Thread: 9/11 survivor tells how he 'surfed' 15 floors down the collapsing tower

A man has spoken about how he survived the collapse of the Twin Towers by "surfing" down the falling buildings on a block of concrete.

Mr Buzzelli and his wife Louise


ByLaura Donnelly

1:30PM BST 08 Sep 2012

In the aftermath of 9/11, there were reports that one man had survived the collapse of the North Tower by "surfing" down the falling building, through a blizzard of debris.

However, the man was never traced and the story was dismissed as the stuff of legend.

Now documentary-makers have tracked down Pasquale Buzzelli, who believes he is "the world's luckiest man" and gained expert testimony from rescuers, engineers, and eyewitnesses to piece together his story.

Mr Buzzelli, 43, told The Sun newspaper that he had avoided speaking publicly until now because he found it hard to talk about his experiences and felt "survivor guilt" after losing 14 colleagues in the tragedy.

Close to 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks, after four hijacked passenger planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.
The deaths included at least 200 of those at the Twin Towers who fell or jumped to their deaths.

Mr Buzzelli was in a lift in the North Tower when the first plane hit it between the 93rd and 99th floors, he said.
When the lift stopped, on floor 44, he saw scenes of panic, but the structural engineer who worked for the New York Port Authority continued to his own office on the 64th floor.
His wife Louise, then seven months' pregnant told how her husband telephoned her, and asked her to switch on the television to find out what was going on.
She saw that the plane had hit his building, which was alight. Then Mr Buzzelli and colleagues clustered around a television to see a second plane hit the neighbouring tower.
He and colleagues began to make their escape, but by the time he reached the 22nd floor the building began to collapse.
Watching the scenes on television, his wife was sure that her husband was dead.
However, as the walls around him began to crumble, Mr Buzzelli began to free-fall, he said.
"I've never jumped out of a plane but I guess I was experiencing that feeling of surfing down, just riding the air and getting buffered around, as if I was on a rollercoaster," he said.
After experiencing a bright flash, he fell unconscious, to awake three hours later, lying on a ledge of the ruins seven floors up. Despite falling 15 floors, he had only suffered a broken leg and a crushed ankle.
Mr Buzzelli did not speak publicly about what had happened but he and his wife kept a diary for their two children.
He said: "I lost 14 colleagues who were with me when the tower collapsed. They were the last people I saw, then they were gone. They were the victims and I was the survivor. So I had a sense of guilt. I just wanted to pretend it didn't happen."
Documentary-makers met the firemen who rescued him, and scientists and engineers who said the account was plausible.
Prof Thomas Eagar, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the winds from the falling towers were strong enough to lift a man into the air.
However, medical examiner Shiya Ribowsky, who helped lead the forensic investigation into 9/11 was less convinced, saying the chance of surviving a fall beyond five floors are "pretty grim".


9/11 survivor tells how he 'surfed' 15 floors down the collapsing tower - Telegraph

Good find, Bangyai.

That guy is the luckiest man alive.

btw, where's HM and some further 'enlightenment' regarding the Twin Towers destruction?

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

That guy is the luckiest man alive.

I reckon so. I had wondered if something like this was possible. Now I know.
To be exact , I had wondered if someone could have survived by climbing to the roof then staying on it as it fell earthwards. This guy was actually inside the building ! Truly a lucky escape.

Sorry but I am gonna have to call Bullshit on that story its just too far fetched

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

What went thru his mind as the ground came rushing up to him...

....So far so good .