9/11 Survivor Describes Falling 22 Stories

Pasquale Buzzelli, known as the ‘9/11 surfer’, survived the terrorist attacks as the North Tower collapsed

9/11 survivor describes the feeling of falling 22 stories as building collapsed

BY Gregory Robinson

It is a miracle the name Pasquale Buzzelli is not among the fallen on the 9/11 memorial. Buzzelli’s survival story is the stuff of urban legend. Now, at last, the full story of “The 9/11 Surfer” is being told by the man who lived it. Buzzelli, a structural engineer, was on the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the planes hit 11 years ago. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe this is how I’m going to die. Please God, make it quick.’”

He and his colleagues were making their way down the stairs when suddenly, it happened. “When I reached the 22nd floor, that’s when I felt the building start to vibrate. Everything started to shake. People were screaming. I dove to the next landing and braced myself in a fetal position. His wife, Louise, was pregnant with their first child when she was watching the disaster on TV, fearing the worst. “I was screaming, ‘No, no! God, please don’t let him suffer!’ I’m thinking, ‘I’m a widow. This baby will never see her father!’”

But fate had other plans for Buzzelli. Incredibly, he had surfed nearly 200 feet aboard a slab of concrete. While riding in an ambulance, Buzzelli borrowed a cell phone to call his wife. A home video showed Buzzelli’s return home that same night. He hugged Louise and struggled to get out of the car with his broken foot.

The Buzzellis are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, Hope and Mia. They’re telling their story in a new book, We All Fall Down, Amazon.com: We All Fall Down: The True Story of the 9/11 Surfer eBook and a Discovery Channel documentary, The 9/11 Surfer.

It’s an incredible story, but to some, a bit too incredible.
A man who survived the 9/11 attacks has described his incredible survival story in a powerful interview.

Pasquale Buzzelli, who became known as the ‘9/11 surfer’, arrived at work on the morning of 11 September, 2001 in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when a plane struck the building.

Buzzelli, like the rest of the world, had no idea of the horror that would unfold that fateful Tuesday, or how he would become one of the survivors.

He sat down with internet personality Joe Budden to speak about his miraculous survival story.

He worked on the 64^th floor and the first sign of trouble came when he rode the elevator up to work but felt the structure drop several feet.
Once he arrived at his desk, Buzzelli called his wife, Louise, and asked her to turn the TV on to see what was wrong. Louise was horrified when she saw reports about a plane flying into the North Tower.

Pasquale Buzzelli remembered hearing the upper floors ‘pancaking’ as they collapsed.

With his fellow office workers, Buzzelli attempted to escape through a stairwell.

By the time they reached the 22nd floor, the building had started to rumble and shake and a ‘tremendous pounding noise’ compared to the sound of a freight train.
All Buzzelli had was a briefcase as the building continued shaking. Fearing that debris was about to fall through the staircase, Buzzelli made a leap of faith.

He explained: “I look back and I dove from basically the middle of [the] stairs.

“I just took a couple of steps and I jumped and I landed on that intermittent platform landing and I just put myself right into the corner and I curled up and tried to make myself as small as possible in the corner there thinking whatever’s falling through, there was nothing to protect me other than the floor below me and the two walls that I can get into a corner on, so I just kind of curled up.

‘Better safe than sorry’: Munich Oktoberfest temporarily shuts after explosion – Search

Buzzelli thought he was about to die. Joe Budden TV/YouTube

The ‘freight train’ sound was the noise of the floors from above collapsing and ‘pancaking’.

When Buzzelli felt the wall next to him ‘crack’ and the ‘floor start to give’ his thoughts turned to his wife and daughter.

“I can’t believe this is how I die,” he remembered thinking as he fell while on a slab of concrete he ‘surfed’ as the building collapsed.

“I’m on this sub but it broke away and I’m kind of like free falling, getting knocked around, getting hit… I see flashes of light from getting hit in the head, you know, some even say you see stars.”

Play 9/11 Survivor Describes Falling 22 Stories
“I was getting knocked around in the head, my back. I just stayed tucked in. This is all happening quickly. All those thoughts are going through my head and then I see one big boom. Flash,” he added. Buzzelli lost 14 colleagues who were with him when the tower collapsed. He described feeling a sense of guilt after he made it out of the tower with a broken leg and ankle. The horrendous terrorist attacks in New York City claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

The city was forever changed and life shifted drastically for those who survived.Rare Footage From 9/11 Has Just Appeared Online

The clip provides a harrowing insight into what happened on the day of one of the world’s deadliest terrorist attacks

Emily Puckering

Warning: Contains Footage Some Readers May Find Upsetting

A never before seen video showing the second plane hitting the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 has just been uploaded online and it provides a horrifying angle of the devastating attack that many have been yet to witness.

Take a look below:

It has been more than 20 years since one of the world’s deadliest terrorist attacks took place in New York City and still, to this very day, haunting details of the attack that killed almost 3,000 people continue to reveal themselves.

And this new video is no exception.

Uploaded on YouTube on 24 February by user Kevin Westley, the 9 minute clip shows the horrifying moment the second hijacked plane – United Airlines flight 175 – struck the World Trade Center’s South Tower, seventeen minutes after the North Tower was hit by American Airlines flight 11.

The person filming appears to have been standing amongst a stunned crowd at the water’s edge in central New York City and gasps can be heard, as the second plane appears as if out of nowhere.

When the plane crashes into the tower, causing a huge fireball, the crowd is heard screaming and someone says: “Did you see that? He did it on purpose!”

The never before seen clip reveals a horrifying angle of the events of September 11.
YouTube/Kevin Westley

Since the shocking video was uploaded, it has been viewed more than 200,000 times and people have had a lot to say about it.

“I’ve never seen this. Hopefully this video won’t get taken off. The fact you captured this happening is so surreal,” one person commented.

“This video is incredible. It doesn’t zoom in on the 2nd plane. It’s like you’re there,” another said, while someone else pointed out: “It’s so bizarre to see a new angle of something traumatic and disastrous that you’ve seen so many times before so many years later.”

But many have been left feeling suspicious as to why the uploader has waited over two decades to release the footage, with one user asking: “Why did it take Kevin over 20 years to upload the best quality video of the 9-11 attacks?”

Last year saw the 20th anniversary of 9/11 arrive, and millions around the world came together to remember the 2,977 people who tragically lost their lives on that fateful day.

This includes Mercedes Martinez, who took to Twitter in a bid to track down the seven people her ‘hero’ dad helped on that very day.

Mercedes Martinez @MercedesLVHost

@mercedesintheam and Assistant Music Director on

@mix941 | TV Host

Did my dad help you on September 11, 2001?

If so, I’m trying to find you. (a thread) On September 11th, 2001, my dad caught a flight in Ohio to fly home to Denver. He was there on business and was anxious to get home to see his family. (1/11)

11:00 PM · Sep 9, 2021

Mercedes Martinez on X: “Did my dad help you on September 11, 2001? If so, I’m trying to find you. (a thread) On September 11th, 2001 my dad caught a flight in Ohio to fly home to Denver. He was there on business and was anxious to get home to see his family. (1/11)” / X
Did my dad help you on September 11, 2001? If so, I’m trying to find you. (a thread)

Radio host Mercedes said her dad was flying from Ohio home to Denver when the pilot announced there had been a security breach and the plane needed to be grounded.

Aware something was wrong, Mercedes’ dad hired a rental van before the plane had even landed and after disembarking and catching wind of what was going on, he rustled up a DIY sign saying: “Going to Denver.”

He quickly filled the van with ‘scared’ strangers and drove from Omaha to Denver (more than 250 miles). Each passenger was dropped right at their door, and he declined money for fuel or the cost of renting the van.

Her father stayed in touch with a number of those strangers, but he sadly died of brain cancer in 2016 and Mercedes wanted to track down the rest of them in aid of the 20th anniversary. 9/11: Inside The Twin Towers | Full Documentary | 2006 | AI Enhanced/60FPS