Second Wtc Plane Was Traveling Faster Saturday February 23, 2002 8:10 PM NEW YORK (AP) - Researchers believe the second hijacked plane to hit the World Trade Center tower was traveling about 100 mph faster than the first, according to a published report. Investigators are focusing on the speed of the two planes as they seek to explain what caused the south tower to collapse first, even though it was hit later, The New York Times reported Saturday. Researchers have closely studied videos, sound recordings and radar to estimate how fast the two jetliners were moving. Studies show that both planes were traveling well over the federal limits for altitudes below 10,000 feet, The Times said. The second plane was flying so fast that it was in danger of breaking up in the air as it approached the south tower, Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier told the Times. ``These guys exceeded even the emergency dive speed,'' Verdier said. ``It's off the chart.'' Two studies have analyzed the speed of the planes, one by the Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the National Transportation Safety Board and the other by Eduardo Kausel, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both found that United Airlines Flight 175, which hit the south tower at 9:02 a.m., was traveling significantly faster than American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the north tower at approximately 8:46 a.m. The government's calculations put the speed of the first plane at 494 mph, and the second at 586 mph. The MIT analysis determined the first plane was traveling 429 mph, and the second 537 mph, The Times said. The south tower collapsed 56 minutes after the crash. The north tower stood for 102 minutes. Structural engineers have not determined to what extent the speed of the planes affected how long the buildings stood. They are studying many factors, including the point at which each tower was hit. The south tower was hit between the 78th and 84th floors, while the north tower was struck between the 94th and 99th floors, meaning more weight bore down on the damaged floors in the south tower, The Times said. Giuliani accused of using September 11 to aid party Oliver Burkeman in New York Saturday February 23, 2002 The Guardian Relatives and colleagues of the World Trade Centre victims have condemned New York's former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, for agreeing to speak at a $2,000 (£1,400) a head fundraising gala for the Republican party, which they say exploits the memory of September 11. The dinner, on March 5 at the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC, will be entitled A Tribute to America's Heroes - but its purpose is to raise at least $5.5m for the national Republican congressional committee through the sale of more than 2,000 tickets. Jack Ginty, the vice-president of New York's uniformed fire officers' association, called the event "a misuse". "Giuliani is a hero for what he did for this city, but I don't want people trading on that," he said yesterday. "They're trading on an event in which we lost 343 men." Mike Cartier, of the relatives' group Give Your Voice, told the New York Post it was "a shame that people are using September 11 for an underhanded reason, to propagate their own agenda." The Republican party professed surprise, arguing that "America's Heroes" were many and various. "Are you telling me that Giuliani isn't one of America's heroes for what he's been doing for years as mayor?" the Republican party spokesman, Carl Forti, said. "For someone to just assume that this is in any way related to the events of 9-11 is absolutely outrageous and ridiculous. Associated Press 23 February 2002 By Richard Pyle Associated Press Writer No Sign of Flight Recorders in World Trade Center Debris NEW YORK (AP) - Two bright orange metal boxes and a third - now bent and burned a dull brown - sit in a tent at the Staten Island landfill where workers sort debris from the fallen World Trade Center. They're intended to help workers recognize what may be left of the voice and data recorders aboard the two hijacked jetliners that hit the twin towers Sept. 11. But the four devices - and all the clues they would hold - have failed to turn up in the 1.25 million tons of steel, concrete and other material taken from ground zero. FBI investigators would be particularly interested in the voice recorders, containing the cockpit noise after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 left Boston's Logan International Airport. Engineers studying how the towers collapsed could also draw crucial information from the data recorders, which show the plane's speed and altitude. The New York Times reported Saturday that engineers estimate United 175 was traveling as fast as 586 mph when it struck the south tower. The size of a shoe box and painted bright orange, the recorders are built to withstand fire, water and blunt-force impact, and are located in the tail for maximum protection. But the attacks were an unprecedented survival test for the misnamed "black boxes." "So little (airplane) debris has been recovered that there's really no way to quantify it", FBI spokesman Joseph Valiquette said. "We don't know what was said in the cockpits, by the crew members or by the hijackers. Is there language implicating other individuals who might have been involved ? Is al-Qaida mentioned ? "