9/11 Video From Police Helicopter Now on YouTube

As the spokesman for the now-concluded NIST WTC investigation, I want to correct a factual error that has been repeated in the coverage of the Monday (March 7) posting of the NYPD 9/11 video. NIST did not submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain this video footage; rather, it was released in response to a FOIA request made to us. The video was graciously provided to us by the NYPD in response to our 2003 request for visuals, both still and video, for use in our investigation of the collapses of WTC 1, 2 and 7 on 9/11. We released the video on March 3, 2011, under a FOIA request, as required by law, since we are not the owner of this footage and do not have the right to distribute it. NIST had no knowledge that the video would be posted on the Internet nor do we know who posted it. We first learned of the posting on Monday morning (March 7) when the initial media inquiries came in.

Thank you,Michael E. NewmanNIST Public Affairs Office