Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, known for his coverage of the 9/11 attacks, has died at the age of 76.

Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, known for his acclaimed coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, died Sunday at the age of 76, his family said, according to CNN.

Brown, a Minnesota radio talk show host and longtime ABC News anchor, is best known for his broadcast coverage of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

It was his first appearance on CNN, and an unscheduled one, but Brown jumped into action. He reported live on the attacks for 17 straight hours.

His coverage from the roof of CNN’s Manhattan office cemented him as a trusted figure for American viewers.

“When he was live, he just stopped and watched it. And stopped. And he showed this moment that everybody was thinking, ‘Good God. There are no words,” CNN’s John Vause, who also reported from New York that day, told CNN.

He recalled how Brown took off his newsman hat to react when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

“The South Tower, the second tower. The one on the left collapsed. It collapsed in a cascade of smoke and sparks,” Brown said during his coverage of the attacks. “This is destruction. There are 50,000 people who normally go to work in the Trade Center buildings.”

The following year, Brown won the Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of 9/11, but he remained humble about his work that day and the fear of first responders.

“I think when that building fell, I understood better than at any other point in my life, before or since, what a hero meant,” he said in 2016.

Former CNN producers praised Brown for his mentorship and sharp writing skills.

Vause said Brown taught him it was OK to say “I don’t know” as a journalist, while David Fitzpatrick, a producer who worked with Brown on the acclaimed 2004 tsunami coverage in Indonesia, said Brown always wanted to work with “The Best People.”

“It was incredible when we got a compliment from him,” Fitzpatrick told CNN. “He was a signing anchor during his prime. His legacy will mean concise writing, concise presentation and a calm demeanor in the face of crisis. Influential, profound and sober.”

Brown won a number of accolades during his journalism career, including three Emmy Awards.

Before joining CNN, Brown moved to New York City from Seattle, Washington — where she had worked at local television stations for about 15 years — to be the founding anchor of ABC’s “World News Now.”

He worked at ABC for nearly a decade, leaving “World News Now” to work as a reporter for “World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings and “Nightline.” He later anchored the Sunday edition of “Good Morning America.”

In Minneapolis, Brown hosted a radio show before attending the University of Minnesota and dropping out to serve in the Coast Guard Reserve, according to the university.

After leaving CNN, he served as the Rhodes Chair in Public Policy and American Institutions at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, becoming a respected lecturer — what Vause called a “circle” moment. full,” per CNN.