Could Helicopters Have Saved People From the Top of the Trade Center?

Wall St. Journal ^ | Oct 23, 2001 | SCOT J. PALTROW and QUEENA SOOK KIM

[pittsburgh gop guy]

"I wasn't arguing with anyone. I just said that if you're the person who is stranded, no amount of rescue effort is too much." - You are correct.

I was having a conversation about this with a very intelligent friend from work. She is married and has 2 small children. We were talking about the "what if" scenerio and we were trapped on the top floors of a burning highrise and she said that once things started to get bad and it looked like the end is near that she would break a window out and jump, almost certain of falling to her death. She is a devout Christian and thought it better to jump to an almost certain death than staying in an room about to be devoured by flames.

I don't know, maybe too much training, but I hope I can remain cool in the situation, and I know that breaking the window out only INCREASES the chances of being killed by smoke looking to vent and that it could injure firefighters and others below, as well as hamper efforts to put the fire out. Big highrise fire in Philly about 10 years ago that resulted in the deaths of 3 firefighters. Total clusterbuck, but several of the main hose lines running into the building were damaged by glass that was knocked out. Some firefighters were injured as well by the falling debris. And let us not forget the FDNY chaplain, Mychal Judge, who I think was killed by a jumper at the WTC tragedy. Impossible to really know what any of us would do in that almost hopeless situation. Only thing more certain than death is God.

[Dan Day]

We were talking about the "what if" scenerio and we were trapped on the top floors of a burning highrise

If I were a few floors above the fire and it seemed as if the fire was going to overtake me, I think I'd try to find or craft some sort of rope or cable (if nothing else, tie together electrical cords, they're very strong), break a window, lower it down after tying it to something sturdy, and try a desperate attempt to climb down to below the fire and hope someone would see me and break out a window for me to climb back into.

The odds would be very poor of success, but it at least gives *some* better chance than just swan-diving.

Hmm, maybe I'll bring rappeling equipment and a glass cutter with me the next time I have to go up in a high-rise. :-)

[FR_addict]

After the 1993 WTC bombing, you would have thought there would have been a lot of planning for emergencies.

They interviewd a survivor on MSNBC that said it took her 65 minutes to get down the stairs, that the stairwell was locked around the 74th floor and they had to find another stairwell.

This should be investigated.

[bonesmccoy]

This article should be mandatory reading for all Americans. The underlying lesson here should be evident. We citizens can no longer rely on ANY level of government to provide a safety net for our families. We must take matters of personal security into our own hands (and into the trusting hands of fellows to whom we definitely agree). The events of 9-11 are meant to undermine trade, curtail trust, and create division. Our steps must well considered in order to create trade, trust, and unity.

The bureaucratic mentality that pervades the levels of government in our nation, state, county, and city must go. The deaths of 6000 innocent civilians rests on the poor decisions listed in this article. But, one thing was missing. It is the sad fact that none of those victims had to work in the WTC after a clear terrorist incident. BUT, they all showed courage in returning to the center and work AFTER the attack in 1993. In showing that courage, the NYC bureaucracies FAILED the people who were TRUSTING the gov't for said protection. Well I got news...the gov't isn't the solution to the problem, it is the problem!

[Deb]

You're not thinking logically. Obviously, the loss of one jetliner and its "gas raining down" would create a body count of far fewer than the actual resulting 5000+ of two jetliners and the collapse of two 110 story buildings onto hundreds of rescuing police and firefighters.

[McGavin999]

I'm sorry, but it would have been a disaster. Anyone who remembers watching the people trying to escape Vietnam and what happened there would know that you wouldn't have been able to do it. There were too many people and the copters would have been pulled down. People would not have waited patiently in line, and those copters weren't transport copters either.

This second guessing just makes people feel guilty. I guess this is a normal part of grieving, why didn't we do this, or if only we'd done that. Maybe we could have saved a dozen or so, or maybe we'd be mourning the deaths of a couple of rescue pilot too.

[Nitro]

You might be correct, if the Towers were built alone!

But Brooklyn is still angry!

[Nitro]

I got your tower!!

[Nitro]

I got your tower!!

[ipfreely]

True, but if they can save 10 or 1, and you are the one would it not be worth all the time and planning?

I would also consider it worth the time for the police to provide my wife and me with a discreet personal body guard and for the justice department to provide me with a lawyer. I would like to be the one to benefit from my own personal tax cut along with reimbursement from the government for each breath I take. But that would be selfish. I think it is a sign of government inefficiency that we even argue about such an ineffective form of rescue. I'm sure if they put as much thought into this as congress puts into their salaries we would have a very secure nation.

Nothing running down my leg thanks to Depends. : )

Are you an advocate of the Lonestar Cafe? I heard they have good ribs.

[pittsburgh gop guy]

Sure - they might have used helicopters to try to save a handful of people, but show me a pilot that would try to fly above these buildings, and I will show you a maniac with a deathwish. North Tower:

South & North Tower

And remember - the helicopters would NOT have been landing - but trying to evac the people by utilizing a hoist! It would have been irresponsible to even try to get a helicopter anywhere near the roof of those buildings.

[Deb]

To me, this was one of the most tragic stories to come out of September 11th, because it marks the beginning of the end to all the unity people felt immediately after.

Because the fire department felt slighted and a bit jealous of the police heroics saving 28 people from the WTC roof in '93, exits were locked and we'll never know if some (no matter how few) would have been saved.

I remember the story of the WTC window washer who was cleaning windows at Windows on the World when the plane hit. He called his wife on his cell phone to assure her he was okay and unafraid. He would just go up to the roof and wait for help.

I hate that this story was written and printed. It lessens the image of the fire department and the Port Authority and makes an atrosity so, so much sadder.

[McGavin999]

Well, we could do an awful lot of what ifs. If someone had a gun, they could have shot the lock off. If the architect had designed an exterior fire escape more could have lived. If there wouldn't have been so many thieves and vandals there would have been no need to keep the doors locked.

Deb, I still have images of those copters in Vietnam on the last day. Those were military transports and they were almost drug down by people trying to escape.

When it's your time to die, it's your time to die. We can't go back and change things, everyone feels guilt after someone dies.