NEW YORK, Updated 12:25 p.m. EDT September 9, 2002 -- --As the nation begins marking a painful time, a World Trade Center survivor is talking about his experiences on Sept. 11.
NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper said that Pasquale Buzzelli was on the 64th floor of Tower One when the plane hit the building.
"Within a couple of flights, I heard a tremendous pounding from above and the building started to shake," Buzzelli said.
Buzzelli made it down to the 22nd floor when it collapsed.
"I fell into a corner. I curled up into a fetal position, and I closed my eyes, and I just started praying. I felt the walls crack that I was next to. I felt the slab underneath me and it broke free. Everything just crumbled around me. At that point, I knew the building was going," he said.
Buzzelli was one of three civilians to survive the crash. He said that he still suffers nightmares.
"I just prayed the 'Our Father,' and I just tumbled with the building. I saw a few flashes of light from the impacts to my head. I knew I was getting hit in the head. I didn't feel any pain from it when I was getting hit. I think it was from shock or something. I felt a gust of wind, like a sand blast type of effect on my body, just from falling.
"I felt the free-falling sensation of tumbling. Then I saw one huge flash of light and I think that was the final impact. When I landed, something hard hit me in the head. They say you see stars when you get hit in the head and you literally do. I was knocked out," Buzzelli said.
He was stranded on a pinnacle of wreckage, surrounded by fire when he gained consciousness again.
Watch NewsCenter 5 at 5 p.m. to find out how Buzzelli was rescued.
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