By Evan Borman
Mark Nagel was watching Sports Center at 6:45 a.m. on a Tuesday when he got a call from the airport that the first plane had hit the Twin Towers. Nagel turned to CNN and saw the terrorist attack that would change the country forever.
He immediately left for work, contacted the Transportation Security Administration Federal Security Manager, and began to put together a plan. Nagel was the acting director of airport security that day, standing in for the usual director who was in Alaska.
Nagel, the interim COO at Denver International Airport, oversees most of the employees at the largest airport by size in the United States. He started at the airport in 1993 and spent 15 years in airport security as the assistant director of security and director of security before and after the 9/11 terror attacks.
In 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration oversaw all airport and airline security. The FAA had supplied prearranged security contingency measures based on threats to safety.
When Nagel arrived at the Emergency Operations Center in DIA, they initiated the restriction of airfield access, closed all perimeter gates, air traffic control and the national airspace.
All airplanes in flight were instructed to land at their closest airport. DIA was no longer in business. No one was allowed in the airport except law enforcement agencies and airport or airline employees. It took until 2 p.m. to evacuate all arriving passengers and those on the concourse to safety.
With no remaining passengers, security and Denver Police K-9 swept the areas for explosives. No aircraft was allowed to be parked at the jet bridge. “We restricted all vehicles in and around the terminal. One of our contingencies was to clear all vehicles that were parked within 300 feet of the terminal building,” Nagel said.
The FAA communicated renewed security measures to put into place, and Nagel’s primary role was to conduct airline briefings. “On Sept. 11, by the afternoon, there was no one in the airport except for badged employees and law enforcement officers. So it was a very eerie feeling,” Nagel said.
Nagel lived just south of the airport and had gone outside later that night. “When I walked outside to get some fresh air, I didn’t hear any aircraft noise except for Buckley Air Force Base, which is just south of us. They had their F-16s flying around, and they had a very distinctive sound. It really just drilled everything home.”
The FAA established rapid intermittent changes until noon on Sept. 12, when the last emergency amendment was released. DIA received its first flight the following morning.
It was hectic and unnerving as the stranded passengers were shuffled back into the airport and asked to take off belts, metal and participate in various new security measures. “It changed the aviation industry overnight for a matter of 48 hours,” Nagel said.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen next. What else did these terrorist actors have planned for us?” Nagel explained. “That really kind of kept everybody on edge for the next couple months.”
Many security measures established by the FAA following Sept. 11 remained in place. “If you know there’s a current threat out there and intelligence that supports that, there are policies that are modified to help address any of those threats,” Nagel said.
The airport experience today is vastly different than it was 25 years before the attack.
Before Sept. 11, it was common for friends and family to wish loved ones goodbyes from the gates and to spend time grabbing a drink or bite to eat inside the airport. “The hugs, the kisses, the laughter, the crying—it was kind of a fun place to work because of all the human interaction, all the happiness,” Navel said.
The loss of concessions revenue and concourse traffic has led airports to increase the prices of amenities. Airlines gradually stopped free checked luggage for standard tickets, eliminated free meals and transitioned to on-board food sales. The changes led to the modern fees detested by many for preferred seating, early boarding or extra legroom and comfort.
Security checkpoint technology has evolved exponentially in recent years and has begun to afford more comfort to visitors. DIA just opened two new checkpoints, on Level 6 east and west, equipped with the latest technology from TSA.
“It’s all about the people,” Nagel said. “What we do here does make a difference to everybody who flies.”