A buildup of high pressure had helped push the cold front out into the Atlantic, creating a weather phenomenon known in aviation parlance as "severe clear."As New Yorkers began heading to work, 19 hijackers were boarding flights at airports in Boston, Washington and Newark.
Around the same time, on Flight 11, a hijacker stabbed a passenger, who became the first victim of 9/11. The jihadists wrested control of the plane and turned it towards New York. Dittmar and his colleagues shuffled down to the 90th floor, where they caught their first glimpse of the horror unfolding."To see these huge black holes through the sides of the building, flames redder than any red I had seen before in my life, gray and black billows of smoke just pouring out of these big holes.
Residents struggled to comprehend how a pilot would fail to see a giant skyscraper. On television news networks, anchors speculated about what had caused the "accident." Somewhere between the 74th and 75th floor, the stairwell started to "shake so violently back and forth," Dittmar recalled. When Dittmar and his colleagues emerged on the ground floor, they found large chunks of steel and cement strewn across the ground -- and huge blood stains.
"I couldn't breathe. The air was so acrid. I remember using my shirt to cover my mouth. I couldn't even see my hands in front of my eyes," he recalled. "This is the safest place to be in the world right now," the then 33-year-old remembered telling a co-worker. During calls with relatives, some of the 33 passengers and seven crew learned about the two jetliners that struck the World Trade Center.
At 10:03 am, Flight 93 crashed into a wooded area in the small Pennsylvania town of Shanksville, 75 miles south of Pittsburgh. Bush wanted to go back to Washington but the Secret Service, worried that there might be more hijacked planes heading for the capital, deemed it too dangerous. They took him west -- to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Many rescuers, volunteers and trained personnel later developed lung cancer from breathing in the poisonous dust. Edward Felt learned there were no survivors on Flight 93 and called his mother to tell her that Gordon was dead.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »