Trama

Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

On September, 11th 2001, after the terrorist attack to the World Trade Center, the building collapses over the rescue team from the Port Authority Police Department. Will Jimeno and his sergeant John McLoughlin are found alive trapped under the wreckage while the rescue teams fight to save them.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

On the quiet but fateful day of September 11, 2001, the officers of New York City's Port Authority, Sergeant John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno, received an emergency call. But, as they tried to evacuate the building after the sudden and devastating attack on the World Trade Center towers by massive airliners piloted by terrorists, McLoughlin and Jimeno found themselves trapped inside the crippled skyscraper. As two of the last people found alive in the wreckage, both McLoughlin and Jimeno fought tooth and nail to cling to their lives, hoping that the rescuers, who combed through the debris, and their worried spouses--Donna McLoughlin and Allison Jimeno--would never lose hope and abandon them. In the face of calamity, the city and an entire nation refused to give in to fear. Will the world ever be the same again after 9/11?—Nick Riganas

In the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, hope is still alive. Refusing to bow down to terrorism, rescuers and family of the victims press forward. Their mission of rescue and recovery is driven by the faith that under each piece of rubble, a co-worker, a friend a family member may be found. This is the true story of John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno, two of the last survivors extracted from Ground Zero and the rescuers who never gave up. It's a story of the true heroes of that fateful time in the history of the United States when buildings would fall and heroes would rise, literally from the ashes to inspire the entire human race.—JJ Brent (jjbrentmusic@yahoo.com)

On September 11, 2001, Port Authority Police officers John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) got up from a night's sleep at his usual time and got ready for a day of duty. John's wife Donna (Maria Bello) is still sleeping as he heads into work. People use various modes of transport to come into Mahattan. At the station, McLoughlin is in charge of assigning the daily duties to his officers.

McLoughlin and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), who are patrolling the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, see a plane fly dangerously low overhead. As all of the police officers return to the station, they see on TV and that the North Tower of the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane. When the plane hit the tower, a shudder was felt even inside the station.

Sergeant McLoughlin assigns many of the officers (including Colovito (Nicholas Turturro), Polnicki (Ned Eisenberg), Washington, O'Reilly, Jimeno, Hogart, Bavli, Rodrigues, Giraldi (Danny Nucci), Pezzulo, Stolman, and others) to assist in an evacuation attempt of the still undamaged South Tower and they board a commandeered Metropolitan Transit Authority bus. On the bus, they hear reports that the South Tower has also been hit. McLoughlin informs Lieutenant John Kassimatis (Nick Damici) that while the NYPD is prepared for many kinds of attacks such as car bombs, chemical, biological and so on, but they are not prepared for an attack of this size and scale. They never planned for it and as such there is no equipment with the force to deal with it. There are expected to be 50/60,000 people inside the 2 towers. Jimeno tries to call his wife Allison (Maggie Gyllenhaal), but the phones are not working.

When they arrive at the World Trade Center, they realize the extent of the disaster and see one of the first victims to jump out of the towers to a certain death. Paper from the offices inside the 2 towers is flying everywhere and the towers are spewing smoke.

Sergeant John McLoughlin, veteran of the 1993 bombing, assembles a group of volunteers to evacuate the towers. Not everyone was keen to go. The group consists of McLoughlin, Jimeno, Dominick Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez) and Antonio Rodrigues (Armando Riesco). They enter the complex through Building # 5, to grab their safety equipment (mainly oxygen tanks and cutters) from the police desk. The men enter the concourse between the towers.

An officer named Chris Amoroso (Jon Bernthal) appears to inform them of other events, such as the attack on the Pentagon and the second plane's hit on the South Tower, though the group does not accept this. The group meets Officer Reynolds (Tom Wright) who was also helping with the evacuations. McLoughlin grabs more tanks as spare to help people that they find trapped. As the men prepare to enter the North Tower, the buildings begin to rumble.

McLoughlin realizes that the South Tower is collapsing onto them and that their only chance of survival is to run into the service elevator shaft. Chris trips and does not have time to get up. Rodrigues is unable to get to the shaft in time. McLoughlin, Jimeno and Pezzulo manage to escape the huge amounts of dust and rubble flying down from the South Tower. However, as the rubble continues to crush the elevator shaft, the three are trapped. McLoughlin knew that the elevator shaft is the strongest part of the building and hence was their best chance of survival.

As the cascade of debris subsides, Pezzulo realizes he can free himself and manages to move nearer to Jimeno who, along with McLoughlin, is pinned under rubble and cannot move.

Pezzulo tries but fails to shift the debris covering Jimeno's legs. Pezzulo wanted to go out and find help but is told by McLoughlin not to leave. As Pezzulo becomes optimistic that they will live, the rumbling begins again as the North Tower starts to collapse. Although Jimeno and McLoughlin are not further harmed, Pezzulo is fatally injured when a concrete slab crushes his torso. Pezzulo manages to fire his sidearm once into the air, in an attempt to alert rescuers to their whereabouts just before dying.

Jimeno and McLoughlin spend hours under the rubble, in pain but exchanging personal information. McLoughlin continues to communicate on his wireless device but gets no response. Both are thirsty, but there is no water. McLoughlin's knees are crushed together.

The duo are buried under several feet of rubble and topside there is absolute mayhem as the 2 towers are completely demolished. The news of the attacks on America reverberates around the world. Several hundred police and fire rescue officers are reported missing and unaccounted for. Allison and Donna have no clue if their husbands are alive or not. Donna is glued to the TV hoping to see McLoughlin.

When Building 7 collapses, both men scream and accept their demise, but they survive without further harm. They survive burning gas flares and raining debris, which was also on fire. McLoughlin is particularly anxious to keep Jimeno from falling asleep. Jimeno is bleeding inside, and McLoughlin knows that if he goes to sleep, he may not be revived later. Jimeno also realizes that by straining to grab a metal bar above his body, he can make a noise that rescuers might hear.

Two United States Marines, Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon) and Jason Thomas (William Mapother), who are searching for survivors, do hear it and find the men, calling for help to dig them out.

Jimeno is rescued first, and then hours later McLoughlin is lifted out of the debris, barely alive. Both men are reunited with their families at the hospital and undergo medical treatment, including extensive surgeries, and McLoughlin is placed in a medically induced coma.

In 2003, Jimeno and McLoughlin, both medically retired from duty, attend a celebratory barbecue with their families. The epilogue reveals that both men were two of twenty people found alive at Ground Zero, and they were numbers eighteen and nineteen, respectively. David Karnes reenlisted in the Marines and served two tours in the Iraq War.