It’s a heart-breaking bird’s eye view of New York’s darkest day. As we mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a powerful 17-minute video taken from an NYPD helicopter on that fateful day surfaced on the Web a few years ago. Obtained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the leaked footage from inside the chopper shows the twin towers engulfed in clouds of smoke – and captures the stunned reactions of the cops when they fell. Earlier in the footage, the officers take in a panoramic view of the unfolding pandemonium – and get perilously close to the black roiling smoke. *****SIGN UP NOW —- GET YOUR NEWS IN RECORD TIME***** Make sure you are one of the more than 22,000 that signed up to YWN WhatsApp Status to receive news in live time. Click this link – or send a message to 1-888-4-YW-NEWS (888-499-6397) – to see our status posts***** When the chopper briefly touches down in a nearby park, stunned officers gaze up at one of the burning towers. The video then shows the chopper back in the sky – and the aftermath of the now-fallen tower. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)