Report exonerates radios in 911 deaths

The New York Daily News says that commercial repeaters blamed for failing to provide adequate communication among police and firefighters in the twin towers on 911 did not malfunction. But the evacuation was still slowed by faulty use of the equipment, according to a federal report. Amateur Radio Newsline's Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, has more:

The findings came after a 2 1/2-year probe by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The institute began its investigation following an outcry from victims' families, many of whom blamed repeaters in the north towers harming communication between police and firefighters, causing the deaths of their loved ones.

But the Institute now say that the repeater was not even used. Their Investigators believe that commanders in the lobby mistakenly thought the repeater was broken after they couldn't hear signals clearly. The investigators say the problem may have been caused by a broken earpiece or the volume being turned down too low on emergency service personnel's radios.

The report will be used to make recommendations for revised building and fire codes and evacuation procedures. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had not studied the findings but suggested the city's emergency radio system had improved dramatically since 911.

But Sally Regenhard, co-chairman of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, criticized the probe. She says that it is very clear that the radio system failed those attempting to use it in the emergency. She notes that there are already numerous experts who take issue with the findings of this draft report. And Shyam Sunder, a lead investigator admits without directly blaming the radios that a lack of timely information
sharing and inadequate communications capabilities likely contributed to the loss of emergency responder lives.

Federal investigators will issue a final report in June after six weeks of public comment. We will have a follow-up once its made public.

Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, Amateur Radio Newsline, in New York

While many radio systems and the cellular telephones in New York City were knocked out as a result of the 911
Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, the local Amateur Radio community was prepared. Because of years of volunteer training, hams were on the scene almost immediately. They risked their lives to provide a communications network for police, fire and rescue services that had no other way to communicate.

(Adapted from the Daily News and other published news reports)

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