Orange man sees tower on fire
Kenneth Clark watched tower burn from his airplane window
Twenty-one years ago Ken Clark, went to New York to visit the city and be the typical tourist. He spent time at the top of the World Trade Center and took what he hoped would be fabulous photographs. An error in the photo processing, however, left him photo-less; no one picture from his adventure to the World Trade Center had come out.
Annoyed and frustrated, Clark vowed to some day go back and retake those lost photographs.
Two weekends ago, Clark, Orange County Historical Society administrator, went back to New York and on Sunday, September 9th, he again ascended to the top of the World Trade Center.
"Sunday afternoon I went to the top of the World Trade Center to get those photographs and fulfill that mission. Little did I know that 38 hours later it wouldn't be there anymore," Clark said.
Clark was supposed to leave New York on Monday night but because of bad weather, his flight was delayed until the next morning.
At 8:20 a.m. Tuesday morning Clark, boarded a USAir plane at LaGuardia airport. About 20 minutes later, Clark realized that he had a "beautiful view of the New York skyline" from his window seat, so he reached for his camera and began taking photos. At about this time, Clark and other passengers noticed what he described as "a fairly small amount of smoke coming from the World Trade Center."
I thought it was a steam vent that had burst or maybe even a fire in one of the offices near the top of the building. Either way, a fire at the top of the World Trade Center would be historic and as a historian it was important to me that I get it on film," Clark said.
He and his other flight mates asked the flight attendant if she knew anything about the fire that appeared to be coming from the World Trade Center, but she said she knew nothing about it.
It was small when we saw it, that's why we thought it was just one office We didn't think it was anywhere near as major as it turned out to be, " Clark said.
Later on in the flight, Clark noticed the flight attendant receive a call from the cockpit that left her "very surprised."
"We had just started to fly over Eastern Orange County, I knew that because I could see Lake of the Woods. The flight attendant looked concerned and seconds later we were all asked to put on our seat belts," Clark said.
He noted that it seemed early to put seat belts on since the plane was still at least 30 miles outside of Charlottesville., it's arrival destination.
At 9:55 a.m. Clark's plane touched down at the Charlottesville airport, a place he described as "virtually deserted."
"The pilot parked about 25 yards from the gate and then he updated us in the events that had taken place while we were in flight," Clark said.
He was shocked to learn that what he had seen out the airplane was a terrorist attack on the United States. He also learned that he had flown over the recently damaged Pentagon on the way back to Charlottesville with noticing it.
After that briefing, Clark said he and the other passengers left the airplane and rushed to meet their friends and family.
"We all walked quickly into the airport, looked at the news, and tried to call friends," Clark said.
"I couldn't get a line to New York to get in touch with the friends I had just left. The finally reached me on my cell phone and they were very scared too," he continued.
When Clark finished the retelling of his story, he paused thought for a minute, and said, "It was an interesting flight."
"I feel very lucky. My heart goes out to those I saw on Sunday at the top of the World Trade Center. Ther is no way they can be alive, unless it was their day off. Even so, they are now out of a job," Clark said.
"The thought of a plane having hit the tower never crossed our minds. We didn't discuss it much more after we were out of sight," Clark said.
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