The Ithaca Journal from Ithaca, New York • 1

nf7 J1 A The Ithaca Tuesday September 11,2001 www.theithacajournal.com DURNA Please recycle The Journal 35 cents Newsstand Ithaca, New York Serving Tompkins County since 1815 A I Lili World Trade Center Towers collapse White House evacuated Pentagon attacked All U.S. airports closed )5 uyuw ukDuu By JERRY SCHWARTZ 77ie Associated Pwss NEW YORK In a horrific sequence of destruction, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and both towers collapsed Tuesday morning in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the 110-story towers and people jumping out. The president ordered a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who committed this act." Within the hour, an aircraft crashed at the Pentagon as well, and officials evacuated the White House and major government building. One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S.

official said, citing a transmission from the plane. The planes that slammed into the Trade Center blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. The southern tower collapsed with a roar about an hour later. "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 hndful of terror groups is on that list. I would name at the top of the list Osama Bin 6 4 an -(Sr if Ithaca airport closed; CU, IC prepare By ESTHER CAMPI Journal Staff ITHACA The Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport shut down Tuesday morning and classes in area universities were at a standstill as students gathered around television sets or huddled in cars listening to radios for news of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. At Cornell University, top administrators were huddled in an emergency meeting called to discuss what plan of action the university would take to help students whose family members may be affected. "We are discussing special support services that may be needed by students who don't know what's going on with their families," said Linda Grace-Kobas, a Cornell spokeswoman. "We have not yet made any announcements, but we are trying to stay on top of the events." Kobas said campus police were in communication with top federal law enforcement officials.

"There's been no sense that there is danger here," she said. The school has a New York City office located on 34th Street. Kobas said an e-mail message received by 10:45 a.m. assured university officials that the small number of students and staff there were unharmed. The office has been closed.

Kobas said the Cornell-in- See ITHACA, 5A Special edition This is a special extra edition of the Tuesday, Sept. 11 Journal. For continuous updates on the bombings in New York and Washington, access The Journal's Web site: www.theithacajournal.c6m. For expanded coverage of the bombings, including local reaction from the campuses and around Tompkins County, see Wednesday's edition of The Ithaca Journal. Area residents with friends and relatives in New York and Washington who would like to be included in a news story, contact Journal Day Local Editor J.R.

Clairborne at 274-9257. 11 it The Associated Press House. In a remarkable scene, security guards brandishing automatic weapons could be seen outside the White House. The FAA ordered the entire nationwide air traffic system shut down. A senior U.S.

intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "We don't know who's doing it. Clearly, it's terrorism related, a carefully coordinated attack. It's not the work of an unsophisticated enemy. It's too soon to say who." Paul Begala, a Democratic consultant, said he witnessed an explosion near the Pentagon. See WASHINGTON, 5A Laden." -All planes were grounded! across the country by the' Federal Aviation Administra--tion.

All bridges and tunncls-into Manhattan were closed down. The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m. Heavy black smoke bil--lowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the twin towers, one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city's "-busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and srnoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.

John Axisa, who was getting off a PATH train to the World Trade Center, said he saw "bodies falling out" of the building. He said he ran outside, and watched people jump out of the first building, and then there was a second explosion, and he felt heat on the back of neck. WCBS-TV, citing an FBI agent, said five or six people jumped out of the windows. People screamed every time another person leaped. David Reck was handing out literature for a candidate for public advocate a few blocks away when he saw a jet come in "very low, and then it made a slight twist and dove See NYC, 5A IT'S rlz- 1 4 If capital.

"Terrorism against our nation will not stand," vowed President Bush. He spoke moments after two planes had flown directly into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York. "This shows what an uncontrollable world we live in. This is crazy, wild and crazy," said Sen. Herb Kohl, as the disruptions hit Washington within an hour after two planes flew directly into the World Trade Center towers in New York.

Bush, in Florida when the attacks hit, termed the disaster in New York "an apparent terrorist attack on our country." He said he would return I "i I Z2 Trade Center towers shortly before 9 a.m in a horrific scene of explosions and fires that left gaping holes in the 110-story buildings. Later this morning a plane slammed into tlie Pentagon and tlie White House was evacuated Smoke and fire surround the upper floors of the World Trade Center in New York City, this morning in this image from television, after a second plane crashed into the buildings. Planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Pentagon hit; bomb explodes at State Dept. '4 i i I if By RON FOURNIER The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Pentagon was struck by aircraft, a car bomb exploded outside the State Department and agents patrolled outside the White House with automatic weapons Tuesday as an apparent coordinated terrorist attack spread fear and chaos in the nation's capital. The enduring symbols of American power were evacuated, the Capitol, White House and more shut down, and the nation's air traffic system ordered shut down.

Billows of smoke drifted from the Pentagon over the Potomac River toward the immediately to Washington. In Washington, a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI suspects the events in New York and Washington were part of an organized terrorist campaign. Each moment seemed to bring fresh evidence of that: A car bomb exploded outside the State Department, senior law enforcement officials said. A loud explosion was reported in the vicinity of the Capitol. The departments of Justice, State, Treasury and Defense were among those ordered evacuated, as were the Capitol and the White i nnsca The Associated Press Plumes of smoke pour from the World Trade Center buildings in New York.

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