Transcripts of 9/11 WTC Calls Made Public

AP | 8/28/03 | SARA KUGLER

[kattracks]

NEW YORK, Aug 28, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- After a plane struck the first of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, callers from the top floors of neighboring tower were told by Port Authority police to remain where they were.

According to transcripts made public Thursday, a male caller from the 92nd floor of the second tower told a Port Authority police officer, "We need to know if we need to get out of here, because we know there's an explosion."

The officer asked if there was smoke on the floor, and the caller replied that there was not.

"Should we stay or should we not?" the caller asked.

"I would wait 'til further notice," the officer replied.

"OK, all right," the caller said. "Don't evacuate." He then hung up. A second, similar call - with the same police response - came in a short time after the 8:46 a.m. crash in the first tower.

No one in the top floors of the tower survived after the second plane hit around the 80th floor shortly after 9 a.m.

The evacuation of 2 World Trade Center - and when it began - has been a source of some anguish to relatives of those who died. Some survivors have said they were advised to remain in the building.

But the transcripts provide the first look at the extraordinarily difficult decisions faced by both occupants of the towers and Port Authority personnel as the struggled to respond to the attack.

"In general, they show people performing their duties very heroically and very professionally on a day of horror," said Port Authority spokesman Greg Trevor.

The transcripts included phone calls and radio transmissions involving 33 Port Authority employees and three other people. Last week, a judge ordered the Port Authority to release the transcripts at the request of The New York Times.

In other calls, a man reached police from the roof of one building, while the assistant manager of the Windows on the World restaurant called to report people stranded on the 106th floor. "We need direction as to where we need to direct our guests and our employees, as soon as possible," she says, citing increasing smoke.

"We're doing our best ... we're trying to get up to you, dear," replied a PA officer. "All right, call back in two or three minutes, and I'll try to find out what direction you should try to get down."

There were also accounts of people, in disbelief, calling about people plunging from the buildings to their deaths.

"Yo, I've got dozens of bodies, people just jumping from the top of the building onto ... in front of One World Trade," says a male caller. "People. Bodies are just coming from out of the sky. ... up top of the building."

"Bodies?" replied a female operator.

Some of the victims identified themselves by name on the tape, while others' voices were recognized by co-workers.

The transcripts resulted in mixed emotions among family members, some of whom were angered by their release while others believed they will be productive in trying to determine what happened. Some declined to even view the transcripts before their release.

"It's not that I don't have an interest," said Theresa Riccardelli, whose husband, Francis, was killed. "I can't."

The Times had initially sought Port Authority tapes, transcripts and reports on emergency response from that day, but the agency argued that would be insensitive to the victims' families. A deal was finally reached where the Port Authority would provide transcripts rather than tapes.

The agency, claiming the transcripts would be offensive to the families, tried to back out of the deal. The Port Authority opted not to appeal the judge's decision last week.

The transcripts include communications between Port Authority police officers and department employees, along with calls between command centers at the trade center and several sites in New Jersey.

The Port Authority records are not the first recordings of radio transmissions to be made public. Last year, the agency released a 78-minute tape of fire department transmissions that included the voices of several lost firefighters.

Shortly after the attacks, unofficial tapes and transcripts of 911 calls from people in the towers were broadcast and published.

By SARA KUGLER Associated Press Writer

[kattracks]

Never Forget!

[abner]

Never.

[JusPasenThru]

Mullah Omar died today. Seems so fitting.

[LisaFab]

Not forgetting and sitll mad as hell.

[Arkinsaw]

Too many people want to crawl back into the safe-feeling padded box that was life before 911, far too many. But this is a little reminder from the victims in their own words and voices.

[Mears]

I will certainly never forget!!!!!

[PrivateIdaho]

Mullah Omar died today

...well we are hoping he did, based on an unconfirmed report. Unless you have another, confirmed source?

[Dog]

God bless their souls.

[Tamzee]

Those poor victims and their tortured families :-(

[friendly]

Anybody who votes for an appeasing, disemboweling our national defense democrat, is profoundly mentally ill.

[deadhead]

[inflorida]

Today FNC has been showing footage of the WTC attack...it needs to be shown every day. So many people I talk to are already back in their comfort zone and are sick of hearing of the war on terror.

[witnesstothefall]

Liberalism is a mental disease, in which the patient feels safe and secure in a very dangerous world.

Never forget, pass the ammunition.

[cars for sale]

that link with the 9-11 photos and that song looped
is as good a document and pros can make...I weep
every time

[Moose4]

Wow. I know that people have second-guessed the Port Authority and WTC building security telling people in the second tower to stay put, but I can see why they did it. Who would've imagined a second plane on its way?

}:-)4

[chicagolady]

I am a 911 operator. If an explosion or disaster were to happen, I am to tell folks that I cannot tell them weather to go out or stay in. My directions are to tell them to follow their companies disaster plan. For a bulding that size , they had to have had SOMETHING in place. Was it discussed with the employees when they were hired?
Probably not! Because it will never happen in America.
Still after 911 Companies and people still do not want to wake up.

[chicagolady]

A Chicagoland, double check your business diaster plan BUMP!

[bootless]

Never Forget! Bump

[rdb3]

Something told me to not click on this thread. Well, I was in a good mood.

[feedback doctor]

Never Forget!

I never shall.

Forgive this vanity, is there somewhere you can buy a copy of the actual coverage as it happend that day. Not some documentary, the actual live feed of what was aired, preferably FoxNews.

[feedback doctor]

I am a 911 operator.

Thank you for doing a tough job that most of us could not do! I pray you never have to deal with a situation like 9-11 in your job.

[Incorrigible]

Rdb,

This link probably wont help:

http://www.cantcryhardenough.com/

but you might want to visit anyway.

[nmh]

"The Times had initially sought Port Authority tapes, transcripts and reports on emergency response from that day, but the agency argued that would be insensitive to the victims' families. A deal was finally reached where the Port Authority would provide transcripts rather than tapes."

Bull. The NYT is looking to exploit horror and tragedy. If they were "sensitive" to vicitm g=fmailies then the NYT would NOT have demanded these transcrips be made public.

[nmh]

"The Times had initially sought Port Authority tapes, transcripts and reports on emergency response from that day, but the agency argued that would be insensitive to the victims' families. A deal was finally reached where the Port Authority would provide transcripts rather than tapes."

Bull. The NYT is looking to exploit horror and tragedy. If they were "sensitive" to victim families then the NYT would NOT have demanded these transcrips be made public.

[Incorrigible]

Or this link:

http://www.kaosweaver.com/flash911.html

[VOA]

The NYT is looking to exploit horror and tragedy. If they were "sensitive" to vicitm
g=fmailies then the NYT would NOT have demanded these transcrips be made public.

While the motives of the NYT are probably very base, this may be a case of
"the law of unintended consequences".

I suspect that the NYT staff probably doesn't like the idea of the collateral effects of
their work: remind average Joes and Joesephines why we are still and must
remain constant in the war on terror...
AND
provide more documentary evidence which will thwart any attempt by the revisionist
twits at The Smithsonian at warping history when they do 9-11 retrospectives.

I gulped when I heard these transcripts were being released.
I really respect anyone who is against such a release.
But I think that in the long run...it's will have an important impact.
(and I'm sure if I'd lost someone on 9-11, my view would be about 180 degrees
re-oriented).

[Mr. Silverback]

Forgive this vanity, is there somewhere you can buy a copy of the actual coverage as it happend that day. Not some documentary, the actual live feed of what was aired, preferably FoxNews.

It's not complete from start to finish, but CBS released a book/DVD combo called What We Saw which is just awesome, especially the DVD. For instance, you get to see the moment that the second plane hit while Bryant Gumbel was talking to a caller and he couldn't see the feed, so he has to go by her description. Most of it is from that day, the rest is 48 Hours and 60 Minutes pieces from the weeks immediately afterward. A couple of columns reprinted in the book have a sentence or two of the "Uh-oh, how is a dip like Dubya going to handle this" crap, but otherwise lib content is virtually zero; it's all either "just the facts" or "just the facts with a solid dose of patriotism." The Wall Street Journal article on the events at the United and American Airlines emergency response centers is worth the price of admission all by itself, IMHO.

If you get it, two tips:

1. Watch the DVD, then read the book.

2. Keep Kleenex nearby, especially during the piece on the kids who lost their dads and the one about the FDNY Pipe and Drum Corps.

[chicagolady]

Thanks for the Thanks! I pray I never have to either.
But I also count Illinios a hot spot. I do not know about other places, but would you believe the northside of Chicago, from the looks of businesses and arabic writing on their storefronts, We are another arab, Islamic stronghold.

[upchuck]

Thanks for posting this kat. We need to be reminded and often.

I urge every one to buy this DVD^. It has, to my knowledge, the only video taken inside the north tower with the first-responding firefighters as well as the only video of the first plane crashing into the north tower.

The fact this account exists has to be providence. Two brothers were making a documentary about the NYCFD. They just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Everybody should watch this DVD. It is an incredible account of that Tuesday morning. A great way to "Never, forget!"

[2rightsleftcoast]

I'm with you. I am filled with rage to this day.
I am upset with all the media , including Fox, saying today that they will be careful and not get to grusome with details of the attack, worrying about the release of transcripts etc., I think it is all PC BS, I will never forget and the weak media is too afraid to show us the real deal because they are so sensitive to Islam IMHO. God forbid we should get mad at the peaceful Muslims, who by the way have never said anything but "we are being profiled!!!" Religion of Peace my A##.

[Moose4]

Some companies did have a disaster plan. Morgan Stanley's head of security, Rick Rescorla--a veteran of the 1965 Ia Drang Valley battle immortalized in "We Were Soldiers"--had a plan in place since the 1993 WTC bombing. When the first tower got hit, Rescorla didn't wait, he executed the plan immediately, and the Morgan Stanley employees knew what to do and did it. And as a result, Morgan Stanley got a lot of their people out safely. But, sadly, not Rescorla himself.

In the end I'm not sure how much difference having a plan or not would've made, though. If you didn't evacuate the second tower when the first one got hit, then it all came down to where you were, in either tower. Below the impact points, you almost certainly made it out OK. Above the impact points, you didn't. Simple.

The Port Authority people, I guess, didn't want people evacuating the second tower to keep congestion down so people in the first tower could get out? Or maybe so they wouldn't get hit by falling debris? Who knows.

By the way, thanks for your service as a 911 operator. You're made of tough stuff to do that job and do it well!

}:-)4

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...After the World Trade Center Bombing in 1993 it was RICK RESCORLA & and his long time Army Buddy DAN HILL who immediately
tracked down the blind Muslim Cleric of the Brooklyn Mosque who masterminded that Bombing and then turned him in to Authorities.

...Ever since then the CLINTONS have used RICK and DAN's Terrorist-Fighting Example as their own, telling us that they themselves were not soft on Terrorism during the 1990's ...when they were.

WHY did the CLINTONS support our Terrorist Enemy HO CHI MINH agaisnt US during the Vietnam War..?

WHY did the CLINTONS refuse to bring OSAMA bin LADEN here when offered to them 3 times during the 1990's..?

WHY aren't more of us getting the picture here..?

[windchime]

BTT

[TheRightGuy]

A Chicagoland, double check your business diaster plan BUMP!

Find a strongly supported interior wall.
Sit with your back against the wall.
Pull up your knees against your chest.
Place your head between your knees.
Fold your hands behind your head.
Lean forward and kiss your ass goodbye.

[new cruelty]

Thanks for posting that link, Incorrigible.

[chicagolady]

Thanks Moose4,

I believe if people at least have a plan they have something to work with instead of feeling totally helpless and a sitting duck.
Let's face it, some of us are pro-active and have good survival skills. Others don't have the brains God gave them and could not find their way out of a paper bag...those are the folks who need some direction, and rightfully so. You need some disaster evacuation information.
As it turned out lots of folks put their lives in the hands of those who never dealt with a disaster before...it was ill fated information,
Besides, the sad fact is the Police Dept and New York City can be sued for wrongful death. THEY are the ones who told them to stay put.

As a 911 operator how can I tell you what to do when you are right there and have first hand knowledge of what's cooking, I can only guess.

[chicagolady]

You stole my favorite saying! Adios Amigo.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

I won't forget either. I was in NYC a week and a half ago. Count me in as another FReeper who visited Ground Zero.

[boxerblues]

We were there in early June, the sight of Ground Zero even now brings tears to those who were seeing for the first time. I can not imagine being there the day it happened.

Never Forget America