First-Person Account Of Today's Attacks 1084
I was scheduled to testify today at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's "Patent Theatre" in Crystal City, Virginia, on the intellectual property aspects of the proposed Hague Convention on Jurisdiction. I had sweated for days over a prepared oral statement about the treaty's implications for student coders and journalists.
My friend Rob Carlson and I left Baltimore early (shortly after 7:00 a.m.) and deposited ourselves at an outlying Metro stop, intending to take the subway into Crystal City. We arrived without incident.
Upon disembarking at Crystal City, I gave the sounds of various sirens little heed -- even as the municipality's Battalion Chief (fire department) roared past, red and white lights flashing.
"There must be a fire nearby," Rob said, glancing upward as fluffy chunks of ash drifting down into the USPTO's courtyard like huge downy feathers.
The hearing room was uncharacteristically vacant. I sat down next to my former boss, Consumer Project on Technology director Jamie Love, and flipped open my laptop to read over my prepared oral testimony.
"Did you hear? A plane hit the World Trade Center in New York!" Jamie whispered excitedly, ensconced in a pile of laptop peripherals and scattered newspapers. I froze momentarily, floppy disk half inserted into my laptop. Looking up, I noticed most of the hearing's attendees appeared to be in shock. A few sat rigid in their seats, hands folded in their laps, staring ahead in numbed silence. Others milled about, busily discussing the foreign policy ramifications of the morning's events. No one seemed to be concentrating on the hearing.
Federal government officials present -- (I recognized members of the U.S. State Department, Copyright Office and PTO) reacted differently -- receiving the sporadic stream of dispatches and rumors from PTO staffers running in and out of the Theatre with detached contemplation. It appeared that the Feds had discarded their usual mantle of chatty, diplomatic ambiance, and had switched into Crisis Mode.
"If anyone really wants to testify now, they can. At this time, we are not evacuating the building," proclaimed a Patent Office functionary. No one took her up on her offer, and several folks murmured quietly about the inappropriateness of proceeding with the hearing given the context and magnitude of events.
More runners entered the Theater, bearing news of additional disasters -- some alleged, some actual. Rumors about the destruction of various Washington agencies and landmarks whipped throughout the conference room.
I closed my laptop, which had been teetering idle on my lap for several minutes. People started for the door, hesitating in case the unspoken consensus for scrapping the hearing was improbably reversed. Cell phones were whipped out of suit pockets and family members dialed to no effect.
"You can always submit written testimony." declared U.S. delegate to the Hague Conference and PTO attorney-advisor Jennifer Lucas as the long-planned hearing disintegrated.
I felt a mix of emotions: disappointed that I wouldn't have the chance to testify and lock horns with the MPAA and other industry lobbyists, and guilty for having such self-centered thoughts during this crisis.
Rob and I headed out toward the lobby. He decided that we should skip the elevator and go down a flight of stairs to the lobby.
The courtyard of the Patent Office facility (which had been nearly deserted when we arrived) was packed with a milling, chattering crowd. Security guards peered about pensively as if reassuring themselves that the building was indeed still standing. Soon after, a shout went up that the Patent Office was being evacuated.
The head of the U.S. Delegation to the Hague Conference (and State Department legal advisor) Jeff Kovar brushed past me with an associate in tow.
"We're walking to the State Department." Kovar grimly mentioned to no one in particular, and started the long hike back to his office.
Rob and I weaved our way through gridlocked traffic and headed toward the Crystal City Metro station. Several Federal Marshalls stood about -- one wearing a boxy bulletproof vest, another wearing a pink blouse with a lanyard ID. Military personnel huddled together on the sidewalk, segregated according to the hue of their uniforms. Fast moving, thin white clouds rushed overhead. I wasn't sure if they were really smoke pluming from the Pentagon.
We jumped into a Yellow Line train alongside a pair of blue-shirted Air Force officers. I watched as an orange ladybug crawled up the silver-stitched epaulet of the officer closest to me, and informed him of its presence. He stared at me for a silent moment before carefully removing the insect.
"That's the least of my problems," he said. "Thanks anyway."
Mirrror for movies and images. (Score:5, Informative)
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~bennetb/attackonamerica [uwyo.edu]
If you have any articles, movies, or photos. Email them to me @ bennetb@uwyo.edu.NO.SPAM
Passengers on planes (Score:5, Informative)
I'm off to give blood
Jason
Almost a witness (Score:3, Informative)
Another interesting thing for everyone. Apparently U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson's wife called him from her cell phone on the plane that crashed into the pentagon. Apparently the hijackers used knife-like weapons. Here is the link [akamaitech.net].
experience from earlier today (Score:5, Informative)
I woke up to the sound of the first plane flying overhead. I said to myself "wow that sounds like it is pretty low" then I heard it crash and jumped out of bed.I watched the first building collapse from the roof. Took pictures of it. People were jumping out of the windows of the towers because they could not evacuate in time. My whole neighborhood was on the rooftops. When the buildings collapsed, the whole village screamed all at once. People were up there screaming and yelling and crying. I helped this old woman call her friends that live and work there who she could not reach. She was hysterical. My landlord's brother was in one of the towers. Most of the phone lines are down, including cell phones which have lost their towers. Subways, busses, bridges, tunnels, trains were all closed. Now some of it exiting Manhattan has been opened. Six NYU dorms were evacuated and all the people living in them were herded into a gym.There was an amazing migration of people north through the streets.The area looks like an apocalypse. Everything is grey and cloudy and there is 5 inches of debris on the ground. It looks like it is snowing. City hall looks like it is standing in a desert. Police were going up and down the streets yelling into loudspeakers. I'm so used to hearing sirens now, it is like birds chirping. They are concerned now of biological weapons so hopefully the wind won't shift and blow smoke my way.Third building just fell. They fear more because they are on fire and can't seem to get them out.All schools closed. All hospitals filled. They need more blood. Death toll has been climbing all day.
My Neighbor Survived (Score:5, Informative)
jumping out of the towers and strike the ground. He was outside a few hundred yards from the towers when the first one fell. He dove into a subway entrance as a black clould of ash and debris came rolling across the plaza. His friend broke his ankle in the dive for safety.
He knows of 10 friends who lost their lives today. Two of those are friends he grew up with.
His account is horrific. He saw someone dismembered by the falling debris just a few yards from where he was.
Akamaitech.com - tragic coincidence (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,46710
I was there (Score:5, Informative)
I also thought, what a horrible accident, but I assumed that it was a private airplane. Today was a beautiful day to fly after all(I'm a private pilot).
From one corner of our floor on 48th floor, we get a clear view of the towers. We all went there. The north tower was on fire and there were papers floating in the air. I was trying to find out what kind of airplane caused the fire.
While standing there, I caught a sight of another airplane, a twin engine jet, it was banking to right. It came, what seemed like slightly below where we were and smashed straight into the other tower. A huge fire ball went up covering almost the entire upper third of the tower. Then it was gone and the second tower was on fire.
A second or so later, we heard the explosion and felt out building shake. At this point we all realized that this was no accident and we all ran to get out of the building.
As the elevators were full we ran down the staircase and then got out on the street.
Since clearly there would be no further work today, I decided to walk to Brooklyn to my mother-in-laws house. When I was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge we saw F-15s circling high over New York.
Just as I reached the middle of the bridge we heard a crash. I turned around and saw the huge tower of World Trade Center collapse....
I feel horrible...
Re:Almost a witness (Score:2, Informative)
I would never EVER let someone wielding a bladed weapon hi-jack an airplane. If they have to get close to me to take me out then it gives me a fighting chance, and in my opinion it would be worth the risk, if I can take out eve one of the hi-jackers maybe the other passengers will have the balls to attack as well. There is no way 3 or 4 hijackers can take on 20 or 30 passengers if they only have bladed weapons.
Kintanon
Pictures and Videos Needed! (Score:5, Informative)
I know how we all feel about facial-matching software, but please don't let your priciples get in the way of brining the terrorists to justice. Despite your fears, the *reality* of this kind of terrorism is far worse than the *possible* loss of privacy you fear.
PLEASE turn a copy in to the FBI or Police!
My day (Score:2, Informative)
My professors watch wasn't working to well and she ran the class kinda of late till like 8:40. I decided hell I need the book for the class I'll go inside the world trade center and pickup a book and get some coffee and head on to work.
I get to the front of the world trade center and hear a loud rumble like a plane. I look up and see a plane kinda low. I'm thinking damn this plane is gonna crash obviously the pilot is going to turn it into the hudson and hopefully that way he/she would minimize life lost. I kept looking.. and standing there.. standing there for about 2 minutes.. the plane isn't turning infact it's trying to get aligned. It slams into the world trade center and debris is everywhere.. TOTAL MAYHEM!!. Everyone is running and I'm standing there in total freaking awe. I couldn't believe it. It's really a good thing I was closer to the building the impact pushed the debris over my head but the guy behind me wasn't so lucky. I heard a big thud and turned around and the guy was laying on the floor. He had a hole in his head that needed to be stitched and was bleeding profusely.. I took off his jacket and try to stop the bleeding helping him. I'm a us army reverist so I know first aid.. I'm yelling for help dialing 911 on my phone (all circuits busy). About 10 minutes later I hear another big BOOM.. and look up and debris is going to hit me.. so I'm trying to pull the guy and decide that's not a good idea.. Good thing a guy helped me pull him over to the Millenium Hotel across the street.. we were in the garage area and debris is still coming down and the plane is still blowing up. I couldn't stop the bleeding on this guy so I told the other guy to stay there as I find a doctor or nurse or somebody.. I see an ambulance and flag it down immediately.. They put the guy on the strecther and I hope he's alright he lost alot of blood.. I've never see a wound bleed so profusely like that (PLEASE PLEASE IF NOTHING ELSE GIVE BLOOD.. JUST DO IT; PLEASE!!).. My dad works in that area so I went to his office.. relaxed a bit and I was actually fine like it didn't bother me. Then I called worked and said I was gonna be late (no one answered). So i went to the train and it was closed off.. so I walked to work which isn't too far.... that was my day.. i am now in shock and on call
Re:Pictures and Videos Needed! (Score:3, Informative)
Giving Blood in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
More first person accounts (Score:2, Informative)
It is a lot of first person accounts apparently from British citizens working in the US who witnessed the events in both DC and NYC.
It is a very interesting alternative to all the news reel footage on TV today.
REPORT SOMEONE WHO IS SAFE! (Score:5, Informative)
Please report everyone you know of who has survived the attacks.
U. Berkeley has apparently supported this with a few hundred servers. GO TO IT AND SPREAD THE WORD!
What I and a friend saw (Score:3, Informative)
At work we could see the smoke from the burning buildings, but not the buildings themselves, since there was another building in between. However, when tower two fell, we could see all the dust from that, obscuring all of lower Manhattan from our tenth floor view.
At that point we were sent home, but I was still in disbelief that the tower had fallen. I thought maybe the top had slid off or something. Another guy thought he'd heard that the radio tower had collapsed, so I walked a couple of blocks north, then headed back west, to the north end of West Broadway.
Many people were there watching tower one burning as well as the dust from tower two. I glanced away for a moment, but looked back when I heard a gasp from the crowd, only to see tower one collapsing.
There was a puff of smoke around the top of the building, then the roof began to fall, including the huge transmitting antenna on top, caving into the building below. After a second or two, we could hear the rumble of the building - it sounded like thunder.
By now the crowd had turned to go north, some running, some walking, but everyone moving with some urgency. I didn't want to run since I didn't want to cause anyone else to panic.
As we crossed 6th Avenue, we passed Mayor Guiliani, surrounded by aides and reporters, who I found out watching TV later had been forced from his mobile command center near the towers.
I continued up 6th Avenue, and apparently the Mayor continued up West Broadway, where he tried unsucessfully to set up temporary headquarters at the swank Soho Grand hotel. We were to cross paths again as he ended up back on 6th Avenue, hoping to get into a fire house, however it was locked. Supposedly someone in the entourage tried to break down the door with a fire extinguisher, and they ultimately made it inside.
I spoke to a friend who works two blocks south of the towers. I'm not too clear on his timeline, but he was engulfed in dust and debris when the first building collapsed and I think he said he took shelter in the building where he works, only to be nearly flattened by the second building falling about half an hour later. He was incredibly fortunate that he had no physical injuries and was able to make it home OK, though rescuers initially wanted to take him to Staten Island.
He also said he called a friend who'd been working in one of the towers and that they had left the building immediately after the first plane hit and were on the street when the second one hit 18 minutes later.
That suggests to me that the loss of life will turn out to be a good deal lower than it could have been. In fact, another friend pointed out that the bombing in 1993 may have actually saved lives today, as those who remembered it may have left at the first sign of trouble.
Now for some personal thoughts: I feel incredibly fortunate that my close friends and family are all unhurt, though I'm sure I'll find out soon enough about acquaintances and friends of friends, etc. who weren't so lucky. I wish everyone could be so lucky.
Re:Almost a witness (Score:4, Informative)
They couldn't have known... I imagine the hijackers either used knives, or surprise and martial arts training. All they had to do is get in the cockpit, and kill the pilots (handily strapped into the seats there), which a trained person could do in a matter of seconds. Then lock the door, and fly into the building. A few passengers might see them go in to the cockpit, and they might be scared, but they couldn't know their bodies were a projectile destined to collapse the WTC.
My condolances to all who had friends and family perish today.
--Bob
My Wife Was In WTC #2 When the First Plane Crashed (Score:5, Informative)
My wife, Stacy, worked in tower #2, 21st floor. She was in a
meeting at 8:45 when the first plane crashed into tower #1. She
heard the plane coming in, loud enough to make her think it was
flying unusually close to the buildings.
After the crash, she saw large chunks of burning debris falling
down. Her office decided to evacuate immediately. Thanks to all
the fire drills they've done since the '93 bombing, they knew
exactly what to do, where to go. They got into the staircase
quickly, and started walking down the 21 floors.
Stacy didn't hear any alarms or building announcements. There
were other people in the staircase, heading down, but it wasn't
crowded.
When Stacy and her coworkers got to the lobby, security guards
directed them away from the Liberty St. exit. They used the
Church St. exit instead. Outside the building, security guards
told them to move away from the building. One of the guards kept
shouting, "It was a plane, not a bomb!"
At first Stacy hesitated, because she saw debris coming down,
but she realized it was paper from offices. So she crossed Church
St.
As Stacy was crossing Church St., she turned and looked back for the
first time. She saw the flames shooting out of the top of tower #1. She
stopped in her tracks for a few seconds, stunned.
Across Church St., Stacy found a bunch of her coworkers in front of
Century 21. Their boss told them to go home. Stacy turned and starting
walking down Cortlandt St. towards Broadway.
Near Broadway, Stacy stopped to look again. She didn't see the
second plane crash into tower #2, but she saw the enormous
fireball explode. People started screaming. Everyone on the
street started running away from the Trade Center.
I asked her what it sounded like. Oddly, she doesn't remember hearing it.
There were fire engines and emergency vehicles everywhere.
Stacy ran about 3 blocks before she felt safe. She walked to the
entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge and sat down on one of the benches
to collect herself.
As Stacy walked across the bridge, she kept looking back at the burning
towers. They were intact while she walked. On the Brooklyn side, she
picked up a bus and was home by 11 AM.
Report from Midtown NYC (Score:2, Informative)
At first we thought it was an accident, but a woman in the subway car had a walkman, and by the time I got out at Times Square, we knew that there had been a second crash, and it was probably no accident. I got into my office, and joined the group huddled around a TV in the conference room. A minute or two later, WTC Two collapsed.
We were all in shock. To think that this was happening a mere two or three miles from our office, to the tallest, greatest buildings in the City, was unbelievable. The guy who handles our hardware resale started crying, realizing that the people from Sun that he had worked with for so long had been in those buildings. Other people stared at the screen, or cried, or tried to call friends and family members.
I stayed around the office for another hour or so, and then wanted to get back home (uptown). By then the subways were out of commission, so I had to walk.
For perhaps the first time, I was pleasantly astounded by the people of New York. I had expected the worst: A terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, you might expect chaos in the City. I had been worried about chaos in the streets, riots, looting, violence... With all the City's forces occupied in combatting this threat downtown, people could take advantage to further their own purposes. But there was none of that. People were calm, rational, and helpful. People who had radios shared them with others. People walked steadily uptown, no panic, no hysteria. I wanted to give blood, but there were too many donors already lined up, so I have to wait until tomorrow.
The people of NYC have actually responded well to a challenge to their safety and their peace of mind. What happened here today was a tragedy of epic proportions, and will never be forgotten, but we will always remember as well that New York City did not collapse when the Twin Towers did.
-Joe
News from USMA (West Point) (Score:2, Informative)
I am a cadet at the United State Military at West Point, NY. We are located about 50 miles directly North of NYC on the Hudson. If you don't know what USMA is it is a military college that give a top of the line education in exchange for 5 years of you service as an officer in the army after you graduate. I am a freshman (plebe) here. We are totally military oriented. The majority of teachers are officers and our environment revolves around the military.
About 0900 EST I had just woken up from a nap and was working at my computer. A plebe from across the hall come over and told me to turn on the news; a plane had hit the WTC. I did that and saw the disaster. My roommate just got back from a class and started watching. We had not heard many details but with knew this was going to be big, especially in our area of work.
0930 I headed to my Psychology class. Before class we put the TV on and watched the news. Even the teacher was somewhat upset. While I was watching (before 0945 when class started) the bottom of the screen had a line about a fire at the Pentagon. This was all I heard until I came out of class at 1040.
I walked out in the hall and everybody is abuzz. I asked someone what was up and found out both the building have collapsed. I went back into a classroom with a TV on to set what was up. I found out that both buildings were down and a plane hit the Pentagon. Then they said a plane near Pittsburgh was hijacked. I am from around near Pittsburgh. Around this time I headed back to my room. An auditorium was open with CNN playing and many cadet's in there watching.
Back in the barracks I walked past my roommates Team Leader's room (TL is a sophmore -yuk-who is responsible for squaring away their plebe). She called me in to watch (technically its against the rule for plebes to use their computers to watch TV or listen to music until Christmas break). We realized this was big, really big. A good number of Cadets are from military families or know someone who works in the Pentagon. This was around 1110 and we heard there were several planes that hijacked and the Capitol Building was bombed (this later turned out as false).
Lunch formation was 1200. We were told that business would go on as usual. The Corps of Cadets would continue activities as normal. No classes were canceled. The skies were clear all day; no smoke or anything.
Security is much tighter. The post is open only from one road. We must carry our military ID's everywhere in every uniform. We are not permitted to order any food into post (we have a MickeyD's that delivers). The barracks are open only from one entrance. All passes and off post privliges have been suspended. High accountability standards are being enforced.
Everyone is upset. It hits us especially hard. We are a target as the nation's youth and future of the military. We are prepared for anything. Believe me, we in the military are not all gung-ho about nuking them. We are rational people. This is a travesty against our country. We as a people cannot stand for this. Also, don't place blame on any source until we are sure who has done this.
Re:Passengers on planes (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, I was talking with a commercial airline pilot friend of mine today, and he said that those doors are specifically designed to be flimsy. They're supposed to blow out easily in case of explosive cabin depressurization or something.
I'd personally like to see the cockpit isolated from the rest of the plane, a big metal shield.
Yeah, my pilot friend mentioned that he'd like to see the same thing.
Saw everything from my campus (Score:2, Informative)
Known Fact (Score:4, Informative)
Osama Bin-Laden owns an airfield in Afghanistan where pilots are trained on jumbo jets for terrorist acts. Did you see the precision with which those two planes hit the towers? I've never flown a 767, but I used to be a private pilot, and I seriously doubt that Joe Shmoe Terrorist off the streets of Palestine would have been able to take over the controls and fly these planes in like that. These guys had training in commercial aviation, and you're talking some big bucks there. That narrows it down to a select group of terrorist organizations that they could have come from, and Bin Laden is on that list.
Re:KNIVES? WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
++ Guns don't protect people; people protect people. Also, thermonuclear bombs don't kill people - people do. ++
You contradict your own point, when you say When that asshole shot up the train on Long Island a few years ago, he was able to reload TWICE before the people on the train realized that he wasn't going to spare anyone if he could help it, and jumped him. Why do I say that? Because it isn't having a weapon which would help in such a crisis, it's knowing what to do. If you must, call for mandatory anti-terrorist training -- not more guns. I consider the attitude of the US gun lobby to be insane. There ain't no scalping Redskins no more (just peaceful ones locked up in Reservations). That war was won long ago, but that was the reason for the oft vaunted "right to bear arms". (sorry, getting off the point)
One of the scary things about this is, apart from the sabre-rattling of the shortsighted George W., is the long-term effect this could have on US society -- a mindset of fear and rage and "let's get them before they get us" could be just as devastating as the eroding of freedoms in the name of the "war against terrorism".
If you can't give blood, give MONEY (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Giving Blood (in Canada) (Score:2, Informative)
New York's Bravest (Score:2, Informative)
New York firefighters, impelled by instinct and training, rushed to the World Trade Center yesterday to evacuate victims. Then the buildings fell down. The firefighters never came out.
More than 100 were unaccounted for, possibly making this the worst disaster in the New York Fire Department's history, explosions having collapsed the two main towers onto the first wave of rescuers as they snaked through stairwells and hallways. In the tumult, the temporary command center set up on a nearby street to deal with the calamity was buried in a rolling wave of concrete chunks.
Among those who died there were Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci, and First Deputy Fire Commissioner William M. Feehan. Also killed was one of the department's Roman Catholic chaplains, Michael F. Judge, who had rushed to the scene to comfort victims.
There was no trace of three of the fire department's most elite units, Rescues 1, 2 and 4, officials said last night.
A police official said last night that some officers at the scene were also unaccounted for, but "we don't have numbers." The official denied reports of 60 missing officers from the department's Emergency Services Unit, and 18 from the Brooklyn North Task Force.
Police officials said that as the day unfolded, several officers who had been presumed lost had surfaced. "The numbers are not that extravagant," said Assistant Chief Thomas P. Fahey. As night deepened, officials were able to bring in cranes and heavy shovels to begin moving rubble in hopes of finding survivors. At the same time, they had to contend with several fires that were still burning in adjacent buildings, officials said.
But hours earlier, the notion of a rescue effort seemed remote.
"We will be lucky if we don't lose 200 or 300 guys," said Michael Carter, the vice president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, who was on the scene. "There are entire companies we can't find. At this point, it's less of a firefighting operation and more like a war."
Like dazed and bloodied soldiers, thousands of firefighters and police officers wandered helplessly throughout the afternoon and evening on the West Side Highway, blocked by the danger of further catastrophe from attempting to enter the scene. Officials feared the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, another high-rise burning in the complex. It finally fell in the early evening.
By 9 a.m., about 200 firefighters had already arrived at the scene, many of them racing up stairways to reach people trapped on the upper floors, fire officials said. Many of the rescuers were from six-person units that specialize in building collapses, and many are now missing, presumed to have died when the buildings collapsed.
Marite Anez, who was working in an office on the 87th floor of 1 World Trade Center, said that as she and hundreds of others scrambled down stairways, she passed many firefighters climbing up.
When she reached the first floor, she said, the building collapsed. "You couldn't see anything," she said. "That's when everyone panicked. Everyone was pushing. The fire people gave us light, showed us the way out. The ones who were going up, I'm sure they died."
Edward Fahey, among the first firefighters to arrive, said he had to dodge bodies that were being propelled from windows on the upper floors.
Robert Byrne, from a fire company on Houston Street, said he was on the 30th floor when the second plane hit. "We were trying to evacuate civilians," he said. "The hallways were filled with dust and smoke. The whole building was shaking. We feared it would collapse, and the chief said to get the hell out of there."
Like many survivors, Mr. Byrne seemed oblivious to the soot and dust that covered his body. He stared blankly and spoke haltingly.
"I managed to get out of the building just a few seconds before it collapsed," he said. "I hugged the wall with a couple of people. We got very lucky. I don't know what happened to the company. Just me and the lieutenant got out."
From the beginning, the city's emergency response was hampered. Soon after the first plane hit, the command center for the Office of Emergency Management at 7 World Trade Center was evacuated.
Fire officials set up a mobile unit outside the complex, on Vesey Street, but that was destroyed when the buildings came down. After that, fire officials moved their command post to a firehouse in Greenwich Village, at Houston Street and Avenue of the Americas.
There were conflicting reports about whether people in the second building were told to evacuate after the first tower was hit. Several people said they heard an annoucement over the building's public address system saying they should stay put, and that the building was secure. Others said they did not hear any announcements.
One former Port Authority official said that according to procedures drawn up with the Fire Department, evacuations would only be conducted on the floors immediately above and below the fire. With a capacity of 50,000 workers, simultaneous evacuation could lead to chaos, the former official said.
For many, the only help had to come from colleagues and others who were fleeing.
A woman who worked for Morgan Stanley on the 64th floor of Tower 2 -- able to walk only with crutches -- was carried down by fellow employees. "It was incredibly difficult," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. "They had me over their shoulder for 5 or 10 flights and just couldn't do it."
Another co-worker she knew only as Louis came upon the struggling group, lifted the woman to his shoulder and carried her by himself, she said, adding that the temperature in the stairwell was at least 90 degrees.
At about the 15th or 20th floor, the woman recalled, a security guard said they were out of danger, and urged Louis to leave the woman and continue on his own. Louis refused.
"He carried me down all 54 flights, and then out of the building," she said, "all the way to the E.M.T. guys, and he stuck with me until we got one who said I could go in an ambulance."
After the first building collapsed, people began looking everywhere for survivors amid the rubble. Flames popped out of an ambulance; taxis slammed into buildings. One man walked around calling out, "Is anyone there? Show me an arm. Show me an arm." He got no response.
Someone asked a firefighter, "Is there anything I can do?"
"There's nothing anybody can do," the firefighter replied. "There's nothing anybody can do."
Firefighters appeared utterly dejected and dumbfounded, standing around with their hands on their hips.
Mike Fitzpatrick, 38, said he and seven other firefighters were in the lobby of the first building to collapse when one became trapped. They had begun trying to cut him out when the second building collapsed, and they couldn't get hear him anymore. Then they had to leave.
"We stayed because one of our officers was trapped," he said. "We were trying to dig him out -- we were trying to dig him out. He was alive. It collapsed on him."
By 11 a.m., hundreds of dazed firefighters were on the scene. Many were on their knees; some were crying, their heads in their hands, sitting on piles of debris.
No one raced toward the wreckage, afraid that more would fall. Some called their families on borrowed cell phones.
"I love you too," one said. "I'll come home safe -- don't worry."
A sea of firefighters and police officers slumped against building or sat dejectedly on the West Side Highway for most of the afternoon. Many refused to talk. Many were in tears.
Lines of fire trucks and other emergency vehicles sat covered with a thick coating of dust and office papers that had floated out of the sky. They had come from Passaic, N.J., Hicksville, N.Y., all over the region, but mostly they had to sit and wait.
Frank Carino, 36, a New York firefighter, said he had tried to rescue men on the seventh and eighth floors of one building but the ladder of his aerial truck did not reach high enough. "They had broken the windows and they were yelling out at us the stairways were on fire," he said. "One of the men was using a megaphone." He added that he believed the two were rescued by firefighters within the building.
Another firefighter, who declined to give his name, knelt on the asphalt, a towel over his shoulder and his eyes bloodshot.
"I saw at least 10 people jump," he said. "I heard even more than that land and crash through the glass ceiling in the atrium. We could hear them crash. We thought the roof was crashing down but then we looked up and saw that people were falling through the glass. Some people fell right onto the pavement." He stopped, unable to continue talking.
He said he entered the lobby of 2 World Trade Center with his company, but was immediately blown across the lobby. "We did our best to crawl out," he said. "My company is still missing two guys. They went back in to help people."
By early evening, hundreds of firefighters stood and watched as ladder trucks poured water onto sections of the towers still belching black smoke. The sense of shock and urgency of earlier in the day was gone. As daylight faded, a handful of firefighters, constructions workers and police officers still scrambled over the rubble with flashlights, but found the same thing as teams earlier in the day -- no sounds, no voices, little sign of life.
The three blocks of Church Street that border the World Trade Center were lined with the burnt hulks of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars left where their drivers had abandoned them.
At the corner of Liberty and Church Streets, a five-story section of the top of a building loomed over the road, causing firefighters to stare anxiously above them as they walked below. A New York State flag still flew in front of 7 World Trade Center but the building was a blackened mass. Six inches of ash and office paper covered the graves at the St. James Cathedral, across the street from the towers.
The chaplain who died, Father Judge, 68, was found by firefighters on the street along with his driver. They recognized him and took him to St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street, where they laid his body at the altar. "The church was there and they figured it was a safe place to put him," said Brother Thomas Cole of the St. Francis Friary on 31st Street, where Father Judge lived.
His body, wrapped in sheets, was later moved to the empty firehouse across the street from the friary. Later, two dozen friars and firefighters, some weeping, held an impromptu service for him there, reciting the blessing of St. Francis: "May the Lord bless you and keep you and show his face to you, and have mercy on you."
Brother Cole said that Father Judge's morning prayer had been for "peace and joy in our city."
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, also a Fire Department chaplain, recalled that Father Judge gave a sermon recently, "a homily about how you have to enjoy each day with your friends and family. He was a remarkable human being."
People are calling 911 from within the WTC rubble (Score:3, Informative)
Personal Account (Score:2, Informative)
I took Monday off so was catching up on a lot of work when someone said they heard a boom. Figuing it was some huge truck accident I didn't go look until someone said that the top of one of the towers was on fire.
I could see from our window on the 7th floor of 3 World Fincial Plaza the top 10 or so stories were billowing smoke and some fire. From our side we couldn't see the gaping hole. Soon we found out the damage was caused by a plane, a small cessna we all though as most of us went back to work.
We fielded calls from clients assuring them that we were all okay and that it was the building next store that had been hit and not us. About 15 mintues after that we heard that the other tower had been hit by another plane, it seemed like a sick joke only it was CNBC telling it.
This time we could see that horrible damage done to the building. Huge amnounts of fire and smoke were coming from both towers now. We tried calling the people we knew in the towers but got no answer. Hopefully they were out of the building by that time.
My boss said he'd be happy to buy everyone breakfast, way uptown. Leaving the building we were directed to exits away from the towers. I made a bee line for the ferries which would take me to Hoboken. I passed people who had stopped and were watching the towers blaze.
I waited on a line to buy a ferry ticket and just made it onto a ferry that was leaving. I tried to hand my ticket to the attendant but he looked at me like I was crazy.
At that moment he could have named just about any price for that ferry ride I would have gladly paid it.
Leaving manhattan I could se at least three other ferries waiting to pick people up. I could now also see the scope of the damage the WTC had sustained.
It was bad.
Still I didn't think either tower would fall, hey one survived a bomb blast in 1998. Right? On the ferry I heard that the pentagon had been hit.
How many more planes did they have I thought glancing at Lady Liberty stading in the harbor.
Once safe in Hoboken I just watched the towers. There wasn't much to see really. Both towers cloaked in heavy smoke with flames visible. The streets of Hoboken were very quite. People just stared in frustatrion at their cell phone as they were unable to reach loved ones or friends still in danger.
Just then we heard the roaring sound of a low plane. Everyone on the street froze and nervously scanned the sky. Th F-16 was a welcome sight as it passed over us. Hopefully it would mean the end of kamikaze 767's.
It was on TV that I saw the first tower fall. I ran to the river and could only make out the one remaining tower through all the smoke.
Those Towers had seemed so huge and permanent as I passed through them almost every day. Like a moutain you could see the Twins from just about anywhere.
Then the second one fell.
The World Trade Center was gone.
Slowly I made contact with friends and family. A girl I know is a nurse and will probably be caring for the wounded for the next few days with out much rest. My cousin is a cop and is managing one of the makeshift morges.
I hope my collegues in the tower never meets either of them.
I went to the river last around 10pm. Most of southern tip of Manhattan is dark except for the light on the ambulances and police cars along the west side highway. The smoke still rises from where the WTC once stood and the fires still burn.
Over the next few day the fires will stop, the smoke will clear, and hundreds, probably thousands of people will be pulled from the wreckage.
I still can't answer the question of why though. For myself that is the most distubing thing.
What was accomplished this day, some few thousand Americans were killed, a few buildings destroyed? To what end.
Waging a war in a democracy is a difficult thing. Many citizens are appaled with death and destruction on both sides and pressure their leaders to end the violence.
Today's destruction diminished those voices if it hasn't silenced them all together.
I know this.
WE WILL find those responsible for today's destruction. We've done it before and we are very good at it.
And without those voices of compassion to mollify our anger. We will, one way or another end the ability of those responsible to duplicate today's actions. After all who is there to stop us.
This was a sophisticated attack. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Terrorist newsgroup post? (Score:2, Informative)
too incredible for words. but... (Score:3, Informative)
I woke up to the voice of the bus driver as we came out of the battery tunnel. She said that a small plane had flown into the World Trade Center. As we made the turn onto the West Side Highway, people pressed their faces to the window to stare at the hole near the top of the tower. There was a lot of smoke, and flames deep in the hole left by the plane.
Okay, so someone flying a small plane lost control, and hit one of the towers. Pretty incredible considering there's water all around the tip of the island, and any pilot worth his salt would probably try to avoid such a target. I just hoped there weren't many people up there...
The bus door opens. I stop staring at the hole, and get off the bus with most of the other passengers. At this point, we're about 4 blocks from the south tower. Some people were playing it cool, as New Yorkers are wont to do - we'll just walk to the train and get to work. After all, we've seen pretty much all there is to see. Right?
A few minutes later, another jet roars overhead, and plows into the second tower. It looked kind of like it tried to change course at the last second - the plane sort of banked as it approached the tower. The plane semmed to disappear into the building, and a half second later, a fireball appears in it's place. People who were facing the tower turned and ran screaming in the other direction. I was standing there, like an idiot, totally agape at what I'd just witnessed. It just didn't feel real. How could this happen here? Did some air traffic controller screw up? Nah, couldn't be... Pilots aren't dumb enough to fly into the tallest buildings in the area anyway, besides, LGA and JFK are miles away, and no one could ever confuse lower Manhattan for an airport for christ's sake. Besides, this guy's flying in the wrong direction! What the hell is going on?
There's a few hundred people running toward Battery Park. Guess I'd better go that way, and avoid getting trampled. So I ran, stopping with some other folks occasionally to look back at the building. We get to the entrance of the park, and workers apparently from the Millenium Hilton right next to the WTC were crying, and shouting for their co-workers. Some people speculated on the types of planes.
I make my way to an office building on Broadway where I used to work. I sit and chat with some former co-workers for a while, and try . After a while, we head back out to go down to radio shack down the block for a antenna for the TV in the office - there's no cable, and we have no idea what's happening. We get there, and radio shack is closed. Oh well. On the way back to the office, there's the sound of another explosion. I stop, not knowing where the sound came from exactly - my first thought was a bomb in the subway at Cortland St., right under the south tower. Within seconds, smoke billows out onto Broadway, and chases people into the alleys and back toward the park.
We end up near Whitehall St. The subways are closed, but there's no way I'd get on one now anyway. Remember Tokyo? There's ash and soot everywhere, and I take off my shirt to cover my nose and mouth. It's not really helping much, plus the stuff is getting in my eyes so it's hard to see anything. We duck into a small pizza joint, where a few people are trading stories. One guy had just gotten off the train before the collapse. Lucky guy, because the train he was on stops right underneath the towers. We get some water, and the owner shuts the place down, and we head out toward the Brooklyn Bridge. The FDR was shut down to traffic, and people were packed tight onto one of the ramps. It looked like things were moving pretty slowly, so we took the long way. It's not that much further to the bridge when you walk past the seaport.
I guess that's the end of the interesting part. From there, I walked home. It's a long walk to Bay Ridge from the bridge. Some people were taking pictures of the scene from the bridge. Some other people were walking in the other direction, _toward the city!_ What the hell were they thinking?
Right now, I hear an occasional jet flying over. It feels good to know they're there.
If there was one good aspect of all this, it was the way New Yorkers came together to help each other through it. As we passed the South St. Seaport and Fulton Fish, workers handed out paper towels, napkins and held open water hoses for people passing by. It brought out the best in a lot of people, and it makes me proud to call myself a New Yorker.
Just the same, it's gonna be hard getting to sleep tonight.
Hiroshima was not a Pearl Harbor retaliation (Score:1, Informative)
...it was an attempt to stop a long, viscious expansionist campain on the part of the Japanese imperialist government.
The Japanese at the time were steamrollering through asia and the south pacific. They killed millions and millions of people, the vast majority of whom were civilians. Not only were they attacking and occupying places, but they were following a policy of terrorizing the people of the occupied contries that involved the conspicuous bloody murders of hundreds of thousands of people in public. Think I'm exaggerating? Go to China, or Korea, or the Phillipines, and ask them what they think about the Japanese then and now. As far as many are concerned (myself included), they were worse than the nazis back then.
I think that our country's use of the atomic bombs was meant to put an end to this kind of insanity. The attacks were a calculated attempt to end the war with as few casualties as possible. It is unfortunate that they chose civilian targets, but I can't imagine what else they could have chosen that would have had such an impact. The real tragedy, in my opinion, is that they didn't consider the possible social and political fallout of the atom bomb on our world after the war was over.
To make this more relevant: if we could somehow remove the current threat in one or two strikes, it would be much better than either "turning the other cheek" or starting some kind of low intensity counterintelligence war. Unforntunately, this looks very unlikely.
p.s.
Jews and Arabs got along reasonably well for hundreds of years. Jews largely thrived inside Islamic states, whereas they were bullied and persecuted throughout most of Europe. The current state of conflict between these cultures is relatively recent.
Another account, but not mine (Score:3, Informative)
ON THE BEACH by M.J. Rose
Tod's Point - Greenwich CT-. When you are jogging in this 147-acre park there is a spot you pass at the half way mark when you come around a bend and on a clear day - like today - you can see the whole gleaming skyline of Manhattan.
Except this morning there was something that seemed wrong.
There were two smokestacks on the horizon in a place there never had been smokes stacks before. And it took a minute - a long minute - to figure out that the smoke was billowing out from the World Trade Towers.
About twenty yards up ahead a few people had congregated and I stopped to ask what had happened.
Their news was swift and delivered in short sentences.
At that point in time both Towers were still standing. And so we stood. All strangers gathered on an outcropping of rock, watching a scene that did not make sense.
And then a woman ran up and began to climb those rocks. She was crying and her movements were frantic. She could not get close enough to their edge - to the water. She was in tears. A few steps behind her another woman followed who tried to keep the first from climbing down the rocks to the water.
"But he's in that building," the crying woman said as she fought off her friend.
The crowd grew as the minutes passed. And some of us stood back to let the war widows past - you could tell who they were - the women and men who came - some alone, others with friends - who had loved ones in those two towers.
Ashamed to watch their grief, to see their trembling hands and smell their fear, I kept my eyes on the sky.
"It's collapsing," a man shrieked. And the wailing started.
In this suburb that sits on the outskirts of NY we watched the Twin Towers fall. But we didn't hear the sirens or the explosions. We only heard the gulls screaming and the widows weeping.
My first-hand account (Score:2, Informative)
My Account (Score:2, Informative)
I worked for a reinsurance brokerige on the 50th floor 2WTC. Until last decemeber I worked on 94 1WTC. My company and its parent company occupy floors 50-54 in 2 wtc and 94-99 in 1 wtc.
Yesterday started as any other day until about 845 when we heard what sounded like a gust of wind hitting the window. My cube faces the harbor (south side of 2wtc).
Suddenly the sky was filled with paper, then flaming paper and other...things.
Grabbing the notebook me and 3 of the folks who work with me start heading down the fire stairs.
The stairs were virtually deserted maybe 20-25 people nervously walking down.
About the time we hit the 20th floor or so, the PA annouced that a plane had hit 1 wtc and please return to our desks and remain calm.
Well we were more the 1/2 way down so we decided to keep going and take a look from outside. Passing the lobby windows we saw debris strewn about and paper still flying but stil could not really see what was what. We were directed into the mall area towards the path trains and we had almost reached them when the second plane hit.
It sounded like a crack of thunder and we could tell a whole pile of stuff was hitting the courtyard above our head. People started screaming and broke into a run. Eventually we were funnelled into the E train platform and out of the chambers street subway entrance.
One woman was screaming she had seen people falling by the window.
Above ground and looking back we saw 2 firery slashes through the buildings and a ton of smoke.
No one knew what happened at that point. Then I found out that our building had been hit.
The chaos and fear that surrounded me that day was indescribable.
I called in last night to discuss the aftermath. It seems that all of our brethren who had reported to work in 1 wtc are missing. 1200 people in all.
Now we meet by phone and try to pick up the pieces. Both my companies and my parent companies data centers are gone. Our DR plans are ramping up. Who would have ever thought that we would need our DR for an occurance like this.
Numb and shaking in NY
Rich