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9/11 20 years on

Working at a City firm, on the phone to a trader in 5 WTC. He would do anything to avoid talking to us in London.

"A plane just flew into the Tower!"

Hangs up. I call back. Someone else answers.

"Is Tai there?"

"No - a plane just flew into the World Trade Centre."

It wasn't really the words that hit me; it was the chaos I could hear in the background. Chilling.

I don't know, and it doesn't matter, but I might have been one of the first people outside of NY to get the news that the world had changed forever.
 
Having been made redundant the previous week, I was busying myself rubbing down and re-staining the external door sills.

My wife phoned and told me, so I put the telly on.

Due to the knock on economic impacts, it took me over a year to get another job (even with experience and an engineering degree).
 
I'm trying to jog my memory to what I was doing, what time UK time did it happen? I think I had just got home or was driving home, not 100% sure now!
 
Our admin manager came to my office and said, ‘a plane just hit the world trade centre’. I remember saying, ‘well I hope it was a small one’.
A couple of hours later I was in my dentist’s waiting room watching it repeated ad nauseum on their telly.

P.s. the aftermath has all come flooding back so I thought I’d share via this edit.
The following day I felt outrage such that I thought I ought to ‘do’ something - I was a police officer and that was often my mindset. I was trained in forensic human remains recovery, something that had been set up consequent to Lockerbie. I was OK for money and had plenty of leave left so I emailed the NY Mayor’s office, explained my skill-set and offered to fly out and help. I’d been impressed with Giuliani’s response (but look how he turned out) so expected to be in good hands.
A couple of days later I received a very gracious and very grateful email from Giuliani’s Chief of Staff, a chap named Anthony V. Carbonetti, to say that my offer and contact details had been forwarded to the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management.
And that was the end of the story. Later, when it all cooled I wondered if I’d been naive and/or precipitate but, on balance, I’m glad I did it.
Thanks for reading.
 
I was on a day off and watched the whole thing unfold on television. I was on my own.

The shock of it is still burnt into my memory. The second aeroplane. The collapse of one tower, then the next.

Since then I have avoided documentaries etc. about the events of that day.
 
About 1.45pm

Well I couldn't have been driving home then as I didn't finish work until 2.30pm, I think I must have heard it on the radio on the way home, I'm not sure now. I don't really remember much about it, just the constant loop of it all happening and the extensive TV coverage.
 
I had a day off work, so was sat at home, surfing the 'net and listening to a bit of music (New York City Serenade by Springsteen and a Massive Attack album, which always struck me as a bit strange). Started to notice things like WW3 had started in New York on the various sites I was looking at, dismissed it the first time or 2 but by the time i'd read it several more times, my interest was captured. I tried several news websites but couldn't get on any of them, so put the tv on, just in time to see the first one collapse. Glued to to the tv for the rest of the day as the news came out. Days like that show the best and worst of humanity.
 
Sat in my office got a call from a friend and colleague to turn on the news live stream.
 
9/11 was the modern equivalent of President Kennedy. The old saying was that you remembered where you were when you heard the news that Kennedy had been assassinated. (I do - I was out on the streets of Belfast, collecting for BB Week).

In the case of 9/11, I was on a call with the Company lawyer, discussing some forgotten aspect of IP law, when he suddenly said, "Do you have the news on?" "No." "Turn it on, someone has just flown a plane into the World Trade Center". I tried, but everyone had got the same message and the BBC's website (and indeed everyone else's website) was swamped by people wanting to know more. I had to wait until the evening to find out more.

One fellow countrywoman used her previous Northern Irish experience - she was in the second tower hit, and when she heard the first, she immediately thought "Bomb", and got out. Her co-workers stayed, and died.
 
We were in Manchester City centre. We were going to a performance of Uncle Vanya in the evening, and had gone into town for the afternoon. I was taking the opportunity to take my Arcam CD player in to Sevenoaks to get the laser replaced. I got there and the guys behind the counter said ‘a plane’s just crashed into the World Trade Centre!’. I said ‘wow!’, and assumed it was a light aircraft (something similar had happened in Florida a few years previously when a young guy lost control of his Cessna near an apartment block). We went on talking about the repair to my player, until it became clear that, actually, it was an airliner. Watched the next hour or so on a big (for the time) plasma display in the shop, along with all the staff and other visitors. Saw the second plane hit in high-def surround sound, but it couldn’t have been any less horrifying on a 14” portable.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering somewhat dazed and aimless, stopping at every telly shop for an update.

The theatre performance was a somewhat weird experience. Tom Courtney was amazing, especially in the circumstances, but the audience was very subdued beforehand. The applause was fulsome, and I think partly because we, audience and cast too I think, all felt we’d been part of an extraordinary day so there was a sense of kinship.
 
I said ‘wow!’, and assumed it was a light aircraft (something similar had happened in Florida a few years previously when a young guy lost control of his Cessna near an apartment block).

During the Second World War, a B-25 Mitchell bomber flew into the Empire State Building in conditions of thick fog, resulting in a fire, considerable damage and a number of deaths. However, the structure of the building was not compromised.
 
I was in Oz driving back from visiting friends around 11pm. I heard on the radio that a light plane had hit the WTC. Commented to my girlfriend..."I must turn on the news when we get back". 10 minutes later I'm looking at the TV screen and knew straight away that it wasn't a light plane!
 
I was at work at a Dry Cleaning Shop. We were having a laugh and listening to the Chris Moyles show on BBC R1.

CM then made an announcement in the most sombre of tones. The mood changed in an instant.

The various updates were given as events unfolded. I think there were some extra News programmes with some sombre music by Moby in the background.

Customers were coming into the shop and telling us what has happened; also updating us on any developments.

It was a really shocking event. I was in my early twenties and it was a real wake up call.
 
I remember the day well, I was in Aberdeen for a meeting, killing time in John Lewis I saw coverage on the display TVs, of course the sound was down and I hadn't any context. I saw the smoke coming from the tower after the first strike with any idea of it's import.

I took the train back to Elgin and listening to the news on Radio 4 at 5pm, as I drove home, heard that both towers were down.

I still remember the sick feeling in my stomach when I thought of the thousands of people who worked in the World Trade Center.

If the attack had been later in the day there could have been so many more casualties.
 
I must have been at work. Like others here, I remember someone saying 'look at the BBC news feed' and then everything went very quiet.
 
Saw it in the office along with many colleagues, the enormity of the attack was bewildering; to witness such an event outside a war zone where you know so many will perish.
 
I was working at Marconi on shifts so was driving home from work. On the radio, breaking news they said, a plane had hit one of the WTC towers, but I think the initial assumption was that it was probably a light aircraft. After I got home I relieved my better half who (iirc) went off to her work - our first daughter was just 18 months old at the time. I turned on the television to see if there was a follow up to what I'd heard on the radio, one tower was down and all hell was unfolding. I watched the second tower go down live on tv and it remains the most shocking and memorable thing I've ever witnessed.
 


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