THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

REACTION Flight crew transforms sorrow into anger By Ellen Barry, Globe Staff, 9/13/2001 On Tuesday morning, shortly after their colleagues and friends had died in America's worst terror attack, American Airlines flight attendants were sobbing so openly in the East Boston Holiday Inn bar that a bartender climbed out from behind the bar to hug them. But a day later, pilots were pacing in and out, more incensed than frightened, said one, and wondering what kind of airline industry they would return to. ''It'll never be the same again,'' said Captain Norn Butterfield, a veteran pilot for American Airlines. ''It's going to be more like Israel. I think we're going back to the days of federal marshals.'' He alluded to the assignment of armed US marshals to airline flights to prevent hijackings in the 1970s. American's pilots and flight attendants are usually such a welcome crowd that Brinkley's bar offers them drink specials. But this week they had become a grim presence, passing in and out of the ''Crew Quarters'' with small black ribbons pinned to their shirts. Many said they had long thought that the airline industry and the American people had let down their guard. ''This isn't an airport problem, it's a world problem,'' said one American pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''America has been sleeping since World War II.'' American Airlines flight personnel who were grounded in Boston by Tuesday's disaster had been asked not to comment on the hijacking. Some added, though, that it was hazardous even to discuss openly the weak points in security - how the hijackers made their way into the cockpit, for instance, or how pilots have been trained to respond to hijacking incidents. They said that this week's events underscored an uncomfortable truth about the industry: how easy it can be to take over a plane, even without guns. But none of them admitted having any hesitation about returning to the job. And as he strode though the hotel's lobby, Butterfield said the main thing he was waiting for was a strong reprisal from the United States. This story ran on page A15 of the Boston Globe on 9/13/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.