• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
AAAPO

The American Alliance of Airport Police Officers

  • About Us
  • News
  • Contact Us
American Alliance of Airport Police Officers

Press Release

American Alliance of Airport Police Officers

  • Press Release
  • For Immediate Release
  • September 11, 2019
  • Contact: Bobby Egbert
  • Media Relations
  • regbert@papba.org
  • (201) 871-2100

September 11: Never Forget

Today marks the 18th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States of America. Nearly two decades later, our country has not forgotten the sacrifices made on that fateful day. First responders and their families still bear the brunt of these lasting impacts, but with the passage of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act on July 23, 2019, the United States has vowed once again to truly never forget.

The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated hijackings of commercial passenger airplanes, all departing from airports in the northeastern United States and bound for the West Coast. Two of the planes crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth, barreling towards the nation’s capital, was diverted into a rural Pennsylvania field after passengers heroically overtook the hijackers. On that day, 2,996 people lost their lives, and over 6,000 were injured. Many families are still dealing with the fallout.

In addition to being the deadliest terrorist attack in our nation’s history, September 11 was also the deadliest day for firefighters and law enforcement officers, with 343 and 72 lives lost respectively. The Port Authority alone lost 37 of its police officers, the most of any United States police department on a single day.

Though time has passed, we will never cease to honor those who lost their lives. Every day, every month and every anniversary is a reminder of the sacrifices made by our first responders, and why we must continue fighting to preserve their memory and support those who are still afflicted. Without these heroic individuals who put their lives on the line, our country would have far more casualties.

On this 18th anniversary, we as a nation take time to remember the ordinary citizens, the firefighters, the law enforcement officers, the paramedics, and the veterans who persevered and continue to fight for our country. Our unity in moving forward is a clear sign to the world that the United States is capable of adapting and overcoming even the greatest of tragedies. We will never forget all the brave men and women lost on September 11, 2001.

###

The American Alliance of Airport Police Officers (AAAPO) is composed of rank-and-file airport police officers (including many dual police/aircraft rescue firefighters) who stand as the first line of defense against terrorist attacks, hijackings and other criminal activity at our nation’s airports. We seek to promote security and safety for the traveling public, visitors and airport employees by highlighting best practices and identifying areas for improvement and proposed solutions for our nation’s airport security deployment. AAAPO focuses on regulatory issues that promote our efforts to provide the most advanced and cutting-edge service innovations and security processes in our nation and the world. Our organization represents thousands of sworn law enforcement officers across the United States beholden only to this mission. We are unencumbered by neither political nor managerial constraints that would prevent us from promoting sound public safety policy.

The founding members of the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers are composed of numerous rank-and-file airport police officers from John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Van Nuys Airport, Stewart International Airport and Teterboro Airport.

  • Website: https://aaapo.org/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaapofficers/

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Contacts

  • East Coast Media Relations Bobby Egbert regbert@papba.org (201) 871-2100
  • West Coast Media Relations Julie Banz jbanz@laapoa.com (424) 312-2224
Copyright © 2025 The American Alliance of Airport Police Officers. All Rights Reserved.
Website designed and developed by 911MEDIA