WTC1 Witness Reports

Reproduction And Analysis Of Claimed “Flight 11” Witness Reports And Recordings

Introduction

In this article we will reproduce and analyse reports from witnesses who claim to have seen an aircraft striking Tower 1 of the former World Trade Centre Complex on the morning of September 11th at approximately 8:46am.

Part 1 – Witness Reports On 911

“Libby Clark”

"...I believe it was a passenger plane, it was relatively large, I mean it wasn't the size of a jet, but...er...it was not a small, small plane. Like a [unrecognisable].”

From a live ABC / 7 news report at Tuesday 11 September 2001 recorded prior to 9:03 am.

Karim Arraki

“I saw it come up from the left, and I saw the plane coming through to the building, go inside, a small plane….no, no, it was plane, you know, like they teach the people to pilot plane, small plane, you know, it was that kind of plane….yes, going into the building, and I never saw that plane before. It's like something, I don't know, it's like they work with the motors, I never saw a plane like that before!”

From an ABC News Special Report at 9:08 am on Tuesday 11 September 2001.

“Stuart”

“I was waiting a table and I literally saw a, it seemed to be a small plane. I just heard a couple of noises, it looked like it like ‘bounced’ of the building and then I heard a, I just saw a huge like ball of fire on top and then the smoke seemed to simmer down….it just seemed like a smaller plane, I don’t think it was anything commercial…”

From a Bryant Gumble CBS News Special Report at 8:52 am on Tuesday 11th September 2001.

“Dog Walking Woman”

“We’re walking the dogs and we saw a plane flying really low, a jet, a small jet, and it flew directly into the World Trade Centre. And then all the pieces fell to the bottom…in seconds.”

From Fox News.

Narrator On The Mi Kyung Heller Video

"Hey Grandpa, I'll tell you what woke me up. They bombed the World Trade Centre. I'm looking at it and Mi-Kyung's video taping it. Terrible. I heard, Grandpa, I saw it. It could have been a plane, but I think it was a bomb...a missile...er...this could be world war three."

From “In Memoriam: New York City 9/11/01”. Produced by Brad Gray and HBO for Brad Gray Pictures. 2002 Home Box Office. Video image above implies recording was made between the times of 8:46am and 9:03am on Tuesday 11th September 2001

Jane Derenowski

Reporter:

“Jane you said you saw the first plane, did you get a, a, glimpse of what kind of plane that was? We were told it was a small commuter plane.”

Derenowski:

“Well, it, it looked, it wasn’t a Cessna or anything like that. It was a [unrecognisable] plane, a midsize plane and we could hear it very low…then it veered drastically on its side thought the building and then went into the upper floors.”

Recorded live from NBC Television on Tuesday 11th September 2001 prior to the collapse of WTC2 at approximately 9:59am.

Sean Murtagh

“I just witnessed a plane that appeared to be cruising at slightly lower-than-normal altitude over New York City, and it appears to have crashed into -- I don't know which tower it is -- but it hit directly in the middle of one of the World Trade Centre towers….it was a jet. It looked like a two-engine jet, maybe a 737….a large passenger commercial jet….it was teetering back and forth, wingtip to wingtip, and it looks like it crashed into, probably, 20 stories from the top of the World Trade Centre, maybe the 80th to 85th floor….the plane just was coming in low, and the wingtips tilted back and forth…”

From CNN Live. Murtaghs statement appears to have been recorded between the times of 8:46am and 9:03am on Tuesday 11th September 2001. Image taken from "CNN Tribute - America Remembers" - Produced by Ken Shiffman and Brian Rokus. 2002 Cable News Network. Sean Murtagh was the Vice President of Finance and Administration at CNN during 9/11.

“Spear” Witness

“…it came in…like a…like a…(unrecognisable)…like a…like a…like a spear. It just speared through the building.”

From "CNN Tribute - America Remembers" - Produced by Ken Shiffman and Brian Rokus. 2002 Cable News Network. Recording appears to have been made between the times of 8:46am and 9:03am on Tuesday 11th September 2001.

“In Distress” Witness

“The plane was slightly on its side and that's why, maybe think, maybe it, it was in distress..."

Chief Joseph Pfeifer

“…we have a number of floors on fire, it looked like the plane was aiming towards the building, transmit a third alarm…”

From "9/11 - The Filmmakers Commemorative DVD Edition" - 2002 Goldfish Pictures Inc. Produced / Edited by Richard Barber, Mike Maloy, Bruce Spiegel and Mead Stone. Executive Producers Jules Naudet, Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon. Directed by Jules Naudet, Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon. Pfeifers’ statement appears to have been recorded between the times of 8:46am and 9:03am on Tuesday 11th September 2001.

Mr. Obenhaus

“I was at the corner of Franklin and West Broadway, and as I was approaching the subway, a tremendous roar went over my head and--and I looked up immediately, and it was a plane much lower than I've ever seen a plane in lower Manhattan, and it was a large plane. I couldn't identify it as anything specific except that it was a commercial jet certainly. And it--it--my eyes followed it because this is approximately 15 blocks from the World Trade Centre, and it--it just slammed right into it and was completely engulfed by the--by the building.

It was extraordinary. No--no wings flew off, nothing like that. It just went directly in, creating this sort of cavern-like hole….the profile--the body of the plane was of such scale that I immediately identified it as a commercial jet.. I didn't--I couldn't--it happened so quickly I couldn't tell whether it had windows on the side or what, but it could very well have been some sort of a--a transport plane. But it was a large, large plane, as opposed to, occasionally down here you do see smaller, prop planes or smaller aviation stuff that flies around here sometimes, doing movies and things like that.

But in all my years down here, and I've lived down here for about 20 years within walking distance easily of the building, I've never heard anything like this, and that's what--that's why I--I just immediately glanced up, and I just followed the track of this sound and this huge plane that was swooping over my head….my impression was--was that it had a tan coloration to it. However, the sun, it was very low in the horizon, and I think kind of orange, and it may have been simply the colour of the sun reflecting off a silver exterior…”

From an ABC News Special Report on Tuesday 11 September 2001.

Todd Harris

“Yes, I had a perfect view, and the plane was coming in. I noticed it a second before it hit the building. It looked like it was moving slowly, and it lined itself up to hit the building directly.”

From CNN Live on Tuesday 11 September 2001.

Mary Cozza

“…we saw a plane flying low overhead which caught all of our attention. We looked up. It was making a b-line for the World Trade Centre. It was very low, extremely low, not a big plane like an airliner …uh… but not a tiny propeller plane, a small, small jet plane.”

From NBC Television live on Tuesday 11 September 2001. Recording appears to have been made between the times of 8:46am and 9:03am.

Part 2 – Aural Accounts

Don Dahler

“…I can only describe as, it sounded like a missile, not an airplane….it was definitely not the sound of a prop plane or anything like that….I grew up on military bases and I know the sound of jets and I’ve been in war zones and heard those kinds of different sounds….the sound itself was not of a prop plane , it was perhaps a jet, but it could have been a missile as well….it was high pitched, but it had a…er…a…whooshing sound, not, not like a prop plane…”

From an ABC News Report at 8:54 am on Tuesday 11 September 2001.

Part 3 – Retrospective Accounts and Second Hand Accounts

George Sleigh

"I was on the phone; I heard a roar, looked out the window and saw...er...this passenger jet coming toward the building. It was only 2 or 3 plane lengths away from me at that point and I didn't really have time to react. I just saw it then it was into the building."

From "How The Twin Towers Collapsed". A Darlow Smithson Production in association with Channel 4 Television, Channel 4 International and the Learning Channel. Channel 4 Television Corporation 2001. First transmitted in the U.K in December 2001.

The story behind Sleighs report is a long one. It started with an alleged report from him posted at CNN’s web site on the 14th September 2001

Survivor saw inside hijacked jet - September 14, 2001 Posted: 10:18 AM EDT (1418 GMT)

George Sleigh escaped from the north tower of the World Trade Centre before it collapsed LONDON, England -- A British-born architect who survived Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Centre watched in horror from his 91st-floor office as a hijacked jet smashed into the building. George Sleigh, 63, originally of Gateshead, England, told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle he was close enough to the point of the initial impact to see people in the cockpit of the hijacked American Airlines Boeing 767.

"When I close my eyes and picture that airliner coming towards me and the people in the cockpit it is like a dream," Sleigh said. After hearing the whining engine of the jet, "I looked up out of the window and just a few feet away from the building was this huge jet plane," he said. "The wheels were down and I could see the people in the cockpit. I thought to myself, 'Man this guy is low in the air,' but I still thought it would clear us. But then it smashed into the tower a few floors above me. "I couldn't believe it, even now it seems insane that anyone would do that, even a crazed terrorist."

I reproduced this statement in my own article "Was Flight 11 A 767?" that was published in April 2004. In the paper I questioned the likelihood of the statement being genuine and in September 2004 Sleigh contacted me to set the record straight.

"At no time have I ever indicated to anyone that I saw people in the cockpit. Some of the British tabloids attributed that quote to me and subsequently I refused to grant interviews with those tabloids. As is pointed out in the article, if I had seen people in the cockpit I would not be around to discuss it."

"Every time I have discussed my account I have made it quite clear that what I witnessed was a large passenger jet (model or airline unknown) flying above my location with the wheels up, I particularly commented on the smooth underbelly of the plane. I have never indicated to anyone that the undercarriage was down!"

Also,

"I was in my office on the north side of the 91st floor. I was alerted by a loud roar to look out of my window and saw the plane approaching about 3 or 4 plane lengths away. I can remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. I recognised it only as a large passenger jet, with a light coloured, and smooth under-body. I had no time to react as the plane almost instantaneously hit the building above my location. We exited from our floor as quickly as possible taking the only stairway that remained accessible to us - the other two stairwells were blocked. We were to find out later that no one above our floor escaped. I continue to praise God for sparing my life that day."

And later,

"The plane definitely had engines on its wings."

"I only recall that the undercarriage was light - I have been quoted as saying it was white, but I only saw the plane for a few seconds before it hit the building."

"USA TODAY December 19, 2001 in an article by Dennis Cauchon in which I said regarding the plane that 'The wheels are up, the underbelly is white, and 'man, that guy is low' ' ".

"Dean E. Murphy, a reporter from the NY Times "SEPTEMBER 11: AN ORAL HISTORY", page 41 "I saw the nose of the plane and then the smooth underbelly and one of the wings. It was just above me, a little to the right, and slightly bent so that the wing over me was higher than the other wing. I couldn't see any windows or recognize any markings but I noticed the landing gear was up."

David M. Bresnahan "TERROR IN AMERICA", page 27 "It was above us and to my right, so I saw the underbelly of the plane. I noticed that the wheels were up. That kind of registered with me".

What this demonstrates is that CNN had either deliberately or accidentally modified George Sleighs original report to add details that were not originally there, and that Sleighs recollection of the incident changes slightly each time he asked to recall it.

NBC News Reporters

Female:

“Now according to the pilot that we had on a few minutes ago he said that appeared to be a smaller jet, business type of jet.”

Male:

“Yes.”

Female:

“Um, so perhaps it was some sort of a commuting airline or something like that.”

From a live NBC News report on Tuesday 11 September 2001 at some time after the Pentagon strike.

Sid Bedingfield

"I thought it could have been an accident...I thought the plane was much smaller...our shot was from a good distance of. It was when we confirmed that it was in fact a 767 that I realised what we were in for..."

From "CNN Tribute - America Remembers" - Produced by Ken Shiffman and Brian Rokus. 2002 Cable News Network. Sid Bedingfield was the Executive Editor for the CNN News Group during 9/11.

Captain Dennis Tardio

“I looked up and I said to myself. Where’s he going? Nobody flies this low over Manhattan...as if there was a bulls-eye on it, and he hit it.”

Damien Van Cleaf

“…and it felt like a dream as I seen the plane crumble into the building, just disintegrate…”

Charles Waters

“I worked on the 54th Floor World Trade Centre 2. On Tuesday 9/11, I was on the plaza of the World Trade Centre when I saw the first plane hit WTC1. It was 8:43am….I arrived in Lower Manhattan at about 8:38. Walking up Dey Street I decided to stop for coffee and waked across Church Street onto the Plaza of the World Trade Centre. I called my father on my cell phone and we were talking which kept me from entering the building. I was on a bench right in front of the WTC1 and turned slowly for no real reason and saw the entire plane hit the tower. I saw the wing extend from the building on the south side and a large explosion. Then smoke. Then everything was frozen, very still, with a perfect New York blue sky framing the backdrop of explosions.”

From “The View From The WTC PLAZA”.

Mariah Ehlert

“I was looking out the window talking to my co-worker, David, when I saw a plane, which was flying too close. I was going to tell David to look so he could see it when it came out from behind the WTC: but it didn’t, it crashed. I screamed something. I tried to call Mom, then sent her an e-mail to get offline and left her a voice message. We were trying to find something in the news for more information, but it was too early. It was very creepy being witness to this before it even hit the news.”

From Isanti County News on 9th October 2001.

Karin Batten

“Once I found out what happened, I knew I had to go get my son. Luckily, I found him, and all the kids told me they saw the plane coming by their classroom and hitting the tower and they saw people jumping from the building. Then we all turned around and Tower One – where all my work, my supplies, everything, was – was coming down. Several children whose parents worked at the World Trade Centre just screamed.”

From the “New York Metro: WTC Testimonials 6 Months Later”

Eberhart Testimony

“And at that time, we issued a scramble order for the two F-15s out of Otis Air Force Base. We continued to send those airplanes toward New York City because initially, as we worked with the FAA, we weren't sure if that was the hijacked airplane. I mean, I hate to admit this, but I'm sitting there hoping that someone has made a mistake; there has been an accident; that this isn't the hijacked airplane, because there is confusion. We were told it was a light commuter airplane. It didn't look like that was caused by a light commuter airplane”.

From the FDCH transcripts from Congressional Hearings on 25th October 2001.

Unknown Clergyman

“…one of our Friars was walking down 6th Avenue and actually saw the airplane go overhead at a low altitude…”

From “Victim 0001”. Transmitted in the U.K. on 11th September 2004.

Female Voice From “Bob and Bri” Video

“Bob said he heard it sounded like a rocket…”

From “September 11, 2001 – What We Saw” by “Bob and Bri”.

Released through Revver.com on September 11th 2006.

Revver.com is run by Edelman Public Relations.

“Phone” Witness

"It looked like a normal plane going over the city, and then, all of a sudden, a turn to the left, and it slammed right into the WTC."

From “Three Hours that Shook America: A Chronology of Chaos” by Mark K. Miller, Broadcasting and Cable August 26, 2002. Quoted time for witness report was 9:01am on 11th September 2001.

Fire Marshal Steven Mosiello

“I was told by somebody that we had an eyewitness who happened to be an off-duty firefighter who told me that he saw the first building get hit and it was hit by a prop jet, which I think turned out to be the wrong information, but everybody sees things differently. But he said he was an eyewitness. I gave him to a fire marshal. I never got his name personally.”

http://www.flcv.com/wtcplane.html

Firefighter Roy Chelsen

“We proceeded in Tower 1. I think the revolving doors were kind of busted up, so I think we went through a window. At that point we were still not sure that it was a plane that had hit the tower. There was some talk from the civilians coming down that a plane hit. The consensus was that it was a small plane. “

http://www.flcv.com/wtcplane.html

Anthony Bartolomey

“Numerous civilians were telling me that a plane had hit the building. There were discrepancies as to the type of plane. Some were saying it was a Cessna or Leer jet type, a small jet plane. Some said it was a large passenger plane. One person actually said that it was like a military style plane that actually shot missiles into the building.”

http://www.flcv.com/wtcplane.html

Firefighter Richard Carletti

“I was coming up Allen, which turns into First. When I was crossing Delancey Street, I saw a jet in front of me, which was the first jet. He was pretty low. He was probably about 30 stories. Now I'm heading north and crossing Delancey Street on Allen and I see the jet make a move toward the Trade Center. It made a south-westerly turn from that point.. I proceeded up First Avenue, left on 14th, parked in front of the firehouse. Fireman Lynn was there. He said they were out on a box, they wouldn't let him on because they thought they had a good job, and right then he told me a plane just crashed into the Trade Center. It was the same exact plane I just saw.”

http://www.flcv.com/wtcplane.html

Part 4 – Videographic Recordings

Jules Naudet

The aircraft in the video is too small to be a Boeing 767-200 but is similar in size to a Boeing 737-NG. The audio recording is consistent with the noise produced by the bypass engines of a commercial passenger jet at a low throttle setting. Just prior to impact the jet engine noise fades out to a quiet whining noise. The Jules Naudet first hit sound track can be downloaded here.

From "9/11 - The Filmmakers Commemorative DVD Edition" - 2002 Goldfish Pictures Inc. Produced / Edited by Richard Barber, Mike Maloy, Bruce Spiegel and Mead Stone. Executive Producers Jules Naudet, Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon. Directed by Jules Naudet, Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon. The video of the WTC1 strike was allegedly recorded serendipitously by Jules Naudet at 8:46am on Tuesday 11 September 2001 from Canal Street.

Pavel Hlava

The resolution of the Pavel Hlava video is so low it is impossible to determine how large the flying object is or what the flying object is.

The video was allegedly recorded serendipitously by Pavel Hlava from the back of an SUV on the approach to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel at 8:46am on Tuesday 11 September 2001.

Part 5 – Audio Recordings

Ginny Carr

Ginny Carr was at a business meeting in One Liberty Plaza and was recording the proceedi