# Falling debris from 9/11 WTC crashes: casualties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260 "2006-06-11T01:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/1 "2006-06-11T01:56:22Z")
Videos of the airplanes striking the World Trade Center buildings show a lot of debris falling after the explosions. Did this falling debris cause any injuries or deaths to people on the ground at the time? Note that I’m talking only about the period immediately after the airplane crashes, not when the buildings themselves collapsed. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/2 "2006-06-11T10:22:35Z")
I don’t know the exact time after the crashes that this happened, but the Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York, Dr. Charles Hirsch, went down to the site, and was hit and injured by falling debris. I believe he was hospitalized for a short time - recollection not as certain on this part. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/3 "2006-06-11T15:05:36Z")
FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed by either falling debris or a jumper. His death was listed as the ‘first’ of the disaster by the ME’s office. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/4 "2006-06-11T15:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed by either falling debris or a jumper. His death was listed as the ‘first’ of the disaster by the ME’s office. [/QUOTE] I’ve read the complete report of some american commission scrutinizing the event or more precisely the actions of the emergency services. If I remember correctly, a number of deaths from falling debris and maybe jumping people were mentionned. However, this rather happened later, soon before the buildings would collapse, in particular. It seems you’re refering to one such instance here, while the OP seems to be asking about people being killed by debris just when the planes hit the towers. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/5 "2006-06-11T16:14:12Z")
I remember reading in the _Times_ about a woman who was recovering from very severe injuries and burns from falling debris, and I assume she was one of many, when you see how much was coming down. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/6 "2006-06-11T17:04:58Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed by either falling debris or a jumper. His death was listed as the ‘first’ of the disaster by the ME’s office. [/QUOTE] It was my understanding that Father Judge was inside a tower at the time of his injury and death. Isn’t that how the Gaudets got footage of him? ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/7 "2006-06-11T17:18:22Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] It was my understanding that Father Judge was inside a tower at the time of his injury and death. Isn’t that how the Gaudets got footage of him? [/QUOTE] I would think that he had to be outside the bldg. when he was killed, or the FDNY wouldn’t have had the opportunity to carry his body across to the church, which I believe they did. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/8 "2006-06-11T17:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] It was my understanding that Father Judge was inside a tower at the time of his injury and death. Isn’t that how the Gaudets got footage of him? [/QUOTE] I didn’t know that his death had been filmed. As I had always heard the story, he was giving last rites to a dying man in the street when he was struck by falling debris. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/9 "2006-06-11T17:48:04Z")
I may very well be mis-remembering. One of the Gaudet brothers was inside a tower when things started going very badly. Fr. Judge’s death was not caught on film, but his removal from the area was. And there was still lots of movement by FDNY personnel on the ground, even after the fall of each tower. Like I said, I am probably relying on faulty memory… ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/10 "2006-06-11T22:07:58Z")
I seem to remember that a person (a woman, I believe) was seriously hurt some distance away from the towers themselves when she was struck by a piece of one of the jets (I’m thinking it was either a substantial piece of landing gear assembly or engine) that traveled all the through the building and landed on the street near where she happened to be walking. Unfortunately, most of my searches trying to pin down her name and whether or not she was killed or not turned up only conspiracy theory type sites. Maybe this will jog the memory of someone with better Google-fu than I… ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/11 "2006-06-11T22:35:33Z")
There were two fatalities in the adjoining hotel, the WTC Mariott, which were a result of debris from the plane impact. I do not know if the deaths were caused by the falling debris itself, or the fire that immediately followed. The building was evacuated immediately after the first plane struck, and destroyed when the south tower collapsed. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/12 "2006-06-11T23:22:42Z")
[QUOTE=fiddlesticks] I seem to remember that a person (a woman, I believe) was seriously hurt some distance away from the towers themselves when she was struck by a piece of one of the jets (I’m thinking it was either a substantial piece of landing gear assembly or engine) that traveled all the through the building and landed on the street near where she happened to be walking. Unfortunately, most of my searches trying to pin down her name and whether or not she was killed or not turned up only conspiracy theory type sites. Maybe this will jog the memory of someone with better Google-fu than I… [/QUOTE] i remember the people mag. article about her. her leg was badly injured by the plane part. i believe it was a piece of the landing gear. they did get her leg put back together. there was a fireman who was killed by a falling person. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/13 "2006-06-12T00:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed by either falling debris or a jumper. His death was listed as the ‘first’ of the disaster by the ME’s office. [/QUOTE] This listing is almost certainly **not accurate** , if they mean to indicate that he was the first death to occur. For instance, all the people on the planes, and those on the floors that were actually struck by the planes were dead before Father Judge ever arrived on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/14 "2006-06-12T01:28:16Z")
He’s considered the first victim (his tag reading 0001) because he’s the first recorded fatality. His body got to the morgue first. Everyone understands he wasn’t the first person killed in the events. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/15 "2006-06-12T03:22:42Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] He’s considered the first victim (his tag reading 0001) because he’s the first recorded fatality. His body got to the morgue first. Everyone understands he wasn’t the first person killed in the events. [/QUOTE] Which is why I deliberately used single quote marks around the word _first_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-debris-from-9-11-wtc-crashes-casualties/360260/16 "2006-06-13T06:55:05Z")
I think the woman who was badly burned (if we’re talking about the same person), was burned by jet fuel that came down an elevator shaft. She was inside the building.