Shortly Before 9:59 a.m. September 11, 2001: Police Officers Concerned that WTC Will Collapse

Shanthy Nambiar, a reporter for BridgeNews in New York, is standing on Vesey Street, beneath World Trade Center Building 7. She hears someone shout, “You guys shouldn’t be in this area.” As she later recalls, “Police officers ordered people to start fleeing the area, saying the towers were in danger of collapse.” She runs north one block and then sees the South Tower coming down. [Casey, 2001, pp. 156 and 315] Although a New York City Police Department (NYPD) helicopter has reported “large pieces” falling from the South Tower (see (9:49 a.m.) September 11, 2001), the 9/11 Commission states, “Prior to 9:59, no NYPD helicopter pilot predicted that either tower would collapse.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 304] Why these officers believed in advance that the towers were in danger of collapsing is therefore unclear.