This is an account of one of our member's experiences, from a ham radio point of view, of the events of September 11, 2001.  Bill Continelli, W2XOY, was at a meeting in Manhatten at the Federal Building when terrorists crashed two jumbo jets into the World Trade Center twin towers.   His account teaches all of us the need to always be prepared.

Hi everyone:

I was in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, 09/11/01, just 4 blocks from the WTC.   Here's my impressions, from a radio point of view.

I left Albany on the 5:10 am Amtrak & arrived at Penn Station at 7:30. A $10 cab ride brought me to 290 Broadway (the Federal Building) at 8 am. My meeting was on the 27th floor, in an inner conference room with no windows.

The meeting started at 8:30. About 8:45, we heard a muffled noise, but thought nothing of it. 5 minutes later, someone came in & said that a plane had hit one of the WTC Towers. Since we had no view, I pulled out my Sony ICF-10 AM/FM/SW pocket receiver from my "radio bag" & tuned to 1010 WINS. We listened to the report for about 5 minutes, then the manager told us we would continue with the meeting & would go to his office at our break to check out the scene. The meeting resumed, but 5 minutes later we heard a louder "BOOM" which shook the Federal Building. We heard screams coming from the other offices. The meeting was terminated, & we went into the hall where we saw people pouring out of offices, in shock, screaming & crying. (We later learned that they had an excellent view from their windows & saw the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower). The elevators were full of other screaming, crying people & a "floor warden" told us to evacuate the building--by stairs. 27 flights.

When we got to the ground floor, we went outside & saw the massive clouds of black smoke. I tuned 1010 WINS in again & found out about the 2nd plane.   Since there are two Federal Buildings there & Federal Agencies in the WTC, I pulled out my Yaesu-FT-50 & tuned to the GSA Police frequency of 417.200.   Unfortunately, all transmissions were scrambled. There were GSA Cops everywhere, & police, fire & ambulance vehicles were racing by. We were milling about, listening to WINS & watching the smoke & fire when a GSA Cop (actually FPO) told us to evacuate the area "because it isn't over yet and the Federal Building may be next". We walked uptown to the Holiday Inn on the edge of Chinatown that some of our co-workere were staying at. Along the way, a co-worker held the Sony while I tuned around on the Yaesu. 2 meters was dead, as well as 440 & GMRS. The FRS channels were active, with some transmissions actually in English. No real info there, just some frantic exchanges between people who were watching the fire.

At the Hotel, we found the cellphones, payphones & hotel phones dead. I quickly tuned the 2m & 70 cm bands again, but didn't hear anything.   Unfortunately, I DID NOT KNOW the local repeater frequencies, offsets, or PL Tones, thus I may have passed by one or more active channels in my fast search.

From the radio bag I then pulled my Cobra HH-28 CB radio. I had to go outside to hear anything, but I did hear drivers on the West Side Highway (?) transmitting descriptions of what they saw. FRS was still busy, as well as the business frequencies (151.625, 154.54, .57, & .600. I quickly scanned the marine channels, & heard some weak signals from private boaters, talking about the burning Towers. (I think it was channel 69, but I'm not sure).

I went back in to coordinate with my co-workers, & that's when the Towers fell.  WINS was stating that the subways, tunnels & trains weren't running, but two of us decided to get to Penn Station to try & get out. (We had heard about the Pentagon by then). For a few minutes, one guy got thru on his cellphone. A message was passed to Albany that we were all right, & I started with my co-worker on our 45 block hike. (No cabs).

On the way up 6th Avenue, we had WINS on. I tried scanning the 800 Mhz band on the Yaesu while we walked. I heard lots of transmissions, but nothing from police, fire or rescue services. Intermod was a moderate problem. I also tried the aircraft frequencies, but after two passes from 118 to 136 Mhz (in 25 khz steps) and hearing nothing, I gave up.

On the railroad frequencies, I had better luck. Scanning from 160.215 to 161.400 Mhz in 15 khz steps, I picked out the Amtrak/CSX, & MTA hot channels. I listened to the search operations in the tunnels, as cops with bomb sniffing dogs checked things out.

Every block, we looked back & saw the massive clouds of smoke from the ruins.   WINS was keeping us informed (at one point I tuned to WCBS, but for some reason I liked WINS better); all transportation/tunnels were still closed.

At Penn Station, there was a crowd of maybe 25,000 outside. The Station was closed. The Sony was on WINS, & I was tuning the Yaesu thru the 5 or 6 hot RR channels I found. It was packed shoulder to shoulder, and since we were the only ones with radios, we had people pressed up against us, leaning over us, to hear the news. The Yaesu absolutely fascinated them, as we heard the teams moving thru the Station & tunnels, checking for bombs & sabotage.

I briefly tuned to WWCR (12.16 Mhz) to see what the militia had to say. They were talking a lot but giving no real info, so we went back to WINS, which was doing a great job.

After almost 2 hours of standing on 33rd Street, the scanner gave us about a 2 minute advance notice that the Station was opening. We learned which entrance was going to be used for the Amtrak patrons, & rushed there. Once in the Station, we knew from prior travels, that Gate 6 was usually used for the northbound Amtraks. We stood near Gate 6 & watched the big board. Sure enough, the Yaesu gave us a "heads up" that Gate 6 was the Albany bound Train #281. We rushed there 30 seconds ahead of the announcement, & were one of the first people on the train.

Once aboard & moving, we were going painfully slow. It took over one hour to get from Penn Station to Yonkers. The conductor said it was because so many Metro-North trains were ahead of us. We averaged about 25 mph to Poughkeepsie, where Metro North service ends. From that point, it should have been clear sailing, but we still plodded along at 30 mph (I timed it using the mileposts). Once again, the Yaesu gave us the answer. From the snatches of conversation we heard, it became apparent that Amtrak was concerned about sabotage. I guess a train going 30 mph is safer than one going 90 mph if it derails. We also learned from the Yaesu that the TV cameras were at the Rensselaer Station, as we were the first train out of "Da City". We arrived at Rensselaer at 7:30 pm--after a 5 hour ride (2:20 is the norm).

LESSIONS I LEARNED:

1) ALWAYS CARRY THE RADIOS, antennas, & spare batteries--(this was the only lesson I actually followed). I had the AM/FM/SW Sony, a dual band ht, & a CB. Even though I packed the 27 Mhz telescopic antenna, I don't think the CB was a practical choice. I DID NOT have a GMRS or FRS radio. With FRS units at $20 & the size of a pack of cigarettes, there is no excuse not to have one.

2) KNOW THE FREQUENCIES OF THE AREA YOU ARE GOING TO VISIT.

I wasted a lot of time in scanning entire bands because I didn't have a clue as to the local frequencies. I probably passed many active, relevant channels that were temporarly silent. I wasted more time parked on frequencies that turned out to have no real value. I could have spent 30 minutes on the Internet, downloading the necessary frequencies and programming them in. And, with most people carrying some sort of electronic organizer with them, it's easy to build up a library of frequencies for every city you visit.

3) USE RADIOS WITH GOOD SCANNING ABILITIES, AND PROGRAM IN THE FREQUENCIES, OFFSETS, & CTCSS TONES AHEAD OF TIME.

My Yaesu is clogged with a hodge-podge of frequencies, in no particular order. I also have TV Audio, FM Stations & weather Channels programmed in, which stops all scanning in its tracks. In addition, many dual band ht's--although they have a lot of channels--don't have  "banks" of Channels, so you have to scan all 100 or so, or lock them out, one by one. I think it is better to program in a minimal amount of channels--say 25 or so--for the area you are going to visit.

4) BRING AN EARPHONE OR HEADPHONES.

Because of the noisy environment, I went through a set of batteries on both the Sony & Yaesu. (Yeah, I had plenty of batteries). In addition, while I didn't mind half of Mid-Town listening to WINS on my Sony, I didn't want them to hear the advance announcements that Amtrak was transmitting. A few people heard the Gate 6 announcement come out of my Yaesu, and immediatally started heading there.

73,

Bill, W2XOY

NOTE:  Bill later told us that CB radios are valuable to have as part of your "Radio Bag." They don't work well in large cities, but do work well in less congested areas.