “We were freaking out.”

Kline said his office had several different telephone lines at the time, and members of his staff repeatedly tried to reach his daughter while watching television coverage of the attacks.

Eventually, Kline tried an AT&T line.

She answered.

Kline estimated it had been somewhere between an hour and two hours before he finally learned his daughter was safe.

“It took a long time until we finally got her,” he said.

The experience changed the way Kline thought about communications during emergencies. He said his family has since maintained service through different telephone providers so that if one network goes down during a catastrophe, they have another way to try to reach one another.

Williams also remembered the uncertainty surrounding Kline's daughter that morning.

“I was on the air and said, Ed Kline’s daughter works in that building,” Williams recalled. “And we’re trying to find out whether or not she is in the building.”

Kline remembered his office staff watching different television channels as three employees continually tried his daughter's number.

“It was an unbelievable morning,” Kline said. “Everybody will never forget it if you live through it.”

Atlantic County’s fighter wing mobilized

As Kline and his family tried to reach his daughter, another part of Atlantic County was responding to the unfolding national emergency.

At Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township, members of the New Jersey Air National Guard's 177th Fighter Wing began mobilizing.

Official New Jersey National Guard histories say the 177th began conducting combat air patrol operations following the World Trade Center attacks. More than 180 airmen were mobilized within minutes to support North American Aerospace Defense Command air-sovereignty missions over the eastern United States.

The wing was among the country's initial response forces. Its previous experience conducting air-sovereignty missions helped it rapidly respond to the new homeland-defense mission.

Another New Jersey National Guard historical account says the 177th had its first F-16 loaded with ordnance and airborne within 90 minutes of the attacks.

The Atlantic City-based wing would become an important part of the defense of American airspace following 9/11.

Its F-16s flew combat air patrols as part of Operation Noble Eagle, protecting the skies over the Northeast.

The wing was particularly well positioned for the mission. Atlantic City sits within relatively short flying distance of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and the 177th had years of experience in air-defense operations before Sept. 11.

In the weeks following the attacks, nearly every member of the wing provided some form of direct support to the response and recovery effort, according to the New Jersey National Guard. More than 200 members were ultimately called to active federal service.

Two Atlantic County connections to an unforgettable day

Kline brought up the 177th during Friday's interview, recalling the role Atlantic City's fighter jets played following the attacks.

Twenty-five years later, his story provides two very different Atlantic County connections to Sept. 11.

One was intensely personal: a father in South Jersey desperately trying to determine whether his daughter had survived an attack on the building where she worked.

The other was military: airmen in Egg Harbor Township mobilizing as the United States confronted the realization that its own airspace had been turned into a weapon.

Williams noted Friday that an entire generation has now been born with no firsthand memory of what Americans experienced that morning.

For Kline, there is no difficulty remembering it.

His daughter had been beneath the World Trade Center shortly before she normally would have gone upstairs to work. Instead, she encountered people running and screaming, went to street level to see what was happening and escaped as the attack unfolded.

“It was an unbelievable morning,” Kline said.

“Everybody will never forget it if you live through it.”

Ed Kline made his comments Friday on “The Don Williams Show” on WOND.