FBI investigators comb the crater left by the previous day's crashof United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 12, 2001. 2023 Getty Images. I didnt realize how frightened I had been until I pulled my phone from my waist pack to try to call her son for her and my hand was shaking nearly uncontrollably.. The Statue of Liberty can be seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, as the Lower Manhattan skyline remains shrouded in smoke on September 15, 2001. I chose to upload it because I feel it has historical importance. My staff and I were watching in bewilderment at the first tower that was engulfed in smoke, she said. Standing right Photos show what the inside of the World Trade Centre looked like before it was torn down in a terror attack. He later told me that I was speaking very quickly and not making much sense. She worked in the building and had gotten out safely. The impacts and fires caused the steel structure elements in the skyscrapers to fail, and the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after burning for 56 minutes, and the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m. after burning for 102 minutes. It was a bright, beautiful morning, and you could see seemingly forever out the floor to ceiling windows of the building. Suzanne Plunkett was on the scene taking photos for the Associated Press. They all returned. note: This gallery contains graphic images that may be disturbing. I never saw so many different types of fire fighting vehicles. And then it got shattered.. We didnt know whether it was a commercial jet or a private plane like a Gulfstream. WebFDNY Ladder 3 firetruck recovered from the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. To me, this image represents a moment when our country, in the aftermath of an attack on our soil, literally came through the darkness to find a renewed sense of common ground and patriotism, he said. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. You have to remember there were no smartphones in 2001; I had no way to see this imagery up until this point, he said. I lost four friends and co-workers that day who will forever be in my heart. On October 9th the employees were contacted and told to report to work at One Penn Plaza. Unfortunate accident? People are only just discovering that 3 towers collapsed on 9/11, Pilot thought co-pilot was joking before he died inside the cockpit, Donald Trump slammed as clip of his 'tallest tower' reaction to 9/11 attacks resurfaces, Only one plane was allowed to take off after all others grounded on 9/11. For a moment, I thought we were buried alive. Twice is more than enough, he said, referring to 9/11 and the 1993 bombing of the Twin Towers. Suddenly (DeFazio) paused on the sidewalk, overcome by grief and worry. Sitting there in front of the TV, it was like a floodgate had opened, and my mind finally had a chance to deal with the tragedy and all the emotions that went with it. I could tell that he had been killed, but it profoundly struck me that all these men from various agencies were doing their best to preserve his body. 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A cloud of debris envelops pedestrians on New Yorks Beekman Street after the World Trade Center collapse on September 11. Check out Military.com's original video series today. Its hard to put into words what I feel for the firefighters who sacrificed everything that day in order to try to help others. Within a short period of time, however, the lobby started to fill with people who were trying to evacuate that building. Having worked as a baggage handler at JFK airport for a summer (ironically for United Airlines of all companies), I knew what jet fuel smelled like. It was, without a doubt, one of the most moving presidential moments Ive ever witnessed.. Shanken was drawn to the scene because of its irony: a welcome sign during an evacuation. "What we were seeing was the second tower coming down.". I knew what was going to happen: I was going to witness hundreds of people die, she recalled nearly 20 years later. Found the internet! Im saying to myself, Did (the towers collapse) ignite cancer cells in me?. This seemed to be the scene everywhere, he said. He believes some people react negatively because they can see themselves in that similar predicament. Its thought that upwards of 200 people either fell or jumped to their deaths after the planes hit the towers. Since the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center we were always prepared to leave the building whenever we felt threatened by any type of incident. I have always been fascinated by the historical significance of photojournalism, particularly regarding September 11, and when I remembered in February that I had unseen photographs, I scanned and posted them to my Flickr page, Enea says. Source: New York State Education Department, History.com, Source: New York State Education Department,History.com, Source: New York State Education Department, Source: World Trade Center, 911memorial.org. People run as one of the towers of the World Trade Center collapses in New York City. But advertising revenue helps support our journalism. Much of the ceiling had come down, and I could feel the breeze from blown out windows on the other side of the floor. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my wife had arrived at work at the Midtown financial firm where she worked, right around the time my building was hit. I called my wife to let her know what was happening. They told me that a lady living in Brooklyn found a Ruling Letter that I had signed in her backyard the day after 9/11. After finding the letter the lady was so upset that she called the Times to report what she found and asked if they could find out if I had survived. Had I decided to stay up on 78 instead of returning to my office when I did, I would not be alive today. In the clip, he recalls: "I raced around and found a video camera and a window facing in the right direction. (Photo: AP), An arial view shows only a small portion of the scene where the twin towers collapsed following the Sept 11 terrorist atack. Bush climbed atop a pile of rubble as he used a megaphone to address a large gathering of people. If the first building hadn't essentially fallen straight down, its crash could have killed hundreds standing, like me, a few blocks away.". A few years ago, a man named Liam Enea got his hands on a photo album from his late relative. She had gone to the Park Avenue Armory to file a missing persons report in the hopes of finding any information about her husband. I arrived for work that morning on the 77th floor of World Trade Center tower 2 (WTC2) around 8:00 a.m. Mario Tama/Getty Images A firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack. IE 11 is not supported. Take a look in the gallery above. Family and friends carry photos of some of the more than 2,600 victims to the ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. While many of my employees were eligible to retire, no one did. Ive always felt that this picture captures a small moment of that feeling.. I pulled up my T-shirt to cover my face. No part of the plane was visible (it had hit WTC1 from the Norththe opposite side from where my office faced. What did it feel like to be inside the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attacks. Thousands of survivors and first responders have been diagnosed with cancers resulting from the terrorist attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I was stunned to see that tower two had collapsed. I will never forget the surreal moment of sunlight that was making its way through all the destruction and chaos on that clear September day. The story appeared in the Times the next day. I dont know why these strangers shared their personal stories with me a total stranger other than they felt the very human need to connect and share their story, their memories, their grief, their loss.. I never thought that either tower would collapse. We conjectured about the cause: Small airplane? At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 people, speared into the 110-story north tower. I tried to be succinct in what I told him so that he understood the enormity of the problem, Card wrote. Select from premium World Trade Center Attacks of the highest quality. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Firefighters battle flames at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. A man falls from one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I remember thinking how horrible it was that she was moving through this moment all by herself.. The Falling Man. As my group and I were approaching the exit one of my employees said, I have to go back; I forgot to turn off the coffee pot. He went back to the office while the rest of us continued to the exit that took us out by Seven World Trade Center. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. While I was covered in dust and other particles, I was not injured. In that moment, total strangers near her on the sidewalk reached out to comfort her. WebA place for pictures and photographs. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre were a familiar sight to New Yorkers for decades and for many they were a reassuring sight something on the lines of the Statue Of Liberty, they had become an icon of American spirit. Seemingly insignificant decisions a person made that day determined whether they lived or died. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. The World Trade Centers South Tower bursts into flames after being hit by United Airlines Flight 175. Since we still didnt know exactly what happened we decided to enter the Hotel New Yorker to find out what had happened and to call home. As we exited our car in Brooklyn Heights en route to Lower Manhattan, a woman came out of a building and asked if we wanted to see what Manhattan looked like from her roof, he recalled. Shockingly, the attacks could even be seen from space, with images from NASA showing smoke pouring out into the sky. This website follows the DNPAs code of conduct. The north tower burns after an earlier attack by a hijacked airliner in New York City. It was at that point that the relative calmness of everyone evacuating turned into a sense of urgency. President Bush speaks to rescue workers, firefighters and police officers at the rubble of New Yorks ground zero, three days after the attacks. And I just instinctively started photographing them as they were falling.. Unfortunately, this is a day I will never forget. Web(Photo: Tom Hannigan/Flickr) This piece originally appeared on Quora: What did it feel like to be inside the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attacks? People walk across the Brooklyn Bridge as they flee Lower Manhattan on September 11. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. A sense of dread washed over her. Footage filmed prior to 2001 shows the building packed out with people, taking photos and taking the lift up to the rooftop observation deck. While I had been in the midst of this massive story, walking on the very epicenter of ground zero, I had not seen much of the footage the rest of the world was seeing all day. A lock Ill always remember the dedication my employees had to their job and to the Customs Service in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. They were lit only by the eerily glowing light of the display case holding cold cuts and cheeses for that days sandwiches.. As I made my way downtown to the area where this picture was taken, on Church Street near the intersection with Dey Street, it was difficult to make sense of what was going on, photographer Justin Lane said. The moment was fleeting. Chief of staff Andrew Card interrupts President Bush at 9:07 a.m. during a school visit in Sarasota, Fla., to inform him that a second plane hit the World Trade Center. On Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers caught U.S. authorities by surprise with a bold attack on New York City's World Trade Center. I also spoke with the president of the company, who was down in Florida at the time. I was shocked; both towers gone, our building destroyed and 7 World Trade Center burning. The garage started to fill up, so I ran to the back of the building and then down a metal staircase to the lower level to find some breathable air, she said. Lederhandler, a renowned photographer who also photographed D-Day in 1944, died in 2010 at the age of 92. My office was on 77 facing WTC1 (the north tower). There were also many other firemen coming in their own private vehicles to help. (Photo: Reuters), Firemen work around the World Trade Center after both towers collapsed in New York. The publication of this photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew, was not received well by everyone. I went in, and there was a small lobby where a few people were gathered, as confused as I was about what was happening.. After the first tower was attacked, Maryann stood on her Greenwich Street apartment balcony and documented the event with disposable cameras. Marcy Borders stands covered in dust as she takes refuge in a New York City office building after one of the towers collapsed. ", Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Alessio Arigoni, In the clip, Frank can be heard telling Mission Control: "We, can see New York City, and the smoke from the, Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there and everywhere else, Here I'm looking up and down the East Coast, Man ends up in hospital after mass brawl breaks out in Liverpool gym, Study 'proves' short person-syndrome as they are more likely to be psychopaths, Heinz finally finds man who survived 24 days at sea by eating ketchup, Influencer filming livestream in park asks man to move off bench but he refuses, Andrew Tate says he doesnt recognise himself when he looks in the mirror in prison, Gavin and Stacey stars are returning to Barry Island for new show. Inside, he was surprised to discover a trove of never At some point I saw people appear at the edge of the gaping hole. There was this golden feeling. Some cropped the photo or used a sequence of two or three images, showing the plane exploding into the South Tower. It was really peaceful. These photos capture one of the most influential events in human history, Enea writes. Instead, the neighborhood was engulfed in darkness.. The other two passenger jets were directed at the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The Secret Service has shared two pictures from inside a garage associated with its New York City field office that were taken after the 9/11 attacks. At that point I honestly didnt know what had happened. I remember thinking that the building was coming down and it was the end. She knew I was still in the building at the time, and she knew what floor I worked on, so at that point, she had no idea whether I was still alive. I have not spoken to her since, yet I think of her often, especially each September.. I had been in Lower Manhattan for about a half hour covering the attack, photographer Stan Honda said. The building management of 7 World Trade Center then decided to open the emergency exits to let everyone outside. While the wound was quite serious, it did not appear to be life-threatening. I returned to my office and decided to call my mother. They had a full set of gear on, and they looked weary and frightened, yet they continued up past us. A few seconds after hanging up the phone at 9:03 a.m., I felt a violent jolt and then a falling sensation. The album contains photos of the North Tower of the World Trade Center seconds after impact and then smoke billowing from both towers. The next several weeks resulted in several amazing accomplishments through the coordinated efforts of various offices in the Customs Service. Judge had just administered last rites to a firefighter at the site. It was then that my front office employees and I decided that we should evacuate the building even though an alarm had not gone off yet. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. 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