I watched as a hijacked plane flew over my home - moments later my wife was killed on 9/11

I watched as a hijacked plane flew over my home - moments later my wife was killed on 9/11

Charles Wolf said he "hit the jackpot" when he met his wife, Katherine

When a plane passed low over Charles Wolf's New York City apartment on a sunny morning 25 years ago, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

A few seconds later, the aircraft crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center - where his wife Katherine, from Swansea, was working.

Katherine died at once, becoming one of 2,977 people killed in the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the USA on 11 September, 2001.

Charles, who later spearheaded a campaign to make sure victims' families and dependants were fairly compensated, said his "wonderful" wife would be proud of what he fought for.

Katherine Wolf had been working for insurance firm Marsh and McLennan on the north tower's 97th floor.

Charles first met Katherine in New York in 1988, when he was singing with a theatre group and she was a piano accompanist.

"We met quite accidentally outside the rehearsal hall and we fell in love with each other in about two minutes, and that was it," he said.

Charles said he "hit the jackpot" when he met her, adding: "There was no parting us."

Katherine brought Charles back to the UK for a visit in 1989, along with trips to parts of Wales that he admitted he "could not pronounce", including Machynlleth and Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.

"It was just the beginning," said Charles.

"We had a wonderful, wonderful relationship."

At 08:06 EDT on September 11, 2001, Charles kissed Katherine goodbye from their New York City apartment for the last time.

Exactly 40 minutes later, a jet struck the 97th floor of the tower - the same floor she had been working on, in a new job she had started less than a fortnight earlier.

"I knew instantly when it flew over my building - our apartment building - that it was a twin engine jet at full throttle," said Charles, a trained pilot.

"I knew it so well that I called the FBI and told them... 'That was no accident, that was deliberate'."

A year later, when Charles met the FBI agent who took that call, he said the agent told him: "You were the first person to get us on to the fact that that was not an accident."

Charles says he is lucky to have had Katherine in his life.

Katherine had told her husband she was working in "building one". After the first plane hit, news reports referred to the Twin Towers as "north and south" - and Charles did not know which was which.

But from a mile away from their home, he could see smoke rising.

"I couldn't reach her on the phone. Little did I know she ceased to exist the instant that plane hit the building," he said.

Charles "could only assume the worst" until he received confirmation from her employers three days later that nobody had managed to escape above the 91st floor of the north tower - six floors below Katherine's office.

"She didn't know it was going to happen and she never felt a thing," he said.

"In fact... all of her people right there, they were vapourised instantaneously."

He added: "You never knew it was coming - couldn't, not at 450mph (724km/h).

"It was not a blessing that I lost her. It was a blessing that she never knew it happened, and I am grateful for that.

"Not everybody got that. Some people had to make the decision to stay and burn to death or jump from the upper floors."

After the attacks, Charles led a campaign to ensure the families and dependants of victims of the attacks were fairly compensated.

In total, 2,977 people - not including the 19 hijackers - lost their lives in the attacks. Thousands more were injured or later developed illnesses linked to the attacks, including firefighters who had worked in toxic debris.

Dissatisfied with the US-government run September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Charles successfully pushed the authorities to distribute funds more fairly and to more people.

His campaign later became the subject of a Netflix film called Worth, in which he was played by actor Stanley Tucci.

, external from New York, Charles said his wife Katherine would "smile approvingly and knowingly".

"She would say, 'I knew you could do it.'

"Katherine had absolute faith in me. She was wonderful, absolutely wonderful."

Wales' First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth covered the aftermath of 9/11 while working as a BBC journalist.

He was on holiday with his wife Llinos and their daughter, and was travelling from Vermont to meet Llinos's parents, who had flown from Wales to join them in New York.

Although he had been to New York before, he said: "I remember arriving and it being a distinctly different city.

"The smell, I remember still - the burning.

"This bold city, quieter. I remember the sense of shock, which was palpable on the streets of New York."

The first minister said much of the history of the past 25 years "stemmed from that event".

"The beginning of the 'war on terror', the tensions, Islamophobia, the way that geopolitics have been shaped."

He added: "We've also learnt that cool heads are needed, even in those most horrific of circumstances."

Last weekend, more than 200 firefighters from across the UK climbed 110 floors - about 2,226 steps - wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) in Atlanta, Georgia to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Each responder taking part represented one of the 343 firefighters who died while responding to the attacks.

Carl Williams, station manager at Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, took part in the event with eight of his colleagues, describing it as "quite humbling".

"It was emotional at the end, a lot of people were finishing and crying," he said.

"To achieve that task of just doing the climb, let alone to try and understand the emotion behind it that people have lost their life.

"Nobody expects to go to work and not come home that day."