There wasn't exactly a good place to find out the news that the Twin Towers were under attack, but being thousands of feet in the air on an aircraft has got to be one of the worst.
But that's exactly how these passengers were informed that their country - and the world - had changed forever, and the whole thing was caught on camera.
Take a look at this harrowing footage here:
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Incredibly, rather than being enveloped by sheer panic as many would expect, these travellers were stunned into silence.
As they took in the contents of the pilot's address, each person seemed to be overcome by shock and sorrow as the gravity of the situation sunk in.
And 23 years on from that fateful day, it remains just as chilling.
There were a total of 2,977 victims of the coordinated terrorist attacks, where four aircraft were hijacked and three of them crashed into high-profile targets in the US.
When news first broke, then-President George Bush was visiting the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, and reading a book with a classroom full of young children.
And while his Chief of Staff was whispering the haunting words into his ear, thousands of people were also simultaneously travelling on planes across the country, just like those in the footage.
It was therefore up to the pilot to inform his passengers about what was unfolding on the ground.
"At least three aircraft have been hijacked in the United States, two of which were hijacked in the New York area," a member of staff announced over the tannoy.
"They were driven into the World Trade Center towers, they destroyed both towers, both towers have completely collapsed according to the reports that we have.
"In addition to that another aircraft was hijacked, we believe this was a US hijacked airplane and that was blown up and destroyed out over the ocean.
"Fourth item here, the Pentagon was attacked with a helicopter loaded with explosives and there's no damages estimates right now.
"Also we've had other reports of the White House being attacked, they're reporting now that there's smoke coming out of the White House, no further details."
Throughout the grim announcement, the plane's passengers could only utter a handful of words in shock, with a few saying 'oh my god' and others bowing their heads solemnly.
Although chilling, the footage serves as a reminder of the chaos and confusion which followed the 9/11 attacks.
Some of the pilot's information was not factual, which is probably to be expected in a situation like this without the technology and communication we have these days.
The aircraft which struck the Pentagon was a Boeing 757 passenger plane and not a helicopter, killing 59 victims on board the plane, all five hijackers and a further 125 people in the Pentagon.
But a lot of those who were travelling on an aircraft that day had no idea if they were safe or not.
The plane, which the pilot said had been destroyed over the ocean, was United Airlines 93, a passenger flight which the hijackers intended to crash into a target in Washington D.C, either the White House or the Capitol Building.
However, it crashed in Pennsylvania with 40 victims and all four hijackers on board dead after passengers on the plane fought the hijackers and attempted to force their way into the cockpit.
Olivia Burke