At 10:48 AM 09/11/2001 -0400, Greg Newby wrote:

Everything's just slashdotted. Forget the Internet, this is television's game, or try the radio (shortwave or domestic).

even Akamai is slashdotted.... Here's the SF article printer-friendly version; sorry about the formatting. Planes crash into World Trade Center, creating horrifying scene; no word on casualties Tuesday, September 11, 2001 )2001 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2001/09/11/nationa... (09-11) 06:39 PDT (AP) -- AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in what the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack, blasting fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story buildings. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries. The president ordered a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who committed this act" The twin disasters which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m. In Washington, officials said the FBI was investigating reports of a plane hijacking before the crashes. Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the 110-story twin towers, one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower. "Today we've had a national tragedy," Bush said. He called it "an apparent terrorist attack." Ira Furber, former NTSB spokesman, discounted likelihood of accident. "I don't think this is an accident," he said on CNN. "You've got incredibly good visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment." "It's just not possible in the daytime," he added. "A second occurrence is just beyond belief." The towers were struck by terrorist bombers in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. All New York City-area airports were shut down, and several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall Street was suspended. "The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle," said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported. "I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom," Jeanne Yurman told CNN. "The side of the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire." Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and that the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission. The source stressed that the reports are preliminary and officials do not know the cause of the crashes. "It certainly doesn't look like an accident," said a second government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog. In Sarasota, Fla., Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later. )2001 Associated Press

OK, here's what's going on ... in NYC: two separate planes collided into each of the WTC towers @8:30 this morning. Each tower eventually collapsed. Seems very few people made it out from the top 40 floors of each building. It turned out that the planes where hijacked ... in DC: a plane crashed into or next to the Pentagon. a bomb of some sort went of next to the Old Executive part of the White House, and it now seems another bomb went off at the State Department. They have locked down NYC (no in-no out), evacuated the UN and subways are closed. In DC they are evacuating all Federal buildings (in NY, most where in the WTC), the pentagon, etc. and they are trying to get people to leave the Mall. At present they have also stopped all airline traffic in the US, however there are anywhere from 5-to-8 planes that are unaccounted for and there is a standby concerning whether they are looking for targets or simply mid-flight and need a place to land. There was just a crash in Pennsylvania and no one knows whether it was related to the attacks or not. That's about all I know ... hope this helps, elyn

Bill Stewart wrote:

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At 10:22 AM 09/11/2001 -0400, Seth Finkelstein wrote:

...

"Warren E. Agin"

...

I've been trying to get on a newsite, but abc.com, abcnews.com, nbc.com, msnbc.com, cbs.com, foxnews.com and boston.com are all

having

...

...

...

problems. Yahoo and MSN are up.

I can attest that boston.com is functioning in Boston. Can't say if you could reach it from another part of the country.

...

I wonder if the problem is just server overload, or something else.

There seems to be some major links out of action. I can't traceroute to cnn.com, for example. I *speculate* it's collateral damage from the explosions in Manhattan. That is, I sure wouldn't hang around to keep computer working in this situation.

Highly unlikely to be physical damage; it's just slashdotted because everybody with an internet connection tried it first. The San Francisco Chronicle is still working because it's early morning on the West Coast; they're sfgate.com, picture on the front page, and the AP story is at

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2001/09/11/nationa l0920EDT0530.DTL

Yep, just a flash crowd. The BBC web site is all but unobtainable. Transatlantic data traffic is slow, but flowing.

If you are in Manhattan YMMV.

Ken