Austin 911 calls tell of fiery crash
AUSTIN, TX
Some callers were frantic and others remarkably calm in the 911
recordings released Monday by the Austin Police Department.
"I'm calling about the explosion ... Oh my God!" said one
caller to a 911 emergency dispatcher.
Some callers said they worked in nearby buildings or were
driving by at the time. It wasn't clear whether any were calling
from inside the burning building.
Joseph Stack III crashed his small plane into an IRS office
building Feb. 18. One person besides Stack was killed and more than
a dozen were injured. Stack , 53, who left behind a rambling
anti-government manifesto on a website, apparently targeted the
lower floors of the office building, where nearly 200 IRS employees
worked.
Six miles from the office building, Stack apparently set his
house on fire that morning before taking off from an airport and
slamming into the building on U.S. Highway 183, officials said.
Police also released 911 calls made about the house fire. A
neighbor called to report flames ripping through the home,
describing black smoke pouring out and windows bursting in the heat
of the blaze.
Stack's wife and daughter arrived while the house was burning,
police have said. The neighbor who was on the phone with the
dispatcher said the owners of the house had just arrived and what
sounded liked a young woman can be heard crying in the background.
When asked if she thought anyone was in the house, what sounded
like another woman who said she was Stack's wife replied in a calm
voice, "My husband went crazy. We spent the night in a hotel."
Among the 911 calls about the plane crash are those from people
shopping and working at stores across the highway. One is from a
distraught pregnant woman who was driving by on her way to a
doctor's appointment when she said she witnessed the crash.
"It sounded like an 18-wheeler slammed into the building,"
another caller said. "I just heard it. I looked out my window."
Another person phoning emergency dispatchers said, "I can just
see lots of smoke -- there's people running over there."
At one point, a Federal Aviation Administration official called
the emergency dispatcher to ask about what was going on. "We're
not missing anybody," said the FAA employee, who told dispatchers
he was at an airport tower. He was then transferred to talk with
other police officials.
Austin Police Department said they did not know whether any of
the 911 calls came from within the targeted building and that there
were no other 911 calls about the crash besides those released
Monday to The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The AP requested the recordings the day of the crash under the
Texas Public Information Act.