At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
A reporter and photographer drove from Philadelphia to Hoboken, New Jersey, arriving near the smoking remains of the twin towers, where streets were covered in gray and black soot and twisted steel frames were visible.
They interviewed survivors, some still covered in ash, who had been evacuated by ferries and private boats. Police blocked access beyond Pace University’s lower Manhattan campus, preventing further progress toward ground zero.
After volunteering at a checkpoint, the reporter and photographer helped carry supplies for rescue crews. Near the disaster site, they witnessed a makeshift emergency room and temporary morgue, with no visible emergency room activity but an active morgue.