When the morning of September 11, 2001 erupted into chaos, the world scrambled for meaning. Below you’ll find the top 10 initial reactions that defined those first frantic minutes – a blend of bewildered journalism, startled leaders, and ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary crisis.
10 Flying Blind: WABC’s Naïve Nonsense
Imagine a live anchor mistaking a second, massive fireball for the lingering wreckage of the first plane. That’s exactly what happened on WABC, New York’s ABC affiliate, whose feed was being simulcast by CNN. After the second aircraft slammed into the opposite tower, the anchor stared at a monitor, saw the blaze and confidently declared it was merely the fuselage of the first plane igniting – a claim that defied every visual cue.
Colleagues in the newsroom rushed to correct him, pointing out that a whole new tower had just been struck. What followed was a bewildering monologue that has gone down as one of the most ill‑fated stretches of broadcast history: “Perhaps some kind of navigating system… or some kind of electronics would have put two planes into the World Trade Center within… it looks like about 18 minutes of each other.”
Even CNN, fed up with the nonsense, cut away to another network. Veteran WABC anchor Bill Ritter recalled hearing the absurd commentary from his shower that morning, shouting, “WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!” after the anchor suggested the FAA’s radar must be broken.
9 Prepared and Practical: FOX News Channel
While some networks fumbled, FOX News Channel hit the mark early. Before the second impact, anchor Jon Scott secured an interview with a former NTSB investigator, asking, “Can you think of any reason for a pilot to slam into a building of this height on a day like today… if it wasn’t intentional?” The expert wavered, mentioning possible pilot distraction, but Scott zeroed in on the fact that the towers sat directly beneath a major air‑traffic corridor.
Two minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., the second plane struck the adjacent tower. The newsroom collectively gasped; Scott, momentarily stunned, quickly regained his composure and announced, “We just saw another one… Another plane just flew into the second tower. This raises…” He paused, then bluntly added, “THS HAS to be deliberate, folks.” In that instant he abandoned journalistic restraint to state the obvious truth.
8 Business as Unusual: WNYC Radio’s Silly Inflexibility
Radio outlets typically kept commercial breaks running even as the disaster unfolded, but WNYC – the ad‑free NPR affiliate – had no such interruptions. With the Twin Towers burning within sight of its Manhattan studio, the newsroom delivered live eyewitness accounts the moment the second plane hit, instantly recognizing that a separate aircraft had struck the other tower.
Yet, less than ten minutes after that harrowing confirmation, the station abruptly switched to a pre‑recorded segment about President Bush’s childhood‑literacy tour in Florida. The five‑minute story detailed the First Lady’s upcoming testimony to Congress on early learning – a segment that was promptly canceled as the nation’s attention remained glued to the catastrophe.
7 The Coolest Head in NYC: Pat Kiernan (NY1 News)
Pat Kiernan may be a household name in New York, yet many outside the city have never heard of him. Since 1997 he has anchored NY1’s morning news, often reading the day’s newspaper aloud to compensate for the station’s modest budget. When the first plane struck, Kiernan quickly identified the impacted tower and its north face, labeling the crash “suspicious” given the clear sky.
When the second aircraft hit, his camera view was limited, but he correctly deduced that the other tower had been struck and confirmed it on air. Later, at 9:59 a.m., as the South Tower collapsed, most broadcasters hesitated, assuming only a partial failure. Kiernan cut through the uncertainty in under a minute, stating plainly, “That tower’s not there anymore.”
6 Shockjock and Awe: Howard Stern Calls For Blood
Howard Stern, the self‑styled “King of All Media,” was on air when the first plane crashed. Mid‑conversation about a near‑encounter with Pamela Anderson, he pivoted to the unfolding tragedy, speculating how a plane could possibly hit the world’s tallest building.
After the second impact, the tone darkened dramatically. Within minutes Stern declared, “We are entirely too lax in this country,” and, after fielding calls from frantic listeners, he and co‑host Robin Quivers advocated for an indiscriminate carpet‑bombing of the entire Middle East. Though politically incorrect, many listeners praised Stern’s raw, unfiltered emotional response as the day’s most honest coverage.
5 “BOMB! RUN!”: The Commuter Crush
Below the World Trade Center lay a network of rail lines. At Cortlandt Street, a subway operator reported an “explosion” a minute after the first plane struck, prompting an immediate shutdown of service. Meanwhile, a PATH train packed with New Jersey commuters arrived at the WTC station just as the first impact occurred. The train’s passengers felt nothing and disembarked safely.
Escalators leading up to the subterranean mall were packed with standing‑room‑only commuters when, a minute or two later, a panicked shout rang out: “BOMB! RUN!” The resulting surge caused several people to tumble; I personally fled the north side of Tower One within five minutes of impact. No official trampling fatalities were recorded, but the chaos was undeniable.
4 Pet Goat‑gate: George W. Bush’s Bad Rap
When the second aircraft slammed into the South Tower, President George W. Bush was in a Florida classroom reading “The Pet Goat,” a children’s book designed to teach early reading. Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered “America is under attack” into Bush’s ear, yet the president remained seated for seven more minutes, drawing criticism for his seemingly calm demeanor.
Defenders argue that expecting a president to abandon a preschool reading session and shout “run for your lives” is unreasonable. Moreover, after the Pentagon was hit and the threat that “Angel” (Air Force One) could be next, Bush promptly boarded a fighter‑escorted flight to a secure military base, staying in constant contact with Vice President Dick Cheney, who was coordinating the response from an underground bunker.
The circumstances left Bush with an impossible choice, one that any leader would find daunting.
3 Parties and Panic in Palestine: Yasser Arafat
While Bush tried to maintain composure, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat faced a different kind of pressure. Reports emerged that crowds in Nablus, West Bank, celebrated the towers’ collapse by chanting “God is Great” and handing out candies – a scene that could easily be interpreted as support for the attacks.
The timing was also problematic. The attacks came just a year after the failed 2000 Camp David Summit, which had already placed Arafat under intense scrutiny from the United States, especially after President Bill Clinton blamed him for not presenting a serious peace offer.
Fortunately for Arafat, it quickly became evident that his organization lacked both the motive and the capability to orchestrate four coordinated hijackings. The responsibility shifted to Al Qaeda, whose roots and operational history fit the profile.
2 “This Is Not a Drill”: The FAA and US Air Force
At 8:34 a.m., hijacker Mohamed Atta inadvertently transmitted a warning to air‑traffic controllers: “If you try to make any moves, you’ll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.” Six minutes later, Boston’s FAA alerted military air‑defense officials that a hijacked aircraft required fighter support.
The official scramble order went out at 8:46 a.m., just as Atta crashed Flight 11 into the North Tower. By 8:53 a.m., the first fighter jets were airborne, but they lacked missiles and would have been forced to ram any remaining hijacked planes – a sacrificial tactic that would have cost the pilots their lives.
The fighters never reached the later impacts on the South Tower or the Pentagon, and United Flight 93 likely avoided a potential target (the Capitol or White House) thanks to passengers storming the cockpit.
1 When the Networks Couldn’t: The Photojournalists
Television stations deliberately avoided close‑up shots of the towers burning, not because of technical limits but to hide the harrowing sight of people leaping from the upper floors. Instead, the most powerful images came from photojournalists, both professionals and amateurs.
Associated Press photographer Richard Drew captured the iconic “Falling Man,” a solitary figure descending from the North Tower, a photo so unsettling many newspapers refused to publish it. Meanwhile, countless citizens captured their own harrowing footage, including stacked victims pressing against broken windows for air.
Tragically, freelancer William Biggart, who had documented the South Tower’s collapse up close, ventured too near the North Tower and was killed when it imploded. His body and intact cameras were recovered four days later, underscoring the lethal risk photojournalists faced that day.
These ten reactions, ranging from bewildered broadcasters to courageous photographers, illustrate how the world tried to make sense of an unthinkable tragedy in real time.