The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

Dominick Pezzulo, Sergeant McLoughlin, and William Jimeno took stock of their situation, trapped in the rubble of the South Tower. Pezzulo believed that he could climb out but stayed with his team, working to try to free Jimeno from the concrete that was crushing him; he could not.

Firefighters and other emergency workers helped those injured in the rubble. Most civilians fled the devastation, disoriented and traumatized, running through streets littered with paper, dust, rubble, and bodies.

NYPD’s Steven Bienkowski saw people jumping or falling from the North Tower as they descended into a white cloud of debris. Joseph Torrillo remembers screams turning to whimpers and then to silence as injured people in the rubble died.

A call was made for all boats to collect civilians and emergency workers waiting by the Hudson in lower Manhattan.

A cloud of debris encapsulated Church Street, where the mayor’s makeshift command team was stationed. Andrew Kirtzman, a reporter, accompanied the group as they moved down Church street to find a new command post location.

Michelle and John Cartier made their way to John’s motorbike and left, worrying about James, their brother, who had been at his job in the South Tower.