27 Apr 2013

9/11 plane remains found near Ground Zero

A piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 is discovered.

It was found wedged between two buildings by surveyors on the site of a controversial Islamic centre, which is being built just two blocks from Ground Zero.

The piece of landing gear displays a “clearly visible” Boeing identification number, according to a New York City Police spokesman.

Discovered on Wednesday, the landing gear was wedged one storey above ground and is about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide.

New York police officials have secured the area between the buildings and are treating it as a potential crime scene.

Nearly 12 years after two commercial aeroplanes smashed into the twin towers, toppling both and killing nearly 3,000 people, city officials continue to turn up debris from the attack and identify human remains.

It will be up to the New York City medical examiner’s office to determine whether to sift the soil around the site where the landing gear has been found for more evidence.

This month, the medical examiner’s office said that 39 potential human remains were recently discovered in 9/11 debris hauled years ago to Staten Island. Since 2006, the painstaking work has led to 34 new positive identifications of victims.