Rare helicopter footage from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has resurfaced on social media, offering a chilling aerial view of the devastation at the World Trade Center in New York City.
The footage, originally featured in National Geographic’s 2021 documentary 9/11: One Day in America, shows NYPD helicopters circling the Twin Towers, searching for possible rooftop rescues. Many online users said they had never seen this angle of the attacks before.
Bill Kennedy, an officer from the NYPD Emergency Service Unit who was aboard one of the helicopters that day, described the experience in the documentary. “In 1993, we were able to rescue people off the roof, so having experienced this somewhat before, we thought it would be the same game plan,” he recalled.
However, the conditions on September 11, 2001, were far worse. Kennedy described the scene as his team approached the towers. “The south tower, the amount of smoke that was billowing up and coming over the roof, it was out of play,” he said.
As the helicopter moved to the north tower, they found a small open space on the northwest corner, but there was no one there to rescue. “My heart just sunk into my stomach,” Kennedy said. “I’m seeing mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, literally standing on the damaged portion of the building waving white handkerchiefs and napkins to let us know they needed assistance. But there was nothing we could do.”
NYPD pilot Lt. Glen Daley explained why rooftop rescues were impossible that day. He told ABC News that the combination of thick, black smoke, extreme heat, and the massive amounts of jet fuel from the hijacked planes made any rescue attempt too dangerous. “People may have imagined a pristine roof, salvation. But those roofs were totally compromised,” he said.
The 9/11 attacks killed 2,977 people and remain one of the deadliest terrorist acts in history. Many first responders continue to suffer long-term health problems due to the toxic conditions they faced while working at Ground Zero.
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