Rare Aerial Photos of 9/11 Attacks in New York City as Seen From Other Planes

The September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City were not only witnessed on the ground, but also by pilots and passengers in other planes flying near the city that morning.

Many commercial flights approaching or departing from JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark had clear views of Lower Manhattan. Pilots reported seeing smoke trailing from the North Tower after Flight 11 struck at 8:46 a.m. By the time Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., several aircraft in the holding patterns near New York’s busy airspace witnessed the explosion and relayed what they saw to air traffic controllers.

The smoke column from the Twin Towers could be seen as far as 50 miles away, so nearly every plane over New Jersey, Long Island, or descending into NYC airspace had a view.

Some aerial photographs of the attacks taken by passenger Steve Schwardon while on a Delta Airlines flight, which landed in Providence, Rhode Island. He recalled:

“On September the 11th, I was on final approach to Laguardia on a Delta flight from Orlando when my friend noticed smoke coming from the Manhattan skyline. As we approached, we quickly realized that smoke was coming from each of the World Trade Center towers. This was a gut-wrenching, terrible feeling, knowing there was no logical reason for each tower to be on fire unless some act of terrorism had taken place. 

“Everybody on the half-empty flight began to speculate. The captain came on the cabin speakers and acknowledged that something was happening at the World Trade Center, and that we were being rerouted to Boston. 

“At some point I heard another passenger who had called someone on the Airfone say that planes had hit the towers, and that the Pentagon had been hit as well. The captain came on again and said we were being rerouted again, now to Providence. It seemed like we were on the ground in seconds.”

As U.S. airspace shut down at 9:45 a.m., hundreds of flights were ordered to land immediately. Many passengers later recalled seeing the towers burning or collapsing from their windows before their planes diverted.