Government 9/11 ceremonies trapped passengers at customs and immigration inside the San Francisco airport today, and forced an American Airlines flight to divert away from National airport. That’s tone-deafness.

It’s worth commemorating 9/11 because that date affects so much we live with today, even though young people today didn’t experience it and don’t remember it directly. I shared my own recollection of what that day and its aftermath were like.

However, at San Francisco airport today Customs & Border Protection stopped processing all international arrivals to hold a 9/11 ceremony. Passengers were left waiting in line. Those at the front overheard the explanation, but others had no idea why everything stopped.

The ceremony reportedly involved the national anthem being sung from a location passengers couldn’t see, with CBP staff marching in line, and photos taken.

This lasted about 20 minutes of full work stoppage. Customs staff reportedly told passengers “sorry if you miss your connections.”

SFO int’l arrivals stopped to commemorate 9/11
byu/Flying-buffalo inunitedairlines

Meanwhile, traffic was halted at Washington’s National airport for a moment of silence at the Pentagon. That forced American Airlines flight 1386 from Charlotte to divert to Washington Dulles.

• It already had to hold for 30 minutes near Richmond due to heavy arrival traffic.
  
• It just missed the landing “cutoff” behind another aircraft.
  
• Lacking fuel for another 15-minute hold, crew were forced to divert.

KDCA stops for 9/11 Moment of Silence @ Pentagon; AAL1386 diverts to KIAD
byu/baldiedc inflightradar24

The aircraft finally headed out to DCA a couple of hours later.

There were no Temporary Flight Restrictions or NOTAM was published for the stop, but there was advance FAA planning guidance. The ATCSCC Current Operations Plan Advisory explicitly said,

DCA holding is expected and a stop is possible after 1230Z for moment of silence.

Ultimately that was one unlucky flight, with the Richmond hold and barely-missing its approach.

Now, CBP had announced brief halts in processing for 9/11 moment of silence at the exact time American Airlines flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. For instance,

• San Diego Field Office: “a brief halt in northbound traffic operations … Sept. 11, 2025 at 5:46 a.m. PT (08:46 ET).”

• Laredo/Juarez-Lincoln Bridge (2025): “temporary halt in north and southbound vehicular traffic … the morning of Sept. 11.”

However, I couldn’t find any public notices specific to San Francisco pausing arrival processing. And slowing down travel, inconveniencing both Americans and visitors, as how we respond to 9/11 is almost a bit too on the nose.

(HT: Hemal G.)