Ground Zero: six months on

On 11 September 2001, I boarded United Airlines flight 905 for New York, at the start of what should have been a two-week holiday in New York and New England. This was not to be: even before the plane had left the ground, events had happened at one of the sights on my itinerary which would ensure that I would not be reaching my destination that day. Some six months later I boarded flight UA905 again, and this time the flight was entirely without incident. One of the first places I visited was the downtown Manhattan site now known as "Ground Zero".

View from Ellis Island, showing the gaping hole in the skyline between the World Financial Center and the Woolworth Tower

Southwest corner of the site, from the viewing platform above Church Street

Close-up of the Deutsche Bank building. This stood across the street from the South Tower, and is one of the most severely damaged buildings still standing.

Northwest corner of the site, with the towers of the World Financial Center

The ruined Winter Gardens, World Financial Center

Barclay-Vesey (New York Telephone Company) Building, Vesey Stret

The view north along West Street, with the walkway which led to the Marriott Hotel.

Statue on Fulton Street

Temporary memorials at the viewing platform