When Flight 11 severed more than forty exterior and core support columns, the building instantly and automatically redistributed the load to undamaged neighboring columns. That kept the North Tower upright and prevented the immediate deaths of survivors in and above the impact zone, as well as more than seventy-five hundred3 men and women on lower floors who streamed toward undamaged stairwells to try to escape. With its load redistributed, the tower could have remained standing4 indefinitely, potentially allowing rescue workers to reach everyone who survived the initial damage. If not for the
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