Rare footage of 9/11 from helicopter people have ‘never seen’ shows horrific new angle of terror attack

A newly resurfaced video showing the Twin Towers from a police helicopter during the 9/11 attacks has left people shocked and deeply moved. Many online say they’ve never seen this angle before, even though they’ve watched a lot of 9/11 footage over the years.

Although the attacks happened more than 20 years ago, the memories remain powerful and painful. On that tragic day in 2001, four planes were hijacked in a coordinated terrorist plot by the extremist group Al-Qaeda. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, one hit the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed and thousands more injured, making it the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history.

Most people are familiar with the well-known images and videos from that day. But this helicopter footage, taken by the NYPD and released a decade later in 2011, offers a rare and haunting view. It shows the towers after they were hit but before they fell. The helicopter gets frighteningly close to the buildings, and viewers can see the smoke pouring into the sky from above—a perspective not commonly seen because civilian aircraft and news helicopters were grounded after the attacks began.

This footage was handed over to the National Institute of Standards and Technology during their investigation into why the buildings collapsed. It was also shown in the 2021 National Geographic documentary *9/11: One Day in America*.

Now that it’s been shared widely on social media, many people are reacting with disbelief. One person who was in New York on the day of the attacks wrote that they had seen nearly everything available over the years, but never this. Another commented that they’ve watched countless 9/11 videos on YouTube but had never seen anything quite like this view from the sky. Others echoed the same feeling—surprise at seeing something new about a day that changed history so dramatically.

The video captures the moment the first tower fell, and the voices of the police officers inside the helicopter reflect their shock and fear. You can hear their concern that the second tower might collapse as well, adding to the emotional intensity of the footage.

For many, this video has reopened old wounds, but it also adds to our understanding of just how devastating and surreal that day was. It serves as another powerful reminder of the tragedy and the heroism witnessed on September 11, 2001.