102 Minutes: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

by Dwyer, Jim

  No one from the Fire Department: The account is based on interviews with NYPD and FDNY officials, including commanders who were at the scene and pilots who flew that day, and conclusions reached by McKinsey and Company in its studies for New York City.

  … the group was disbanded in 1994: Communication from Michael Rogovin, former deputy counsel to Queens borough president, and representative of the Aviation Emergency Preparedness Group.

  … though none that involved an airliner: Testimony, Richard Sheirer, former commissioner of OEM, 9/11 Commission, May 2004.

  … Guy Tozzoli told a legislative hearing: Graham Rayman, “Crash Scenario Foretold in ’93; WTC Official Wanted Plan for Jet Disaster,” New York Newsday, November 12, 2001, p. 6. In his 1993 testimony before a state legislative committee, Guy Tozzoli referred to a replicated plane disaster staged in the 1970s. The authors could not find newspaper accounts of such a drill. However, there was a drill similar to the one he described in November 1982.

  … the city did not organize a single joint drill: Interviews with Office of Emergency Management director Richard Sheirer; Port Authority deputy police chief Anthony Whitaker; World Trade Center fire director Michael Hurley; Fire Department deputy commissioner Frank Gribbon, by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, January–June 2002.

  … it served as an occasional backdrop for Giuliani’s meetings: Dan Janison, “Mayor’s Snow Time/Rudy Uses City’s Emergency Center to Show His Command,” New York Newsday, February 19, 2000, p. A3.

  … dozens of these radios had been distributed: Battalion Chief Charles Blaich, interview by Kevin Flynn, June 2002; testimony by Jerome Hauer, former director of the Office of Emergency Management, 9/11 Commission, May 19, 2004.

  … but the talks had broken down: Interviews by Kevin Flynn, with officials involved in the negotiations.

  Thompson began fiddling with something: Jules Naudet, video footage.

  But before being used: Chief Joseph Pfeifer, interview by Kevin Flynn, May 2004.

  Palmer could not hear Pfeifer: Pfeifer and Palmer remarks were captured on an audio tape of Channel 7 that was later recovered from the rubble.

  … Orio Palmer was among the most knowledgeable: Article Palmer wrote for the FDNY newsletter gives Palmer’s educational credentials.

  It did not seem to work, either: Account of developing radio reception problems is based on oral histories provided by firefighters and chiefs, Joseph Pfeifer account to Firehouse, transcripts of fire radio transmissions, the tape of Channel 7, and transcripts of Port Authority radio transmissions.

  … losing touch with the ascending companies: Jules Naudet, video footage.

  If there was an answer: Chief Callan’s oral history interview with FDNY, November 2, 2001.

  Chapter 5: “Should we be staying here, or should we evacuate?”

  Stanley Praimnath and seventeen others: Stanley Praimnath, interviews by Eric Lipton, April 2002, and by Jim Dwyer, August 2004.

  All the technical literature on high-rise fires: Fire Department, City of New York, Firefighting Procedures, Volume 1, Book 5, January 1, 1997. Paradoxically, fire scientists who have studied human behavior in fire report that panic very rarely occurs, and that it is far more common for large groups to conduct an orderly self-evacuation. Interviews with Guylene Proulx and Jake Pauls, 2004.

  … only people on the same floor as the fire: Glenn Corbett, professor of fire science, John Jay College, testimony before 9/11 Commission, November 19, 2003.

  The Port Authority had adopted this strategy: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, World Trade Center Fire Safety Plan, 1995.

  … stairways actually could be made narrower: Steve Berry, Mitchell Landsberg, and Doug Smith, “A New View of High-Rise Firefighting,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 2001, p. 6.

  … the Port Authority’s promotional literature: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The World Trade Center: A Building Project Like No Other, February 1990.

  … refused to vouch for the floors to withstand fire: NIST, Interim Report, May 2003, p. 20.

  The Port Authority has no records: In May 1963, Malcom Levy, chief of the planning division for the world trade department of the Port Authority, instructed the architect to comply with the New York City Building Code. NIST, Interim Report, May 2003, p. 60. In 1969, the architect would protest that Levy had rendered some of its specifications “meaningless” by lessening the fireproofing requirements. Also James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky (New York: Times Books/Henry Holt, 2003).

  … the fire rating of the floor system could not be determined: NIST, Interim Report, May 2003, p. 20.

  The fire damaged portions of the ninth through sixteenth floors: John T. O’Hagan, High-Rise/Fire & Life Safety (Saddle Brook, N.J.: Pennwell Publications, 1977), p. 43.

  Also in 1969, an architect from Emery Roth noted: NIST Interim Report, May 2003, p. 70.

  … the Port Authority refused to permit natural gas lines: Frank Lombardi, chief engineer, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, interview by Jim Dwyer, February 9, 2004.

  … had to cook using electricity: Charles Maikish, interview by Jim Dwyer, March 1994.

  The Port Authority would pick up the cost: Lombardi, interview.

  To one officer, who understood that the trouble: Brady conversations are from Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, World Trade Center, Channel 8, September 11, 2001. Maggett conversations are from Channel 9.

  … heard a familiar voice: Brian Clark, testimony before 9/11 Commission, Statement 13, May 2004; interview by Jim Dwyer, August 5, 2004. No recording of this announcement has been located, but the accounts of multiple witnesses are consistent on the gist of it.

  The announcement most likely was made: Michael Hurley, fire-safety director, World Trade Center, interview by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, February 2004.

  … did not know about the hijacking of Flight 11: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, transcripts of La Guardia tower, September 11, 2001.

  She was among the forces that began driving people: Jack Gentul, interview by James Glanz, April 26, 2002.

  Hutton counted about ten people: Steve Bates, “Above and Beyond: An HR Director’s ‘Sense of Duty’ Saved Co-workers’ Lives at the World Trade Center,” HRMagazine, December 1, 2001.

  Ed Emery, another of the voices shepherding: Stephanie Koskuba, interview by James Glanz, April 28, 2002.

  The Fiduciary group looked to Emery: Koskuba, Anne Foodim, interviews.

  Stephanie Koskuba turned to look for Emery: Koskuba, interview.

  … he would meet up with Alayne Gentul: Jack Gentul, interview.

  Marissa Panigrosso and Sarah Dechalus: Marissa Panigrosso and Sarah Dechalus, interviews by Joseph Plambeck, June 4, 2004; Eric Lipton, April 2002.

  She also met Tamitha Freeman: Phil Reisman, The Journal News (Westchester County, N.Y.), September 10, 2002.

  She pondered for a couple of minutes: Dechalus, interview.

  She turned back upstairs: Marissa Panigrosso, interview.

  Her elevator, which could hold fifty-five people: Dechalus and Panigrosso, interviews.

  It was, after all, their complex: The Port Authority, which had built the center, existed to improve trade in the region, and was controlled by the governors of New York and New Jersey. The agency’s police department had a broad portfolio: the New York airports, among the busiest in the world, the ports in New Jersey and New York, and of course the trade center. Even though the Port Authority had turned over the operation of the trade center to a private real estate concern a few weeks earlier, the agreement called for the PAPD to continue providing security there.

  … Capt. Anthony Whitaker, the commander: Anthony Whitaker, interview by Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  A moment after DeVona issued his order: Excerpts from transcript made by the Port Authority of Channel 26, Channel W, PAPD.

  … Charles Maikish, then the director of the trade center: Jim Dwyer, David Kocieniewski, Dee Murphy, and Peg Tyre
, Two Seconds under the World (New York: Crown Publishers, 1994), pp. 61–62.

  … Michael Hurley caught the attention of Chief Pfeifer: Pfeifer, Hurley, interviews by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, May 2004.

  Chapter 6: “Get away from the door!”

  The jet fuel probably was spent within a few minutes: FEMA, World Trade Center Building Performance Study, pp. 2–21.

  His nephew had moved the company: Der Spiegel, reporters and editors, Inside 9-11—What Really Happened (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001).

  Damian Meehan, a half century younger than Cava: Eugene Meehan, interview by Jim Dwyer, October 2001.

  Where the elevators had been were now gaping holes: Mak Hanna, Gerry Gaeta, interviews by Jim Dwyer, August 25, 2003.

  … the man who had just wheeled cartons of documents: Hanna, interview.

  A few others stood with Elaine Duch: Joanne Ciccolello, affidavit, June 14, 2002.

  … this exchange was taped: Transcript, Port Authority Channel 25, Radio Channel B, Electrical and Mechanical.

  … De Martini’s eyes were red: Anita Serpe, affidavit, June 14, 2002.

  “Okay, I found a stairway”: Dorene Smith, e-mail to Nicole De Martini, May 20, 2002.

  Judith Reese, accompanied by Jeff Gertler: Hanna, interview.

  The stairway below was fine, Gaeta yelled: Gaeta, interview.

  Between twenty-five and forty people: Estimates based on interviews with eight people who were on the floor. No precise head count was possible.

  Walter Pilipiak, the company’s president: Walter Pilipiak, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2003.

  Stephanie Manning from MetLife hung up: Rob Sibarium, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 2002.

  Ridiculous, he thought: Rick Bryan, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 26, 2003.

  … Bryan stood with his fire extinguisher: Sibarium, interview.

  Suddenly, a muffled voice called out: Nathan Goldwasser, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 27, 2003.

  Pablo Ortiz pushed the door open: Some of the people rescued from the 89th floor believed that De Martini was the one to open the door, but Mak Hanna, a friend of De Martini’s, said that Pablo Ortiz actually pried open the door. De Martini stood with Hanna a few steps away.

  Ortiz walked to the law office: Dianne DeFontes, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 25, 2003.

  He thought he saw them continue up: Pilipiak, interview.

  Anne Prosser had gotten to her office: Anne Prosser interview, by Sherri Day, September 11, 2001; also Anne Paine and Adriane Jaeckle, “Nashville Native Makes Long Descent to Ground,” The Tennessean, September 12, 2001.

  On the 86th floor, Louis Lesce: Louis Lesce, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 2002.

  Chapter 7: “If the conditions warrant on your floor, you may wish to start an orderly evacuation.”

  Now a different message was being broadcast: Tape of voice mail provided by Beverly Eckert; digital audio enhancement by Paul Ginsberg, Professional Audio Labs, Spring Valley, New York.

  Scott Johnson, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods: Voice mail recording provided by Ann Johnson, enhanced by Paul Ginsberg, Professional Audio Laboratories.

  The realization slammed into his mind: Michael Sheehan, interview by Jim Dwyer, November 2003. The itinerary, as it turned out, was not for either of the planes that crashed into the towers, but for a USAir flight to Los Angeles. Sheehan suggested it could have been blown off a desk as easily as fallen from one of the jets.

  At the south tower’s 44th-floor sky lobby, Michael Otten: Michael Otten, interview by Lauren Wolfe for the authors, December 12, 2003.

  A big group from the New York State Department of Taxation: Ling Young, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2, 2002.

  … Cowan pushed the button for the 97th floor: Donovan Cowan, interview by Ford Fessenden, May 2002.

  Silvion Ramsundar and Christine Sasser: Christine Sasser, interview by Eric Lipton, April 2002.

  Howard Kestenbaum, another Aon colleague: Judy Wein, interview by Eric Lipton, April 2002; interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2, 2002.

  He dived under his desk, screaming: Stanley Praimnath, video statement and testimony before 9/11 Commission, May 2004; interview by Eric Lipton, May 2002.

  The time was 9:02:59 A.M.: The times used here for both plane crashes are those established by the NIST, which based its readings on the moment power was lost to television broadcasters working on the top floor of the north tower. The NIST times are five seconds later than those established through seismographic records at the Columbia Lamont-Doherty Station in Palisades, New York. From the seismographic time, the moment of impact was calculated based on how long it should have taken the waves from the impacts to travel twenty-two miles to the station. The NIST times, while lacking the elegant arithmetical acrobatics, have the virtue of being directly fixed by the moment the broadcasters lost power.

  … across nine floors, from 77 through 85: NIST, Interim Report, December 2003, p. 14.

  The wing of the jet was jammed into a door: Praimnath testimony, 9/11 Commission, May 2004; interview.

  It was filled with people: Michael Otten, interview by Lauren Wolfe, December 11, 2002.

  The plane’s speed was 545 miles per hour: The speed of both airplanes is given in the interim report of NIST, June 2004.

  Donovan Cowan, one finger poised at the button: Cowan, interview.

  … anothter twenty people were alive: Wein, interviews.

  Reyher crawled across them: Reyher account is drawn from the interview by Eric Lipton, April 2002, and Dennis Cauchan and Martha Moore, “Inches Decide Life, Death on 78th Floor,” USA Today, September 3, 2002.

  Ling Young, who worked in the state tax department: Young, interview.

  A sixth colleague, Mary Jos, had been knocked cold: Mary Jos, interview by Ford Fessenden, April 2002.

  Ed Nicholls, thrown to the ground, saw a fire: Ed Nicholls, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 2, 2002.

  … Michael Sheehan had been gazing at the airline itinerary: Sheehan, interview.

  On the 81 st floor, where part of the wing was lodged in the doorway: Praimnath, interview.

  They retreated to the stairs and began to head down: Brian Clark, interview by Eric Lipton, May 2002; interview by Jim Dwyer, August 4, 2004.

  Above them, Ron DiFrancesco had caught up: Ron DiFrancesco, interview by Eric Lipton, May 2002.

  Chapter 8: “You can’t go this way.”

  Now that he was in the stairs, nothing would slow him: Richard Fern, e-mail, September 2001, provided by Mr. Fern.

  Fern would navigate this line down the next 1,512 steps: E-mail correspondence with Alan Reiss, January 15, 2004. There were nine steps per flight, two flights per story, with occasional deviations from this pattern as the staircase neared the lobby.

  Puma spoke to a reporter: Conversations with James Gartenberg and Patricia Puma, by Jim Dwyer, September 11, 2001.

  “The time and place to ensure life safety in high-rise buildings”: Chief John T. O’Hagan, High-Rise/Fire & Life Safety (Saddle Brook, N.J.: Pennwell Publications, 1977), p. 243.

  The first plans for the trade center: James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky (New York: Times Books/ Henry Holt, 2003).

  … the trade center would be built according to the city code: Richard Bulowski, “Analysis of Building and Fire Codes and Practices” (presented at meeting of National Institute of Standards and Technology, December 2, 2003), minutes of meeting.

  … The New York Times noted that the trade center was an example: Glenn Fowler, “Broad Revisions of Building Code Proposed to City,” New York Times, July 9, 1965, p. 1.

  … it would make the trade center much cheaper to build: Ada Louise Huxtable, “A Code for the 20th Century,” and editorial, “A City Is for Building,” New York Times, July 9, 1965, p. 12.

  “The proposed code more accurately evaluates the hazards”: Harold Birns, address to the Board of Governors, New York Building Congress, January 28, 1965.

  An article in the Times to
ok note of the flexibility: Glenn Fowler, p. 1.

  … the new code significantly lowered the requirements: H. S. Lew, Richard Bukowski, Nick Carino, Dat Duthinh, “Analysis of Building and Fire Codes and Practices,” National Institute of Standards and Technology, December 3, 2003.

  … it forced buildings to be far sturdier and heavier than needed: Dudley Dalton, “Savings Expected in Building Code,” New York Times, March 15, 1964.

  “After fighting high-rise fires in midtown Manhattan”: Vincent Dunn, “Why Can’t the Fire Service Extinguish Fires in High-Rise Buildings?,” Fire Engineering magazine, December 1995.

  “The antiquated towers of commerce will fail”: Joseph P. Fried, “Building Code Expected to Spur Change in City’s Appearance and Dimensions,” New York Times, October 27, 1968, p. R1.

  That was worth about $1.8 million annually in 1968: “Low Sees Savings under New Code,” New York Times, October 20, 1968, p. 64. The Pan Am building, just north of Grand Central, later was renamed the MetLife building after the airline fell on hard times.

  The previous generation of skyscrapers: New York City 1938 Building Code.

  The image of young girls, leaping to their death: David Von Drehle, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003).

  In January 1912, the Equitable Building: Chief John T. O’Hagan, High-Rise/Fire & Life Safety (Saddle Brook, N.J.: Pennwell, 1977).

  The Titanic had space in its lifeboats for fewer than half: Michael Davie, Titanic: The Death and Life of a Legend (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987); Tom Kutz, ed., The Titanic Disaster Hearings: Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation (New York: Pocket Books, 1988); Walter Lord, A Night to Remember (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1955).

  Not only the fire towers disappeared: NIST, “Progress Report on the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster,” June 2004, Gaithersburg, Md., pp. 55–61.

  … “as remote from the others as is practicable”: NYC Building Code, Subarticle 602.0, effective December 6, 1968.