Above the 92nd Floor

American Airlines Flight 11, scheduled Boston to Los Angeles, took off from Logan Airport at 7:59am on September 11, 2001. Its flight path was due west.

About the same time, 44-year-old Obdulio Ruiz-Diaz arrived at One World Trade Center along with two coworkers, 43-year-old Manuel Da Mota and 37-year-old Joshua Poptean. The three men then took the minutes-long elevator trip to the Windows of the World restaurant on the 107th floor. Representing Bronx Builders, a woodworking and renovation company, Ruiz-Diaz, Da Mota and Poptean commenced planning and scheduling a remodeling project for one of the bars in the restaurant.

  
Obdulio Ruiz-Diaz, Manuel Da Mota, and Joshua Poptean

At 8:20am, Flight 11's pilots stopped transmitting a transponder signal and turned the plane northward, a dramatic change from the intended heading. Although the pilots had not actuated a distress call, controllers concluded Flight 11 had likely been hijacked.

At 8:28am, the controllers' traffic screens displayed Flight 11 making a 100 degree turn to the south.

Meanwhile, Obdulio, Manuel and Joshua concentrated on their job planning efforts. They discussed the client's desired results, took measurements, and identified necessary materials and equipment for the renovation project.

At 8:46am, traveling at 490 miles per hour, American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 carrying thousands of pounds of jet fuel, crashed into One World Trade Center between the 94th and 98th floors. The resultant fire and collapse of the building killed Obdulio Ruiz-Diaz and his coworkers. Their deaths have been confirmed by the coroner's office.

Obdulio Ruiz-Diaz, Manuel Da Mota and Joshua Poptean were targeted for murder, not by name, but by the fact that they were human beings in America. The Islamofascists didn't care who they murdered just as long as the body count was high. Approximately 3,000 people were murdered on September 11, 2001. Everyone above the 92nd floor of the North Tower, 1360 people, died. Obdulio, Manuel, and Joshua were three of them.

We won't forget you.

Link: 2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11