Beverly Eckert, wife of Sean Rooney, VP of risk management, Aon Corporation, South Tower, 98th floor: It was about 9:30 a.m. when he called. When I heard his voice on the phone, I was so happy. I said, “Sean, where are you?,” thinking that he had made it out and that he was calling me from the street somewhere. He told me he was on the 105th floor. I knew right away Sean was never coming home.
There was a building in flames underneath him, but Sean didn’t even flinch. He stayed composed, talking to me the way he always did. I will always be in awe of the way he faced death. Not an ounce of fear—not when the windows around him were getting too hot to touch, not when the smoke was making it hard to breathe.
I wanted to use the precious few minutes we had left to talk. He told me to give his love to his family, and then we began talking about all the happiness we shared during our lives together, how lucky we were to have each other. At one point, when I could tell it was getting harder for him to breathe, I asked if it hurt. He paused for a moment, and then said, “No.” He loved me enough to lie. In the end, as the smoke got thicker, he kept whispering “I love you,” over and over.
Terri Langone, wife of FDNY firefighter Peter Langone: My husband called to let me know, “Turn on the TV, Ter. We think a plane crashed into the Towers.” Then he proceeded to talk to me like it was any other day. Then he said, “Keep the TV on and watch. I’m not going to be home anytime soon.” That was that. That was the last time I spoke to him. I’m one of the fortunate ones to have spoken to him that day.
John Cartier: You’ve got to look at the small gifts that we were given as a family. There’s a lot of families out there who didn’t get a last word or a last phone call. One of the other young ladies who lost her husband said it best. She said, “We were the lucky of the unlucky to have those last words.”
* * *
Dan Nigro, chief of operations, FDNY, inside the ground-floor lobby of the North Tower, at the FDNY command post: I said to Chief Ganci, “I am going to quickly walk around and see what the damage looks like.” When I got to the center of Vesey Street, I could see clearly the north side of the South Tower. The corner of the building was taken out. We didn’t see that when the plane hit, it sliced right through the tower. I wanted to get back to say to Pete, “I think we have less time than we might have thought we had. The South Tower looks terrible.”
Jean Potter, Bank of America, North Tower: I came out [of the World Trade Center] at 9:55. I looked at my watch. There’s flaming debris all around me. I walked one block, and I saw one of my [apartment building’s] doormen. I said, “Richard, what happened?” I turned around—the sight of the Towers flaming was unbelievable. My doorman said a plane hit the World Trade Center. Then I was trying to get contact with Dan and my family because, I thought, If anybody sees this, they’re going to think I’m dead.
Melinda Murphy, traffic reporter, WPIX TV: The Towers were on fire. My photographer Chet had been a firefighter. He said, “The buildings are going to fall.” I remember being really mad, vehemently saying, “They are not, they are not going to fall down!” He said, “They are going to fall. They’re going to pancake down.”
Dan Nigro: I heard somebody call out to me, a civilian employee of the fire department. He said, “Chief, my wife works on the 92nd floor of the South Tower and I can’t get in touch with her.” It was one of those instances where you really have your hands full with what you are doing, but I thought, Let me stop for a minute. I felt so bad for him. I knew his wife had given birth about three months before. I said, “No one’s phone is working. I am sure she got out before this even happened, and she’s probably already a few blocks away, so when the phones start working again you’ll be able to contact her. Don’t worry.”
Stopping to talk to this person inadvertently saved me and my aide, who was with me—and is also my nephew—from certain death. We were walking to go through the South Tower lobby, and whatever time it took me to say those few words would have been enough time to put me in a place where I would not have been able to get away.
Bill Spade, firefighter, Rescue 5, FDNY: We were right in front of Stairway C [in the North Tower]. The people were coming down, and we kept telling people, “You’re almost out, you’ve almost made it out.”
Lila Speciner, paralegal, Port Authority, North Tower: We got down to the Concourse level. The sprinklers were on. Everything was soggy, wet, whatever, but we started to smile because, okay, we were done.
William Jimeno, officer, PAPD: We bumped into another group of Port Authority police officers—a classmate of mine, Walwyn Stuart. He actually had his first little girl while we were in the academy. We punched each other’s fists, and we said, “Be safe.” They started walking away. That would be the last time we saw any of those Port Authority police officers.
Lt. Gregg Hansson, Engine 24, FDNY: There was a chief on the 35th floor [in the North Tower] with us. Over his radio came a “Mayday” to get out of the building—a “Mayday” basically means to run. We didn’t, at the time, have any understanding why that order was given, and it didn’t make sense to us. Within seconds, the South Tower collapsed.
* * *
I. The man Harry Ramos waited with was Victor Wald, a 49-year-old New York stockbroker with Avalon Partners and father of two. Wald had only started working at Avalon in late August. Later, Ramos’s and Wald’s families would request that their names be placed together on the 9/11 Memorial.
“Something wasn’t right”
* * *
The First Collapse
At 9:59 a.m. less than an hour after it was the second building hit, the South Tower, weakened by fires fueled by thousands of gallons of jet fuel, collapsed.
Dan Potter, firefighter, Ladder 10, FDNY: I ran into the Engine 10 firehouse, at the base of the World Trade Center, and Captain Mallory grabbed me and said, “Sign into the book, because it’s total recall, they’re calling all firefighters back here.” I remember signing the book and putting on my gear. Other firefighters were also starting to run in now. One of them was Pete Bielfeld—I figured he and I would team up. As we go toward the front of the firehouse, I said, “Pete, let me go grab a tool first. Stand here. Let me go grab a rescue tool.” I turned around, ran back for that. He didn’t wait for me. As I was going out the front [of the firehouse], there was a firefighter standing in the door. I don’t know who he was. I remember him standing there, looking up, and he saw the top of the tower twist. As I was going by, he clotheslined me—he sticks his arm out and it catches me. He goes, “Holy shit, here it comes.”
Dan Nigro, chief of operations, FDNY: No one has heard a high-rise building collapse before, but as soon as I heard it, I knew what it was.
Donna Jensen, resident, Battery Park City: It was this rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat, this snapping sound in perfect rhythm, this loud, cracking, snapping sound.
John Cartier, brother of James Cartier, electrician, who was working in the South Tower: At first, it was a faint sound, and then it came closer and closer.
Capt. Sean Crowley, NYPD: We’re talking to [NYPD officer] Glen Pettit at the intersection of Liberty and West when we hear a rumble.
Edward “Eddie” Aswad Jr., officer, NYPD: I’m looking at the building, and Sean’s facing me. The next thing you hear is, “It’s going!” I look up and see this black cloud of smoke.
Capt. Sean Crowley: I was looking away from the building, toward Eddie. I saw his face, and he goes, “Fucking run,” or something like that. He turned around and ran toward where our cars were parked, which was right in front of Three World Financial Center, underneath the walkway. I never saw Glen again.
William Jimeno, officer, PAPD, inside the lobby of the South Tower: Everything started shaking. I looked back toward the lobby, and I saw a fireball the size of my house coming. Sergeant [John] McLoughlin yelled, “Run!” I said to myself, What did I get myself into? As I was running, I could see a light in front of me. I remember thinking, in a split second, Wow, I should run toward the
light, maybe it will take me outside. Then I remembered we promised we would not leave each other. I saw Dominick run, he turned to the left, so I started to follow him. At that point, all I felt was my body go up in the air and get slammed.
John Cartier: The sound was so deafening.
Michele Cartier, Lehman Brothers, North Tower, 40th floor: This high-pitched sound, and I didn’t know what that was, but it was so eerie, like your fingernails-on-a-chalkboard type of thing.
Bruno Dellinger, principal, Quint Amasis North America, North Tower, 47th floor: I heard a sound that today I cannot remember. It was so powerful, such a huge sound that I blocked it. It scared me to death. I blocked it, and I cannot bring it back up to consciousness.
Howard Lutnick, CEO, Cantor Fitzgerald, North Tower: The loudest sound I’d ever heard.
Gregory Fried, executive chief surgeon, NYPD: I can’t even give you an analogy.
Bill Spade, firefighter, Rescue 5, FDNY: Like six or eight subway cars pulling into the station at the same time with their brakes.
Det. Steven Stefanakos, Emergency Service Unit, Truck 10, NYPD: Like a thousand freight trains crashed.
Kenneth Escoffery, firefighter, Ladder 20, FDNY: Like an incoming missile.
James Dobson, paramedic: Like an avalanche.
Gulmar Parga, marine engineer, fireboat John D. McKean, FDNY: Like a giant chandelier, all the glass breaking.
Catherine Leuthold, independent photojournalist: Like 30,000 jets taking off.
Sharlene Tobin, financial consultant, One New York Plaza: Like a machine gun.
Joe Massian, technology consultant, Port Authority, North Tower, 70th floor: A pop and then a sift—like taking a bag of sugar and pouring it into a container.
Al Kim, vice president of operations, TransCare Ambulance: I told everyone, “Incoming! Run!”
Constance Labetti, accountant, Aon Corporation, South Tower, 99th floor: We really thought that the end of the world was upon us.
* * *
The collapse of the South Tower instantly trapped guests, staff, and rescuers inside the Marriott Hotel, located between the Twin Towers, as wreckage pounded the roof.
Frank Razzano, guest, Marriott Hotel: I was standing there watching the TV. I said to myself, Jesus Christ, if I leave this building today without my stuff, they’re never going to let me back in this building tonight. I started packing all my documents and getting everything ready to go, thinking, I wonder if I can get a bellman to come up and help me take all this stuff down? At that point the building shook, as if you were in an earthquake. I looked out the window, and what had been a bright sunny day suddenly turned pitch black. It was as if a curtain of concrete and steel had come falling down, like the curtain at a play. I could literally see it coming down, past the window—almost in slow motion—turning everything pitch black.
Jeff Johnson, firefighter, Engine 74, FDNY: The entire building started to shudder. It was lights out. I fell down.
Frank Razzano: It was as if the building was being hit by artillery fire. You could feel the building breaking up around you.
Jeff Johnson: We immediately called for the other members of our crew. It’s a military thing. We called, “Pat?” “Yeah.” “John?” “Yeah.” “Lieu, it’s Jeff.” We had us four, and then we called Ruben, and we didn’t get an answer. We kept screaming, “Ruben? Ruben?”
Frank Razzano: I yelled out into what was left of the hallway, “Is anybody there?” I hear a voice that said, “Come this way.” The room was located almost right next to the fire staircase. Right at the base of the doorjamb, in some rubble, was a New York City fireman. I learned later that his name was Jeff Johnson. I said, “Are you okay?” He said to me, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yeah, I’m fine. How are you? Is there anything I can do to help you?” He said, “No, I’m fine. I want you to go down the fire stairs.”
Jeff Johnson: Immediately in front of us was a complete wall of debris.
Frank Razzano: When I got to the fourth-floor landing and began to walk down the stairs to where the third-floor landing would be, it was blocked with rubble. I began trying to move rubble away and create an opening. I got enough rubble out of the way that I could squeeze through. On the third-floor landing were three men and the banquet manager of the hotel.
Jeff Johnson: We gave immediate “Maydays” on the radio that as a unit we were missing a member. Nobody was answering us. We did hear somebody calling out on the radio a “Mayday.” He was a fireman, and he didn’t know where he was. “I’m trapped, but I don’t know where I am.” That’s the most heart-wrenching and worst-case scenario.
Frank Razzano: Within a few minutes, Jeff Johnson came down. He was with another fireman now, that he had met coming down the stairs. Jeff looked around. An I-beam was leaning up against the landing on the third floor and was wedged on a ledge on the second floor. Jeff climbed down the I-beam, walked along the ledge, came back, and yelled up to us, “Each of you are going to have to climb down the I-beam and walk along the ledge and go back into the building. We have got to find a way out.”
I also recall him saying, “Look, nobody’s coming. Nobody is coming for us. Any of the firemen or rescue people who are tasked at getting people out of the building—they are dead. If they were in the street, they are dead. If they were in the buildings, they are dead. Nobody is coming to get us. We have to get out on our own.”
* * *
The unprecedented collapse—the first time a high-rise building had ever fallen—was witnessed by millions around the world, on television, and in person across the New York region, including by those who had already evacuated from the World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan.
Beverly Eckert, wife of Sean Rooney, VP of risk management, Aon Corporation, South Tower, 98th floor: I suddenly heard this loud explosion through the phone. It reverberated for several seconds. We held our breath. I know we both realized what was about to happen. Then I heard a sharp crack, followed by the sound of an avalanche. I heard Sean gasp once as the floor fell out from underneath him. I called his name into the phone over and over.
Cathy Pavelec, administrator, Port Authority, North Tower, 67th floor: I ran into a woman on the street who I knew from my office, Denise. We started up the ramp to go to the Brooklyn Bridge, but then I saw all these fighter planes. I didn’t know if they were ours or not. I said to Denise, “We can’t go on a bridge. We can’t go on a landmark.” I really thought that the planes belonged to somebody other than us. We turned around to get off the bridge. We heard a noise, we looked up, and we saw Tower Two collapse.
Robert Small, office manager, Morgan Stanley, South Tower, 72nd floor, now on the Brooklyn Bridge: It looked like a Fourth of July sparkler. It swayed to one side and fell within itself. Then it was gone. You can see the glitter from the metal and the glass as this big gray cloud formed.
Michael McAvoy, associate director, Bear Stearns, Brooklyn: In seconds, it was gone. People screamed again. I looked at my coworker Brian and said, “Holy shit, 20,000 people just died.”
Monica O’Leary, former employee, Cantor Fitzgerald, North Tower: I remember standing there with my neighbor John, saying, “Where the hell did that go? Where the hell did that go? Where did the building go? Where’d they go?”
Judith Wein, senior vice president, Aon Corporation, South Tower, 103rd floor: My heart dropped. I thought of everybody who was still up there. It was their end.
Melinda Murphy, traffic reporter, WPIX TV: When the building fell it became a personal story for me because my husband worked a couple of blocks away. It became, “Oh my God, my husband may not be alive.” On camera, I was fine. As soon as they told me I was clear, I was a mess.
Peter Jennings, anchor, ABC News: We went into silent mode. It was not necessary for us to add our own anxiety or shock. It was all evident for everybody. Throughout my entire career, I have always been conscious that there are times when some people on television talk too much. Silence or natural sound on occasion is infinitely more powe
rful and relevant.
Aaron Brown, anchor, CNN: The hardest words I’ve ever spoken on TV in 25 years were these: “The United States is under attack.” It took me too long, perhaps a half hour too long, to utter those words. They were there, I assure you. I knew what it was.
Cathy Pavelec: We stood there for a minute and then the cloud started to come after us. For the first time that day, I really thought we were going to die.
Richard Grasso, chairman and CEO, New York Stock Exchange: When the South Tower was coming down, my head of security came racing across the floor. He was uncharacteristically shaken. He said, “We’re learning the city’s gone code black.” Which means the mayor’s dead, the police commissioner’s dead, and the fire commissioner’s dead. At that point, I turned to my colleague and said, “Ring the bell—we’re closed.”
“This is not my day, I’m not dying here”
* * *
Inside the Cloud
The South Tower collapsed at an estimated speed of nearly 124 miles an hour, and later estimates held that the winds generated from the collapse of the World Trade Center peaked as high as 70 miles per hour, driving the accompanying cloud of debris scores of blocks away as the hurricane-force wind spread devastation throughout Lower Manhattan.
Rudy Giuliani, mayor, New York City: I heard someone yell, “The tower is coming down.” I heard a big noise, saw the desk shaking. My first impression of “The tower is coming down” was that the radio tower on the top of the building had come down. I certainly didn’t have the impression that the whole building had come down.
Rosmaris Fernandez, student, HSLPS: I could not believe that the World Trade Center was coming down. I stared at the buildings coming down in amazement until I came to my senses and realized that it was time to run.
The Only Plane in the Sky Page 16