9/11 transcripts

From the CNN article about the 9/11 NYC transcripts:

Early in the crisis, with only the North Tower on fire, the Port Authority advised occupants of the South Tower, WTC 2, to stay put, in keeping with emergency plans that called for evacuating only the building where a catastrophic incident was unfolding.

"Should we stay or should we not?" asked a caller from the 92nd floor of the South Tower.

"I would wait till further notice," an officer responded.

"We are up on the 87th floor. We're trying to figure out what's going on," asked another caller inside the South Tower.

"Just stand by. ... The incident happened at One World Trade Center. ... Just stand by," the caller was told.

Other callers inside WTC 2 were told to immediately evacuate, the transcripts show, before a second hijacked passenger jet crashed between its 78th and 84th floors at 9:03 a.m.

...Very few people working on floors above the point where the planes hit survived the intense fires or escaped before the towers collapsed.

"We're on the 90th floor of 2 World Trade," one caller said.

"No. 2?" said an officer.

"Yeah, and we're trapped. There's smoke. ..."

"All right, as soon as possible."

"Yes, please. People are panicking."

Among the most devastated places was the Windows on the World restaurant atop the North Tower.

"We're getting no direction up here. We're having a smoke condition. We have most people on the 106th floor, the 107th floor is way too smoky," said Christine Olender, the restaurant's assistant general manager.

"We need direction as to where we need to direct our guests and our employees, as soon as possible."

"We're doing our best. We've got the fire department, everybody. We're trying to get up to you, dear," an officer told her.

This could be a problem. Perhaps why the City didn't want to release the transcripts. Obviously, one can't plan for every emergency, but it does seem very strange that people in the second tower were told to stay put after the first was hit - if that's an emergency plan, I expect it's been changed since 9/11.

More to the point, though, if it turns out to be true that government people were aware of just such a threat before it happened (and it sure looks that way - I'm certainly convinced), then this is more than just an error in judgment.