Victims trapped in Twin Towers on 9/11 sought help for themselves, others through phone calls
Calls made from those inside the north and south towers on September 11, 2001, displayed great strength in the midst of tragedy.
Listening to the phone calls that were made, bravery can be heard, as people did their best to assist one another through the horrific events.
Radio calls from first responders, including Orio Palmer, show their incredible impulse to quickly come to the aid of those who were trapped inside the buildings, even though doing so put their own lives on the line.
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The first of the hijacked flights crashed into the north tower on September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m. 17 minutes later, a second hijacked plane hit the south tower.
At 9:37 a.m, a third hijacked flight struck the Pentagon. At 10:03 a.m., a flight headed for Washington D.C., went off route. This was due to passengers fighting back against the hijackers after finding out through phone calls what had happened at the Pentagon and to the Twin Towers. The plane crash-landed in a field in Pennsylvania.
In total, there were 2,977 people killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
Of those, 2,753 were killed in New York, 184 were killed at the Pentagon and 40 lost their lives on Flight 93.
Here are eight phone conversations from inside the twin towers on 9/11 as shared by the “9/11 Phone Calls from the Towers” documentary.
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Orio Palmer’s radio callsShimmy Biegeleisen’s calls to friends and familyChristopher Hanley’s 911 callBrad Fetchet’s call to his motherJim Gartenberg’s call to his wife JillMelissa Harrington-Hughes’ calls to her husband Sean and father BobStephen Mulderry’s call to his motherKevin Cosgrove’s 911 call
1. Orio Palmer’s radio calls
Orio Palmer was Chief of Battalion 7 and one of the first responders to the 9/11 attacks.
Palmer was in impeccable shape, and used his strength to quickly climb up the tower. He managed to fix a broken elevator and a broken radio receiver, allowing the firefighters to once again communicate with one another about what they were seeing.
He entered the south tower, fixed the elevator and took it all the way up to the 40th floor of the building. After that, he started to make the climb on foot.
“We’re on the 43rd floor, stairway B,” Palmer can be heard saying on the radio.
“I’m up to 55,” he said.
“We’re going to have to hoof it. I’m on 69 now, but we need a higher bank,” Palmer said via radio.
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“Orio got up there pretty quick. Anyone who was wounded or dying, to know somebody was able to get up there, they knew there had to be a way out,” Palmer’s brother Stephen shared in the documentary. “The people who were there at the point of impact to have seen him, I can only imagine there must have been some elation or euphoria that’s probably indescribable. Just to see him and realize there’s some hope here, thanks to this guy who just made it up here.”
2. Shimmy Biegeleisen’s calls to friends and family
Shimmy Biegeleisen, a systems analyst, was in the south tower. He was located on the 97th floor. His initial call was to his mother after the plane hit the north tower, to let her know that he was safe.
His mother recalled the conversation she had with her son, in the documentary.
“Ma, don’t worry, I’m fine,” his mother remembered him saying. She responded by telling her son not to waste any time, because she knew all about it, and to leave the area. He held up his phone to the loudspeaker, so his mom could hear the message being relayed.
“Do not leave your office, this building is secure,” the announcement said.
After hanging up with her son, she was on the phone with her nephew, when she saw the plane hit the south tower on the television.
Biegeleisen’s relatives and friends got together at the house and tried to console Biegeleisen while he was trapped in the tower. One friend whom he talked with was Jack Edelstein. In the documentary, Edelstein shared that Biegeleisen had asked him to look after his wife and children, during their phone conversation. He also talked with his friend David, who tried to provide advice and bring a sense of calm to Biegeleisen.
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While on the phone, his friend David provided information to the fire department that Biegelesien was relaying. Biegeleisen also provided the advice he was receiving from his loved ones to the others who were in the room with him.
David: “Shimmy, just hang in there. Just breathe slowly through a towel. Are you breathing through the towel? Everything’s fine. Everybody’s fine . . . everybody’s very calm, everything’s going to be fine, you just have to stay calm. Everybody here is calm I promise you. The girls don’t even know, they’re still in school. Your parents are here, they’re very calm. Just keep your head straight. Ok, do you see smoke by the window? The fire department is asking.”
Biegeleisen (Talking to others in room): “Can we see smoke by the window? The fire department wants to know.” (Talking to David): “No smoke by the window.”
David: “No smoke by the window. Listen carefully. As a last resort, break the window, as small as possible . . . just to get a little air in. Ok, do you follow?”
Biegeleisen: “Yes.” (Talking to others): “He says as a last resort we should open the window just a little bit to let some air in.”
David: “Can you open the window, or do you have to break it?”
Biegeleisen: “We have to break it.”
David: “Break the window.”
Biegeleisen: “Break the window.”
David: “As little as possible, just to let a little air in. If you’re running out of air.”
Biegeleisen: “If we’re running out of air, we should do that.”
3. Christopher Hanley’s 911 call
On September 11, 2001, Christopher Hanley was attending a conference at the Windows on the World restaurant on the north tower’s 106th floor. His call to 911 was one of the first recorded calls of the day.
Hanley called emergency operators on behalf of the 100 or so people he was stuck in the tower with.
Hanley: “Yeah, hi. I’m on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center—we just heard an explosion.”
Operator: “The 106th floor?”
Hanley: “Yes.”
Operator: “106, okay.”
Hanley: “We have smoke and it’s pretty bad. We can’t get down the stairs. We have about a hundred people up here.”
Operator: “Do not leave. There’s a fire or explosion or something in the building, all right. I want you to stay where you are. All right, we’re there, we’re coming up to get you.”
Hanley: “I can see the smoke coming up from outside the windows now.”
Operator: “Alright, we’re on the way. Just sit tight.”
Hanley: “I’ll do that.”
Operator: “Alright, just sit tight. We’re on the way.”
Hanley: “Alright please hurry.”
4. Brad Fetchet’s call to his mother
Brad Fetchet was a 24-year-old trader who was on the 89th floor of the south tower on September 11th.
After the hit to the north tower, he rang his mother.
“Hey mom, it’s Brad. Just wanted to call and let you know. I’m sure that you’ve heard, but a plane crashed into World Trade Center 1. We’re fine, we’re in World Trade Center 2. I’m not obviously alive and well over here, but obviously a pretty scary experience. I saw a guy fall out of probably the 91st story all the way down. So, you’re welcome to give a call here. I think we’ll be here all day, but give me a call back later. Love you.”
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5. Jim Gartenberg’s call to his wife Jill
Jim Gartenberg was a real estate executive who was trapped on the 86th floor of the north tower. Gartenberg had just accepted a new job offer. He had gone to work in the north tower that day to clean out his desk. He made several calls, including one to his wife, Jill.
“Jill, there’s a fire on my floor. I love you, tell Nicole ‘I love you.’ I don’t know if I’m going to be okay here—I love you so much,” Gartenberg said in a message left to his wife. After initially hearing the message when she arrived at work that day, she was able to call back and reach her husband.
While in the tower, he talked to a news reporter who asked Gartenberg what floor he was on. Gartenberg bravely responded with a detailed explanation of where he was and what was happening around him.
He courageously spoke to the public about the events that were happening, and did his best to give reassurance to the families of those who had loved ones in the tower.
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“It’s World Trade Center 1, and it’s not was. I am here, and I’m stuck right now . . . I have no idea where the plane hit. It’s my understanding that it’s a plane,” Gartenberg explained of his ongoing emergency.
“The first thing that I want to make clear is that I’m stuck on the 86th floor,” Gartenberg said on the live broadcast. “A fire door has trapped us. Debris has fallen around us, and part of the core of the building is blown out.”
“I’m with one other person, and I’m told that people are aware of this,” Gartenberg continued. “I’m on the 86th floor on the East side of the building facing the East River. If I’m on air, I want to tell anybody that has a family member that may be in the building that the situation is under control for the moment and the danger has not increased. So, please, all family members, take it easy.”
6. Melissa Harrington-Hughes’ calls to her husband Sean and father Bob
Melissa Harrington-Hughes was trapped in the north tower on the 101st floor. She was a business executive, and she had only meant to be in New York City for the day to oversee the merger of her company.
She made a call to her husband while in the north tower, and shared the condition of the building she was in. Her husband Sean, to whom she had been wed for about a year, was asleep when she made the call. Hughes left a message for him.
“I just wanted to let you know I love you, and I’m stuck in this building in New York. There’s lots of smoke and I just wanted you to know that I love you always,” Hughes said.
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Shortly after the initial impact, she also called her father, Bob Harrington, who tried to provide advice and console his daughter.
7. Stephen Mulderry’s call to his mother
Stephen Mulderry was in the south tower. He was stuck on the 89th floor. He called his mom after his building was hit.
“Mom, it’s Stephen. My plane . . . my building got hit by a plane. And right now…I think I’m okay. I’m safe now but it’s smoky. I just wanted to say how much I love you and I will call you when I’m safe. Okay Mom, bye.”
He and his friends were successful in climbing to the roof of the building, but once they reached the top, they couldn’t get out, because the doors to the roof were locked.
They found shelter in a room of the building, and made their last calls to loved ones.
8. Kevin Cosgrove’s 911 call
Kevin Cosgrove was located on the 105th floor of the south tower. His agonizing recorded 911 call came just as the south tower collapsed. Cosgrove was still speaking right up until that devastating moment.
Sections of his call were first made public when it was played by the prosecution in the trial of a key 9/11 terrorist, according to the documentary. The purpose of involving the call in the trial was to exhibit the human suffering that occurred on the day. Cosgrove relayed the severity of the situation to emergency operators, telling them that there were many people with him who were trapped.
Here is just a portion of what has been made public of the devastating call.
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Cosgrove: “There’s smoke—really bad—105 two tower.”
Operator: “All right, two tower. We’ll get to you as soon as we can.”
Cosgrove: “You keep saying that, but the smoke’s really bad . . . I can barely breathe.”
Operator: “That’s all we can do.”
Cosgrove: “Where are you? What floor are you guys up to?”
Operator: “We’re getting there, we’re getting there.”
Cosgrove: “Doesn’t feel like it, man, I’ve got young kids.”
Operator: “I understand that, sir.”
Cosgrove: “You’ve got stacks of people up here.”
Operator: “I understand.”
Cosgrove: “I know you’ve got a lot in the building, but we’re up on the top. Smoke rises, too. . . . We’re on the floor—we’re in the window. Come on, I can barely breathe now—can’t see.”
Operator: “Ok, just try to hang in there.”
Cosgrove: “You can say that, you’re in an air-conditioned building. . . . It’s really bad—it’s black, it’s arid. . . . We’re young men—we’re not ready to die.”
Operator: “Hello?”
Cosgrove: “We’re overlooking the financial center. Three of us—two broken windows.”
At this point in the call, the south tower began to collapse.