A chunk of metal found wedged between an apartment building and a once controversial mosque site near the new World Trade Center is thought to be a piece of the landing gear from one of the planes used in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City that killed nearly 3,000 people, the worst attack on United States soil in history. Further testing will determine if the piece of equipment is from the American Airlines plane or the United Airlines plane that flew into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, which ultimately caused both buildings to collapse on that fateful day.
Either or, the find, while stirring up painful memories for some, is an incredibly important piece of history, not to mention a rather lucky one. The gear is clearly marked with the Boeing name, which is significant since the two planes used in the attack were Boeing 767s.
From CTV News…
A rusted 5-foot-tall piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the hijacked planes destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks has been discovered near the World Trade Center wedged between a luxury apartment building and a mosque site that once prompted virulent national debate about Islam and free speech.
The twisted metal part, jammed in an 18-inch-wide sliver of open space between the buildings, has cables and levers on it and is about 17 inches wide and 4 feet long, New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Friday.
“It’s a manifestation of a horrific terrorist act a block and a half away from where we stand,” he said. “So, sure, it brings back terrible memories to anyone who was here or who was involved in that event.”
“The odds of this being wedged between there is amazing,” Browne said, adding it was not surprising that it went undiscovered for more than a decade given the location. “It had to have fallen just the right way to make it into that space.”
Retrieval of the landing gear equipment is though to begin some time next week, possibly by Wednesday.
