NYC Releases 9/11 WTC Emergency Calls

People run from the collapse of World Trade Center Tower in this file photo of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, in New York. New York City is scheduled to release phone calls Friday, March 31, 2006, made during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, from 28 people trapped in the burning towers to the emergency 911 phone number. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett, File) (Suzanne Plunkett - AP)

NEW YORK -- City 911 operators caught up in the chaos of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks offered calm compassion but little help to callers trapped in the doomed World Trade Center, partial transcripts of several calls released Friday show.

"The Fire Department, EMS, is crawling all over the place," a fire department operator assures a caller who is trapped with more than 100 people the 106th floor. "They're trying to help everybody as much as they can, OK?"

The call came in at 9:10 a.m, seven minutes after the second plane hit. The tower collapsed 49 minutes later.

The words of the operators _ but not the callers _ were released after The New York Times and a group of victims' relatives sued to get them. An appeals court ruled last year that families should have the option to release the tapes made by 28 callers who could be identified.

The Times and family members hoped the audiotaped calls would reveal details of what happened inside the towers and whether 911 operators misdirected the victims. The Sept. 11 commission had concluded in 2004 that many operators didn't know enough about the attacks to give the best information to those trapped.

The tapes reflect the chaos amid the attacks that killed 2,749 people.

One fire department operator mentions problems with the computer crashing. Another exchange between police and fire operators indicates frustration in trying to deal with a once-unimaginable situation.

Even with the callers' words redacted from the tapes, their desperation is evident in the heavy breathing audible as operators respond to their frenzied calls.

"I'm still here," an operator tells one caller trapped on the 105th floor. "The Fire Department is trying to get to you. OK, try to calm down."

A police operator says a caller from a downtown business "states that on the northwest side (of the trade center), there's a woman hanging from _ an unidentified person hanging from the top of the building."

"Alright, we have quite a few calls," responds a fire operator.

"I know," says the police operator. "Jesus Christ."