He was sitting on the 81st floor of North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. The first hijacked plane struck the 93rd floor. Charlotte banker Dave Paventi had arrived in New York City a day earlier for business meetings. “I remember it was a foggy day, and I got to the office and immediately walked over to the windows and stepped up on the heat register to look out and couldn’t see a thing,” Paventi said. More.