News at Eleven!

October 11, 2008

What happened to the World Trade Center on September 11th made today's plane crash a much bigger story around the office than it might have been otherwise, but at the same time, it made it a much smaller story too.

When news reports of a plane crashing into a high-rise today crackled through the office, there was a sense of apprehension. "Wait, what? What happened? A plane crash? Where?"

A plane of any size crashing into the side of a building of any size is pretty spectacular, no doubt about it, but when word spread that it was a small private plane crashing into a nondescript 20-year-old, 50-story condo building, rather than a commercial jet exploding into the side of an internationally recognized icon, it triggered relieved shrugs.

"Oh."

Back to work.

I admit that was my reaction as well.

I remember when I first got word that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, I thought it was probably a similar scenario to what happened today. A small plane, operator error. Then I saw the caustic black smoke billowing out of the hole punched into Tower Two. "Whoa. Uh oh."

I drove to the East River, where a crowd was growing along the Brooklyn waterfront, and watched another plane punch another hole. I felt claustrophobic and drove home. Traffic was gooey. I climbed to my roof, and with a pair of binoculars, could see people falling, but not clearly enough to know what I was seeing. "What is that stuff?" I remember asking.

The television was on earlier tonight. I wasn't watching it, but I could hear it. A teaser came on promoting an upcoming news program. "High-rise crash! A small plane crashes into a 50-story high-rise on the Upper East Side, claiming the life of a Yankee pitcher. Channel 2 was first on the scene! First to report—"

I tuned out. I had no interest. Wasn't the least bit curious to learn the details. I didn’t need to see what it looked like.