Among the tragedies of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City were those caused by an almost complete communications meltdown among emergency workers at the scene. While police got the order to evacuate from the World Trade Center's burning north tower, for instance, firefighters didn't-and many of them were still inside the tower when it finally collapsed. And that was only one of a number of communication failures that directly or indirectly cost lives. The inability to track personnel, to get pictures from TV news reports or helicopters showing the condition of the towers, and even incompatible radios that couldn't talk to each other all contributed to the disaster.

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