story7805.xml
Title
story7805.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-17
911DA Story: Story
I was working with a government agency not very far at all from the Pentagon.
A small group was gathered in a room. I was talking about work that I was doing for their agency. Two others were meeting with us, although they weren't in the room. They were on the phone listening in from Atlanta.
A few minutes into my presentation, a man ran into the room and said that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center. We were stunned. We attributed the collision to pilot error. Minutes later he entered again to tell us that a second plane had hit the other tower.
We no longer thought pilot error was involved.
As we were discussing our ability to continue our work on that day, I noticed dark clouds of smoke through the window across the room. I was facing that way. The others were looking at me. I asked them about the smoke, wondering out loud if it was a car fire.
As we were pondering the cause of the smoke, the same man entered again and said that a plane had hit the Pentagon and that at least one other plane was unaccounted for.
We'd found the cause of the smoke.
The meeting was over, as was our complacency and ease. Much changed, but maybe not enough.
A small group was gathered in a room. I was talking about work that I was doing for their agency. Two others were meeting with us, although they weren't in the room. They were on the phone listening in from Atlanta.
A few minutes into my presentation, a man ran into the room and said that a small plane had hit the World Trade Center. We were stunned. We attributed the collision to pilot error. Minutes later he entered again to tell us that a second plane had hit the other tower.
We no longer thought pilot error was involved.
As we were discussing our ability to continue our work on that day, I noticed dark clouds of smoke through the window across the room. I was facing that way. The others were looking at me. I asked them about the smoke, wondering out loud if it was a car fire.
As we were pondering the cause of the smoke, the same man entered again and said that a plane had hit the Pentagon and that at least one other plane was unaccounted for.
We'd found the cause of the smoke.
The meeting was over, as was our complacency and ease. Much changed, but maybe not enough.
Collection
Citation
“story7805.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 4, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/17429.