Smoke pours off one of the towers of the World Trade Center as flames explode from the second one as it is struck by a plane after terrorists crashed planes into the buildings. Photo / AP
Smoke pours off one of the towers of the World Trade Center as flames explode from the second one as it is struck by a plane after terrorists crashed planes into the buildings. Photo / AP
A former White House press secretary has revealed the horror he saw unfold on September 11, 2001, when a number of planes were steered into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, leaving almost 3000 dead.
Ari Fleischer, who was the press secretary for President George W Bush, has given a detailed account of the morning before. On Monday, he took to Twitter to commemorate the anniversary with new behind the scenes details again.
A mundane morning
He remembered waking up about 6am. He was running late that day but he wasn't scheduled to board the motorcade until 8am.
He remembers it being a gorgeous day in Florida, where he was with the President.
They were scheduled to talk about education at a local school in Sarasota.
"President Bush started his day with a run. He spotted a reporter, Dick Keil of Bloomberg, who was also a runner, and asked him to join him," Fleischer remembered.
"He then had his CIA briefing. The 2nd Intifada was underway so much of it was focused on the violence in the West Bank in Israel."
American Airlines flight 11 then left Logan Airport, headed for Los Angeles, with 92 people on board.
American Airlines flight 11 was hijacked at 8.46am and Fleischer received a page informing him the plane had flown into the World Trade Center, killing everybody on board and hundreds in the tower.
"Pagers were the fastest forms of instant messaging back then," he said.
"The page was sent to me by Brian Bravo, a young aide in the White House press office. He heard about it because a friend in New York City called him.
"There was no more information than that. We didn't know if it was an accident or something else."
Smoke pours off one of the towers of the World Trade Center as flames explode from the second one as it is struck by a plane after terrorists crashed planes into the buildings. Photo / AP
Former President Bush was shaking hands with school officials when Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, broke the news.
"(The President) immediately went into a 'holding room' to get information," Fleischer said.
"Everywhere the President of the United States goes, the military sets up a secure room with classified phones. I had never seen it used until that morning."
Bush spoke on the phone to Condoleezza Rice, the former United States Secretary of State, but nobody yet knew if the crash was terror related.
At 9.03am, the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, crashed into the south tower at the World Trade Center, killing every passenger on board and many in the tower.
America is under attack
President Bush was in a classroom listening to children read when Fleischer received a second page.
The former White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, then interrupted and told Bush "America is under attack".
"Bush remained in the room for a few minutes, 'listening' to the kids read, collecting his thoughts. The teacher and kids had no idea what was going on," Fleischer said.
"The President went back into the hold to work the phones, speaking with the Vice President, FBI Director, Condi (Rice) and others.
"A TV was brought into the room and the President of the United States watched replays of the planes hitting the towers."
Fleischer said about 9.30am, Bush spoke to teachers and children in the school gym. The secret service tried to rush him out of the school but he wanted to address America.
"Bush called it 'an apparent terrorist attack'. The press later faulted his remarks, saying he appeared unsteady," Fleischer said.
About 30 minutes later, the secret service received a call that informed them there were threats to the White House.
Ari Fleischer checks second page informing him of 9/11 attacks. Photo / Twitter
Bush then left the school. There was the limo that held the President of the United States but also a dummy limo, so people would not know exactly where he was.
American Airlines flight 77 circled towards the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney was ushered into a bunker.
The plane hit the Pentagon at 9.37am, killing 59 on the plane and 125 inside the Pentagon.
"The President was told about the attack on the Pentagon in his limo en route to Air Force One. I heard about it when I boarded the plane," Fleischer said.
White House staff had their luggage searched before they boarded the plane.
About 9.45am, all flights leaving and en route to the US were grounded. It was the first time it had happened in history. The United States Capitol and the White House were evacuated.
"White House aides were told by the United States Secret Service to run, not walk. Women were told to take off their heels and run," Fleischer said.
He stayed in the Air Force One cabin with Bush and took notes of what he did and said.
Bush then told the lead United States Secret Service agent, Eddie Marinzel, to protect his wife and daughters as he had not had a chance to contact them.
Smoke and debris erupt from the south tower of the World Trade Center as it explodes after two jets crashed into the buildings. Photo / AP
'We're going to take care of this'
Bush told Cheney: "Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. I heard about the Pentagon."
There were still three other planes missing and they braced themselves for more attacks.
About 10am, the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
"Bush turns to the staff with him and says 'we're at war. That's what we're paid for boys. We're going to take care of this. When we find out who did this, they're not going to like me as President. Somebody's going to pay'," Fleischer tweeted.
"We took off at an unusually sharp incline and way faster than normal. Air Force One pilot Mark Tillman later told me there was a report of a sniper."
However, the sniper was working for the White House and it was just one of many false alarms that day.
"We didn't have satellite TV on Air Force One. When we flew over major cities, the TV reception came in depending on strength of a broadcast tower," Fleischer said.
"As the reception would come and go, we could watch TV to get news of what was happening. It was frustrating. Air Force One now has satellite TV."
The north tower of the World Trade Center then collapsed just before 10.30am.
George Bush aboard the Air Force One, was not allowed to go back to Washington. Photo / Twitter
'Angel is next'
"The President of the United States was told of a call that came into the White House switchboard saying, 'Angel is next', Angel was the code word for Air Force One," Fleischer tweeted.
Flight 93 then crashed in Pennsylvania "near Camp David", about 160 kilometres away from them.
"Bush calls Cheney: 'We're at war Dick and we're going to find out who did this and we're going to kick their a**'."
There were concerns the attacks were an attempt to decapitate the government and an insider could be involved. The United States Secret Service refused to take Mr Bush back to Washington.
They landed in Louisiana and unloaded people who didn't need to be on the plane and picked up food. Nobody was to know they had landed there.
White House staff on Air Force One were then instructed to take Cipro, an antibiotic that fights bacteria in the body, in case they were victims of a biological attack.
Some White House staffers were given Cipro in case of a biological attack. Photo / Twitter
Media was told Bush would address them at the Barksdale Air Force Base, but they were told to keep the location a secret. Instead they broadcasted the plane landing at the destination.
Bush then called back Cheney and said "I think it's important for the people to see the government is functioning because the TV shows our nation has been blasted and bombed."
"Government is not chaotic. It's functioning smoothly, we're going to get the b**tards."
Bush was slammed for not returning to Washington and people demanded to know where he was. When the President finally returned to DC, Fleischer told Politico: "Out of the front left of the chopper, the president had a clear view of the Pentagon. The President said to nobody and everybody 'the mightiest building in the world is on fire. This is the face of war in the 21st Century'."
