19 terrorists hijack four airplanes and crash two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one of them into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and one into a field in Shanksville, PA (as a result of passenger actions).
Barbara retires from United Airlines. Forced into retirement with drastic reductions in pay and benefits. She was joined by 2500 other flight attendants who retired the same day.
The pressured retirement triggered emotions which stimulated her to write the story of her career. She started with individual articles covering her career and flight attendant life after 9/11. These articles were consolidated into her book Turbulent Skies.
Barbara published the first edition of Turbulent Skies.
Barbara is invited to be the guest speaker at a luncheon of Clipped Wings (mostly retired United flight attendants). The presentation was made at the Flight Path Learning Center in Los Angeles.
Barbara creates wings with the “Our 33” design standing for the 33 flight crew members lost on 9/11/2001. She also creates shirts featuring the same logo “Our 33” acknowledging the 33 lost crewmembers. This merchandise is marketed within the airline community to help raise money for memorials to the lost crew members.
Pasadena Weekly news service writes an article on Barb’s wings and the poem she wrote commemorating the flight crews.
Barbara is designated as a Founding Sponsor of the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA in recognition of the donations generated by book and merchandise sales.
Barbara is invited to be the keynote speaker for the national “Clipped Wings” Convention in San Diego on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Barbara publishes her second book, The Forgotten, which thoroughly examines the events of 9/11 from an aviation perspective.
Barbara is selected to be a participant at the Readers’ Magnet Book Confab in San Franscisco.