Friday morning, September 11, 2026, marked 25 years since the hijacked-airplanes terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
Shortly after the planes struck in New York City, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta issued an order never given outside of military exercises: “Bring all the planes down.” Soon after, airplanes started landing at every airport in the United States, including Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita.
As many as 40 unscheduled airliners and seven cargo planes were landing one right after another, many much larger than what ICT usually handled.
As quickly as aircraft touched down on 19-R, the west runway, they were taxied away to keep the runway open for a line of landings.
Within two hours, the entire U.S. airspace was empty except for military planes.
Cross-country flights found their destinations were now ICT; 10 America West flights landed at Wichita. Despite the chaos & confusion, the entire grounding operation took less than a half-hour, with planes landing on both runways; the final plane to land was a JetBlue airliner.
About four dozen planes made unscheduled landings in Wichita in about 25 minutes, landing on both runways.
One plane that landed in Wichita that morning was an EL AL Flight en route from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Los Angeles (LAX), with a planned stop at JFK. That first international flight to land at Mid-Continent Airport carried 134 people, mostly Israelis.
Without EL AL representatives to handle the passengers at ICT, the city itself adopted them. Mayor Bob Knight and City Manager Chris Cherches welcomed the plane, working on accommodations and asking how they could help. Many of the Israelis were frightened, did not speak English, and some were in tears as they finally exited the plane.
The EL AL passengers found a temporary home at Camp Hiawatha, a Salvation Army facility, where Yia Yia’s delivered food, and the local Jewish Federation helped with assistance and kosher food. During their unexpected stay, Wichita and Sedgwick County rolled out the red carpet for the Israelis. City buses took them to Exploration Place, Cowtown, Botanica, Cabaret Old Town, and the Sedgwick County Zoo -- all free of charge.
All of a sudden, there were more than 1,300 people inside the Wichita airport, not knowing what would happen next.
Airport and airline personnel worked immediately to assist those suddenly stranded in Wichita, finding hotel space. Calls flooded in from Wichita residents offering their homes to these strangers, and food arrived from local businesses.
Kansas Governor Bill Graves talked with reporters after reading a statement in front of the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Wichita; he was in the city for a conference with Japanese business and government officials discussing trade issues.
A long line of people signed up to donate blood at the American Red Cross in Wichita that morning.
On September 11th, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., the Veterans Memorial Park Board of Wichita hosted a ceremony commemorating the events of 9/11/2001, and paying tribute to the Veterans who served in the subsequent Global War on Terror. Held at the Park’s Operation Freedom Memorial downtown, the event began with the presentation of the Colors by a color guard, the National Anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance. This was followed by an invocation, and speaker’s remarks. After the playing of Amazing Grace, the American Legion Post 4 Honor Guard fired a three-volley salute. The event concluded with bugles sounding TAPS for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
A Patriot Day ceremony and remembrance walk at Wichita's McConnell Air Force base began at 8:46 a.m., coinciding with the moment of first impact on the North Tower of the World Trade Center in NYC. The bell-ringing symbolized the courage of first responders who sacrificed their lives. The remembrance walk followed the ceremony.
The town of Anthony, in Harper County, is home to the official 9/11 Memorial of Kansas. The Anthony memorial contains steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center. There are also ashes from the site from that morning in New York City, a 250-pound block of limestone from the facing of the wall of the Pentagon hit by the terrorists, and soil & ashes from the area of the crash site in Pennsylvania.
Friday evening, the Anthony 9/11 Memorial Ceremony and March will take place at Memorial Park; Kansas Congressman Ron Estes and the former mayor of Anthony are scheduled to speak. Members of the New York City Fire Department will also be present. A memorial march will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Anthony.
