NIST incorrectly attributed this video to CBS News. Interestingly, this same camera was incorrectly described as a helicopter camera (see V8) in the NIST airplane impact study… probably because it was zoomed in to show only the towers at the time of impact (9:03 AM). The camera was, in fact, on top of the 70-storey GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Center, which became an observation deck/tourist attraction – “Top of the Rock” – in 2005. The building is home to most of NBC’s New York studios.
NBC had this camera trained on Ground Zero at varying levels of zoom in the hour(s) previous to Building 7’s “collapse.” It was leaning all day. Despite the fact that NBC had captured two videos of the WTC 7 “collapse” (not counting MSNBC), the network did not show the footage for hours. The clip is usually seen as broadcast on BBC (See its first airing at 5:38 PM on 9/11, for example). I just scanned the NBC4 Washington TV archive up through 8:26 PM before finding any WTC 7 footage— MSNBC LIVE (see above). Next, I found a short airing of the CBS GM Building Cam footage at 9:16 PM. Then finally “PAX-TV NBC” aired once at 11:57 PM. I gave up trying to find this particular (leaning) footage in the available NBC archive. I did see Palestinians “celebrating” twice and Bin Laden a few times….
One fascinating quality of this footage (and the CBS Building Cam) is the changing reflection in the windows that reveals Penthouse Free Fall within the building (or at least a speed too close to free fall acceleration).
Raw NIST Cumulus files: CBS-Net Dub5 24 and CBS-Net Dub6 48 (which explains why NIST attributed the video to CBS. Another example of this happening is in WTC 1 demolition file CBS-Net Dub7 22, which is an NBC crew with Pat Dawson, who can be heard right beside the camera after the shot.) UPDATE: High quality, extended length mpeg-2 found in release 25, folder 42A0122 – G25D33 at 24:49.
NBC Leaning Cam (WNBC)
YouTube 1, 2 & 3
