As we were at the box, a plane passes us overhead real low. You could hear it; you could feel it. We turned around, and it just impacted the building, building one.

I drove over to Canal Street and made a left on Greenwich, went down Greenwich, passed right in front of seven, made a right. When I made the right, there was debris, windows, metal and I guess plane debris right on the floor there between seven and I guess that would be six.

While we were still in the middle of the street, another plane comes in, makes a big circle, comes around from like the Statue of Liberty direction, and hits two. We can't believe that another one is coming in. Joey got on the radio, "Another plane just hit the second tower." I don't know if he said mayday or what, but he yelled "Another plane hit the second tower." At that point debris was flying all over, the fireball, fuel was coming down,

Having been assigned to the Transit Bureau in the NYPD, I have seen people cut in half by trains, people bleeding out from wounds, compound fractures caused by people just being in a hurry, and countless other morbid forms of human tragedy. You do not expect to see half of a smoking airplane engine on the ground, in front of the Burger King you eat at least once a week. I'm sorry, but nothing prepares you for that. Even worse, I did not expect to see the remains of what I believed was a little old woman, under half of an airplane engine, either. As I stared at the smear that was alive thirty seconds prior, I lifted the phone to my ear and remember wincing at the heat emanating off of the wreckage in front of me.

At this moment hearing a coming sound I raised my head. No! This is not happening. A big passenger jet was right above me. It was a blink of an eye. A fraction of second later the airplane disappeared inside WTC tower.

at approximately 8:45 we heard the sound of a plane approaching. the sound became so loud that people were startled out of their seats. the plane passed - very low - just west of our building. it appeared to be a commercial jet - including windows. [..] the plane appeared to be in trouble. one person remarked: "That guy's in trouble!!" [..] the plane was flying very low over manhattan and its wings were dipping from side to side. many of us thought it might hit 1 Rockefeller Center. but of course - it didn't. [..] we all watched the plane head downtown - and i assumed at some point it would vear off to the east and head to Kennedy. [..] i wondered why a plane - if it was indeed in trouble - would stay over Manhattan - and not instead stay clear of the skyline. [..] we all watched the first plane strike the north tower. [..] approx. 15 minutes later someone spotted the 2nd plane. we all stood at the windows and watched it slowly turning and banking into the 2nd tower. although some distance away it did appear to be a commercial jet.

11-SEP-01 8:49 Stacy Horn: Oh god. I'm shaking. A plane just went by my window, it was flying WAY too low, and I was thinking, "How ironic," I wrote about this in my book, and it crashed.
11-SEP-01 8:51: I SAW IT. It just happened, too soon for radio and TV.
11-SEP-01 8:55: I didn't see the hit, I saw the plane go by (TOO LOW) and heard the crash which was AWFUL. Then I stood up and saw the big GAPING hole (I can see the World Trade from where I am.)
11-SEP-01 9:10: Is this a terrorist attack?? The first plane looked like a commercial jet.

11-SEP-01 9:10: Oh my god. I heard and saw the plane too, as I walked up Park. I looked up and thought my god that's flying low.

Regardless, I wander over the window to see what's going on and see a gaping hole in the side of the building belching flames and smoke. All I can think about is the movie Brazil. Almost all of the debris fluttering around my office building is paper, files dislodged because of the explosion. When I see the second plane buzz by my office, bank around, and smash into the other tower in a huge explosion, I feel like I'm watching a movie. Everything was in slow-motion, huge fireball, very spectacular. Watching the events on TV, complete with comentary, then seeing the actual thing out the window somehow adds to the unreality of it all.

That day, I was walking the 1.5 miles to work, as usual, but I left a bit later. Before I got to Canal Street, I looked up and saw a plane directly overhead. "God, that plane is flying awfully low," I thought to myself. Then I saw it enter 1 WTC.

When I arrived, everyone was OUTSIDE the building. I was told, since the plane could have been caused by terrorism, our building was the largest on the waterfront. After a few minutes, we saw the second plane fly straight for the WTC.

He replied, "We shouldn't be here right now man." As he said that, we heard the roar of an approaching airplane. We looked up and watched the airplane as it crashed into the building. Our jaws dropped. We saw the plane enter the right side of the building and a ball of fire emerged from the left side of the building.

I was on my rooftop in carroll gardens, brooklyn. I saw the 2nd plane hit and everything fall. Living in NYC and seeing this first hand was pretty rough.

I was on the 22nd floor of Trinity Church and watched BOTH planes hit the towers. I knew we had been attacked and that nothing would ever be the same again. [..] Now sounds of planes overhead and the rumble of subways below remind me of the attack.

It is hard to describe how loud those jet engines were as they came up Church St. I stood and looked up just as the second plane hit and ripped through the building. There were a few hundred of us in the street there and all seemed to move as one to take cover. We were being showered with debris from the jet as well as a cloud of un-ingnighted jet fuel. [..] I still get chills when I hear jets flying low.

I remeber hearing about the first crash and my friend and I running to the balcony on the 10th floor of our school staring in astonishment as we saw a second plane go in minutes after.

So I had trouble processing it all that morning when I spotted a fast-moving, low-flying plane heading north over New York harbor. I remember wondering to myself, "Haven’t they closed this airspace yet because of the accident?" Then I realized what was going on: "Oh, it’s the tanker plane coming to dump a load of water on the burning building." Then, that plane hit the tower too, and I realized in a flash that the first crash had not been accident.

I ran to the roof of my 4 story apt building in Parkslope where we can see the entire sky line and saw and felt the second plane hit.

When the first plane passed my window, it sounded like a missle flying by. The sound was so intense, it shook everything in the apartment..even the coffee shook out of my cup. Our eyes widened, as even a two-year-old can understand that what just happened was not quite right. I immediately ran to my kitchen window, just as the first explosion took place.

I was driving to work that day and running late. I work in Manhattan. I saw the plane hit the WTC from New Jersey on my way to work. The minute I saw it I stopped. Thinking it was just an accident I stayed on the side of the road when I saw a second plane hit the second tower.

And then we watched the second plane crash into the second tower, and we all knew someone was trying to do it on purpose. [..] Everyone was stacked up against the window watching it happen

When I hung up the phone with Mom, it was must’ve been 9:03 a.m., because I watched as the second plane crashed into the South Tower. The fireball exploded in my direction and the explosion shook my building and my window sounded like it was going to shatter before my eyes. [..] I finally got a message from my husband at 6 o’clock that he left on our answering machine. [..] He saw papers flying through the air and he’d picked them up. Some were boarding passes from the planes. He also saw some of the plane parts on Church Street.

Being on the 6th floor of the Metromedia building, we had a bullseye view of the tower. We all gathered in an office and watched smoke pour from the first tower hit. Within minutes, someone said "Look at that plane flying pretty low. Is that normal?" WHAM!! we saw the plane disappear behind the tower and a huge fireball appear from the other end.

I bolted for my training class and reported what had happened, when a few minutes later on the 11th floor, we heard, and felt the second plane go by our building, on its way into the south tower.

I went outside after we heard the news of a plane hitting the tower, so i went outside and looked. My teacher told me that it was a commuter plane, but i said no, no commuter plane can leave such a big hole in the building" so I was out there, then in the corner of my eye a United Airlines Boeing 767 was flying, so i said whys that plane going so fast, i heard the engine thrust increase. So i said Oh No! then it crashed and i saw a big fireball.

They had then looked out our bedroom window (we live across the river) and saw the second plane hit.

I saw one of my coworkers just ahead of me about to cross Church Street in front of the World Trade Center. I was about to call to her when a deafening roar made everyone in the plaza look up. [..] We stood in shock as the first plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, 1WTC. [..] We'd gotten less than a block away when we saw the second plane banking in from the south like a jet fighter heading toward 2 WTC. [..] It crash[ed] into the south tower sending out a fireball that looked even bigger than the first.

The pier was suddenly packed with people and in the distance we could see smoke. We ran towards the water to find out what had happened. [..] Nothing could have prepared us for the scene we were to witness a few moments later: a second plane was flying directly into the other tower.

I work in a building on Water St, probaby less than a mile from WTC [..] While standing there, I caught a sight of another airplane, a twin engine jet, it was banking to right. It came, what seemed like slightly below where we were and smashed straight into the other tower. A huge fire ball went up covering almost the entire upper third of the tower. Then it was gone and the second tower was on fire.

I live 2 blocks from where the WTC used to stand [..] I saw the second plane hit the building as I was on the phone with my wife who was staying at her parents with my 3 week old son [..] I saw debris fly everywhere and a huge fireball.

A few minutes later, another jet roars overhead, and plows into the second tower. It looked kind of like it tried to change course at the last second - the plane sort of banked as it approached the tower.

I watched the first plane fly downtown and collide with the north tower and almost immediately began to take pictures.

I watched both planes hit from the kitchen window of my office.

I saw the first plane come buzzing in down lower Manhattan, flying incredibly low. The noise was what I imagine an old buzz bomb sounded like. It was a big jet, wobbling, flying unsteadily and very fast. [..] As my part in the national day of remembrance I returned to the corner from which I saw the attack. I had been avoiding it. I looked to the sky where I saw the plane. I looked to the south where I saw the smoke rise over the towers. I thought of the people who died on the planes and in the buildings, and I thought also of all of the people who are working on the rescue and recovery efforts.

I watched the whole thing out of my window. As I pulled my shade up in the morning, I saw the first plane crash into the World Trade Center out of the corner of my eye. I saw it all unfold. I kept turning from the TV to my window. It was completely surreal.

Douglas Cochrane, a Fort Dodge native, witnessed the first plane hitting the tower while going to his first class as a freshman at New York University. From the corner of Fifth Avenue and 10th Street, he used a point-and-shoot camera to take a picture of the gaping hole left by the plane. [..] ‘‘When I saw the first plane hit. ... (it was) the imprint of a plane in the side of a building,’’ he said. ‘‘I remember it very vividly.’’

I was at P.S. 234, a school four blocks north of the World Trade Center when I saw the first plane hit.

I was dropping people off at the World Financial Center dock, close to the World Trade Center, when I saw the first plane streaking north to south across the sky and slam into the North Tower.

"I was in the World Financial Center looking out the window," said one woman. "I saw the first plane and then 15 minutes later saw the other plane just slam into the World Trade Center."

I reached three blocks way and then I heared a plane very close as if to close to, to the ground. I looked up because I heared it go over me, so I was trying to find it but all I saw was the shadow of the plane on the buildings next to me. When I looked back I saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

I saw the first plane hit the South tower... not on TV, but live from my own window in my office.

I was on my way to work in the #90 Express Bus and from the FDR saw the second plane enter the South Tower. I got off the bus at Frankfort Street and entered the stream of people fleeing North.

I ran to the seen to help I was at headquarters New York City Fire Dept. 9 Metrotech Center Brooklyn when I watched the plane go thru the tower.

I was in my apartment when I heard the first plane crash into the World Trade Center. I immediately called down to building security Richie receiving, in my building - I saw a plane hit World Trade Center, do you think its a terrorist attack."

I worked at Honeywell acorss from Teterbo Airport and we saw the first plane crash into Trade One. Then a few minutes a second plane crash into the Second Tower. We could see the first tower start to fall.

I work about a mile north of the WTC, south of Houston, at Spring St. While walking to work down Hudson St., I saw the first plane flying south, low over the Village. It had the sound of a plane going down. It was low. I knew something was wrong. I saw that the plane was big, but didn’t think it was airliner-sized. I speculated that maybe the twin towers could be a target. Didn’t see the impact, but heard and felt the explosion five seconds after seeing the plane fly overhead.

Down at ground zero, a day I will never forget when I saw the first plane hit from this same spot 5 years ago.

I saw every single thing that happened. I saw the first plane puncture the metal shell of the first tower, expelling a great cloud of fire and smoke. [..] And then the second plane came.

"I was outside on a ladder when I saw the first plane go by and strike the building" Justin said. "I thought it was just an accident. Then I remembered my uncle was in there."

Just as I was walking out of the subway station going to work Tuesday morning, I noticed a police officer standing in the street looking at the WTC saying "that's flying too low" and as I looked up, I saw the first plane hit the first tower. It was so traumatic.

i saw and heard the first plane as it passed over my head.

After learning that a plane had hit the north tower, he continued on toward his building, assuming it was a Cessna-sized aircraft. As he walked across the courtyard, he looked up to see first tower ablaze and minutes later heard a roar and saw the second plane strike..

We were on the 24th floor, which has a view of the World Trade Center, when we heard the sound, and looked up to see a ball of fire coming from one of the towers. A few minutes later, we saw the second plane hit, and again a ball of fire erupted," [..] Before the first blast, staff on the streets around Trinity heard what to some sounded like military jets carrying out a low flypast before hearing the blast.

He was on his way to the building and looking up at the smoke coming from the first tower when he saw the second plane coming out of the corner of his eye. When it hit, he ran into the basement of the Hilton Millennium Hotel..

We had gotten to approximately point C on the picture, walking along the water, when both Rachel and I heard a plane. Looking over the southern tip of Manhatten, we could see the United jet roaring in, just skimming the tops of the buildings. Normally, when you see a jet that close, it is taking off or landing and is moving relatively slowly. This one was at full throttle. I remember yelling something like "What's he doing there?" but it went quickly behind us and was blocked from view by the buildings along the water. We didn't see the impact, but we could hear it and feel it

Mar was in the shower and I was working at my desk. I heard a plane, large, slow, and way too low, and then the unmistakable crash. "A plane crashed. I heard it. I'm going out to see". I grabbed my camera and ran out of the house. I stood at Chambers and Greenwich, 5 blocks North of the World Trade Center, and watched the fire spread. I called Mar on the cell phone and told her I was all right. I saw the second plane hit.

Just then, around the backside of Tower Two, I saw a big black plane come out of nowhere. It looked to me like a cartoon plane, or an oversized army plane. It struck into the building with a tremendous explosion. I thought I was watching a movie.

I was in my apartment on the edge of Soho when I heard a very low-flying plane go over my building. And then I heard the sound of a large impact. So I went outside and looked at the Towers where I saw that the plane had apparently hit one of the buildings. I did not actually see the first plane hit, however. I kept looking. Before long I saw the second plane hit the other Tower.

In the distance we saw another jet flying directly for the Towers. We could not believe our eyes - with a huge fireball, the jet flew directly into the South Tower.

'We heard a very loud plane, which you never hear in Manhattan. We all look up and see this commercial airline flying very low. We follow it and it goes right into the Trade Center. You could see it didn't veer off. It appeared to aim at the Trade Center smashed into the upper floors. Created a big fireball and then disappeared into the building."

Toby O’Berry [who worked for Morgan Stanley in the Twin Towers] . . . looked up toward the burning tower and the people leaping from it, then heard a plane rumbling across the picture-perfect blue Manhattan sky.
And then he ran. Then he heard a rumbling sound. He looked up and saw a plane smash into the south tower. All my co-workers, they’re all dead, Toby thought. Then he turned and ran, shaking people out of their stupor along the way

Julie Williams, who worked in WTC2, said "We stepped out of the building walked not 8 feet and I heard another plane and I turned around and I saw the 2nd plane as it hit my building."

Then we heard another plane almost directly overhead. It was awfully low, and I said "What, is he going in for a closer look?" Then the second plane crashed into the side of the south tower. A fireball shot out both sides of the building and you could see parts of the building falling over the city.

On the morning of September 11th about 8:45, I was relieved, and a few of us were standing in front of quarters when we noticed a plane came directly over the firehouse maybe around 8:45, somewhere around that time. One of the guys mentioned that the plane looked like it was really low. Before we could really think of what he said, the next thing we heard an explosion.

On the morning of September 11th we were operating a box up on Church Street Near Canal. [..] While we were out operating, we heard the first plane coming in. I turned around and I watched the plane crash into the north tower.

SO EVERYBODY LOOKED UP TO WHERE THEY THOUGHT THEY HEARD THE SOUND COMING FROM. AND WE SAW AN AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE TO ME IT LOOKED AS THOUGH IT WAS GOING TREETOP LEVEL RIGHT DOWN WEST STREET. THEN HE APPEARED TO RISE LITTLE BIT. [..] WE SORT OF EXPECTED HIM TO VEER OFF AND GO INTO THE HUDSON. BUT HE JUST ROSE LITTLE BIT HIS ALTITUDE LEVELED OFF AND HE WAS HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THE TRADE CENTER SO JUST BEFORE HE GOT TO THE TRADE CENTER IT SEEMED AS THOUGH HE GAINED POWER. WE WERE JUST WATCHING THIS AIRPLANE ON TARGET FOR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. ALL OF SUDDEN BOOM HE DISAPPEARS INTO THE TRADE CENTER YOU HEAR THIS SICKENING NOISE AS IF TWO PIECES OF FIBERGLASS HAD HIT YOU HEAR THIS LOUD EXPLOSION. HE JUST DISAPPEARED INTO THE TRADE CENTER YOU COULD SEE HUGE FIREBALL COME OUT FROM WHERE HE HIT. I GUESS IT WAS ABOUT TEN STORIES HIGH OF BROWN SMOKE COMING OUT AND THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF PAPER BEING THROWN THROUGH THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

We witnessed the first plane hit the first tower. Saw it flying low and we thought, that plane's flying kind of low, and then it hit the building and we went over the radio and we told central that we had witnessed a plane hitting the building.

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 southwesterly 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.

It was about 8:41 that we heard a plane hovering over the firehouse. It sounded like the plane was right on top of us. At that time the captain was upstairs. The captain came out and said: "What's going on? This is a no-fly zone. There should be no planes over here unless this is a military plane, a plane in trouble."

I ran downstairs. No sooner did I run downstairs and look up, that I saw the second plane strike the south tower. When the second plane hit, it was just a lot of fire, a lot of black smoke.

Then we saw the second one come up. It looked like it was coming up the East River from here. I guess it was coming from the south. I thought it banked over the East River, which is what it looked like. I thought it made a left over the East River and went right into it going from east to west. But as it turns out, it came from the south. Then we saw it just go right into the building and explode. I remember talking to Eric. I remember Eric saying something, "Oh, my God, there's another plane." I was saying to him, "That plane is closer to us. It's really not a big plane going towards the building." Two seconds later it rammed into the building.

as I'm walking towards the Engine to find out what Lieutenant Walsh wanted us to do, I heard the sound of a jet plane. I looked up and saw it pretty close and I was like holy shit. What's going on with the with the flight patterns. All of a sudden, the wings turned and it dove right into the building and it was screwed up.

As we were driving over the 59th Street bridge, just looking out the window, we saw a plane hit the World Trade Center, what we thought was a plane. When they looked, you could see the flames and the smoke starting and they're like, wow, it must have been one of the little planes. I said, no, it looked like a jet.

At some point after our arrival and after we had moved to the west side of West Street, I heard a loud roar of a jet, looked up and saw the second plane impact the south tower.

JUST THEN OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE COULD SEE THIS PLANE JUST REMEMBER THE DARK IT WAS IN THE SHADOW IT LOOKED LOW THOUGHT WHAT THE HECK IS THE GUY DOING WATCHED IT WATCHED HIM TURN AND CRASH RIGHT INTO THE SOUTH TOWER.

I was looking up to see if I could do a little more initial size up. That is when I saw the second plane hit the building . I just watched it coming in.

WHILE WE WERE RIGHT UNDER HERE UNDER THE WESTSIDE HIGHWAY AND PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE I SEEN THE SECOND PLANE COMING I’M THINKING ISNT THAT PLANE TOO LOW I’M LIKE THEN NOTICED SEEN IT TURN IT TURNED AND WENT RIGHT IN THE BUILDING BUT WERE BEHIND LIKE THIS IS THE BUILDING IT WENT IN AND YOU SEE THE EXPLOSION IN THE FRONT

It was at that time when I saw the second plane hit the building. I called a mayday. I told them the second plane hit the south tower of the building. I wasn't sure which floors it was, but I knew it hit the upper floors of the south tower.

WE PARKED THE VEHICLE ON KENT GOT OUT. I STOOD THERE STARING AND THEN WATCHED EVENTUALLY THE SECOND PLANE SAW IT IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS CIRCLING COMING SOUTH THEN CAME BACK NORTH STRIKING THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWER NO 2.

Q. The second plane?
A. I saw it coming in, I heard it, and bang, it hit

I was across the street from the WTC in the Immigration and Naturalizations building when it happened: I SAW IT ALL and shot six rolls of film. We fleed on foot down Broadway and I was ten blocks away when the north tower collapsed. It was surreal. I am shocked. I..am shocked. I saw the second plane hit, the first explosion shook our building. I was on the 41st floor.

I was on the 8:30 bus this morning heading towards the lincoln tunnel. When we passed Giant Stadium on the bus, a woman screamed "Oh my god!" The world trade center was burning. A few minutes later when I was on the Helix waiting to enter the tunnel, I watched the second plane collide with the south tower. A few minutes later the tunnels were sealed and the buses turned around.

I heard it screaming through the air, looked up and saw it pass over my head, heard the impact, and within a few seconds ran to a better vantage point and saw the hole.

I saw the second plane hit, both towers come down

Do I believe that no plane theory???? HELL NO. I do not believe that. I saw the planes crash into both towers with my own eyes

maintenance men in our building said that they were on the roof and the plane looked like it was coming right toward our building

I was the last person on my floor to leave. As I wended my way down the stairs I was struck by how calm people were. This New York resilience is something I saw time and time again today. We left the building and I got out -- now I realised the second plane had slammed into the other WTC tower. Someone standing by said to me he had seen the plane coming from near the Statue of Liberty and slamming into the tower.

Eventually, we returned to our desks and fortunately my husband was able to get through to me. He had been up on the 16th floor and saw the 2nd plane hit. After that he helped to secure the building and after seeing that everyone left safely, he would be coming home.

My Neighbor Survived [..] His office was on the 30th floor of 3 World Trade Center (not one of the towers). His office faced the towers and he saw both planes hit

My cousin, Maryann, worked in the WTC for the Port Authority of NY and NJ. [..] She was on her way to work, on a bus in NYC, when she saw the first plane hit. She, and the others on the bus thought it was an accident. [..] Then she saw the second plane hit and realized it was no accident.

My wife, Stacy, worked in tower #2, 21st floor. She was in a meeting at 8:45 when the first plane crashed into tower #1. She heard the plane coming in, loud enough to make her think it was flying unusually close to the buildings.

My daughter was a new freshman at NYU, incredibly excited about moving to the city of her dreams. Her dorm is on 4th street, about 20 blocks from Ground Zero. [..] My daughter called my cell phone at 8:45 to tell me she had just watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center.

I live and work in Manhattan. My husband, who works downtown called to say he saw a plane go into the 1st Tower.

"My mother got off the subway train about 9:00, and the World Trade Center was burning at the top", recounts Diaz. "The people in the area said that it was a accidental airplane crash, so everyone carried on as usual, buying breakfast, etc. Suddenly, she heard a plane engine coming, and the people starting screaming and running, and she with them. She ran to the park. The plane then went directly into the building."

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.

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.

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.