9/11 Extra: Planes Crash Into World Trade Center

I was sitting here doing my normal morning routine (cellar, slashdot, cnn, msnbc) and when I hit CNN, I saw, to my amazement, that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I immediately went upstairs and watched the coverage on CNN and CBS. As I was watching, a second plane hit the second World Trade Center tower. Live. Right before my eyes.

I wouldn't normally post IotD's right in a row, but I think this fits in and it's gonna get posted anyway. So... here's a picture of the carnage. I got it before all the news sites went down (and they are - the only thing that's functioning at all this moment is slashdot), so it's not both Towers - just after the first explosion. Add your own pictures and discuss below.

**** I just heard on the radio **** - they're talking about a plane hitting the Pentagon now. I don't know if this is true or not, but be looking for information. Add it below, with pictures.

[dynamo]

I got on slashdot briefly, but I can't get on any more.

I'd appreciate it if anyone post anything they hear. This makes me so sad, what if those were passenger planes?

Okay, this is what I got...

first off, links: st. louis today

yahoo

that yahoo link was pretty sparse when i could get to it, but they'll probably update it.

now, more info:

pentagon - the pentagon has been hit with a plan near the helipad on the e wing. it's been evacuated. no confirmed casualties. injuries though.

world trade center - the second tower has, at least partially, collapsed. the first tower is leaning. the first hit was an american airlines boeing 767 flight from boston to los angeles. they haven't confirmed if there were passengers on board or not.

from skynews

A person who answered the phone on the trading floor at interdealer-broker Cantor Fitzgerald, located near the top of the World Trade Center, said: "We're fucking dying," then hung up. There was screaming and yelling in the background. A follow up call was not answered.

I have more pictures on my moderately well connected and pretty stable server in Mississippi. Please save them instead of viewing them a bunch, in case a lot of people end up hitting 'em. Here are links:

picture of both towers burning picture of second plane flying toward second tower

[CharlieG]

I work over at ABC News - as you can imagine its NUTS here. The WTC is GONE, both buildings have gone down. Part of the Pentagon is gone, the State department has been car bombed

no car bomb at state department.

here's a picture of the second explosion the moment it happened:



i read on msnbc that both towers have collapsed - i'm waiting to confirm this.

as i was in the elevator on the way up, i was thinking "why today?"... september 11... 9-11... 911... who knows... that's the best i could come up with... ideas?

dynamo - both planes were passenger planes. they were

american airlines flight 11, from boston to los angeles, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew

american airlines flight 77, from dulles (right near where i live) to los angeles, carrying 58 passengers and 6 crew

united airlines flight 93 from newark to san francisco crashed near somerset, pennsylvania -- initial reports indicate no survivors -- heard a rumor that it was hijacked and the pilot crashed it in a field/whatever to avoid hitting a building and killing more

united stated it was "deeply concerned" about a fourth plane, flight 175, from boston to los angeles, which is missing currently.

there has also been a car bomb explosion outside the state department. most of the major news sites are back up now, so you can go and check those out. i myself am going to get home as soon as i can. this is absolutely fucking nuts. they've closed down the beltway (I-495), pandemonium outside (i'm 20 minutes from the pentagon)... this is insane...

[serge]

I live in Brooklyn but work in Manhattan.. the company I work for has ~50+ people in WTC1 and we have (had) a server farm there that I'd physically get to from time to time (I work in midtown).

Today I didn't go to work (school.. work part time).. in the morning.. there was no express (interborough) bus service.. so I took the subway (no idea about what's going on at this point).. after getting almost to the bridge all subway service was suspended and trains turned back. 3 stations before mine.. trains totally stopped and ordered passangers off.. I think they might have thought about a bomb attack on the train(s). Some of the people on the street are near hysterical (although most are calm).. stopping me, asking if I'm coming back from the city...

Now the debree (partially burned paper mostly) was landing where I live.. which is quite a distance.. and now as before the sky is full of smoke.

Can't get to anyone at work.. phones dead. Called a friend who works right near WTC.. said he witnessed the whole thing.. anyway.. there's at this point to automated transportation of any kind to/from Manhattan.. to Brooklyn.. people are crossing the bridge on foot.

I think for many readers of this forum it'll be hard to imaging the physical magnitude of WT towers going down.. being physically being there many time.. it's just unreal.

[Undertoad]

Obviously, this is the image of the day.... I can't top it obviously and no desire to.

Thanks dham for scouting out those shots, I'm sure there will be MANY to follow...

[ndetroit]

I heard that something like 50,000 people work in the WTC... and 40,000 tourists see it a day, and another 100,000 pass underneath it riding the PATH....

Though many people have pointed fingers at the taliban and the PLO, both have denied involvement. Osama Bin Laden (currently being "contained" by the Taliban in Afganistan) however, has neither denied nor claimed responsibility.

Bush has said that this is an act of terrorism, and Sen. McCain has said that it is an act of war, and that any country who harboured suspects in this will be considered at war with the US..


Hmmm..


As many people have said on slashdot, give blood in your local blood bank if you are an American (blood is easy to ship everywhere, so even if you live far away, it counts!), and I guess.... just pray or something if you live elsewhere... ;(

[leif]

most of the tv reports I saw didn't have the second crash from this angle.

btw, it has not been confirmed that the DFLP was responsible. The BBC website claims they took credit, but other sites say "top officials" in the organization have repeatedly denied involvement. I can't see why they would claim responsibility only to deny it afterwards, and I doubt they are behind this.

The anti-arab backlash thats happening in this country today is awfully scarry.

great picture leif.

the anti arab backlash is scary, but understandable. a lot of people had their lives ruined today, and not just those that died. the simple fact of the matter is that arabs have been using terrorism against their "enemies" for some time now. consider this: the world trade center bombing in '93 was an arab stunt. it killed six and wounded, i believe, a thousand more. it was an awful event. but you didn't see us go grab six random arabs and kill 'em, meanwhile taking 1000 random arabs and, say, blowing their legs off or breaking their arms.

as for this today - innocent people have lost their lives. a lot of innocent people have lost their lives. and when we find out who did it, we're not going to round up an equal number of the supporters of the guilty party and do to them as they have done unto others, even though their religion, islam, preaches so. but, of course, they routinely break this by killing indiscriminately.

undoubtedly, we will find out who caused this. it will take time, and it will be hard, but we will find out. it may have been a government. it may have been bin laden. the arab backlash comes from a simple fact: we don't have so many powerful enemies that are non-arab. we just don't. islamic jihad, hamas and the dflp have all denied responsibility - but, of course, blame u.s. policies in the mideast (read: "being israel's friend"). that IS what this is about.

when i see arabs dancing in the streets celebrating because hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people have died today... it makes me, and many others, feel as if they, too, are guilty in a way. i used to have a lot of sympathy for the palestinians and their cause, but because of their method of pursuit, all of their credibility is gone. that's why you see this anti-arab backlash today.

[Undertoad]

Scary thoughts:

Already the reaction is just as bad as the original event and it's only going to get worse.

However, to their credit all of the officials and ex-officials interviewed by news organizations say the right things: don't panic, don't jump to any conclusions, act responsibly, etc.

Because major news sites are overloaded, here are some other pictures from a site referenced from K5.

[Undertoad]

I have flown that same Manhattan route in MS Flight Simulator. I'm sure a lot of us have. Buzz the Statue of Liberty and then fly between the twin towers... it's almost standard. Of course, I used whatever Cessna is standard in MSFS, but there are other bigger jets in the game.

[ndetroit]

Tony,

The WTC was built to withstand a direct hit from a Boeing 707. This is of course resulting from the time that a B25 bomber tragically crashed into the Empire State Building.. killing 14.

http://history1900s.about.com/librar...mpirecrash.htm

I saw an interview with a structural architect this morning, and I think that the thought process when designing the WTC was that "sure it's possible that some nutcase in a cessna might hit it, but there's not way anyone could ever hijack a Jumbo-jet and hit it..."

*sigh*.. ;(

Also, of note in what dm was saying about over-reacting: If I recall correctly, this same cast of characters (the PLO, osama bin, the N. Koreans, etc) was accused at various times throughout the whole Oklahoma City investigation.....

But I have to agree with you... when I see these people dancing in the streets, it doesn't give me a real warm fuzzy feeling. It gives me a "Let's send in some really heavily armed marines and give them a good ass-kicking" feeling...


But wiser heads will prevail, and wait to make a decision, I hope.


Maybe this is Bush's chance to prove that he's smarter than people give him credit for.....

[leif]

yet another dramatic image of one of the explosions, this one I found a link to in the /. comments....

A buddy of mine in the reserves said he just got called in but doesn't know where they are sending him yet. There's lots of reports of troop movements on slashdot too, though I don't know how much I trust those...

The drudge report (where I found the other image I posted earlier) breifly had a red line of text reading "Explosions in Afghanistan..." but without a link. When I reloaded the page, it was gone...
I've read simmilar claims, though also on the /. comments.

In any case, this is only going to get worse. American's want revenge, and I think the military intends to deliver. I wonder how many more thousands of innocent people will have to die before this is over.