ECO-TERRORES
9/11 Tape Raised Added Questions on Radio Failures: For much of the last year, New York City has said the devastating breakdown in fire communications at the World Trade Center was largely caused by the failure of an electronic device in the complex called a repeater, which was designed to boost radio transmissions in high rise buildings.
Now, however, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's analysis of its 78-minute tape of firefighter communications from Sept. 11 flatly contradicts the city's version of what went wrong. It also raises questions about the thoroughness of the city's investigations into the worst loss of life any fire department has ever experienced — 343 men.
If the Port Authority's position is correct, it raises the possibility that different factors — failure of other equipment, design of communications consoles in the tower lobbies, or a simple mistake made at a moment of high stress — might have accounted for the communications breakdowns. Many firefighters believe those breakdowns contributed to the department's staggering losses.