September 11th, 2001

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NBC / Associated Press

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SUZANNE PLUNKETT / Associated Press

Above, in New York City, people run as smoke billows from the collapse of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning. Both 110-floor towers collapsed after terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into the buildings. An aircraft also crashed into the Pentagon, raising fears that the seat of government itself was under attack. At top, an airplane crashes into the second tower of the World Trade Center.

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Terrorists strike U.S. Planes hit NY twin towers, Pentagon; thousands likely dead B Y J ERRY S CHWARTZ Associated Press

DOUG MILLS / Associated Press

Andy Card, the White House chief of staff, whispers word to President Bush of the plane crashes Tuesday into the World Trade Center towers. Bush was at an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla.

Within an hour and a half of a terrorist attack, both towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan collapsed.

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A jet crashes into the World Trade Center on Tuesday morning in New York.

Terrorists crashed two planes into the 110-story twin towers, collapsing both of them.

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sion, and security was intensified around the naval installations in Hampton Roads, Va. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., was evacuated.

At the World Trade Center, “everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone,” said Mike Smith, a fire marshal. “It’s like a war zone.”

“I just saw the building I work in come down,” said businessman Gabriel Ioan, shaking in shock outside City Hall, a cloud of smoke and ash from The planes blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers.

A witness said he saw bodies falling and people jumping out.

About an hour later, the southern tower collapsed with a roar and a huge cloud of smoke; the other tower fell about a half-hour after that, covering lower Manhattan in heaps of gray rubble and broken glass. Firefighters trapped in the rubble radioed for help.

“I have a sense it’s a horrendous number of lives lost,” Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. “Right now we have to focus on saving as many lives as possible.”

“Today we’ve had a national tragedy,” Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. “Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.” He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.

The crashes at the World Trade Center happened minutes apart, beginning just before 8 a.m. CDT. Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, and debris rained down on the street, one of the city’s busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.

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NEW YORK — In one of the most audacious attacks ever against the United States, terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in a deadly series of blows Tuesday that brought down the twin 110-story towers. A plane also slammed into the Pentagon, bringing the seat of government itself under attack.

Thousands could be dead or injured, a high-ranking city police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Authorities had been trying to evacuate those who work in the twin towers when the glass-and-steel skyscrapers came down in a thunderous roar within about 90 minutes after the crashes, which took place minutes apart around 8 a.m. CDT. But many people were thought to have been trapped. About 50,000 people work at the Trade Center and tens of thousands of others visit each day.

American Airlines initially said the Trade Center was hit by two of its planes, both hijacked, carrying a total of 156 people. But the airline later said that was unconfirmed. Two United airliners with a total of 110 aboard also crashed — one outside Pittsburgh, the other in a location not immediately identified.

“This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world,” said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane’s Transport in London. “It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. . . . I would name at the top of the list Osama bin Laden.”

President Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”

Within the hour, the Pentagon took a direct, devastating hit from an aircraft. The fiery crash collapsed one side of the five-sided structure.

The White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol were evacuated along with other federal buildings in Washington and New York.

Authorities in Washington immediately called out troops, including an infantry regiment. The Situation Room at the White House was in full operation.

Authorities went on alert from coast to coast, the U.S. and Canadian borders were sealed, all air traffic across the country was halted, and security was tightened at strategic installations.

“This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don’t think that I overstate it,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. In June, a U.S. judge had set this Wednesday as the sentencing date for a bin Laden associate for his role in the bombing of a U.S. embassy in Tanzania that killed 213 people. The sentencing had been set for the federal courthouse near the World Trade Center. No one from the U.S. attorney’s office could be reached Tuesday to comment on whether the sentencing was still on.

Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that bin Laden was behind them, saying he does not have the means to carry out such well-orchestrated attacks. Bin Laden has been given asylum in Afghanistan.

American Airlines initially identified the planes that crashed into the Trade Center as Flight 11, a Los Angelesbound jet hijacked after takeoff from Boston with 92 people aboard, and Flight 77, which was seized while carrying 64 people from Washington to Los Angeles.

In Pennsylvania, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh with 45 people aboard.

United said another of its planes, Flight 175, a Boeing 767 bound from Boston to Los Angeles with 65 people on board, also crashed, but it did not say where. The fate of those aboard the two planes was not immediately known.

United’s pilots union said United Flight 175 crashed into the Trade Center. But the airline had no immediate comment.

Evacuations were ordered at the United Nations in New York and at the Sears Tower in Chicago. Los Angeles mobilized its anti-terrorism divi-

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KATHY WILLENS / Associated Press

A woman reacts to a third explosion, possibly the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, while observing from the Brooklyn Promenade, which provides a view of the Manhattan skyline in New York.

Witnesses describe scenes of terror in New York City NEW YORK (AP) — It was the scene of a nightmare: people on fire jumping in terror from the Trade Towers just before the buildings collapsed.

“Everyone was screaming, crying, running — cops, people, firefighters, everyone,” said Mike Smith, a fire marshal from Queens, as he sat by the fountain outside a state courthouse shortly after the second tower collapsed.

“A couple of marshals just picked me up and dragged me down the street.”

“It’s like a war zone.”

Others compared it to Pearl Harbor as hundreds of people poured off the bridge on the Brooklyn side, covered in gray dust and debris. Many wore respiratory masks, given out by the police and fire departments.

Shirley Bates, who worked on the 88th floor of One World Trade Center, said she saw a woman on her floor with burns on her arms and legs and singed hair.

As Bates and others were evacuated, they heard a second explosion.

“Everything came like a tornado,” she said. “People started running.”

Workers from Trade Center offices wandered lower Manhattan in a daze, many barely able to believe they were alive.

Boris Ozersky, 47, computer networks analyst, was on the 70th floor of one of the buildings when he felt something like an explosion rock it.

He raced down 70 flights of stairs and outside into a mob gathered in front of a nearby hotel. He was trying to calm a panicked woman when the building suddenly collapsed.

“I just got blown somewhere, and then it was total darkness. We tried to get away, but I was blown to the ground. And I was trying to help this woman, but I couldn’t find her in the darkness,” Ozersky said.

After the dust cleared, he found the hysterical woman and took her to a restaurant being used by rescue workers as a triage center.

Clyde Ebanks, vice president of an insurance company, was at a meeting on the 103rd floor of the 110-story South Tower of the World Trade Center when his boss said, “Look at that.”

He turned and through a window saw a plane go by and hit the other building.

World Trade Center Building facts Construction began: 1966 Completed: 1970 Dedicated: 1973 Architects: Minoru Yamasaki & Associates and Emery Roth & Sons Owner: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Configuration: Complex of six buildings, including two 110-story towers, the 22-story Vista International Hotel and three lowrise buildings, on a 16-acre site, which includes a 5-acre plaza Major tenants: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Sumitomo Bank, U.S. Customs House, New York Mercantile Exchange and more than 1,000 other businesses and trade organizations Space: Total office space of 9.5 million square feet — one acre of rentable space per floor in the towers Workers: 50,000 Visitors: Up to 200,000 daily Parking: Space for 2,000 cars

Height: 1,350 feet Elevators: 104 in each of the two towers Windows: 21,800 in each of the two towers

Height comparison World Trade Center 1,350 ft.

ABC / Associated Press

Sears Tower 1,454 feet without mast 1,559 feet with mast

One of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York collapses in this image made from television Tuesday. Two airliners crashed into the World Trade Center towers.

Empire State Building 1,250 feet without mast 1,472 feet with mast

© 2001 KRT Source: “New York Blue Guide,” “Directory of Manhattan Office Buildings,” “New York City Access,” “New York City: A World of Travel Publication,” “Comparisons,” World Trade Center

He and his co-workers raced down the stairs. When they reached the 70th floor, they felt the building shake as the second plane hit. Later, in tears, his hair covered with gray ash, he added: “I worry about some of my co-workers.”

Jennifer Brickhouse, 34, from Union, N.J., was on the escalator heading for her 76th-floor office in the World Trade Center when she “heard this big boom.

“Everyone was going crazy. We all got out. The minute I got out of the building the second building blew up. All this stuff started falling, and all this smoke was coming through.

“People were screaming, falling and jumping out of the windows,” Brickhouse said.

“I just saw the building I work in come down,” said businessman Gabriel Ioan, shaking in shock outside City Hall, a cloud of smoke and ash from the World

Trade Center behind him. “I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.”

Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives.

Dust and dirt flew everywhere. Ash was 2 to 3 inches deep in places.

“People were jumping out of windows,” said an unidentified crying woman. “I guess people were trying to save themselves. Oh my God!” “I was in the World Financial Center looking out the window,” said one woman.

“I saw the first plane and then, 15 minutes later, saw the other plane just slam into the World Trade Center.”

Another eyewitness, AP newsman Dunstan Prial, described a strange sucking sound from the Trade Center buildings after the first building collapsed.

“Windows shattered. People were screaming and diving for cover. People

walked around like ghosts, covered in dirt, weeping and wandering, dazed.”

“It sounded like a jet or rocket,” said Eddie Gonzalez, a postal worker at a post office on West Broadway. “I looked up and saw a huge explosion. I didn’t see the impact. I just saw the explosion.”

Morning commuters heading into Manhattan were stranded as the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down to incoming traffic.

Many left their cars and stood on the ramp leading to the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the thick cloud of smoke pouring from the top of the two buildings.

On the streets of Manhattan, people stood in groups talking quietly or watching on television at ground-level network studios.

‘I heard a boom. People were jumping off the building everywhere.

They were just jumping.’

S e r e na Ma y s a construction worker on the Williamsburg Bridge, which leads into Manhattan from Brooklyn.

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WILL MORRIS / Associated Press

Flames and smoke pour from the Pentagon on Tuesday after a direct, devastating hit from an aircraft.

Plane crashes into the Pentagon Fatalities unknown; buildings evacuated; troops deployed B Y R ON F OURNIER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Pentagon took a direct, devastating hit from an aircraft and the enduring symbols of American power were evacuated Tuesday as an apparent terrorist attack quickly spread fear and chaos in the nation’s capital.

President Bush, in Florida at the time of the attack, canceled plans to return to Washington and was flown aboard Air Force One to the safety of a military installation at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

The nerve center of the nation’s military burst into flames and a portion of one side of the five-sided structure collapsed when the plane struck in midmorning. Secondary explosions were reported in the aftermath of the attack and great billows of smoke drifted skyward toward the Potomac River and the city beyond.

Glenn Flood, a Pentagon spokesman, said there were “extensive casualties and an unknown number of fatalities. “We don’t know the extent of the injuries,” he said.

“Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” Bush vowed on a morning when not only Washington was struck, but the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were hit by planes and later collapsed.

Bush was in Florida when the strike occurred. Vice President Dick Cheney was in Washington and he and first lady Laura Bush were taken to an undisclosed secure location, officials said. Congressional leaders were hustled away from the Capitol to safety.

“The leadership of the Defense Department is OK. The secretary (Donald H. Rumsfeld) is OK,” Flood told reporters.

Authorities immediately began deploying troops, including a regiment of light infantry.

The departments of Justice, State, Treasury and Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency were evacuated — an estimated 20,000 at the Pentagon alone. Agents with automatic weapons patrolled the White House grounds.

And the FAA ordered the entire nationwide air traffic system shut down

for the first time in history.

There was no attempt to minimize the impact.

“This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don’t think that I overstate it,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., referring to the attack 60 years ago that surprised the nation’s intelligence apparatus and propelled the country into World War II. With Bush away from the capital, his advisers were preparing a list of options, including closing the nation’s borders, according to a senior U.S. official.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was premature to discuss military options because investigators were still trying to determine who was responsible for the attacks.

Away from the Pentagon, unexplained explosions were reported in the vicinity of the State Department and the Capitol.

A torrent of people rushed from their office buildings throughout the nation’s capital, eager to leave a city under siege. The cell phone networks were overloaded, clusters of people sprayed on the sidewalks and at least

United Airlines says two planes went down, one in Pennsylvania B Y T ODD S PANGLER Associated Press

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — Two United Airlines jetliners crashed Tuesday morning, one in western Pennsylvania and the second at a location the airline did not immediately disclose. A total of 110 people were aboard the two planes, the airline said.

One plane, United Flight 93, crashed north of the Somerset County airport, a small airport about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

The Pennsylvania crash followed the crash of two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City. American Airlines initially said its planes crashed into the twin towers but later said that was unconfirmed.

“It shook the whole station,” said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine’s Service Center in Shanksville, about 2 miles from the crash. “Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.”

United said that flight, a Boeing 757, left Newark, N.J., at 8:01 a.m.,

headed for San Francisco with 38 passengers, two pilots and five flight attendants.

A second plane, United Flight 175, a Boeing 767, also crashed, the airline said, but it did not give a location.

That plane left Boston at 7:58 a.m., bound for Los Angeles with 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants, the airline said.

United’s pilots union said Flight 175 crashed into the Trade Center. But the airline had no immediate comment.

Because of the attacks in New York, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land at the nearest airport. The Pennsylvania crash came after the order was issued.

According to Somerset County dispatchers, Flight 93 crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported.

Michael R. Merringer was out on a mountain bike ride with his wife,

Amy, about two miles away from the crash site.

“I heard the engine gun two different times and then I heard a loud bang and the windows of the houses all around rattled,” Merringer said. “I looked up and I saw the smoke coming up.”

The couple rushed home and drove near the scene.

“Everything was on fire and there was trees knocked down and there was a big hole in the ground,” he said.

Earlier Tuesday, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington.

In Chicago, United CEO James Goodwin said the airline is working with authorities including the FBI. United said it was sending a team to Pennsylvania to assist in the investigation and to provide assistance to family members.

“Today’s events are a tragedy and our prayers are with everyone at this time,” Goodwin said.

one suburban school district announced plans to close early.

The Pentagon was hit a short while after the World Trade Center was struck. a plane, described by witnesses as a jetliner, made impact in the portion of the building on the side opposite from where Rumsfeld’s offices are located.

Paul Begala, a Democratic consultant, said he witnessed an explosion near the Pentagon, saying it sent a huge, orange fireball skyward.

AP reporter Dave Winslow also saw the crash. He said, “I saw the tail of a large airliner. ... It plowed right into the Pentagon.”

Gen. Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that prior to the crash into the Pentagon, military officials had been notified that another hijacked plane had been heading from the New York area to Washington. He said he assumed that hijacked plane was the one that hit the Pentagon, though he couldn’t be sure.

One of two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center was hijacked after takeoff from Boston and headed

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to Los Angeles with 92 aboard, American Airlines disclosed.

The second plane may have flown out of Newark, N.J., the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Asked if there was any possibility the crashes were anything other than deliberate, a government official said it appeared not to be an accident.

Nation’s ‘freedom will be defended,’ president vows BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AP) — As chaos unhinged New York and Washington, President Bush commanded the full force of the United States government to “hunt down and to find” the terrorists responsible.

“Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” he declared Tuesday.

In Florida for a pair of education speeches, the president scrapped his schedule and said, at the first reports of attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, that he was hastening back to Washington.

But, with the White House evacuated under threat of attack and his wife hunkered down in an unidentified secure location, the president and Air Force One were rerouted — under escort by military fighter jets — to this Louisiana air base.

In a conference room dotted by portraits of decorated Air Force officers, the commander in chief announced that the U.S. military was on “high-alert status.”

“Freedom itself was attacked this morning, and I assure you, freedom will be defended. Make no mistake.

The United States will hunt down and

DOUG MILLS / Associated Press

President Bush addresses the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., regarding Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

pursue those responsible for these cowardly actions,” Bush said.

First lady Laura Bush spoke with her husband by a secure military phone line before he took off from Sarasota, Fla. Laura Bush and aides were whisked from Capitol Hill, where she was to have testified to a Senate committee on education, to a hide-out.

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World aghast at attacks . E Leaders are sending

condolences and pledge solidarity with the U.S. B Y B ETH G ARDINER Associated Press

LONDON — Astonishing terrorist strikes in the United States quickly reached a global audience Tuesday, with many around the world watching live coverage as both World Trade Center towers collapsed.

Audiences were transfixed by the awful images from New York and Washington.

Key indexes sank on world stock markets and some European airlines canceled flights to the United States and recalled planes already in the air.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

WORLD REACTION expressed his condolences to the American people over the terrorist attacks, calling them “terrible tragedies,” the Kremlin press service said.

“This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today,” said Prime Minister Tony Blair, who canceled a speech at a trade union conference.

“It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together and fight it together.”

President Jacques Chirac of France, in a nationally televised statement, called the attacks in the United States “monstrous” and expressed his solidarity with the American people.

“France has just learned of these

monstrous attacks — there is no other word for it — that have hit America,” Chirac said from Rennes, in the western region of Brittany.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set.

“I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident,” Arafat said.

“We are completely shocked. It’s unbelievable.”

In Berlin, Foreign Ministry officials huddled in a crisis meeting. Virtually all German TV channels switched to live coverage. “This is pure mass murder,” one commentator said.

“My government condemns these terrorist attacks to the utmost,” said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

“Italy is at the side of the United States,” Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi told Bush in a telegram. “The international community must respond together to this abhorrent act.”

Czech President Vaclav Havel said in a statement that he was shocked by the attacks and was closely watching news from the United States.

In Puerto Rico, people scrambled for news of relatives and friends in New York, where an estimated 2 million Puerto Ricans live.

Groups gathered on the corners of cobble-stoned streets in the colonial city of San Juan, clinging to strangers in search of more details.

“Dios mio, have mercy!” exclaimed a white-haired man, making the sign of the cross as he watched the second tower explode on TV. In Thailand, Suranand Vejjajiva, a

Palestinians horrified, joyous

spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said they were watching the news in disbelief.

A spokesman for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said: “The president has been monitoring the events since an hour ago, and she condemns what is obviously the worst terrorist attack on a leader of civilized society.”

Broadcasters around the world broke into programming to show images of the disaster.

“It’s incredible. I thought I was watching a Hollywood movie,” said Hong Kong school teacher Doris Tang.

London’s Evening Standard, already out of date when it hit the streets, carried a front-page photo of the burning World Trade Center and the headline “Planes Hit Skyscraper.”

Threats may stunt city prayer gatherings E Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry leaders are considering whether large local events will be safe.

B Y L AURIE W INSLOW World Staff Writer

ADEL HANA / Associated Press

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat kisses a Palestinian child in Gaza City on Tuesday. As thousands of Palestinians celebrated in the streets, Arafat said he was horrified by the attacks. “We are completely shocked.

It’s unbelievable,” he said.

As Arafat expresses horror at attacks, some Palestinians celebrate with dancing, chanting B Y M OHAMMED Associated Press

D ARAGHMEH

NABLUS, West Bank — Thousands of Palestinians celebrated Tuesday’s terror attacks in the United States, chanting “God is Great” and distributing candy to passers-by, even as their leader, Yasser Arafat, said he was horrified.

The U.S. government has become increasingly unpopular in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past year of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, with many Palestinians accusing Washington of siding with Israel.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 3,000 people poured into the streets shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and government targets in Washington.

Demonstrators distributed candy in a traditional gesture of celebration.

Several Palestinian gunmen shot into the air, while other marchers carried Palestinian flags. Nawal Abdel Fatah, 48, wearing a long, black dress, threw sweets in the air, saying she was happy because “America is the head of the snake, America always stands by Israel in its war against us.”

Her daughter Maysoon, 22, said she hoped the next attack would be launched against Tel Aviv.

Associated Press

A Palestinian woman receives free sweets from a vendor as groups of locals in east Jerusalem’s Old City celebrate after hearing news of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers Tuesday in New York.

In traditionally Arab east Jerusalem, there was a smaller gathering of about two dozen people, many of them young children led in chants by adults. Some drivers passing the scene honked their horns and flashed victory signs from their windows.

Arafat and his top advisers huddled at his seaside office in Gaza City, watching the events unfold on television. Arafat later emerged to speak to

reporters.

“We are completely shocked. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name but on behalf of the Palestinian people.”

In the West Bank, meanwhile, the

leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine denied his group was involved in the attacks.

Qais Abdel Rahim was reacting to reports that two Arab satellite stations in the Gulf had received anonymous claims of responsibility on behalf of the DFLP, a radical PLO faction. Abdel Rahim said his group condemned the attacks.

International air traffic diverted from U.S., Israeli skies LONDON (AP) — International airlines scrambled to divert or cancel flights to the United States on Tuesday after a wave of airborne terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Israel closed its airspace to foreign carriers.

The cancellations and diversions caused confusion and congestion at many European airports, where airlines ordered flights bound for the United States to do U-turns or find landing points outside America.

Some airlines reversed course only after being denied permission to land by the Federal Aviation Administration, which ordered U.S. airspace shut down in response to the apparent hijacking of U.S. passenger jets by sui-

cide bombers.

Israel closed its airspace to foreign airlines. Israeli carriers — which carry out stringent security checks — will still be able to land at Israel’s four airports, said Yerach Tal, an adviser to the Israeli transport minister.

The ban will be in effect for 24 hours and will then be reviewed, Tal said.

The German Flight Security Agency in Frankfurt ordered all U.S.-bound flights by Lufthansa canceled. A Finnair flight out of Helsinki turned around and returned to Finland. Air France Group ordered its American flights closed or rerouted.

In Belgium, Sabena Air spokesman Wilfried Remans said two flights en route to the United States were “turn-

ing around in mid-flight and returning to Brussels.”

In Spain, national carrier Iberia said four scheduled flights from Madrid to the United States were in the air and three of them — destined to New York, Chicago and Miami — were ordered to return to Spain. The fourth, flying from Barcelona to New York, was awaiting clearance into a Canadian airport, an Iberia official said.

Scandinavian Airlines System ordered three flights bound for New York, and another flight bound for Washington, to divert while over the Atlantic. They were expected to land instead in Iceland. SAS spokesman Thomas Brinch in Copenhagen said he wasn’t sure when flights to the

United States would resume.

At Heathrow Airport outside London, several flights already bound for the United States were expected to divert to Canadian airports. Those that hadn’t taken off were delayed indefinitely.

British Airways, which flies to 21 destinations in the United States, said all services were being canceled, diverting to the nearest airport outside the United States or returning to London.

Virgin Atlantic also canceled its daily services to New York and other U.S. cities but said its services from London to the Caribbean would be uninterrupted.

Security concerns may postpone any immediate chance of a citywide prayer gathering following Tuesday morning’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington.

“I talked to the Mayor’s Office. We are concerned about getting a crowd together,” said Stephen Cranford, the executive director of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, which represents the Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths.

He noted that some threats already had been made toward some of the city’s congregations, but he declined to specify which ones.

“What we are hoping is that the Islamic, Jewish and Christian community share together in prayer . . .

‘What we whether we do are hoping that in one large citywide gathering is that the or simply do that in homes and conIslamic, gregations.”

He said the orJewish and ganization would Christian be meeting later to talk community today about citywide share prayer but that was nothing together in there to announce yet.

“For security prayer.’ reasons, we’re not sure that this is the right time to get a crowd toStephen gether,” Cranford Cr a nf or d said. executive director of Unconfirmed reTulsa Metropolitan ports noted that Ministry Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden might be responsible for the East Coast attacks.

Bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of bomb attacks that killed 224 people at two American embassies in East Africa in 1998, has lived in Afghanistan since 1996.

In the past, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have rejected U.S. concerns about the possibility of a terrorist strike by the followers of bin Laden.

Taliban rulers have said bin Laden’s activities are under their strict control and that he cannot use Afghan territory as a base for attacks.

“The Muslim people are very much part of our community and have been for a long time and are as distressed at the news as we all are and should never be singled out for any sort of recrimination,” Cranford said.

Sheryl Siddiqui, a member of the board of trustees of the Islamic Society of Tulsa, said: “We have no more to do with Osama bin Laden than you do. He certainly doesn’t represent Islam, and we’re just devastated.”

She said the Islamic community’s prayers go out to everyone affected by the attack.

“We’re Americans,” Siddiqui said.

“We’re victims like the rest of America. We don’t want to be the target, either.”

Laurie Winslow, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8466 or via e-mail at laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com.

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Attack shuts down state .

Schools, most government offices closed F ROM S TAFF R EPORTS Government, businesses, schools and many other functions across the state shut down Tuesday following terrorist attacks on New York City, the nation’s Capitol and other sites.

Departures from the Tulsa International Airport were stopped in accordance with the Federal Aviation Authority’s nationwide grounding of all flights, said Carl Pritchett, deputy director of airport operations.

Security at the Tulsa airport was increased.

Flights at Riverside and Harvey Young airports are also grounded.

Gov. Frank Keating ordered all state office buildings to be closed at 10 a.m. in the wake of the attacks.

“All non-essential state employees are allowed to go home,” Keating said. “Essential employees will remain on the job, meaning all essential elements of state government will remain open. I ask for all Oklahomans to pray for our nation.”

City and county offices, including the county courthouse, however, remained open.

Although there was no evacuation of City Hall, city employees throughout Tulsa were allowed to leave work if cleared by supervisors.

Tulsa Police Chief Ron Palmer said he has been in contact with the FBI in Tulsa and in Oklahoma City trying to determine if there was any threat to the Tulsa area.

No threats have been reported at this time, Palmer said.

The officers from Tulsa Police Department’s bomb squad and bomb sniffing dogs are stationed at the airport, he said.

The bomb squad van was relocated from a police facility in north Tulsa to a position closer to the downtown are so it would be ready to respond if necessary.

Extra officers had not been called in for duty.

A. CUERVO / Tulsa World

Tulsa Police Officer P.S. Eagan and his bomb-sniffing dog Romeo search for explosives around the Page Belcher Federal Building in downtown Tulsa. Other bomb squad officers and dogs were deployed at the Tulsa International Airport.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office called in reserve officers to help patrol the courthouse complex, said Chief Deputy Brian Edwards.

Palmer said the city’s Emergency Operations Center is not in operation.

“It would take an incident or good intelligence of a threat to activate it,” he said.

Federal offices, including the Internal Revenue Service and Army Corps of Engineers buildings in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, closed and were evacuated.

Corps officials also posted guards at

area dams.

Federal courts in Tulsa remained open, though security was increased.

Locally, the Red Cross and Oklahoma Blood Institute have extended hours so people can give blood, which will be sent to disaster areas.

Businesses were also impacted by the attacks. The NORDAM Group Inc. evacuated hundreds of employees from its repair division at U.S. 169 and Pine Street following a threat, said Donna Ham, a company spokesman.

At the Williams Companies down-

town, workers were told if they were concerned about their safety, they could go home, said Jim Gipson, a spokesman for the company. Before noon, most of the workers had left the BOk Tower where the company’s offices are located.

The company sent an email to employees saying it would donate $1 million to United Way to aid in the recovery effort.

The Tulsa World also issued a special edition, the first since World War II for the paper.

At some gas stations, motorists

lined up for gas following a rumor that the attacks had caused a gasoline shortage. Motorists were lined up three or four deep at QuikTrip at 15th Street and Denver Avenue.

Police said there was no gas shortage and asked citizens not to rush to stations to fill up their cars.

Many schools across the state were locking their buildings but allowing parents to come pick up children.

Some schools were letting students watch the events unfold on television.

Oklahomans feared just such an attack E Officials in the state with expertise in security matters say it was an issue of when, not if.

B Y S HAUN S CHAFER World Staff Writer

The crashes of two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and explosions in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning signaled a bloody new chapter of global terrorism.

“This is in a literal sense a campaign of terrorism against the United States,” said Steve Sloan, a U.S. security expert at the University of Oklahoma. “We don’t know if this is one set of acts or if this is just the prelude.”

Even as smoke continued to billow from the collapse of the twin 110story trade center towers, Oklahomabased experts on U.S. security described the attacks as inevitable.

“In a sense, it is shocking but predictable,” said Robert Donaldson, a professor of political science at the University of Tulsa. “It’s not something where we could have said exactly where or when that this sort of thing would occur, but there was a high probability of this happening.”

University of Oklahoma President David Boren, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was in Washington having breakfast with CIA Director George Tenet when the first attack occurred.

“This is a realization of the worst fears that we have had for the last 10 years,’’ Boren said. ‘‘It is exactly the kind of thing we worried about during the time I chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee. ‘‘I hope that these attacks will cause the leading nations of the world to realize that we must all work even more closely together to develop new intelligence-sharing programs and inspection programs

aimed at worldwide terrorism.’’

Officials around the Sooner State acted quickly and didn’t wait to see what could come next. Some federal offices, including the Internal Revenue Service and Army Corps of Engineers buildings in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, were evacuated. Some state and county courthouses also closed.

“It is awful,’’ IRS spokesman David Stell said from Oklahoma City. ‘‘The mood here is disbelief, somber and scared. It brings to mind memories of the Oklahoma City bombing.’’

In Tulsa, office buildings started closing at mid-morning. Workers in the Bank of Oklahoma Tower — at 52 stories the tallest downtown building — were told that they could go home at 10 a.m.

Experts like Sloan and Donaldson tried to determine who could have masterminded such a series of attacks.

“It sounds like what we have witnessed is a coordinated campaign directed at significant objects of U.S. power,” Sloan said. “It may all be related to what is going on in the Middle East. Unfortunately, a number of organizations are now capable of this level of coordination. We can’t jump to any conclusions.”

Through the Internet, personal computers and working in small cells, a number of groups could have pulled together the organizational might to launch simultaneous attacks, he said.

Coordinating a multipronged attack is easier in an open society like the United States, Donaldson said.

“And there are a number of terrorist organizations and state-sponsored terrorists who have real or perceived grievances with the United States,” he added.

Multiple attacks on the centers of commerce and military power demonstrated vulnerability, Donaldson said.

Attacks expose Americans to the facts that their government could neither constantly protect them nor guarantee that this wouldn’t happen again, he said.

“Obviously, what they have done is pick the most obvious symbols of American economic and military strength,” Donaldson said. “This will scar the American psyche for quite a long time.”

Early speculation centered on links to the Israeli-Palestinian clash and Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who has taken credit for bombing U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 and is believed to be linked to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

“I know the temptation is to blame bin Laden,” Sloan said. “I’m not going to jump there right now.”

About the only defense after a terrorist attack is to take confidence in the strength and courage of Americans and their leaders, Donaldson said, citing how Americans rallied in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.

There was added caution in Tulsa about jumping to conclusions as to what group of people may have carried out the attacks. ‘‘I want to urge anyone with any information to go to the police to help them out,’’ said Frank Alchami, a Syrian-born citizen and the owner of Frank’s Cafe at 5451 S. Mingo Road. ‘‘I ask the people of Tulsa to remain calm and not jump to conclusions.

Remember the Oklahoma City bombing,’’ he said. ‘‘But whoever did this is my enemy before anyone else.’’

Alchami, who has lived in the United States for 22 years, owns a cafe that is popular in the Islamic community on Tulsa’s east side.

Elana Newman, a psychologist at the University of Tulsa, said one of her first concerns was how to describe the events to children.

“Tell our children what we know as clearly as we can,” she said. “Tell them that this is quite serious and that we don’t know everything yet.”

World staff writer Omer Gillham contributed to this story. Shaun Schafer, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8320 or via e-mail at shaun.schafer@tulsaworld.com.

DAVID CRENSHAW / Tulsa World

Mille Gorman of Tulsa was one of an overwhelming number of blood donors expected to descend upon donor centers around the country.

Flight ban hampers blood agencies’ aid B Y N ELLIE K ELLY World Staff Writer Already tight blood supplies in New York will need even more infusions from across the country.

About 25 percent of the city’s blood supply is imported from Europe, said Jean Letcher of the Oklahoma Blood Institute. But airports are shut down, making shipments impossible.

The Washington area’s supply should be in better shape, said Maggie Jewell, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Tulsa.

Locally, the Red Cross and Oklahoma Blood Institute have extended hours so Tulsans can give blood, which will be sent to disaster areas.

Still, with airports closed, ground transportation will be the only means to deliver it.

Locally, there is less than a day’s supply of O-positive, a good supply of A-positive and less than a half-day’s supply of all types of Rh-negative blood, Jewell said.

Both agencies expect lines of donors in the coming days.

“I think that’s a natural response to this kind of tragedy,” Letcher said.

Hospitals are on a higher alert because of the terrorist attacks, with

teams in place to handle a potential emergency here.

Tulsa Regional Medical Center and Hillcrest Medical Center are “standing ready,” Hillcrest spokeswoman Tyra Palmer said. That means that surgery and trauma backups are in place.

St. John Medical Center’s emergency room is on alert, and additional medical staff members are ready to come to the hospital if needed, St. John spokeswoman Tina Wells said.

St. John and St. Francis Hospital are designated as trauma facilities, but during a disaster, all facilities help in handling the injured, Wells said.

Red Cross offices will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday. Donation sites in Tulsa are at 10151 E. 11th St. and 7717 S. Memorial Drive.

Other sites statewide are in Stillwater, Ponca City and Norman.

The Oklahoma Blood Institute will be open from 9 a.m. until the last donor leaves, with no specific closing time. The Tulsa donation center is at 3316 E. 21st St. Other donation centers are located in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Midwest City, Lawton, Ponca City, Enid, Ardmore and Ada. Nellie Kelly, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8475 or via e-mail at nellie.kelly@tulsaworld.com.

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Tuesday ★ September 11, 2001

SPECIAL

EXTRA

7

EDITION

Sooners’ gaze fixed on TV .

Oklahomans join nation of viewers B Y M ICHAEL O VERALL AND A SHLEY P ARISH World Staff Writers The images were horrific enough already. The rising smoke. The falling debris. The limping victims.

Then, right before their eyes, it got unimaginably worse.

“Oh, God!” one man cried out.

“What’s that?”

It was the second World Trade Center tower collapsing into a heap of debris, live on CNN. And all across Tulsa — indeed, the nation — people watched helplessly.

“It’s just gone,” said Megan Shrout, her lips quivering as she watched with a group of people at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. “You think this is the worst thing that can happen.

Then something else happens.”

Like the rest of the country, Tulsa came to a virtual standstill Tuesday morning as nearly everybody planted themselves in front of the nearest TV. Some watched in glossy-eyed silence. Some wiped away tears. Some mumbled prayers. A few finally wrestled themselves away from the screen, unable to watch anymore.

“You don’t want to watch. You can’t hardly bear to see it,” said Carl Rogers, who like many other Williams employees, crowded around the televisions on the company’s trading floor.

“But you can’t stop watching, because it’s happening and it won’t stop.”

At south Tulsa’s Thoreau middle school, Maggie Larkin was late for school because she didn’t want to stop watching TV at home. But it didn’t matter, because everybody at school was watching TV, too.

“I don’t want to hear after school that anything else happened,” the 12year-old said. “That the president got blown up or something.”

The school’s principal got on the intercom and announced just after 9:30 a.m. that more TV sets would be made available for classrooms.

DAVID CRENSHAW / Tulsa World

Denice Cook pauses from shopping at Sears, at 21st Street and Yale Avenue, to watch TV coverage.

“This is something that precludes normal operations at your school,” Tom Padalino said. “This is historic.”

Back at OSU-Tulsa, workers were scrambling to hook up extra TV sets in the hallways, using makeshift cable lines dangling out of the ceilings.

“We just knew interest in this was going to be extreme,” said Harry Anderson, the video services manager.

He felt the need to do something —

anything — and hooking up TV sets was at least something. “There’s not much we can do here,” he said.

In the student center, the crowd sat motionless all morning. Except for the TV, the only noise came from cell phones as people exchanged information with friends and relatives who were watching other channels on other televisions.

That’s how the crowd there learned

that yet another airliner had been reported hijacked — Shrout’s mother called with the news. And another round of gasps escaped from the crowd as she repeated it aloud.

“It’s kind of hard to go on with anything else while this is going on,” said Shrout, a university employee.

“I’m scared and I’m in shock.”

Like many other Oklahomans, she was already comparing the events

Tuesday to the Murrah Building bombing six years ago.

“Up to this point, Oklahoma City was the worst thing that ever happened,” she said. “But this is a hundred times more devastating.”

Michael Overall, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8383 or via e-mail at michael.overall@tulsaworld.com. Ashley Parrish, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8318 or via e-mail at ashley.parrish@tulsaworld.com.

Stranded travelers fill airport but stay quiet B Y L EIGH W OOSLEY World Staff Writer

MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World

Tulsans gather at Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Tulsa on Tuesday to pray for victims of the terrorist attacks.

Churches prepare for prayer sessions B Y B ILL S HERMAN World Religion Writer Numerous Tulsa churches opened their doors for prayer in the wake of the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s history.

Most churches called this morning said they were open for prayer, and several were having staff meetings to respond to the crisis.

One report said that people stranded at Tulsa International Airport because of canceled flights were being taken to local churches.

The Rev. Jim Miller, pastor of First Presbyterian Church downtown, said Tulsa pastors were communicating about a joint response to the attack.

“This is a national tragedy of the first order,” he said.

“The escalating cycles of violence that come from something like this are beyond the threshold to imagine.”

Glenn Evans, a minister at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) downtown, said his deacons planned to meet tonight to pray for the country, the injured, and those who lost loved ones.

Classes were canceled at Oral Roberts University, where students gathered at 11 a.m. for a special chapel service.

“I’m calling our entire campus to prayer,” ORU President Richard Roberts said. “There’s been an attack on our nation, and I believe it’s satanic.

This country has got to be bathed in prayer.”

Roberts said telephone lines to the 24-hour Abundant Life prayer group were jammed.

The Rev. Cathy Holcomb, the regional director for the Tulsa region of the Oklahoma Concert of prayer, said prayer sites were being set up across the city where people can come together and pray corporately for the nation. Christian radio stations were getting out the word on the mobilization.

Most of the prayer meetings are scheduled for this evening, she said.

Joe Conner, a book broker who is involved in the nondenominational Resurrection Prayer Group, said people he had talked to were “so numb they didn’t even know how to pray.”

“They’re all praying in the spirit,” he said.

Boston Terrence stared blankly from his shoeshine stand down the emptying hallways of Tulsa International Airport. His head stayed still, positioned just feet from the radio speaker broadcasting the latest news from terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Holding a cup of coffee, Terrence watched passengers wander and wonder after their flights — and all flights nationwide — were canceled and the airport was put on alert.

Over his head hung the sign: “Shoe Smiles $5.00. Let us put a smile on your shoes.”

But Terrence could not even fake a smile in the moments following what has been the worst terrorist attack against the United States.

“It’s kind of hard to say what it’s been like here (at the airport). Everybody has been quiet,” he said. “I’ve got a nephew in New York City who works downtown. It’s just . . . it’s just . . . I don’t know . . . you can’t describe it.”

The airport’s alert is the same as the one issued during Operation Desert Storm, said Carl Pritchett, the airport’s deputy director of operations.

“Disappointed — certainly. Surprised. I’m still just in shock,” he said when asked how the increased security at airports nationwide failed.

Mayor Susan Savage said: “We’re dealing with tragedies that are unprecedented in this country. If Tulsa is a target, we will be ready for that. ‘‘But our focus is the people coming into this community off of diverted flights. Accommodations are being made for them as we speak.”

Pritchett said 11 unscheduled flights involving hundreds of people landed at Tulsa’s airport by 10:30 a.m.

Would-be air travelers plastered their ears to cell phones and queued up at pay telephones. Some called local family members to say they were OK, and others raced to book hotel rooms for the night.

Anthony Gile of Tulsa was booked on a 9 a.m. American Airlines flight

JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World

Stranded from grounded and diverted flights, passengers swarm the rental car agencies Tuesday at Tulsa International Airport. City officials were working to find other accommodations.

to Boston, but he was on his way home an hour after the plane was to take off.

Gile was just happy to be safe. An American Airlines plane headed to Los Angeles from Boston was one of those hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. His wife answered phone calls all morning from worried loved ones, Gile said.

“It’s shocking. It’s terrible,” he said.

An American Airlines ticket agent fielded concern from grounded passengers lined before her. Behind her, four television screens that normally post departures said “CANCELED.” A Delta Airlines ticket agent said employees didn’t really know anything except that all flights are canceled.

“It’s still too early,” said the agent, who would not give his name. “I’m sure everyone is still formulating a plan.”

Dozens of people gathered beneath television screens in the airport’s restaurants, gift shops and bars. They said hardly a word. Everyone wanted to hear the latest news.

The Tulsa Police/Fire Chaplaincy

Corps was on hand in case anyone needed to talk, executive director Danny Lynchard said.

The New York scenes on television sent haunting memories of the Oklahoma City bombing through Lynchard’s mind.

“The scenes look so familiar. All of the explosives, the ambulances in the street, the people running,” he said, pointing to the television. “There’s no words to say right now. We’re just going to be here. We want to remind people that the American faith is still strong, and that this is an act of man, not God.” Airport employees carried out extra chairs for the delayed travelers. Car rental agencies were already at a bare-bones supply by 10:30 a.m.

“The cars are going quick,” said Tina England of Thrifty Car Rental.

“It’s down to the nitty-gritty — minivans and 15-passenger vans. This is a nuthouse.”

World staff writer Jason Collington contributed to this story. Leigh Woosley, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8465 or via email at leigh.woosley@tulsaworld.com.

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8

SPECIAL

EXTRA

EDITION

Tuesday ★ September 11, 2001

World Trade terror In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists crashed two planes into the 110-story World Trade Center towers, causing them to collapse Tuesday morning. One of planes was en route from Boston to Los Angeles, the other was en route from Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.

Shortly before 9 a.m., a plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center leaving gaping holes in its side.

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Minutes later, a second plane was seen over the Hudson River headed towards the south tower.

The plane crashed into the south tower, creating a fireball of flame and smoke.

AMY SANCETTA / Associated Press

Pedestrians flee the area of the World Trade Center as the center’s south tower collapses.

State-by-state reaction A SSOCIATED P RESS Precautions taken in various U.S. states and New York City in the wake of the terrorist attacks: The Federal Aviation Administration shut down airports nationwide.

A L A BAMA: Security increased at military bases including Redstone Arsenal, site of the Army missile command and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

C ALIFORNIA: Airports closed, as are other landmarks.

State on high alert. Emergency Council convened as Gov. Gray Davis requested heightened security at all state buildings.

COLORADO: City and state officials stepped up security around government buildings.

Denver opened an emergency preparedness office, where representatives of police, fire and health agencies, public transportation officials, Denver International Airport and utilities were gathering.

FLORIDA: Security heightened at federal courts. Walt Disney World evacuated and closed its parks and shopping and entertainment complex.

Space shuttle operations halted, 12,000 employees of Kennedy Space Center sent home.

GEORGIA: All flights at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s busiest, stopped. The CNN Center, world headquarters of Cable News Network, closed to the public, although journalists at CNN and The Associated Press remained.

ILLINOIS: Sears Tower shut down, state government buildings in Chicago and Springfield closed. National Guard on state of heightened alert in Illinois.

INDIANA: Federal offices on alert.

KENTUCKY: Southern Governors’ Association canceled annual fall meeting so governors of Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia could head back to their states.

LOUISIANA: Upper floors of the 34-floor Capitol building closed. Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles supertankers in the Gulf of Mexico, suspends operations. State’s 19 oil refineries on alert.

MARYLAND: Officials tightening security throughout the state. Security heightened at Andrews Air Force Base. Baltimore-Washington International Airport taking arrivals, not departing flights.

MICHIGAN: Tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, closed to car traffic and security increased along the Canadian border.

MINNESOTA: Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shut down. Evacuation of the 51-story IDS Center, the state’s tallest building, located in downtown Minneapolis. The Mall of America, in suburban Bloomington, and World Trade Center in St. Paul closed.

NEBRASKA: State employees responding to requests for blood donations. Security was heightened at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha.

NEVADA: Security increased at casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, at federal buildings across the state and Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas.

Flights suspended.

NEW JERSEY: Airports and river crossings into New York City closed. Traffic reported snarled on the New Jersey Turnpike. At Newark International Airport, officers with shotguns blocked the road leading to Port Authority offices and the air traffic control tower.

NEW YORK: Security clamped down across the state. Security increased at border points.

Gov. George Pataki canceled his New York City events.

NEW YORK CITY: Elections called off. Airports closed.

Trading on Wall Street suspended. United Nations building evacuated. Offices throughout Manhattan closed. Subway lines citywide shut down.

Grand Central Station and Penn Station closed, commuter trains running only out of Manhattan to evacuate. Cellular phone service crippled. Regular phone service congested. Evacuations from Wall Street to the United Nations. Lower Manhattan closed to all but emergency vehicles. Bridges and tunnels into Manhattan closed. Rockefeller Center property managers urge tenants to go home.

NORTH CAROLINA: Military bases prepared for possible change in status. At Raleigh-

Durham International Airport, spokeswoman Mirinda Kossoff said a strategy meeting was planned with the Federal Aviation Administration.

About an hour after the attack, the south tower collapsed. The north tower collapsed about a half hour after that.

PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia International Airport closed.

National Park Service officials meeting to determine whether the city’s high-profile tourist attractions like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall would be closed.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Commercial flights from Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Pierre and other South Dakota cities grounded.

TENNESSEE: Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons and research complex in Oak Ridge put under heightened security.

All flights from Tennessee’s major airports grounded.

Planes were allowed to land.

TEXAS: Some office buildings evacuated. Flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport canceled and AustinBergstrom International closed.

City Hall in El Paso closed.

SOURCES: NBC; compiled from AP wire reports

AP

UTAH: Security tightened at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden.

The Deseret Chemical Depot near Tooele is at highest alert.

Salt Lake International Airport shut down and some federal employees sent home.

VERMONT: Federal buildings in Montpelier and Burlington open. State’s lone atomic plant placed on heightened security.

VIRGINIA: Navy installations throughout Hampton Roads, home of the world’s largest Navy base, placed under an increased security condition. The 192nd Virginia Air National Guard 192nd fighter squadron, an attack unit of fully armed F16 fighter jets that will patrol the nation’s East Coast, were put on alert with orders to down any unauthorized aircraft.

WASHINGTON: Airports and military bases throughout the state boosted security. Outgoing flights canceled at SeattleTacoma International Airport, but planes allowed to land.

Federal Court House in downtown Seattle on high alert.

WEST VIRGINIA: Chemical plant security heightened.

Flights out of Charleston’s Yeager Airport, West Virginia’s largest, suspended. Capitol Complex evacuated. Federal courthouses closed.

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AMY SANCETTA / Associated Press

A man coughs from dust inhalation after the World Trade Center towers collapsed from a terrorist attack.