Utah business leader shares firsthand 9/11 account 25 years later

SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Utah business leader is sharing a story he has kept private for a quarter century.

Gary Crittenden was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of American Express on Sept. 11, 2001. His office was in the American Express building across the street from the World Trade Center in New York City.

From the 51st floor, Crittenden watched as a passenger plane flew directly into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.

"It was a gorgeous day; it was absolutely beautiful," Crittenden recalled. "There was nothing unusual about the day whatsoever until 8:46 a.m."

At first, Crittenden said, he and others inside the building did not realize they were witnessing a deliberate terrorist attack.

"When we looked North, obviously, we saw a very large passenger plane flying right at the building and the passenger plane obviously flew into the North Tower," he said.

He remembers seeing the initial fireball after the plane struck the tower.

"One of the clearest memories I have … There was a fireball, obviously, when the plane hit the building, but then maybe for 15 or 20 seconds there weren't flames, and then flames started to kind of flicker out a little bit and then became very, very significant," he said.

"When the fireball itself happened, you could actually feel the heat of the fireball from across the street through the glass windows where we were sitting," Crittenden continued. "So it was very clear that something horrendous had happened."

Like many others watching the events unfold, Crittenden initially believed the crash was a terrible accident.

"As many other people thought that it was just some type of terrible accident — no idea that it was a terrorist attack," he said.

As the reality of what was happening became clear, Crittenden said CEO Kenneth Chenault moved quickly to order the evacuation of the American Express building, which had roughly 5,000 employees, a decision Crittenden believes likely spared many lives since the building was evacuated before the towers fell.

Crittenden said only he and three other co-workers remained when the South Tower collapsed. They were on the 47th floor.

"We suddenly felt this terrible swaying of the building; it was just terrifying," he recalled. "At the time, we thought that another plane had flown into this building, and what had really happened is the South Tower had collapsed."

Crittenden also witnessed some of the devastation and people emerging from the ash and debris.

He said the images of people fleeing the towers — and those who were trapped inside and jumped to their death— have stayed with him.

"How terrifying the fire must have been on the inside to have that be your best hope of survival," he said. "It took a long time to think that through and feel comfortable with what happened."

Among the memories that remain with him are those of the first responders who rushed toward the danger as others escaped.

"These firemen are amazing that they would actually run up the stairs at the same time everybody else is running down," Crittenden said. "It's simply incredible."

He also remembers the resilience of New Yorkers, business leaders and government officials, who returned to Lower Manhattan and rebuilt at Ground Zero.

Crittenden said it took tremendous courage for people who had lived through the attacks to return to work in high-rise buildings.

"Who said we are not going to be coward by this, we're gonna rebuild," he said. "It took a lot for individuals after they lived through that experience to go back down and actually press the button again to go to the top of a building."

For 25 years, Crittenden has kept his personal experience largely private.

"Because I actually saw firsthand the price that was paid by people," he said.

Now, with a generation of Americans too young to remember Sept. 11 firsthand, Crittenden believes it is important to share what he witnessed.

He hopes his story can become part of the collective memory of the attacks and honor the 2977 lives lost.

"To share what happened on that day and give honor to the people who were going to work, were just doing their job and didn't make it home," Crittenden said.

Looking back 25 years later, Crittenden said the legacy of 9/11 should not only be about the tragedy itself, but also about the unity Americans felt in its aftermath.

He hopes the country can hold onto that sense of compassion without needing another tragedy to bring people together.

"I would wish that we could all just kind of say, we can all be kind to each other even though we don't have a tragedy," Crittenden said.

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