New aerial images of 9/11 attack released

The photos were obtained by ABC News after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST had collected the images for the purpose of investigation.

ABC said NIST gave the network 2,779 pictures on nine CDs. However, only 12 images are released.

Images taken by Greg Semendinger
The images were taken by helicopter pilot Detective Greg Semendinger. Out of the released images, some show the twin towers burning while another show the tower collapsing. The images also show a clear cloud of dust accumulating around the towers.

Taken from various angles, the shots offer a rare look at what the wreckage looked like from above.

Semendinger, who saw the attack within minutes of it taking place, took the pictures as his co-pilot James Ciccone handled the controls.

“We were first responders and we were already getting our helicopter ready when the call came that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. We were 11 miles away and we could see it and already tell it was really bad.

“We jumped in the helicopter and we were the there within six or seven minutes and started scouring the roof to see if anyone had made it up there and could be rescued. I had landed on the roof before when a bomb went off in the basement in 1993.

“When the second plane came in we were flying at 1,300ft, to the north of the north tower. We were less than a quarter of a mile away. When it struck my partner said 'holy crow!' I looked up and I could see the tower going up in a huge fireball. The amount of papers that blew out was unbelievable. That's when we knew it was a terrorist attack. Before, we thought it was an accident,” he said.

Semendinger, 60, said he was glad he had carried a camera with him.

“I always carried a camera and I'm glad I did. There is a lot you forget over time and now when I look at the pictures you can pick out the details that never registered when you were there. People shouldn't forget.”

September 11 Memorial and Museum
To commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks, a museum known as the ‘National September 11 Memorial and Museum’ is slated to open in 2012.

The chief curator of the planned Sept. 11 museum Jan Ramirez said the newly released pictures were “a phenomenal body of work.”

The photos are “absolutely core to understanding the visual phenomena of what was happening,” said Ramirez. They are “some of the most exceptional images in the world, I think, of this event.”

Ramirez also said the museum saw only a selection of the photos at police headquarters several years ago but now hopes to get the complete set of photos.

More on Sept. 11 attacks
Often referred to as 9/11, Sept. 11 attacks are said to be one of the most devastating attacks in the history of the world. Planned by terrorist group al-Qaeda, the attacks saw hijackers flying two commercial jetliners into the twin towers.

The effect was enormous, with 2,752 people killed. The same day also saw more than 184 people being killed in Pentagon, Washington when a third hijacked plane crashed in one of the buildings there. A fourth hijacked plane, crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing 40 people.

The World Trade Center is currently under construction and is expected to complete in 2013.