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

by Dwyer, Jim

  Although the lifeboats had space only for about half: Davie, Titanic.

  That was 21 percent higher than the best yield: Peter Tyson, “Towers of Innovation,” Nova Online, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wtc/innovation2.html.

  Since then, the Port Authority had spent $2.1 million: Alan Reiss, testimony before 9/11 Commission, May 18, 2004.

  One of these detours ran from the 82nd to the 76th floors: This was first reported by Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore in “Machinery Saved People in WTC,” USA Today, May 17, 2002. It was also described by Alan Reiss, former director of the world trade department for the Port Authority, in April 2002 and August 2003, in interviews with Jim Dwyer.

  A few floors down, most likely on the 82nd floor: Richard Fern, e-mail correspondence with Eric Lipton, April and May 2002. At first, Fern recalled leaving the stairway at the 78th floor, but later said he was unsure, and that it might have been higher. Stairway A shifted at the 82nd floor.

  He thought he would collapse: Fern, e-mail correspondence.

  Keating Crown of Aon: Keating Crown, interview by Eric Lipton, April 2004.

  A 911 operator typed up a summary: Brian Clark, testimony, contained in 9/11 Commission, “Emergency Preparedness: Staff Statement No. 13”; interview with Jim Dwyer, August 4, 2004.

  Brian Clark and Stanley Praimnath departed for the lobby: New York Police Department, “SPRINT summary,” 911 phone calls, September 11, 2001. (SPRINT is a computer system that logs 911 phone calls.)

  … three stairways were not sufficient to accommodate: Glenn Corbett, testimony before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, November 19, 2003.

  Chief Donald Burns had noted in a report: United States Fire Administration, The World Trade Center Bombing: Report and Analysis, 1994 report, p. 55.

  Nat Alcamo, a fifty-six-year-old former Marine: the accounts of descending the stairs from Alcamo, Richard Jacobs, Edgardo Villegas, Robert Radomsky, Sean Pierce, Louis A. Torres, Louis Lesce, Norma Hessic, Richard Wright, and others are from interviews conducted on September 11, 2001, by numerous members of the New York Times staff, including Joseph Treaster, Denise Grady, Lynda Richardson, Jennifer Steinhauer, Rosalie Radomsky, Jennifer Lee, Felicity Barringer, and Stuart Elliot.

  Steven Salovich had been herded off Euro Brokers’ 84th floor: Steven Salovich, written account provided to Eric Lipton, May 2002.

  Terence McCormick, who worked for Kemper: Terence C. McCormick, statement submitted to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History exhibit, “September 11: Bearing Witness to History” (www.americanhistory.si.edu/september11/collection).

  Sharon Premoli, an executive with Beast Financial Systems: Sharon Premoli, interviews by Kevin Flynn, April 2002, January 2004.

  Elaine Duch, who had been burned on the 88th floor: Gerry Gaeta, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 25, 2003.

  Another ailing person from the 88th floor: Jeff Gertler, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 13, 2004.

  John Labriola came down from the 71st floor: John Labriola, statement submitted to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History exhibit, “September 11: Bearing Witness to History” (www.americanhistory.si.edu/september11/collection).

  Theresa Leone, who worked in a law firm: Theresa Marino Leone, “Rosary Beads and Sensible Shoes,” as told to Roy Peter Clark, Poynter Institute, www.poynter.org, September 13, 2001.

  Michael Benfante and John Cerquiera: Michael Benfante and John Cerquiera, interview by Joyce Wadler, September 11, 2001; interview by Jim Dwyer, November 2001.

  … Hoey called the Port Authority police desk in Jersey City: Port Authority radio transcripts, Central Police Desk, Channel 24, September 11, 2001.

  Chapter 9: “The doors are locked.”

  At 9:05 A.M., Peter Mardikian called his wife: Corine Mardikian, interview by Kevin Flynn, May 2002.

  In the south tower, Sean Rooney began climbing: Information about the trips to the roof collected in interviews by Jim Dwyer and others from the New York Times with family members, 2001 and 2002.

  Heeran had called his father: Bernie Heeran, interview by Joseph Plambeck, May 2004.

  The rig crawled down the towers along tracks: Engineering News Record, November 5, 1970.

  This order briefly touched off a snit: James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky (New York: Times Books/ Henry Holt, 2003), p. 114.

  … Camaj had become part of the trade center’s folklore: Biographical information about Roko Camaj compiled from New York Times interviews with family and from www.Warnerbros.com.

  Los Angeles was one of the few American cities: Scott Paltrow and Queena Sook Kim, “Could Helicopters Have Saved People from the Top of the Trade Center?” Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2001.

  In Las Vegas, during the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel: Glenn Puit, “MGM Grand Fire: The Pilot,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 19, 2000.

  … most experts did not view the roof: Information about firefighting tactics derived from interviews with Chief Vincent Dunn (ret.) in 2004.

  Despite the aversion to aerial rescues: 9/11 Commission staff investigation.

  At mandatory fire drills held in the tenant offices: Information about fire-safety policies at the WTC derived from several interviews, in 2004, with Michael Hurley, the fire-safety director for the complex.

  During the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory blaze of 1911: David Von Drehle, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003).

  Bob Mattson, a banker with Fiduciary Trust International: Elizabeth Mattson, wife of Bob Mattson, interview by Kevin Flynn, January 2004.

  This was nothing like 1993: Greg Semendinger, interviews by Kevin Flynn, December 2003, May 2004.

  Semendinger and Ciccone had arrived about 8:54 A.M.: Helicopter arrival times from NIST, Interim Report, June 2004.

  They had barely stopped talking when Hayes spotted United Flight 175: Tim Hayes, interview on Abcnews.com, November 8, 2001.

  They pulled up quickly and the plane shot beneath them: Police account to New York Newsday, September 8, 2002.

  Trapped inside one of the offices that February day: Details of the rescue of Matut-Perina taken from Newsday accounts by Duggan, February 11, 2003, and McQueen, February 28, 1993.

  She was the first of several dozen people: The number of people rescued by helicopter after the 1993 bombing remains a matter of some debate. The Police Aviation Unit, which operated the helicopters, said it has no record of the number. The police commander in charge that day has said the number was thirty-five. Port Authority officials have put the number as low as twelve. Emergency Medical Service officials in a 1994 report for the federal government, The World Trade Center Bombing: Report and Analysis, said that twenty-eight people needing medical treatment were removed from the two roofs. Interviews with people who participated in the rescues, and were on the rooftops that day suggest that the number was roughly several dozen, split roughly equally between the two towers.

  When the commander of the Aviation Unit later recorded the events: Capt. William Wilkens, commander of the Police Aviation Unit, in an account given to Nycop.com.

  … Hurley led the shivering throng back down: Mike Hurley, interview by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, February 2004.

  … the New York City Fire Chiefs Association: William Murphy and Joseph W. Queen, “Derring Don’t: Firefighters Blast Towers’ Copter Rescue,” New York Newsday, April 10, 1993, p. 3.

  The fire commissioner, Carlos Rivera, said: William Murphy and Joseph W. Queen, “A Failure to Communicate?” New York Newsday, April 11, 1993, p. 46.

  There would be joint training runs: Many of the details of the city’s use of helicopters in an emergency were first reported in Paltrow and Kim, Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2001.

  As Captain Fred Ill of Ladder Company 2: Jim Dwyer, “More Tapes from 9/11: ‘They Have Exits in There?’” New York Times, August 17, 2006.

  … Chief Pfeifer told his aide to write t
he words: Chief Joseph Pfeifer, interviews by Kevin Flynn, in April 2004 as well as his oral history and an account he gave to Firehouse magazine.

  But Pfeifer couldn’t find the radio he needed: Pfeifer, oral history.

  He figured that the commanders outside: Pfeifer, interview.

  The police aviation team had been anticipating a call: Conversations of the pilots were recorded by the Police Department.

  At 9:08, he had spoken over the police radio: NYPD radio transmissions, September 11, 2001.

  On the 110th floor, Steve Jacobson: Allison Gilbert, Phil Hirschkorn, Melinda Murphy, Robyn Walensky, and Mitchell Stephens, eds., Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11 (Chicago: Bonus Books, 2002).

  … Richard Smiouskas could see that not everyone: Richard Smiouskas, oral history to the FDNY, November 27, 2001.

  Since most of the space was open: NIST, fact sheet, “Key Findings of NIST’s June 2004 Progress Report,” June 18, 2004 (www.wtc.nist.gov. ).

  He did not mention that people were falling: Jim Dwyer, Eric Lipton, Kevin Flynn, James Glanz, Ford Fessenden, “Fighting to Live as the Towers Died,” New York Times, May 26, 2002.

  But Semendinger held out some hope: Greg Semendinger, interview.

  “Open the goddamn doors”: Port Authority transcript, WTC Channel 25.

  Now he couldn’t fathom why the doors would not open: Sean Rooney’s account was provided by his wife, Beverly, during several interviews by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer, 2002 to 2004.

  … the operators typed shorthand versions: Quotation from the city’s 911 dispatch tape.

  The Port Authority had decided to lock the doors: Details of how the roof doors operated came from interviews with Port Authority officials, including Mike Hurley and Alan Reiss.

  Marie Refuse, one of the security officers: Port Authority tapes, Channel 27.

  ACCESS DENIED, the screen blared: Graham Rayman, “Control Center Chaos,” New York Newsday, September 11, 2002, p. 8.

  A deputy security director, George Tabeek, led a team: Port Authority transcript.

  Roko Camaj, the window washer: Vinny Camaj, interview by Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  Perhaps Camaj and the others had gotten as far as the 110th floor: The A and C stairways were the ones that carried all the way up to the 110th floor. Stairway B ended at the 107th floor.

  Camaj used his radio to call down: Port Authority transcripts of the conversation.

  Most of them were dialing not into the basement command center: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report (Washington, D.C., 2004), p. 286.

  Frank Doyle and some of the other traders: Kimmy Chedel, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 2002.

  Stephen called Peter again: This account of the conversation related by Peter Mulderry to Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  A few minutes later, the phone was passed to Rick Thorpe: Based on accounts given by family members to the New York Times, spring 2002.

  Chapter 10: “I’ve got a second wind.”

  In a riot of sound, Frank De Martini’s voice was calm: Port Authority transcript, Channel X, September 11, 2001, 9:11 A.M.

  Drohan was at ground level: Gerard Drohan, interview by Jim Dwyer, August 22, 2003. There is no transcript of De Martini’s radio transmissions; the account here is based on Drohan’s recollection.

  The drywall had been knocked off parts of the sky lobby: Greg Trapp, Summit Security guard stationed on the 78th floor, interview by Jim Dwyer, January 14, 2004, and February 8, 2004.

  … he arranged to ship a 14,000-pound steel brace: Leslie E. Robertson, interview by Jim Dwyer, March 1994.

  … when he was interviewed for the History Channel documentary: “World Trade Center: In Memoriam,” The History Channel, 2002.

  Fifteen minutes after his first warning, De Martini broadcast: Port Authority transcript, Radio Channel 25, Y, Maintenance and Electric, September 11, 2001, 9:18 A.M.

  Savas loved coming to work, rising at 5:45: Steven Greenhouse, “Refusing to Retire,” New York Times, November 9, 2001.

  Out came Savas: Trapp, interview.

  The lobby doors shot off their frames: Alan Reiss, interview by Jim Dwyer, April 30, 2002.

  … the carrier of devastation: These circumstances were first and most emphatically documented by Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore in “Elevators Were Disaster within Disaster,” USA Today, September 11, 2002.

  In 1854, Elisha Graves Otis was hoisted by a rope on a platform: James Glanz and Eric Lipton, City in the Sky (New York: Times Books/ Henry Holt, 2003), p. 22.

  … there were fifteen miles of elevator shafts in the towers: Cauchon and Moore.

  After the 1993 bombing, the United States Fire Administration: FEMA, 1993 World Trade Center Report, p. 27.

  On the single-file descent, someone teased Demczur: Jan Demczur, interview by Jim Dwyer, October 6, 2001; Shivam Iyer, George Phoenix, interview by Jim Dwyer, October 8, 2001; John Paczkowski, Al Smith, interviews by Jim Dwyer, December 2001. Mike McQuaid, interview by Ford Fessenden, May 2002.

  An instant before Flight 175 hit the south tower: The most thorough exploration of the elevators on September 11, and the experiences of individuals in them, can be seen in Cauchon and Moore.

  Her fall was broken by a beam in the shaft: John Duffy and Mary S. Schaeffer, Triumph over Tragedy (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002), p. 13.

  PAPD Officer Thomas Grogan—radio transmission: WTC police transcript, Channel 9, September 11, 2001.

  She remembered being hoisted by a “human ladder”: Smith account in Duffy and Schaeffer, p. 68.

  Another message went out over the radio: WTC police transcript, Channel 9, September 11, 2001.

  Hoerner summoned James Flores: James Flores, interview by Jim Dwyer, February 2004.

  Flores watched as one of them, a man with powerful arms: In interview with Dwyer, Flores stated that he saw the firefighter with the pry tool. Later, recovery workers said they found a pry tool at the elevator bank. Smith account.

  The elevator mechanics who worked at the trade center: Cauchon and Moore.

  The mechanics planned on reentering: Port Authority transcript, Radio Channel Z, September 11, 2001.

  Mike McQuaid, the electrician, heard the voices: Mike McQuaid, interview by Ford Fessenden, May 2002.

  He sent a radio message to the command center: Port Authority transcripts, Vertical Transportation Channel, September 11, 2001.

  Some people trapped in the cars managed to get calls: Emergency Medical Services job log, 911 call center, September 11, 2001; call logged at 9:33 A.M.

  On the 71 st floor of the north tower: Frank DeMola, interview by Jim Dwyer, October 2003.

  DeCosta apparently changed his mind: Port Authority transcript, WTC Channel 29.

  … the Port Authority had installed alarm bells: Alan Reiss, former director of the world trade department, e-mail correspondence, February 7, 2004.

  One of the Port Authority workers turned to the security guard: Trapp, interview.

  After some consultations, the dispatcher came back to Trapp: Port Authority transcript, Channel 27. In it, Trapp’s name is rendered erroneously as Greg Trevor, a Port Authority official who was already leaving the building.

  The evidence suggests that Tony Savas: The remains of Savas and Griffin were discovered in staircases near the bottom of the building.

  Chapter 11: “I’m staying with my friend.”

  … Stephen Miller glimpsed the outside world again: Stephen Miller, interviews by Lauren Wolfe and Kevin Flynn, December 2003.

  One Port Authority officer thought he saw thirteen people jump: Port Authority police officer Michael Simons, written memo, March 5, 2002.

  He felt like clapping his hands, and so he did, rhythmically: Miller, interview.

  The stairwells had twists and turns: 9/11 Commission study determined that the stairwell arrangement had confused many evacuees because they did not know the configuration.

 
A windowpane covered in blood: Recollection of window from Port Authority police officer Roger Fernandez, written memo, January 4, 2002.

  Cops at the top of the escalators: Recollection of panic from Port Authority police officer Anthony L. Croce, written memo, January 28, 2002, and others.

  He had pulled up in a Ford Explorer: NYPD Deputy Inspector Timothy Pearson, interview by Kevin Flynn, March 2004.

  Sue Keane, a Port Authority police officer: Port Authority police officer Sue Keane, written memo, March 4, 2002.

  Ken Greene, the Port Authority’s assistant director of aviation: Some details of Greene’s account were gleaned from an interview he did with CBS News that was broadcast on 48 Hours, October 19, 2001.

  Nelson Chanfrau, a risk manager for the agency: Sources for the account of Chanfrau’s activities that day include written memo of Port Authority inspector Timothy Norris, interview with Jim Dwyer, October 2001.

  Perry was an activist and an actor: Sources for aspects of this account include Pearson interview, an interview with Officer Perry’s mother, Patricia, on March 4, 2004, and John Tierney in “A Policeman for Starters, and at the End,” New York Times, November 16, 2001.

  Perry and a few others picked her up: Details are taken from the Fernandez memo and interview with Pearson.

  Instead, many people were directed south: Details are based on interviews of Rich Fetter, resident manager of the Marriott Hotel, by Jim Dwyer, May 2002.

  Most of the seventy-five stores had closed: The closing of the stores is recounted by Port Authority police officer A. Greenstein, written memo, December 9, 2001. Water recounted by Steven Charest of May Davis Group, interview by Kevin Flynn, March 2004.

  These were demolished and turned into corridors: Alan Reiss, e-mail, May 25, 2004; Reiss testimony before the 9/11 Commission, May 18, 2004.

  … five Port Authority police officers, wheeling a canvas laundry cart: The account of Sergeant McLoughlin’s team was taken from New York Times interviews of Port Authority police officer Will Jimeno, Port Authority police chief Joseph Morris, and various written memos of police officers, including those of Lt. John Murphy and Sgt. William Ross. Although both Murphy and Ross recall that a Port Authority officer, J. D. Levi, was part of the original group that went with McLoughlin to find the equipment, he somehow was assigned to other duties and Amoroso joined the group instead.