Reply #26: are you sure you're on the right way here?

[oedo]

"I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane (had) hit the tower"

As probably most of you, the first thing I saw was a smoking tower on TV. The reporters said there was probably a plane flying in. So I instantly thought a plane hit the tower.
This would be what Bush probably saw on TV: A smoking tower.
I don't know what the reporters on American TV instantly said about that 'accident'. But could it be, that Bush saw the smoking tower, a TV voice said it was a plane and Bush said to himself "What a terrible pilot!"?
When he said later "I saw a plane hit the tower", could it be he actually meant "I saw the tower that was hit by a plane"?

I think you're on the wrong way here.
Anyway, greetings from Germany and keep up the good work.