9/11, eight years later

Maybe things would have been better had we caved in and celebrated the Willennium.

 

Steve Kelley has a solid column relevant to the story:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2009842348_kelley11.html

 

I remember the alarm going off that morning, people on the radio talking about a small plane hitting the World Trade Center. I hit the snooze, thinking some amateur pilot had wandered into the building with a Cessna or something like that. "You've got to be the worst pilot in the world to not see a huge building like that" is what I thought.
Once I woke up, I didn't think more about it. I got ready for work like usual. When I got into my car, on NPR they were just about to go to break but said plenty more to come on this big story. I got to work, parked, and waited for the commercial break to end. That's when I heard the news. We were a small paper, no TV in the office, so we listened to the radio all day and checked the web. That night I finally saw video. Still amazing.
That came two days after my mom informed me she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, and three days before she informed me it was terminal. Suffice to say, it was not a good week.

 

Remembering two of the best men I ever knew:

Terry Hatton, Captain, Rescue 1, FDNY

Fr. Mychal F. Judge, OFM, Chaplain, FDNY

 

I dug through my closet and am wearing my FDNY hat today, I later bought a US Postal Service hat after the anthrax attacks. I know it's easy to trash government and people who work in it, but these are people who do what they do to serve others and often at great sacrifice.

 

I still think our first response to 9/11 would have been our best response. Turn Afghanistan into a parking lot.

 

I took a trip cross country to New York City with my dad the summer of my junior year of high school (this was like '99). Among the various other snap shots of Cool New York Locations (TM), there's a picture of me from that trip on the dock that takes you out to the Statue of Liberty. Beautiful view of the NYC skyline in the background, towers prominent.

At the time, I was more interested in trying to locate the Empire State Building in that picture than in the towers and I stuffed it in a drawer with dozens of other photos from the trip. I never thought it'd have any more meaning to me than just a cool skyline shot of a trip I took. Today it's up on the living room wall. I'm very grateful I have that picture, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Thousands have shots just like it. Maybe it's something tangible of the towers that connects me to them, and to that time. I don't know. I'll always keep that picture.

I was a sophomore in college on 9/11. I remember watching it on TV that morning and only being vaguely aware of what happened. At first I thought it was an accident, naive as that seems now, and went about my day. My professors mostly cancelled classes, but my newswriting professor still held court that day. There were maybe six of us in the room for that class, and we just sat around and talked and watched the TV. I remember one guy said, as we kind of reflected on the fact that class wasn't technically cancelled, "Times like this are when reporters are supposed to go to work."

There's something in that memory that always made me want to be part of the profession of journalism. Not the BS that I soon learned came along with it, but something very basic about that sentiment that was important. When I think about that moment right now, I'm sad I'm no longer professionally reporting. I went to work on some lousy days. Not days as lousy as that, but lousy on the small scale in which I worked, and those are the days I'm proudest of looking back.

I can't believe it's been almost eight years. What's really surreal is to think that there are pretty good-sized kids in elementary school right now who weren't even born when 9/11 happened. I can't even imagine growing up in the world it created.

 

In the market where I was, they were outraged that the football games were canceled that week. We got more than 100 calls and about 500 emails from people who thought canceling games was an "overreaction."

 

A few things I remember, in no particular chronological order:

* Sitting out in the backyard the next two nights trying to unwind after work. We lived then even farther out in the country than we do now. The sky was still -- no planes. We lived on one of the main fly-over routes in the Ohio Valley -- two beacons not far away. Nothing going over. No blinking lights. Nothing. Still stays with me how odd it seemed.

* My wife was 3 months pregnant at the time. We found out about the kiddo a month or so after I'd finished covering Timothy McVeigh's execution. Nothing, I told myself then, would ever top that circus.

* I was scared shitless for weeks. The second day, Sept. 12, I had a conversation with God. Told him I'd do everything in my power to raise my son right if He'd just keep him safe through all of this.

* The night of Sept. 11, I stopped in a little Busler's gas station between work and home. Waited in line to fill up my Oldsmobile Achieva at $3.09 per gallon.

* I remember looking for something, anything, to take my mind off things when I was away from the office. Until December or so, nothing worked.

And, of course, there's this:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1023764/index.htm

 

Haven't seen any news items about the economic collapse causing thousands of deaths. What was the death toll in Katrina? A few hundred, tops.
Times ten for 9-11. Take a perspective pill.

 

I post the following each year. As someone who worked that night at the paper - and saved the plates off the press - it's important to remember the role that journalism (print, TV, radio, electronic) played as this horrible tragedy unfolded. I wound up saving 17 pages' worth of bulletins/flashes over the immediate days.

You know, you go about your life, getting banged out about stupid shit (golf game, getting charged extra for an oil filter, Phil Kessel perhaps not coming back to the Bruins), and then you watch a news recap of Sept. 11, 2001, on the eighth anniversary. And you realize how trivial that stupid shit is. I can't believe that it was eight years ago.

For what it's worth, I covered the Coast Guard football team. Tuesday was our weekly meeting with the captains and coaches in the 'O' club. We were not allowed on base, so we had our meeting down the road at Mr. G's restaurant (a great place in New London). I wish I could remember what we spoke about - I'm guessing not so much about the bad loss to Salve Regina a few days prior - but I do remember seeing the cadets have this look of, 'What do we do now?'

Part 1 of 2. Here are the first excerpts from the AP wire of the crashes, with the bulletins/flashes, followed by the major stories.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0018 _
BC-APNewsAlert,0018
NEW YORK - Plane crashes into World Trade Center, according to television reports.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 09-11 0035 _
BC-Trade Center-Crash,0035
URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - Smoke poured out of a gaping hole in the upper floors of the World Trade Center on Tuesday and there were broadcast reports a plane had struck it.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 1stadd 09-11 0070 _
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URGENT
NY: struck it.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the disaster, which happened shortly before 9 a.m.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in two sides of the 110-story building, one of landmark twin towers.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
BC-APNewsAlert,0013
NEW YORK - Explosion rocks second World Trade Center tower.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Plane crashes into second World Trade Center tower.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 2ndLd 09-11 0050 _
BC-Trade Center-Crash, 2nd Ld,0049
URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - An aircraft crashed into the upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning, and black smoke poured out of two gaping holes, witnesses said. Shortly afterward a second explosion rocked the other tower.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 2ndLd-1stadd 09-11 0156 _
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URGENT
NY: other tower.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the twin disasters, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
The towers were struck by bombers in February 1993.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings, landmark twin towers.
The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said.
The center bombingon Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
BC-APNewsAlert,0014
NEW YORK - Plane crashes into second World Trade Center tower.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 3rdLd 09-11 0048 _
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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - An aircraft crashed into the upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning, and black smoke poured out of two gaping holes, witnesses said. Shortly afterward a second plane hit the other tower.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 3rdLd-1stadd 09-11 0212 _
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URGENT
NY: other tower.
In Washington, officials said the FBI was investigating reports of a plane hijacking before the crashes.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the twin disasters, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
The towers were struck by bombers in February 1993.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings, landmark twin towers.
“I was watching TV. and heard a sonic boom ...,” witness Jeanne Yurman told CNN. “The side of the world trade center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire.”
The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said.
The center bombing on Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 4thLd 09-11 0044 _
BC-Trade Center-Crash, 4th Ld,0043
URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - Planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in a horrific scene of explosions and fires that left gaping holes in the 110-story buildings.
MORE

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0018 _
BC-APNewsAlert,0018
SARASOTA, Fla. - Bush calls World Trade Center crashes apparent terrorist attack.

u a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 7thLd-Writethru 09-11 0625 _
BC-Trade Center-Crash, 7th Ld-Writethru,0632
URGENT
Two planes crash into World Trade Center in apparent terrorist attack; no word on deaths
Eds: UPDATES with crash near Pentagon, all planes grounded, one plane reportedly hijacked from Boston. No pickup.
AP Photos NY191-3
By JERRY SCHWARTZ
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack, blasting fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story buildings. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats of terrorism.
The president ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the plane.
All planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the 110-story twin towers, one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city’s busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles away.
“Today we’ve had a national tragedy,” Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. “Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.” He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.
Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman, discounted the likelihood of accident.
“I don’t think this is an accident,” he said on CNN. “You’ve got incredibly good visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment.”
“It’s just not possible in the daytime,” he added. “A second occurrence is just beyond belief.”
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down Tuesday. Trading on Wall Street was suspended.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
“I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom,” Jeanne Yurman told CNN. “The side of the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire.”
A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and that the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission.
“It certainly doesn’t look like an accident,” said a second government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0016 _
BC-APNewsAlert,0015
NEW YORK - Explosion hits another building near World Trade Center.

u a BC-TradeCenter-Crash Advisory 09-11 0030 _
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Eds:
Upcoming is a 8th Ld-Writethru to the main bar with witness saying he saw bodies falling from World Trade Center building.
The AP

f a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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FLASH
NEW YORK - One World Trade Center tower collapses.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 8thLd 09-11 0100 _
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BULLETIN
Two planes crash into World Trade Center in apparent terrorist attack; tower collapses to the ground
Eds: UPDATES with tower collaping, witness seeing bodies. No pickup.
AP Photos NY191-3
By JERRY SCHWARTZ
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In a horrific sequence of destruction, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and one of the towers collapsed Tuesday morning in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the 110-story towers and people jumping out.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 8thLd-1stadd 09-11 0199 _
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URGENT
NY: jumping out.
The president ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed at the Pentagon as well, and officials evacuated the White House and other major government building.
One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the plane.
The planes that slammed into the Trade Center blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. The southern tower collapsed with a roar about an hour later.
“This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world,” said Chris Yates, an avaiation expert at Jane’s Transpoet in London. “It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small hndful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama Bin Laden.”
All planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 8thLd-2ndadd 09-11 0476 _
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URGENT
NY: closed down.
The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the twin towers, one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city’s busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.
John Axisa, who was getting off a PATH train to the World Trade Center, said he saw “bodies falling out” of the building. He said he ran outside, and watched people jump out of the first building, and then there was a second explosion, and he felt heat on the back of neck.
WCBS-TV, citing an FBI agent, said five or six people jumped out of the windows. People screamed every time another person leaped.
David Reck was handing out literature for a candidate for public advocate a few blocks away when he saw a jet come in “very low, and then it made a slight twist and dove into the building.”
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles away.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats of terrorism. And another explosion rocked New York about an hour after the crash.
“Today we’ve had a national tragedy,” Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. “Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.” He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
“A second occurrence is just beyond belief,” said Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down Tuesday. Trading on Wall Street was suspended.
“We heard a large boom and then we saw all this debris just falling,” said Harriet Grimm, who was inside a bookstore on the World Trade Center’s first floor when the first explosion rocked the building.
“The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,” said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later.

f a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0015 _
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FLASH
NEW YORK - Second World Trade Center tower collapses.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 10thLd 09-11 0055 _
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URGENT
NEW YORK (AP) - In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and knocked down the twin 110-story towers Tuesday morning. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
MORE

b a BC-TradeCenter-Collapse 09-11 0032 _
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BULLETIN
NEW YORK (AP) - Both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed Tuesday morning after terrorists crashed two planes into the lower Manhattan landmark.

b a BC-TradeCenter-Crash 10thLd-1stadd 09-11 0199 _
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NY: the nation.
The fate of those in the buildings was not immediately known. Authorities had been trying to evacuate people from the towers, but many were thought to be trapped.
President Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
One of the planes that crashed into the Trade Center was American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked after takeoff from Boston en route to Los Angeles, American Airlines said.
The planes blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the twin towers and people jumping out. About an hour later, the southern tower collapsed with a roar a huge cloud of smoke; the other tower fell about a half-hour after that.
“This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world,” said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane’s Transport in London. “It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama Bin Laden.”
MORE

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0022 _
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PITTSBURGH - Large plane crashes in western Pennsylvania, officials at Somerset County Airport confirm.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0014 _
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NEW YORK - Fourth explosion at World Trade Center.

b a BC-PlaneCrash 09-11 0065 _

 

(Continued)

BC-Plane Crash,0064
URGENT
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A large plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, airport officials said.
The plane, believed to be a Boeing 767, crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. The airport is about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
MORE

u a BC-PlaneCrash 1stadd 09-11 0073 _
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URGENT: of Pittsburgh.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
There were no other immediate details on the Pennsylvania crash and it was not clear whether the crash was related to the others.

u a BC-PlaneCrash 1stLd-Writethru 09-11 0321 _
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Large plane crashes in Pennsylvania; unclear if it is related to day of attacks
Eds: COMBINES, CORRECTS that plane believed to be 747; adds that airport is small, other detail.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A large plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, airport and county emergency officials said.
The plane, believed to be a 747 jumbo jet, crashed about 10 a.m. about eight miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
Officials weren’t saying what airline was involved. It was unclear if the crash was related to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington.
Sean Cavanaugh, a commissioner in neighboring Fayette County, said his emergency management director, Barney Shipley, advised him that the plane originated in either Cleveland or New York and was bound for Chicago, WPXI reported.
Contrary to earlier reports of the plane being a 767, Cavanaugh said he was told the airplane was a Boeing 747, the largest passenger jet flown domestically.
The Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in a small, rural facility that does not handle such aircraft.
Because of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
It was not immediately known if the 747 might have been trying to land at the Somerset County airport when the crash occurred.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
There were no other immediate details on the Pennsylvania crash.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0020 _
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NEW YORK — Mayor Guiliani says: “I have a sense it’s a horrendous number of lives lost.”

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0019 _
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FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines says it “lost” two aircraft carrying 156 people.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0023 _
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. — United Airlines confirms flight from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco crashed near Pittsburgh.

b a BC-PlaneCrash 2ndLd 09-11 0062 _
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URGENT
United plane crashes in Pennsylvania; unclear if it is related to day of attacks
Eds: UPDATES with airline confirmation.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A United Airlines plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport, the airline said.
The Boeing 757 was enroute from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco.
MORE

b a BC-PlaneCrash 2ndLd-1stadd 09-11 0080 _
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RETRANSMITTING to CORRECT slugline
URGENT
PTTSBURGH: San Francisco.
The plane crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
“It shook the whole station,” said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine’s Service Center in Shanksville, about two and one-half miles from the crash. “Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.”
MORE

b a BC-PlaneCrash 2ndLd-2ndadd 09-11 0114 _
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URGENT
PTTSBURGH: was blowing.”
United identified the plane as Flight 93. The airline did say how many people were aboard the flight.
United said it was also “deeply concerned” about another flight, Flight 175, a Boeing 767, which was bound from Boston to Los Angeles.
On behalf of the airline CEO James Goodwin said: “The thoughts of everyone at United are with the passengers and crew of these flights. Our prayers are also with everyone on the ground who may have been involved.
“United is working with all the relevant authorities, including the FBI, to obtain further information on these flights,” he said.
MORE

b a BC-PlaneCrash 2ndLd-3rdadd 09-11 0108 _
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URGENT
PTTSBURGH: he said.
The Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in a small, rural facility that does not handle such aircraft.
Because of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0019 _
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CHICAGO — United Airlines confirms second United plane crashing, location not given.

b a BC-PlaneCrash 4thLd 09-11 0056 _
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URGENT
United Airlines says two planes crashed, one near Pittsburgh
Eds: United confirms second crash.
PITTSBURGH (AP)- Two United Airlines jetliners crashed Tuesday morning, one near Pittsburgh, the airline said. The company said another of its planes crashed, but did not say where.
MORE

b a BC-PlaneCrash 4thLd-1stadd 09-11 0089 _
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URGENT
PITTSBURGH: say where.
United Flight 93, a Boeing 757, left Newark at 8:01 a.m., headed for San Francisco with 38 passengers, two pilots and five flight attendants, the airline said. That flight crashed near Pittsburgh.
The second plane was United 175, a Boeing 767. It left Boston at 7:58 a.m., bound for Los Angeles. That aircraft carried 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants, the airline said.
The airline would not say where that plane crashed.
MORE

b a BC-Attacks-PlaneCrash 4thLd-2ndadd 09-11 0219 _
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URGENT
PITTSBURGH: plane crashed.
Flight 93 crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. It crashed near the Somerset County airport, a small, rural facility about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
“It shook the whole station,” said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine’s Service Center in Shanksville, about 2Â1⁄2 miles from the crash. “Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.”
Because of attacks Tuesday at New York’s World Trade Center, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued.
Earlier Tuesday, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington.
In Chicago, United CEO James Goodwin said the airline is working with authorities including the FBI. United said it was sending a team to Johnstown, Pa., to assist in the investigation and to provide assistance to family members.
“Today’s events are a tragedy and our prayers are with everyone at this time,” Goodwin, said.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0025 _
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NEW YORK — High-ranking city police official says the number of people killed or injured could be in the thousands.

b a BC-APNewsAlert 09-11 0015 _
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BARKSDALE AFB, La. — Bush says military on high-alert status

u a BC-TradeCenter-Scene 4thLd-Writethru 09-11 0971 _
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‘I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.’
Eds: UPDATES with more quotes, color.
BC-Trade Center Crash
By HELEN O’NEILL
AP Special Correspondent
NEW YORK (AP)- It was the scene of a nightmare: people on fire jumping in terror from the Trade Towers just before the buildings collapsed.
“Everyone was screaming, crying, running — cops, people, firefighters, everyone,” said Mike Smith, a fire marshal from Queens, as he sat by the fountain outside a state courthouse, shortly after the second tower collapsed. “A couple of marshals just picked me up and dragged me down the street. It’s like a war zone.”
Others compared it to Pearl Harbor as thousands of people poured off the Brooklyn Bridge, fleeing Manhattan covered in gray dust and debris. Many wore respiratory masks, given by the police and fire departments.
Ambulances screamed down every major thoroughfare in Manhattan, depositing casualties at hospitals and returning to get more. Clusters of people, their hands clutched to their heads in horror, stood at boomboxes set up outside stores to listen to the news. Others gathered around cars, their doors open and radios turned up high.
Looking down West Broadway through billowing brown and black smoke, Tower Two tilted across the street. Ash, two inches deep, lined the streets.
Police and firefighters gasped for air as they emerged from the sealed-off area.
At least three explosions were heard, perhaps from gas lines. Army Humvees whizzed by on their way downtown.
Workers from Trade Center offices wandered lower Manhattan in a daze, many barely able to believe they were alive.
Kenny Johannemann, a janitor, described seeing a man engulfed in flames at One World Trade Center just after the first explosion. He grabbed the man, put the fire out, and dragged him outside. Then Johannemann heard a second explosion — and saw people jumping from the upper stories of the Twin Towers.
“It was horrendous; I can’t describe it,” Johannemann said as he stood outside the building.
Donald Burns, 34, was being evacuated from a meeting on the 82nd floor of One World Trade Center, when saw four severely burned people on the stairwell. “I tried to help them but they didn’t want anyone to touch them. The fire had melted their skin. Their clothes were tattered,” he said.
After the initial blast, Housing Authority worker Barry Jennings, 46, reported to a command center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center. He was with Michael Hess, the city’s corporation counsel, when they felt and heard another explosion. First calling for help, they scrambled downstairs to the lobby, or what was left of it. “I looked around, the lobby was gone. It looked like hell,” Jennings said.
Boris Ozersky, 47, computer networks analyst, was on the 70th floor of one of the buildings when he felt something like an explosion rock it. He raced down 70 flights of stairs, and outside, in a mob in front of a nearby hotel. He was trying to calm a panicked women when the building suddenly collapsed.
“I just got blown somewhere, and then it was total darkness. We tried to get away, but I was blown to the ground. And I was trying to help this woman, but I couldn’t find her in the darkness,” Ozersky said.
After the dust cleared, he found the hysterical woman and took her to a restaurant being used by rescue workers as a triage center.
As most people fled the area, others were drawn to it — desperate for information about friends and relatives who worked there.
“I don’t know what to do,” a weeping Alan Rivera said as he stood behind barricades, hoping for word about his niece, who worked in the Trade Center. “I can’t get through to her on the phone. ... No one can tell me anything.”
Businessman Gabriel Ioan wept too.
“I just saw the building I work in come down,” he said, a cloud of smoke and ash from the World Trade Center behind him. “I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.”
Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay-phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives.
“People were jumping out of windows,” said an unidentified crying woman. “I guess people were trying to save themselves. Oh my God!”
Another eyewitness, AP newsman Dunstan Prial, described a strange sucking sound from the Trade Center buildings after the first building collapsed.
“Windows shattered. People were screaming and diving for cover. People walked around like ghosts, covered in dirt, weeping and wandering dazed.”
“It sounded like a jet or rocket,” said Eddie Gonzalez, a postal worker at a post office on West Broadway. “I looked up and saw a huge explosion. I didn’t see the impact. I just saw the explosion.”
Morning commuters heading into Manhattan were stranded as the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down to incoming traffic. Many left their cars and stood on the ramp leading to the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the thick cloud of smoke pouring from the top of the two buildings.
Throughout lower Manhattan, rescue workers and police officers wore surgical masks to protect them from the dust.
Police, some of them with semiautomatic rifles and dogs, guarded federal and state buildings and prevented anyone from entering.
At the city’s hospitals, hundreds lined up to give blood, after hospital workers yelled on the streets, “Blood donations! Blood donations!”
Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan arrived at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center to comfort the injured; other priests also were on hand, many wearing blue rubber gloves.
Mark Ackermann, chief corporate officer at St. Vincent’s, said: “I was here during the World Trade Center bombing (in 1993) and this is a hundred times worse.”