Note: This is not a comprehensive list.
Most of the quotes listed
below are taken from the 9/11 Oral Histories, archived at the New York
Times and taken from the World Trade Center Task Force Interviews. They can be
found here:
This post contains:
- First-Responder Eyewitnesses of the Second Plane on 9/11
- First-Responder Eyewitnesses of the First Plane on 9/11
- First-Responder Eyewitnesses of Airplane Parts / Debris on 9/11
- FDNY Officers' Testimonies to the Condition of WTC7 on 9/11 (unrelated, but interesting nonetheless)
EMT FAISEL ABED
"But then
we are driving and now we are like, we are about a half mile out, halfway from the
World Trade Center and we see this shiny object coming and me and my partner
are going, what the hell, what's wrong with that plane. What is wrong with that plane. There is
something not right with that plane. And
he just -- the tower blew."
FIREFIGHTER ERIC
BERNTSEN (FDNY)
"Okay. We heard the explosions from the kitchen. We went up on the roof and got there just in time to see the second plane hit the towers. So we figured we would be going on that. So we ran downstairs. By the time we got down to the apparatus floor, we got the ticket. It was about five after 9:00."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110221.PDF
E.M.T. DAVID BLACKSBERG (E.M.S.)
"We approached the building, and we heard some loud noise. We felt some rumbling, so we looked up, and there was another plane coming in. Went behind, I guess it banked around another building, so at that time we didn't really see it hit the building, but we heard it, and we felt it, and we saw it approaching."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110134.PDF
EMT GREGG BRADY (E.M.S.)
"At that time, we heard a lot of talking on the radio and I got a call from Captain Mark Stone saying to load up vehicle 849, a Suburban, and be waiting for him downstairs. As he arrived, we proceeded down to the north tower of World Trade Center. As we were proceeding through the Battery Park tunnel, as we came out, we saw the second plane hit the south tower. At that time, traffic was very dense and it was very hard to get through."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110184.PDF
"Okay. We heard the explosions from the kitchen. We went up on the roof and got there just in time to see the second plane hit the towers. So we figured we would be going on that. So we ran downstairs. By the time we got down to the apparatus floor, we got the ticket. It was about five after 9:00."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110221.PDF
E.M.T. DAVID BLACKSBERG (E.M.S.)
"We approached the building, and we heard some loud noise. We felt some rumbling, so we looked up, and there was another plane coming in. Went behind, I guess it banked around another building, so at that time we didn't really see it hit the building, but we heard it, and we felt it, and we saw it approaching."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110134.PDF
EMT GREGG BRADY (E.M.S.)
"At that time, we heard a lot of talking on the radio and I got a call from Captain Mark Stone saying to load up vehicle 849, a Suburban, and be waiting for him downstairs. As he arrived, we proceeded down to the north tower of World Trade Center. As we were proceeding through the Battery Park tunnel, as we came out, we saw the second plane hit the south tower. At that time, traffic was very dense and it was very hard to get through."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110184.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
TIMOTHY BURKE
"I got in at 8 o'clock in the morning. The first plane had hit a little later. We watched it from the roof of the building. Then they called us to a staging area around quarter to nine I think which would be the Brooklyn battery tunnel. From the Brooklyn battery tunnel staging area we watched the second plane come in. As soon as the second plane came in they sent us into the tunnel."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110488.PDF
SUPERVISING FIRE MARSHAL ROBERT BYRNES
"I got in at 8 o'clock in the morning. The first plane had hit a little later. We watched it from the roof of the building. Then they called us to a staging area around quarter to nine I think which would be the Brooklyn battery tunnel. From the Brooklyn battery tunnel staging area we watched the second plane come in. As soon as the second plane came in they sent us into the tunnel."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110488.PDF
SUPERVISING FIRE MARSHAL ROBERT BYRNES
"I looked out the window. I
could see the smoke blowing off the World Trade Center. Several moments later I
noticed a second plane and I commented to myself, look at this nitwit, he's so
close, and before I realized it, he had crashed into the side of the south
tower."
FIRE
MARSHAL MICHAEL CAIN
"I set it up on the tripod in the window facing the Trade Center enclosing the top of -- the top, more like where the cash area was and I started the tape and as I was getting my fire gear ready looking out the window again, when we saw the second plane crash into the second tower. I left the tape running and I knew it was not an accident, you know, that this happened. So I gave Jim Murphy a little instruction on how to change the tape and he left the tape running."
"I set it up on the tripod in the window facing the Trade Center enclosing the top of -- the top, more like where the cash area was and I started the tape and as I was getting my fire gear ready looking out the window again, when we saw the second plane crash into the second tower. I left the tape running and I knew it was not an accident, you know, that this happened. So I gave Jim Murphy a little instruction on how to change the tape and he left the tape running."
ASSISTANT CHIEF
JOSEPH CALLAN (F.D.N.Y.)
"I then went and did reconnaissance of the exterior of the north tower. I saw we had numerous floors on the upper levels on fire, approximately eight floors with fire showing. As I was going around the far side of the north tower, I then saw the second plane hit the south tower. I immediately went into the lobby of the north tower to take command of operations."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110195.PDF
"I then went and did reconnaissance of the exterior of the north tower. I saw we had numerous floors on the upper levels on fire, approximately eight floors with fire showing. As I was going around the far side of the north tower, I then saw the second plane hit the south tower. I immediately went into the lobby of the north tower to take command of operations."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110195.PDF
FIREFIGHTER JOSEPH CASALIGGI:
"I left my rollup and my standpipe kit in the lobby. I went outside to the rig, changed the cylinder. While I was changing the cylinder, I was keeping an eye because the chauffeur was hooking up to the standpipe. I was keeping an eye, making sure he didn't get hit with anything.
It was at that time when I saw the second plane hit the building. I called a mayday. I told them the second plane hit the south tower of the building. I wasn't sure which floors it was, but I knew it hit the upper floors of the south tower. Debris was falling, body parts were falling. We ducked for cover inside Engine 7, but the rig was getting bombarded with debris from the building, debris from the plane. We saw bodies crash landing right next to the rig. So we couldn't stay there."
"I left my rollup and my standpipe kit in the lobby. I went outside to the rig, changed the cylinder. While I was changing the cylinder, I was keeping an eye because the chauffeur was hooking up to the standpipe. I was keeping an eye, making sure he didn't get hit with anything.
It was at that time when I saw the second plane hit the building. I called a mayday. I told them the second plane hit the south tower of the building. I wasn't sure which floors it was, but I knew it hit the upper floors of the south tower. Debris was falling, body parts were falling. We ducked for cover inside Engine 7, but the rig was getting bombarded with debris from the building, debris from the plane. We saw bodies crash landing right next to the rig. So we couldn't stay there."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110430.PDF
EMT JASON CHARLES (E.M.S.)
EMT JASON CHARLES (E.M.S.)
"As I'm staring at the hole in tower, I walked across the
street, across Sixth Ave. to the west side of Sixth Avenue, to see Tower 2, and at the time Tower 2 was intact. It wasn't
touched yet. I looked down at my son and
I repeated to him I couldn't believe what was going on, and I told him, oh, my
god, and heard people calling oh my god, look, look, and as I looked up, the
second plane hit the second tower and there was a humongous fireball rolling up
the side of the building."
LIEUTENANT
JOSEPH CHIAFARI (FDNY)
"We locked
up the car, started heading across Church Street when we heard a roar of a jet
engine, as if it was taking off in flight and we couldn't help but look into
the sky to see exactly what it was and yes, it was a plane, just prior to
striking the building and the engines were revved up fully. From that you saw it actually piercing the
wall of the building with a large amount of fire coming from it."
EMT PETER CONSTANTINE
"As we started heading down the West Side Highway, we saw the
second plane, we saw both towers on fire.
There was nobody on the West Side Highway after the second plane, just
us and the police following each other down.
We went straight through all the way down."
EMT ALAN COOKE (E.M.S.)
"Somebody told me a plane crashed into the World Trade Center, so I thought it was a
small engine plane. When I get to the
parking lot and saw the first tower
burning. Then while I was standing in the parking lot, that's when I saw the plane
crash into the second tower. So my
partner and Victor Camile, we got our equipment together, got the bus checked
out and we were assigned to 333 Rector Street for an asthmatic. That's how we
ended up going into Manhattan."
EMT
ALLEN CRUZ
"We both hear this rumble,
and I felt a vibration, we looked slightly to the left, all of us, there's a
whole bunch of us right next to my vehicle, and here comes this plane, a huge
plane. The lady next to me says Oh my God, it's gonna hit the building. I
didn't want to give her false information so I said Gee, I don't think so, well
I hope not. I mean we're looking at it sort of in three dimensions, so I'm
thinking it's gonna go behind the building. From where we're standing, it's
gonna go right behind it, but it was too big and far too low. At that moment I
said it's gonna hit, it's actually gonna hit. And it hit."
EMT SEAN CUNNIFFE
"We were lined up on West Street, west side, right by the pedestrian bridge, between six and one, over here somewhere. I don't remember the supervisor's name, but they had us line up, put our stretchers and equipment on it. We were just waiting for further instruction.
As we were waiting there, counting the people jumping, that's when we saw the scope of it. We counted 39 people. It was sad. That's when it stopped being exciting and reality kicked in and we were hanging out.
The second plane came in. It was the biggest noise I ever heard in my life.
Q. Did you see the plane?
A. Yeah. We saw it, we heard it, we felt the heat from it, the debris. We ducked under a truck..."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110164.PDF
"We were lined up on West Street, west side, right by the pedestrian bridge, between six and one, over here somewhere. I don't remember the supervisor's name, but they had us line up, put our stretchers and equipment on it. We were just waiting for further instruction.
As we were waiting there, counting the people jumping, that's when we saw the scope of it. We counted 39 people. It was sad. That's when it stopped being exciting and reality kicked in and we were hanging out.
The second plane came in. It was the biggest noise I ever heard in my life.
Q. Did you see the plane?
A. Yeah. We saw it, we heard it, we felt the heat from it, the debris. We ducked under a truck..."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110164.PDF
PARAMEDIC KEVIN
DARNOWSKI:
"Right before the tolls on the Brooklyn side heading towards Manhattan at the Battery Tunnel, we were sitting in traffic and we watched United Flight 175 hit tower two, which was the south tower of the World Trade Center.
At that time everybody was just in shock. The firefighters and I were just really trying to get through the traffic when the plane hit, and we were just standing there in like awe of what was happening."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110202.PDF
"Right before the tolls on the Brooklyn side heading towards Manhattan at the Battery Tunnel, we were sitting in traffic and we watched United Flight 175 hit tower two, which was the south tower of the World Trade Center.
At that time everybody was just in shock. The firefighters and I were just really trying to get through the traffic when the plane hit, and we were just standing there in like awe of what was happening."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110202.PDF
EMT MICHAEL D'ANGELO (E.M.S.)
"Then as I made it through traffic and I was going over the BQE
extension to get back on to the Battery Tunnel, I looked and I saw the second
plane hit the building. I then made a
round, I made my way into a line of fire trucks using my identification and
went into the Battery Tunnel."
LIEUTENANT RENE
DAVILA (EMS)
"Then as
I'm communicating I catch from my peripheral vision on the right--I didn't even
think about it hitting the building.
I'm just basically like what the
hell is he doing there. Before I knew it, he disappeared behind the building,
and bingo, there was an explosion."
FATHER JOHN DELENDICK (FDNY
CHAPLAIN )
"When the second plane hit, I was still in Brooklyn. I was trying to get through the tunnel on
Hamilton Avenue. We saw the plane, but I
never saw it hit. I remember saying to
myself, boy, that guy is awful low in the pattern. I remember saying something really stupid
like, you know, did he come down to see what happened with the first one? It never dawned on me that he was heading for
the other tower, but that's where it was headed."
CAPTAIN KARIN DESHORE
(EMS)
It is my recollection
that we drove northern boulevard to the 59 street bridge. At the beginning of
the 59 Street bridge, the second airliner hit and we witnessed it.
EMT ROLAND DIAZ
"We started
heading down there towards Manhattan. We
were at the Bruckner Interchange when I saw the second plane hit the second
tower."
EMT JARJEAN FELTON
"I would
say right around that time while we were right under here, under the westside
highway and pedestrian bridge, I seen second plane coming. I'm thinking isn't
that plane too low? I'm like . . . then I noticed, I seen it turn. It turned
and went right in the building. But we're behind, like this is the building, it
went in, and you see the explosion in the front . . .
Q: On the other side than you?
A: Yeah we see . . . and said oh my god, I just
sat there with my mouth open like Oh My God, Oh My God."
FIREFIGHTER
THOMAS GABY
Q. The second plane?
A. I saw it coming in, I heard it, and bang, it hit.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110140.PDF
FIREFIGHTER JOSEPH GALASSO
"After the first plane hit, we were here, actually. We could see the towers actually from here. So after the first plane hit, we saw it on the news. So we came up here to look out the window, and we saw it. We watched the second plane hit. Just as the second plane hit, that's when we received the alarm."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110322.PDF
Q. The second plane?
A. I saw it coming in, I heard it, and bang, it hit.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110140.PDF
FIREFIGHTER JOSEPH GALASSO
"After the first plane hit, we were here, actually. We could see the towers actually from here. So after the first plane hit, we saw it on the news. So we came up here to look out the window, and we saw it. We watched the second plane hit. Just as the second plane hit, that's when we received the alarm."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110322.PDF
CHIEF JERRY
GOMBO (EMS)
"No sooner
than, I don't know, it seemed like a few minutes -- and I have to just share
with you at this point, my times might be off.
At the corner of my eye, the second plane now comes into the
building."
EMT CHARLES
GSCHLECHT
"About when
we got to chambers street by the college, we saw the second plane hit the World
Trade Center. I told my partner slow down and wait to see if the building was
going to collapse right away, because you could see it swaying."
POLICE OFFICER JAMES HALL
"At approx. 0850 we arrived at the scene and positioned RMP on south bound West in front of the World Financial Center, adjacent to VIP drive. The undersigned approached Capt. Whittaker at our location and advised him of our presence. The above officers along with the undersignedd began administering first aid to numerous victims suffering from various degrees of injury. During this time NYPD, NYFD, and EMS units began arriving and staging in the area of West St. While assisting a female burn victim, I observed PO Rivero look up towards the WTC tower #2. At this time the undersigned heard the sound of jet engines and observed an aircraft with a blue color tail fly directly into the south face of WTC Tower # 2. Following the impact an enormous explosion occurred causing debris to begin to fall down all around the WTC complex."
http://adam.pra.to/public/mir/www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-police-reports01.pdf
EMT MALA HARRILAL
"At approx. 0850 we arrived at the scene and positioned RMP on south bound West in front of the World Financial Center, adjacent to VIP drive. The undersigned approached Capt. Whittaker at our location and advised him of our presence. The above officers along with the undersignedd began administering first aid to numerous victims suffering from various degrees of injury. During this time NYPD, NYFD, and EMS units began arriving and staging in the area of West St. While assisting a female burn victim, I observed PO Rivero look up towards the WTC tower #2. At this time the undersigned heard the sound of jet engines and observed an aircraft with a blue color tail fly directly into the south face of WTC Tower # 2. Following the impact an enormous explosion occurred causing debris to begin to fall down all around the WTC complex."
http://adam.pra.to/public/mir/www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-police-reports01.pdf
EMT MALA HARRILAL
"There was
a second plane circling the building and I kept saying why is he so near the
building? Within minutes, before even talking about it, he just like slammed
into the second building."
EMT RUSSELL
HARRIS
"So as I'm
sitting there talking to Claude trying to figure out where he was responding
and what was going on, we happened to
look back at the Trade and we saw the second plane hit, bam."
FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL HAZEL
"On the way to the Battery Tunnel, we're driving along Columbia
Street and I'm sitting across from the proby, and as we're talking and I'm
preparing him for the events, what to expect at this job we're going to go to,
he just says to me, "Look at this dummy.
He's flying underneath the smoke instead of over it." With that I
turned to my right and looked at the Twin Towers and I saw the second jet
hit. So he started screaming and I just
said to him, "We're in big trouble.
This is an attack. We're being
attacked."
FIREFIGHTER
SCOTT HOLOWACH:
"At that time, I started walking towards Engine 3. Engine 3 drove south to the south pedestrian bridge to make a U turn to come back and as I'm walking towards the Engine to find out what Lieutenant Walsh wanted us to do, I heard the sound of a jet plane. I looked up and saw it pretty close and I was like holy shit. What's going on with the with the flight patterns. All of a sudden, the wings turned and it dove right into the building and it was screwed up.
"At that time, I started walking towards Engine 3. Engine 3 drove south to the south pedestrian bridge to make a U turn to come back and as I'm walking towards the Engine to find out what Lieutenant Walsh wanted us to do, I heard the sound of a jet plane. I looked up and saw it pretty close and I was like holy shit. What's going on with the with the flight patterns. All of a sudden, the wings turned and it dove right into the building and it was screwed up.
At that time
Chief Ganci was behind me and he thought there was another explosion in the
north tower and that's when I turned around and said Chief, listen, there is a
second plane that hit the other tower. He was like no no no no, we have another
explosion. I said no, Chief, I witnessed it. I watched the plane hit the other
tower. He is like are you sure. I said Chief, I'm 100 hundred percent positive
I watched the second plane hit the other tower."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110114.PDF
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110114.PDF
BATTALION CHIEF ROBERT INGRAM (FDNY)
"We decided to set up a command post on the outside in the side
street on the west side of West Street over by the financial building. As we were out there trying to notify units,
we had radioed to position, we heard the second plane come in and observed it
hit the second building, south tower."
FIREFIGHTER
GEORGE KOZLOWSKI
"We just
got relieved after 0900, fireman Escofrery and
myself. We saw the plane coming over, sort of over quarters and then the
initial crash we heard the initial crash."
CAPTAIN DAVID
LOPER (FDNY)
"Anyway,
it's then that I was looking at the north tower that I saw what I thought
looked like a seagull in the distance almost and it went into the south tower
and the south tower exploded in a huge fire ball."
EMT ALEXANDER
LOUTSKY (E.M.S.)
"As I was going
back to my area which is a few blocks from the world trade center, I was
talking with my partner, Hank Ramos, and
saw in front of me while we were about—I would say around Pearl Street—we had a
view of the World Trade Center which was only a few blocks away. And I stopped
him and said to look at that plane, that it was flying extremely low, and that
it looked like it was about to hit. A few seconds later, it did hit."
LEUTENENT
DOMINICK MAGGIORE (EMS)
"As I was
on my way back to battalion 50 from BHS,
I saw the second plane hit the towers from the BQE. I came back to battalion 50
and got in the command car with Lisa Desena, one of the division ALS
coordinators, and paramedic Chris Lefkaditis, and we responded in."
EMS LIEUTENANT
BRADLEY MANN
"I would say probably about maybe half hour or so later, all of sudden we heard a roar and I looked at lieutenant Nevins and he looked at me and we looked up and the next thing we knew, there was another plane, and it crashed into the other tower."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110194.PDF
"I would say probably about maybe half hour or so later, all of sudden we heard a roar and I looked at lieutenant Nevins and he looked at me and we looked up and the next thing we knew, there was another plane, and it crashed into the other tower."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110194.PDF
LIEUTENANT JOHN
MENDEZ (FDNY)
"So I went to the window on the seventh floor, and I observed the Trade Center on fire. I stood there for a while, and there was a lot of people at the window, firefighters, civilians, chiefs. The next thing you know, we saw another plane hit the building. A ball of flame came out, and actually the concussion shook our building. We felt the concussion from it."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110175.PDF
"So I went to the window on the seventh floor, and I observed the Trade Center on fire. I stood there for a while, and there was a lot of people at the window, firefighters, civilians, chiefs. The next thing you know, we saw another plane hit the building. A ball of flame came out, and actually the concussion shook our building. We felt the concussion from it."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110175.PDF
LIEUTENANT
BRUCE MEDJUCK (EMS)
"We
saw when we first started to go over the Brooklyn Bridge, the building smoking,
tower one smoking, heavy black smoke coming out. Just as we came out of the
bridge, we could see again the towers also with the plane come and slam into
tower two."
EMT MICHAEL MEJIAS
Shortly after that, the second plane
came. I hear a big rush, like a low
flying jet and I see a massive explosion. I hear a big rush, like a low flying
jet and I see a massive explosion.
EMT ALWISH MONCHERRY
"I’m looking from the 59th street bridge,
you can see the towers, you can see the smoke.
The buildings just look like a cigarette basically. When we get the call to go over the bridge
(I’m not too sure about the time) when we’re on the bridge there’s plenty of
traffic. That’s when we noticed the
second plane hitting tower two. I just
couldn’t believe that that happened.
PARAMEDIC
TRACEY MULQUEEN
I was watching for a few minutes, and the
second plane came in. Basically the next
thing I remember after that was we had all of our office's medical equipment on
a chair and we were running out the building.
LIEUTENANT MURRAY MURAD (FDNY)
"I went back upstairs because I wanted to get something out of my bag. Maybe about 10 to 12-minutes after that first plane, I heard another plane. Then I said to myself, we're being attacked. I ran downstairs. No sooner did I run downstairs and look up, that I saw the second plane strike the south tower. It was such a vicious hit and such a precision hit, it was unbelievable."
"I went back upstairs because I wanted to get something out of my bag. Maybe about 10 to 12-minutes after that first plane, I heard another plane. Then I said to myself, we're being attacked. I ran downstairs. No sooner did I run downstairs and look up, that I saw the second plane strike the south tower. It was such a vicious hit and such a precision hit, it was unbelievable."
FIREFIGHTER
JAMES MURPHY:
"After that I ran up to the roof on the third floor with me and Eric Bernsten. We were watching it. We could see it from here. We have an unobstructed view. The other guys came up too. All six of us were on the roof...
Then we saw the second one come up. It looked like it was coming up the East River from here. I guess it was coming from the south. I thought it banked over the East River, which is what it looked like. I thought it made a left over the East River and went right into it going from east to west. But as it turns out, it came from the south. Then we saw it just go right into the building and explode.
I remember talking to Eric. I remember Eric saying something, "Oh, my God, there's another plane." I was saying to him, "That plane is closer to us. It's really not a big plane going towards the building." Two seconds later it rammed into the building. You don't expect it. We just freaked."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110323.PDF
"After that I ran up to the roof on the third floor with me and Eric Bernsten. We were watching it. We could see it from here. We have an unobstructed view. The other guys came up too. All six of us were on the roof...
Then we saw the second one come up. It looked like it was coming up the East River from here. I guess it was coming from the south. I thought it banked over the East River, which is what it looked like. I thought it made a left over the East River and went right into it going from east to west. But as it turns out, it came from the south. Then we saw it just go right into the building and explode.
I remember talking to Eric. I remember Eric saying something, "Oh, my God, there's another plane." I was saying to him, "That plane is closer to us. It's really not a big plane going towards the building." Two seconds later it rammed into the building. You don't expect it. We just freaked."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110323.PDF
FIRE MARSHAL
STEVEN MOSIELLO
"Yes, yes, the second plane hit. We saw the second plane hit--if you want me to go back to when the second plane hit. I was told by Chief Ingram, who was a terrorist and hazmat-type guy, that we've got to be careful of secondary explosions or secondary devices. Who knew that the secondary device would be another plane? People actually saw the plane. You heard it, the closer it got. It just got louder and louder. I say that he throttled up as fast as he could. That's what it sounded like, but I think he became more in earshot of us. And he just came in and put the plane into the building."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110141.PDF
"Yes, yes, the second plane hit. We saw the second plane hit--if you want me to go back to when the second plane hit. I was told by Chief Ingram, who was a terrorist and hazmat-type guy, that we've got to be careful of secondary explosions or secondary devices. Who knew that the secondary device would be another plane? People actually saw the plane. You heard it, the closer it got. It just got louder and louder. I say that he throttled up as fast as he could. That's what it sounded like, but I think he became more in earshot of us. And he just came in and put the plane into the building."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110141.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
DOMINICK MUSCHELLO
"As we watched the fire from
the third floor, we saw the second plane fly right into the center of the
building clear as day."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110249.PDF
CHIEF OF THE DEPARTMENT DANIEL NIGRO (FDNY)
"At some point after our arrival and after we had moved to the west side of West Street, I heard a loud roar of a jet, looked up and saw the second plane impact the south tower. At that point it was clear to me it was a terrorist attack. Earlier I didn't know what it was. I assumed it was an accident."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110154.PDF
CHIEF OF THE DEPARTMENT DANIEL NIGRO (FDNY)
"At some point after our arrival and after we had moved to the west side of West Street, I heard a loud roar of a jet, looked up and saw the second plane impact the south tower. At that point it was clear to me it was a terrorist attack. Earlier I didn't know what it was. I assumed it was an accident."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110154.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
ROBERT NORRIS
"We all got out of the rig, and we were standing there. We watched another plane come in. I felt the plane was coming underneath the pillar of smoke that was coming out of the first tower, but obviously it veered into the tower, and it took another hit"
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110396.PDF
"We all got out of the rig, and we were standing there. We watched another plane come in. I felt the plane was coming underneath the pillar of smoke that was coming out of the first tower, but obviously it veered into the tower, and it took another hit"
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110396.PDF
BATTALION CHIEF
BRIAN O'FLAHERTY (FDNY)
"Just then out of the corner of my eye, I could see this plane. I just remember the dark. It was in the shadow. It looked low. I thought, "What the heck is the guy doing?" I watched it, watched him turn and crash right into the south tower. Right away I knew it was terrorism or terrorists. I didn't know what the first one was, but I knew what the second one was."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110431.PDF
"Just then out of the corner of my eye, I could see this plane. I just remember the dark. It was in the shadow. It looked low. I thought, "What the heck is the guy doing?" I watched it, watched him turn and crash right into the south tower. Right away I knew it was terrorism or terrorists. I didn't know what the first one was, but I knew what the second one was."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110431.PDF
FIREFIGHTER JOHN
OTTRANDO
"I saw
Battalion 2 in the lobby of the north tower.
After that I stayed there a few more minutes, and then I went out to my
company. We were stretching hose. I saw
the second plane hit the south tower."
EMT FRANK PASTOR
"I remember
our normal routine in the morning, go get our breakfast, and we go sit and we
cover Red Hook, so we had the view of the city. We were sitting there, and we
were looking at the city. All of is sudden my partner says to me,
"Frankie, that plane seems to be low." ...and she
yells out, "Frank that plane just hit the building."......We can't believe what's going on, and she says
-- and I remember my partner, Mala, saying again to me, "That other plane
is low." I don't know how much time, 10, 15 minutes, and we seen the other
plane hit."
PARAMEDIC JOEL
PIERCE
"...I watched eventually the second plane, I saw it. It looked like it was circling around south, then came back north, striking the south side of Tower No. 2."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110485.PDF
"...I watched eventually the second plane, I saw it. It looked like it was circling around south, then came back north, striking the south side of Tower No. 2."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110485.PDF
CAPTAIN JACE
PINKUS (EMS)
"We
attempted to get our stuff out of the vehicle and as we looked up we saw a
plane hit the second building and we noticed that there was large ball of flame
coming from the second building it was at this point that commissioner Gregory
directed EMT Harris to move the vehicle because there was debris fire basically
covering us on Vesey Street."
POLICE OFFICER J. RIVERO
"We arrived and parked our truck in front of #2 WTC. P.O. HALL and P.O. Niedermeyer and myself encountered several people that had been burned and a gentleman who stated he had two women who were burned badly. We took the two women and proceeded to stop an ambulance that was coming down West St. and put them in it. At this time I heard a loud roar as I looked up I saw a plane coming from the south I yelled 'Al look at this shit ' the plane smashed into W.T.C. #2."
http://adam.pra.to/public/mir/www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-police-reports01.pdf
FIREFIGHTER THOMAS SPINARD
"We arrived and parked our truck in front of #2 WTC. P.O. HALL and P.O. Niedermeyer and myself encountered several people that had been burned and a gentleman who stated he had two women who were burned badly. We took the two women and proceeded to stop an ambulance that was coming down West St. and put them in it. At this time I heard a loud roar as I looked up I saw a plane coming from the south I yelled 'Al look at this shit ' the plane smashed into W.T.C. #2."
http://adam.pra.to/public/mir/www.thememoryhole.org/911/pa-transcripts/pa-police-reports01.pdf
FIREFIGHTER THOMAS SPINARD
"While we
were still in the middle of the street, another plane comes in, makes a big
circle, comes around from like the Statue of Liberty direction, and hits
two. We can't believe that another one
is coming in. Joey got on the radio,
"Another plane just hit the second tower." I don't know if he said mayday or what, but
he yelled "Another plane hit the second tower."
EMS CAPTAIN MARK
STONE
"We got in the truck, listening to reports coming in on Citywide and we ended up taking the Battery Park Tunnel underneath to come up on the West Street side of the incident. We came up right out of the tunnel. I was looking up to see if I could do a little more initial size up. That is when I saw the second plane hit the building. I just watched it coming in.
I see that the plane hit and I'm really thinking for the safety of the members that we got operating already ..."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110076.PDF
"We got in the truck, listening to reports coming in on Citywide and we ended up taking the Battery Park Tunnel underneath to come up on the West Street side of the incident. We came up right out of the tunnel. I was looking up to see if I could do a little more initial size up. That is when I saw the second plane hit the building. I just watched it coming in.
I see that the plane hit and I'm really thinking for the safety of the members that we got operating already ..."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110076.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
JOSEPH SULLIVAN
"Okay. We responded from quarters. The ticket came in at 8:54. We were going on the first alarm to the staging area by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. En route to the staging area, we were going down Columbia Street, saw the second plane strike the building and we went from being a, quote, good job or a rough job, or we were going to earn our money today."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110286.PDF
"Okay. We responded from quarters. The ticket came in at 8:54. We were going on the first alarm to the staging area by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. En route to the staging area, we were going down Columbia Street, saw the second plane strike the building and we went from being a, quote, good job or a rough job, or we were going to earn our money today."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110286.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
FRANK SWEENEY
I remember the
lieutenant turned to Scott and I and said, "You know, this could be a
terrorist thing. Maybe it was a bomb or
something." I can't remember his
exact words. Shortly thereafter Scott said, "What's wrong with the flight
patterns around here?" I said,
"What are you talking about?"
And the south tower blew up.
Scott said, "That was a plane." I said, "Scott, it was not a plane. It
was probably another bomb." He
said, "No, I saw it. It was a
plane."
EMT DAVID
TIMOTHY
"The next
thing I heard was a loud like an engine roar.
I looked up, and the next thing I knew I just saw -- I don't know if it
was the tail end of the plane or what, but I saw something. When I looked up, I heard "boom."
I'm sorry, the north tower was the first one. The south tower then got hit when
we were right there."
DEPUTY CHIEF
ALBERT TURI (FDNY)
"I was putting on my pants and boots when
I heard something similar to the sound of a jet aircraft taking off, and when I
looked up I saw the impact of the second plane hitting the south tower and
immediately an enormous fireball erupted that actually masked the entire upper
half of the building and part of the north tower."
BATTALION CHIEF
THOMAS VALLEBUONA (FDNY)
"So from
there we went down to the quarters of Marine 9, and we were watching across the
bay. We could see the fire in the North Tower, when the next plane that was
going to hit the South Tower flew over our heads".
LIEUTENANT
JAMES WALSH (FDNY)
" As I was coming up West Street, I started hearing
sounds getting very loud, and I never bothered to look back because the sound
got extremely loud. It was the roar of the jet plane, which I didn't really
know. It was the airliner coming in. I remember running back up West Street
towards where my chauffeur was from the high-rise rig, and running at the same
time I was trying to get down at the same time it seemed like.
Then I heard the explosion, continued running up to Scott, and I said what was that? I was under the impression that maybe it was a fighter plane because it got so loud. He said, no, another airliner just hit the south tower. I turned and looked and I could see all the damage already."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110459.PDFThen I heard the explosion, continued running up to Scott, and I said what was that? I was under the impression that maybe it was a fighter plane because it got so loud. He said, no, another airliner just hit the south tower. I turned and looked and I could see all the damage already."
EMT DECOSTA WRIGHT
"That was
one part that remember after that, that's when we started seeing people
starting to jump out. It was total—that was unreal, I tell you, to see people
jump from the top floor. A few minutes later, we had seen the second plane just
come in, go right through the second building."
FIREFIGHTER
STEPHEN ZASA
"Upon that time I heard a plane roar. I had my window down and on my side we saw a plane flying very low come right across us and with a loud, you know, the engines revved up, and I had mentioned to him, I had no idea that it was heading towards that way, and I just said like where is this guy going, you know, he was extremely low, not realizing it was another plane heading towards the World Trade, and we saw it struck the building, we saw a big mushroom of flame, of fire coming up, and it was like disbelief, and he had gotten on the radio and notified the dispatcher another plane had struck the World Trade Center."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110417.PDF
"Upon that time I heard a plane roar. I had my window down and on my side we saw a plane flying very low come right across us and with a loud, you know, the engines revved up, and I had mentioned to him, I had no idea that it was heading towards that way, and I just said like where is this guy going, you know, he was extremely low, not realizing it was another plane heading towards the World Trade, and we saw it struck the building, we saw a big mushroom of flame, of fire coming up, and it was like disbelief, and he had gotten on the radio and notified the dispatcher another plane had struck the World Trade Center."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110417.PDF
FIREFIGHTER
MIKE ZECHEWYTZ
"I remember I was right by the TV set and I said, "That must have been a drunk pilot." I mean, it was clear outside. So we were like, "Wow, the guy must have had a few last night or something." So then Roger Jackson and myself went out to the front to see the smoke. If you were in front of the firehouse and you looked over to the right, you saw the smoke. Then he called and he goes, "Zech." That's my nickname. He goes, "Zech, look." and we saw the other plane going from left to right with its nose down. So then we ran back in the kitchen, and then maybe 30 seconds later the news said that a bomb went off in the second building. But then they saw in slow motion it was a plane."
"I remember I was right by the TV set and I said, "That must have been a drunk pilot." I mean, it was clear outside. So we were like, "Wow, the guy must have had a few last night or something." So then Roger Jackson and myself went out to the front to see the smoke. If you were in front of the firehouse and you looked over to the right, you saw the smoke. Then he called and he goes, "Zech." That's my nickname. He goes, "Zech, look." and we saw the other plane going from left to right with its nose down. So then we ran back in the kitchen, and then maybe 30 seconds later the news said that a bomb went off in the second building. But then they saw in slow motion it was a plane."
ECONOMIST MORGAN
REYNOLDS
"Which
eyewitness? Name one."
FIREFIGHTER DEREK BROGAN
"As we were taken up from the box, we were
backing out of 19th Street, and we heard a plane go over our heads. So me and
the backup man, Jimmy Andruzzi, looked at each other. We realized it was low."
PARAMEDIC MARC COHEN
"We were on the 59th Street
bridge when out of the corner of our eye we saw the first plane hit the World
Trade Center. Looking south from the 59th Street bridge, we noticed the
smoke."
POLICE SERGEANT WILLIAM B. ROSS
"At approximately 0845, I, Officers Patrick McNerney and Jose
Sanchez, were on routine patrol at the comer of 42nd street and 8th Avenue. As I
was looking east on 42nd Street, I observed a commercial passenger jet flying over at an
extremely low altitude, and heading south. I lost sight of the aircraft for few seconds
when it flew behind some buildings. I immediately realized that an aircraft of that
size would never be given clearance to fly that low over a populated area. My first
thought was that the aircraft was in distress. I thought that the pilot was attempting to make
an emergency landing in the harbor off lower Manhattan. From the comer on 42nd Street, where we were standing, looking east there is an unobstructed view of the top of the
Empire State Building. We again spotted the aircraft for few seconds. It was just east
of the Empire State Building and, to my best estimation, no higher than 500’ above it.
During this time, I looked for signs of distress. I was
trying to observe the plane, as closely as I could for smoke, fire, or any type of vapor
trail. There was none. The landing gear was up and the doors that house the gear closed. The
plane, was, as I stated, traveling south and was moving at a high rate of speed. It
was flying level and straight. The pilot did not appear to be fighting to maintain control
of the aircraft.
Officers Mcnemey Sanchez and I began to comment on the
plane. I said that if the plane was to crash I hoped the aircraft would make it to the
harbor and not hit the Trade Center or The City. Several moments passed, we were listening for
the sound of a crash and heard nothing. At approximately 0855, Sergeant Peter
Schillizzi the Desk Sergeant, broadcast a message over the radio for me, the Patrol
Sergeant, Tour Commander and all Officers to return immediately to the Police Desk. At this
time, I stated to Officer McNemey “ That plane hit the Trade Center!” and started back
to Quarters.
Moments later when I arrived at the Police Desk, Sgt.
Schillizzi informed me that an aircraft did hit the Trade Center."
LIEUTENANT ROBERT LAROCCO (FDNY)
"Now we all heard a plane
that sounded like it was in trouble. So everyone stopped what they were doing.
It was obvious there was something wrong with the motors. They were like
straining, and they were louder than normal. Normally over Manhattan a plane
flies very high. We all looked in the sky and didn't see anything, but then for
six or seven seconds flying out of the northeast, headed southwest, was this
jetliner, like the kind of thing you would go on to go to Miami Beach or Vegas
or something like that. It was flying very low, probably about 350 feet. As it
passed over us, it wobbled, just a little bit. Then after six or seven seconds
of seeing it -- we lost sight of it, because there were six-story tenements
around us so that patch of sky that we saw it for just lasted that small amount
of time.... "
EMT FRANK PASTOR
"I remember our normal routine in the morning,
go get our breakfast, and we go sit and we cover Red Hook, so we had the view
of the city. We were sitting there, and
we were looking at the city. All of a sudden my partner says to me, 'Frankie,
that plane seems to be low.'"
Q.
"What unit were you working that day?"
A. "We
were working 32 boy in Red Hook. We had the view of the city, and she yells
out, 'Frank, that plane just hit the building.'"
Q.
"Who is she?"
A. "My partner is Mala, Mala Harilal, and
I look up, and I can't believe what I'm seeing.
I get on the radio, and I said, '32 boy, if you need us, we're
available. We can go right through the
tunnel.' As soon as I seen this, I got
on the phone, and I dialed the number to call my wife to let her know what's
going on. We were standing there in awe. We can't believe what's going on, and she
says -- and I remember my partner, Mala, saying again to me, 'That other plane
is low.' I don't know how much time, 10,
15 minutes, and we seen the other plane hit."
CHIEF JOSEPH PFEIFER (FDNY)
"I was working the night
before in the 1st Battalion, and sometime about 8:15 or so in the morning we
got a call to Lispenard and Church for a gas leak in the street. We were there
for a while checking on the gas leak, and then we heard the loud roar of the
plane come over, and we turned around and we looked and we saw the plane coming
down, heading south towards the Trade Center, and made a direct hit on the
Trade Center."
CHIEF PETER HAYDEN (FDNY)
"At this point in the event,
I heard a plane passing overhead extremely low [When at WTC] I really could not
see any indication at that time that a plane had hit it, but certainly it
appeared some catastrophic event had occurred."
EMT-D RALPH RAMOS
"We were returning back
there from Battalion 4 and we were going up, I believe it's Pearl Street, and
my partner Alex Loutsky and I, we witnessed the first plane hit the first
tower. Saw it flying low and we thought, that plane's flying kind of low, and
then it hit the building and we went over the radio and we told central that we
had witnessed a plane hitting the building, and at first she didn't believe us,
but then other units started saying they saw the same thing and then we
proceeded straight over to the Trade Center."
FIREFIGHTER JAMES CURRAN
"We had found out what grate
the leak was coming from and our Chief Pfiefer was bent over with the gas
meter. We heard the plane, we looked up was low enough that it rattled the
buildings we were standing at. We saw it come out from behind the buildings and
hit tower one and like I said, a fireball, looked like 10 or 20 stories big,
shot out the south side of the tower and then out the hole that the plane made
going in."
FIREFIGHTER RICHARD CARLETTI
"Well, here's how my morning
starts. I usually come in around 8:00 like everyone does, but I went to vote,
so I was late. I was coming up Allen, which turns into First. When I was
crossing Delancey Street, I saw a jet in front of me, which was the first jet.
He was pretty low. He was probably about 30 stories. Now I'm heading north and
crossing Delancey Street on Allen and I see the jet make a move toward the
Trade Center. It made a south-westerly turn from that point.
I proceeded up First Avenue, left
on 14th, parked in front of the firehouse. Fireman Lynn was there. He said they
were out on a box, they wouldn't let him on because they thought they had a
good job, and right then he told me a plane just crashed into the Trade Center.
It was the same exact plane I just saw."
FIREFIGHTER NICHOLAS BORRILLO
"We were at a box for odor
of gas in the street on Church and Lispenard. We were investigating that. We
were just about ready to take up from that box and come back when we heard the
roar of the engines of the plane. Before we knew it, it was overhead. Within
two seconds it hit the north tower."
FIREFIGHTER
JOSEPH CASALIGGI:
"On the morning of September
11th we were operating a box up on Church Street Near Canal. There was an odor
of gas in the area. While we were out operating, we heard the first plane
coming in. I turned around and I watched the plane crash into the north
tower."
LIEUTENANT WILLIAM WALSH (FDNY)
"We received a run about
8:30 in the morning for a gas leak up at Lispenard Street and Church. We were
operating at that box along with Engine 7, Battalion 1 and Ladder Company 8. I
believe 55 Engine was there also, maybe Engine 24. I'm not [sure]. After about
15 minutes, we conclude our operations there. Lispenard is about one block
south of Canal Street. I believe the chief gave the code for a gas leak, 10-40,
code 1. All the units were about to go 10-8 when we heard this loud roar.
Everybody thought -- or at least to me it sounded as though there was going to
be a Con Edison steam explosion. This was about a quarter to 9, I'd say. So
everybody looked up to where they thought they heard the sound coming from, and
we saw an American Airlines plane. To me it looked as though it was going
treetop level right down West Street. Then he appeared to rise a little bit. We
were under the impression -- he looked like he was going down, but we didn't
hear any mechanical difficulty. We couldn't figure out why an American Airlines
plane would be so low in downtown Manhattan. We sort of expected him to veer
off and go into the Hudson. But he just rose a little bit, his altitude,
leveled off, and he was headed straight for the Trade Center. So just before he
got to the Trade Center, it seemed as though he gained power. We were just
watching this airplane on target for the World Trade Center. All of a sudden,
boom, he disappears into the Trade Center. You hear this sickening noise as if
two pieces of fiberglass had hit. You hear this loud explosion. He just
disappeared into the Trade Center."
FIREFIGHTER
THOMAS SPINARD
"We got a box on Church and
Leonard of an odor of gas. So Engine 7 and Ladder 1, Battalion 1, responds. It
turned out to be a false alarm. As we were at the box, a plane passes us
overhead real low. You could hear it; you could feel it. We turned around, and
it just impacted the building, building one. With that, everybody got on the
rig. We started driving."
FIREFIGHTER KENNETH ESCOFFRY
"I was relieved, and a few
of us were standing in front of quarters when we noticed a plane came directly
over the firehouse maybe around 8:45, somewhere around that time. One of the
guys mentioned that the plane looked like it was really low. Before we could
really think of what he said, the next thing we heard an explosion. We saw the
smoke."
M.D. MICHAEL
GUTTENBERG (Office of Medical Affairs)
The other thing
that was actually evident, though, is what appeared to be some plane parts,
like some circular pieces of a plane, and lots of shoes. I don't know if that
was women jumping out of their--jumping out of their heels to run, but there
were -- just impressed me there were no -- you know, there were no injuries on
the street at that point, but there was lots of shoes all over the place and
plane parts.
FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL
WERNICK
I was going down
south on Church Street, against traffic on Church Street and I pulled up right
behind St. Paul's Cemetery. . . Like when we went to the one, we went down the
West Side Highway, we pulled up over here.
As we pulled out here, there was so much debris, the Lieutenant said,
"Just park it over here." So,
you know, this cemetery, there was papers flying all over the place, there were
engines all over, plane parts, building parts, and then we proceeded to walk
down Vesey Street into the north tower.
CHIEF JERRY
GOMBO (EMS)
Everybody was
wearing their helmet, which was good because there was debris, like just
different types of parts. It might have been plane parts, in fact, they did
look like it, on the floor with stuff coming down as well. . . . At the time of
the impact, we were able to feel heat that was generated from the explosion at
this command post, which was across West Street, and West is fairly large
street with that island in there, and debris was showering all over West
Street.
FDNY CAPTAIN MICHAEL DONOVAN
We were actually still on Church Street. We heard the plane briefly, the earth shook, the buildings shook, a tremendous fireball overhead. I thought there was a bomb or an explosion. A tremendous fireball, flaming debris, pieces of the airplane, fuselage, landing gear, pieces of the building.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110205.PDF
LIEUTENANT GEORGE J. DESIMONE (FDNY)
We were actually still on Church Street. We heard the plane briefly, the earth shook, the buildings shook, a tremendous fireball overhead. I thought there was a bomb or an explosion. A tremendous fireball, flaming debris, pieces of the airplane, fuselage, landing gear, pieces of the building.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110205.PDF
LIEUTENANT GEORGE J. DESIMONE (FDNY)
As we pulled
close to the Trade Center, the tower, we saw airplane parts. We saw bodies. We saw body parts. What we did then was we decided to move a
little bit further west on West Street to the furthermost point that we could.
EMT-D
CHRISTOPHER ATTANASIO
Upon arrival,
towers one and two were both ablaze. The
second plane had hit the second tower already.
Both towers were totally engulfed.
People were jumping out of the buildings. There was airplane fuselage and landing gear
around the site. Body parts, victims'
remains on the floor. There were some
injuries on the street. Some cars were
on fire.
EMT-P KATHY ZARR
Q. When you went into Manhattan,
you said you went through the tunnel. You went through the Battery Tunnel?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you remember how you came
up?
A. We made a
right-hand turn, and all you saw was airplane parts and body parts in the
street.
LIEUTENANT
RICHARD SMIOUSKAS (FDNY)
I looked up and
saw body parts, feet, a hand with a ring on it, a face with a mustache and eyes
and part of an ear. Just a face, no head, just a face. I saw like the window of
an airplane, one of those small plastic windows.
FIREFIGHTER
STUART BAILEY
So they kind of
had everything blocked off and we kind of swerved around debris from the plane,
body parts pretty much everywhere. That's the first time I've ever seen
anything like that. I'm sure no one did.
FIREFIGHTER
STEVEN ALTINI
As we exited the
Battery Tunnel to lower Manhattan, we proceeded to make a right turn onto West
Street where we were confronted with a lot of debris in the street, airplane
debris, human remains and such.
FIREFIGHTER JOHN
BREEN
Up on the top
floor, it was a pool, spa, gym equipment, saunas. It was just a workout area and a spa area
with a couple of office spaces. We did
see part of -- I didn't see it, but Jeff Johnson told me later on he did see
part of the landing gear actually fell right through the roof and it was in one
of the Jacuzzis in another room.
FIREFIGHTER
SIDNEY PARRIS
After that, FBI
agent came down the block. He identified some landing gear that was in front of
our rig, asked me to make sure no pedestrians came down the block to interfere
with any type of metals and debris that were there, because they were trying to
identify to put the pieces back together for the plane.
FIREFIGHTER PAUL
HYLAND
We carried all
our tools, the bottles, everything, and as we're walking down, part of the
plane engine was sitting right in the street, still burning. I said, look, this
is the plane.
EMT ROBERT
KIMBALL
Like I remember
walking by with the chief, and I remember seeing the airplane engine, you know,
pieces of, you know, obviously trade center all over.
FIREFIGHTER
THOMAS LYNN
We basically saw
a lot of body parts and plane wreckage that was just all over the street.
PARAMEDIC MANUEL
DELGADO
It's interesting because, as we
were there, there was a police car, I guess, on Vesey, on the corner there, and
some debris comes down from whatever this explosion was, at the time we really
didn't know, and it just crushes it, I mean, crushes the top front of the
police car, which really scared me at that point.
Q. Could you tell if it was
airplane parts?
A. It looked like an airplane part
afterward, yes, it did. It looked like part of an engine. It was pretty big. It
was probably the size of the hood because it kind of hit it, bounced, and then
rolled off....Another thing I've got to tell you is, when we first got there, when
we were walking down Vesey towards West, there was a ton of -- or I could say a
lot of body parts and like baggage, clothes and stuff, along Vesey.
Q. From one of the airplanes.?
A. Yes, from one of the airplanes.
I don't know if it was the first or the second because this was after the
second one had hit. So it could have been from either one. But I remember
walking –
Q. Where was it, though? On Vesey?
A. Right in front of the OEM,
because on the OEM building side there was a scaffolding and I remember I was
walking underneath there. We kind of felt that there was some protection
underneath the scaffolding. I remember as we were walking down, after we had
dropped that person off, when we were walking down Vesey, I remember probably
between -- what's this?
Q. Church?
A. No. Probably between Broadway
and West, I remember seeing body parts.
Q. That's West Broadway?
A. Yes, West Broadway and West on
Vesey. I remember seeing body parts and I remember saying to myself where the
hell did these freaking body parts come from? Where are these coming from?
There was a few. I mean, some recognizable, some that didn't look -- like they
were probably charred, and also like luggage stuff, like we saw a lot of shoes,
even some luggage, airplane parts, engine. There was an engine on the left
here. If you remember, building 7, there used to be that overpass over by
building 7. Just in front of it.
Q. The concourse.
A. Just up before that, there was
like a little plaza?
Q. Right.
A. Right there, there was like a
big engine part. It seemed like a whole engine was right there, lying right
there in the middle of the street.
Q. Covered like the way the jet
looks?
A. Yes. In fact,
you could see the fan. I remember that because I could see -- now, it wasn't
the whole engine because the engine is big, but I know the front part of it, it
looked like the whole engine because I could see the fan, and that's what stood
out in my mind. There was an airplane tire also there and then these bodies and
luggage from the thing because there were shoes everywhere also. Some shoes had
what looked like blood in it, other shoes didn't, other shoes were burnt, and
this was just a first impression.
PARAMEDIC LOUIS
COOK
We walked up
West Street northbound to get to the command post, and there I remember looking
to my right and seeing an aircraft landing gear tire.
FIREFIGHTER
CRAIG MONAHAN
You could see
airplane parts just littered across the street , across the highway.
E.M.T. BRIAM
SMITH
The first indication that I had that it was a
plane crash, I remember--because I'm color blind so it's hard for me to
distinguish different colors, especially when everything is gray, because it
had--really had kind of a gray look to it, because of all the dust, you know,
but there was like a bank or something here, and there's like a fountain, I
guess, right in front of the bank. . . .I'm trying to remember everything in
that 20 seconds I'm going past it, but I remember there was lifejackets
everywhere, the yellow in-flight lifejackets, and that the contrast of the
yellow against all the gray, you know. It stood out. It was easy for me to pick
it out, and I remember thinking as I saw that, you know, I guess it must have
been a plane crash, because where the hell else would you get a bunch of yellow
lifejackets in the middle of Manhattan, you know?
FDNY ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER JAMES DRURY
I noticed police officers with First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Dunne of the NYPD in the intersection of Vesey and Church. You could see airplane parts on the ground and although I didn't realize it at the time, I later realized there were body parts, both on the concourse and on the street... I now made a left on Vesey and walked down the street on the 7 World Trade Center side, where I could see more airplane debris... http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110098.PDF
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER THOMAS FITZPATRlCK
Q. Did you witness the second plane hitting?
A. I heard it but I didn't look up. The noise from the plane was enough to make you not want to look up. I thought the plane was actually going to land in the street to be honest with you. The noise was outrageous. When it hit the building it was even worse... Various parts of the plane were falling on the street. As we went down the street you could see parts of aircraft with stencil numbers on it and things like that. There was a wheel, or like a wheel housing or something else there in the street.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110001.PDF
SUPERVISING FIRE MARSHAL BRIAN GROGAN
...I was walking up West, and I noticed first block we passed I noticed in the street at the end of where the Jersey barriers are, that split up the road before you go into the tunnel -- I guess it would be Carlisle -- I saw the first body or parts of a body, upper torso, no head, no arms or legs. I saw another one across the street.
Q. These are from the people that were jumping out of the building?
A. No, I don't believe so. I believe it was from the airplane, people in the building and the airplane coming through and it blew these people out into the street, because you couldn't have jumped that far. It's impossible.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110178.PDF
EMS DIVISION CHIEF JOHN PERUGGIA
I passed over some pieces of what appeared to be aircraft wreckage, fuselage, whatever, some body parts and bodies in various states, either people from the building or the airplanes. You couldn't tell. They weren't intact.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/Peruggia_John.txt
EMT RICHARD ZARRILLO
Captain Nahmod and I were running down Vesey Street stepping over airplane pieces, several bodies and whatnot... There was what looked like the front wheel assembly of an airplane. Unknown the size of the plane that had hit, it just looked like it was one pair of wheels on an assembly, pieces of metal with rivets in them, a few body parts scattered around.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110161.PDF
BATTALION CHIEF BRIAN DIXON (FDNY)
I noticed police officers with First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Dunne of the NYPD in the intersection of Vesey and Church. You could see airplane parts on the ground and although I didn't realize it at the time, I later realized there were body parts, both on the concourse and on the street... I now made a left on Vesey and walked down the street on the 7 World Trade Center side, where I could see more airplane debris... http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110098.PDF
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER THOMAS FITZPATRlCK
Q. Did you witness the second plane hitting?
A. I heard it but I didn't look up. The noise from the plane was enough to make you not want to look up. I thought the plane was actually going to land in the street to be honest with you. The noise was outrageous. When it hit the building it was even worse... Various parts of the plane were falling on the street. As we went down the street you could see parts of aircraft with stencil numbers on it and things like that. There was a wheel, or like a wheel housing or something else there in the street.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110001.PDF
SUPERVISING FIRE MARSHAL BRIAN GROGAN
...I was walking up West, and I noticed first block we passed I noticed in the street at the end of where the Jersey barriers are, that split up the road before you go into the tunnel -- I guess it would be Carlisle -- I saw the first body or parts of a body, upper torso, no head, no arms or legs. I saw another one across the street.
Q. These are from the people that were jumping out of the building?
A. No, I don't believe so. I believe it was from the airplane, people in the building and the airplane coming through and it blew these people out into the street, because you couldn't have jumped that far. It's impossible.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110178.PDF
EMS DIVISION CHIEF JOHN PERUGGIA
I passed over some pieces of what appeared to be aircraft wreckage, fuselage, whatever, some body parts and bodies in various states, either people from the building or the airplanes. You couldn't tell. They weren't intact.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/Peruggia_John.txt
EMT RICHARD ZARRILLO
Captain Nahmod and I were running down Vesey Street stepping over airplane pieces, several bodies and whatnot... There was what looked like the front wheel assembly of an airplane. Unknown the size of the plane that had hit, it just looked like it was one pair of wheels on an assembly, pieces of metal with rivets in them, a few body parts scattered around.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110161.PDF
FIREFIGHTER JOHN MORIBITO
"I noticed in the courtyard that there were valises, suitcases,
strewn about the courtyard. There were
wallets everywhere, broken glass, and then I noticed that there were airplane tickets. I started
to get a picture of the size of
the airplane that had hit the building. Up until then, we thought it was
maybe a small two-seater plane, and now we were starting to get the idea that
it was maybe larger or a commercial airliner."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110354.PDFBATTALION CHIEF BRIAN DIXON (FDNY)
"Debris was falling down but not at any great
point. By the time I started to pass by in front of 10 and 10. As I got down a
little farther, there was what looked to be a piece of the cabin of the
airplane, I guess. It looked like a piece of it about maybe six foot long. It
looked like the windows."
Q. "This is on Liberty?"
A. "This is on Liberty and
just west of 10 and 10, whatever that next building is there. Now that I think
back, I guess it could have been -- I don't know if it was the windows. It
actually looked like the rounded cutout of the windows of the cabin of a
plane."
See more eyewitness
accounts here:
http://www.911myths.com/index.php/United_Airlines_Flight_175_Crash_Evidence#Witness_accounts
FIRE CHIEF DANIEL NIGRO:
DANIEL NIGRO (in another account): "I ordered the evacuation of an area sufficient around to protect our members, so we had to give up some rescue operations that were going on at the time and back the people away far enough so that if 7 World Trade did collapse, we wouldn't lose any more people. We continued to operate on what we could from that distance and approximately an hour and a half after that order was given, at 5:30 in the afternoon, 7 World Trade Center collapsed completely."
FIRE CAPTAIN RAY GOLDBACH:
9/11 and the Pentagon Attack: What Witnesses Described
FIRE CHIEF
FRANK FELLINI:
"The
major concern at that time at that particular location was number Seven,
building number seven, which had taken a big hit from the north tower. ... We
were concerned that the fires on several floors and the missing steel would
result in the building collapsing. So for the next five or six hours we kept
firefighters from working anywhere near that building, which included the whole
north side of the World Trade Center complex. Eventually around 5:00 or a
little after, building number seven came down." http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110217.PDF
FIRE CHIEF DANIEL NIGRO:
"The
biggest decision we had to make on the first day was to clear the area and
create a collapse zone around the severely damaged 7 World Trade Center, a
47-story building heavily involved in fire. A number of fire officers and
companies assessed the damage to the building. The appraisals indicated that
the building's integrity was in serious doubt. I issued the orders to pull back
the firefighters and define the collapse zone. It was a critical decision; we
could not lose any more firefighters. It took a lot of time to pull everyone
out, given the emotionalism of the day, communications difficulties, and the
collapse terrain."
DANIEL NIGRO (in another account): "I ordered the evacuation of an area sufficient around to protect our members, so we had to give up some rescue operations that were going on at the time and back the people away far enough so that if 7 World Trade did collapse, we wouldn't lose any more people. We continued to operate on what we could from that distance and approximately an hour and a half after that order was given, at 5:30 in the afternoon, 7 World Trade Center collapsed completely."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110154.PDF
FIRE CHIEF FRANK CRUTHERS:
FIRE CHIEF FRANK CRUTHERS:
"Early
on, there was concern that 7 World Trade Center might have been both impacted
by the collapsing tower and had several fires in it and there was a concern
that it might collapse. So we instructed that a collapse area ... be set up and
maintained so that when the expected collapse of 7 happened, we wouldn't have
people working in it."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110179.PDF
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/9110179.PDF
FRANK CRUTHERS (in another account): "Of primary importance early on in the
operation was the structural condition of 7 World Trade Center. Assistant Chief
Frank Fellini had been approached by several chiefs who were concerned about
its stability. It had been heavily damaged in the collapse and was
well-involved in fire. Chief Fellini had looked at it and described to us some
damage to its south side; he felt that structural components of the building
had been comprised. So when Chief Dan Nigro arrived at the command post, he
convened a meeting of staff chiefs, and this was a major subject of the
meeting. We were all in accord about the danger of 7 WTC, and we all agreed
that it was not too conservative of a decision to establish a collapse zone for
that building, move the firefighters out of the collapse area, and maintain
that strategy."
FIRE CAPTAIN RAY GOLDBACH:
"There
was a big discussion going on at that point about pulling all of our units out
of 7 World Trade Center. Chief Nigro didn't feel it was worth taking the
slightest chance of somebody else getting injured. So at that point we made a
decision to take all of our units out of 7 World Trade Center because there was
a potential for collapse. ... Made the decision to back everybody away, took
all the units and moved them all the way back toward North End Avenue, which is
as far I guess west as you could get on Vesey Street, to keep them out of the way."
FDNY
DEPUTY CHIEF PETER HAYDEN:
"We
were pretty sure that 7 World Trade Center would collapse. Early on, we saw a
bulge in the southwest corner between floors 10 and 13, and we had put a
transit on that and we were pretty sure she was going to collapse. You actually
could see there was a visible bulge, it ran up about three floors. It came down
about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, but by about 2 o'clock in the afternoon we
realized this thing was going to collapse."
FDNY
LIEUTENANT RUDOLPH WEINDLER:
"So
we left 7 World Trade Center. . . and Captain Varriale told Chief Coloe and
myself that 7 World Trade Center was badly damaged on the south side and
definitely in danger of collapse. Chief Coloe said we were going to evacuate
the collapse zone around 7 World Trade Center, which we did."
FDNY
CAPTAIN CHRIS BOYLE:
"So
we go there and on the north and east side of 7 it didn’t look like there was
any damage at all, but then you looked on the south side of 7 there had to be a
hole 20 stories tall in the building, with fire on several floors. Debris was
falling down on the building and it didn’t look good. But they
had a hoseline operating. Like I said, it was hitting the sidewalk across the
street, but eventually they pulled back too. Then we received an order from
Fellini, we’re going to make a move on 7. That was the first time really my
stomach tightened up because the building didn’t look good. I was figuring
probably the standpipe systems were shot. There was no hydrant pressure. I
wasn’t really keen on the idea. Then this other officer I’m standing next to
said, that building doesn’t look straight. So I’m standing there. I’m looking
at the building. It didn’t look right, but, well, we’ll go in, we’ll see.
So we
gathered up rollups and most of us had masks at that time. We headed toward 7.
And just around we were about a hundred yards away and Butch Brandies came
running up. He said forget it, nobody’s going into 7, there’s creaking, there
are noises coming out of there, so we just stopped. And probably about 10
minutes after that, Visconti, he was on West Street, and I guess he had another
report of further damage either in some basements and things like that, so
Visconti said nobody goes into 7, so that was the final thing and that was
abandoned."
_______________________________________________________________
This website is a disgrace. Aluninum planes cannot disapear in steel. The outside of each tower were known as "steel out columns." No planes hit the WTC. The explosions were causes by a paintable nanothermite and a napalm cannon. The nanoythermite was provided by L.Paul Bremer's company.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that all of the first-responders quoted above are lying? Were they "in" on murdering their own friends and colleagues?
DeleteRealist 1, you ask, "how in the fuck did all these first responders eyewitness this event???"
DeleteAre you serious? They're FIRST RESPONDERS. You know, the people who are FIRST to arrive on the scene in an emergency?
These were the brave men and women who risked their lives for the sake of others. They lost many of their own friends and colleagues that day, fellow first-responders who were killed in the line of duty. Have some respect for the sake of decency.
You must have a brain. Do better at using it and stop embarrassing yourself.
There were no planes, so the real questions is, are these people lying or misled? The only planes anyone saw or heard were CGI inserted into recorded video and broadcast on TV.
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry about your brain.
DeleteDeception was the order of the day on 9/11. There were no planes, and yes, firefighters police and military people lied about that day. Why? Ask them.
ReplyDeleteHi Saul, I am agreed with you totally. No plan is stable thing while flying. So, it may be missed in the photos. Again, I believe our brave first responders since they work from the core of their heart for the sake of us. They extend their helping hand at the emergency situation from their inner spirit. It's proven many times that first responders tried their best to protect us form many ill happenings or in time of disasters or from criminals. Hopefully many companies now offer first responder discount for any purchase as reward whether they are active or retired. Why they deserved such consideration? Certainly for their well-being work. And the 9/11 day was really a black day for us. We should pay due homage for them who passed away in the spot.
ReplyDelete