September 11/WTC and Pentagon Attacks

Series of terrorist strikes in which Islamic fundamentalists hijacked four American planes and crashed them into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon building outside Washington, DC. The terrorist attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives, were the most deadly foreign attack on U.S. soil since the War of 1812.

The operation was carried out by 19 members of the international terrorist network al-Qaeda, headquartered at the time in Afghanistan. In the wake of the attacks, President George W. Bush announced a worldwide assault on terror, which significantly changed the tone and nature of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. These changes have generated criticism from many quarters.

A Succession of Tragedies

According to evidence uncovered in 2005, planning for the September 2001 terrorist attacks began as early as 1996. The culmination of those plans occurred early on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Soon after takeoff, American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles was hijacked and, at 8:46 a.m., the hijackers crashed it into the north tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. Eighteen minutes later, the south tower of the World Trade Center was hit by another commercial airliner, United Airlines Flight 175, which had been commandeered shortly after American Airlines Flight 11.

In little more than a hour, both towers collapsed from structural meltdown caused by burning aviation fuel. At least 20 other buildings around the WTC complex were damaged from the impacts and the subsequent explosions. The planes carried over 150 passengers and crew members, and more than 2,600 additional people died at the site. That total included some 400 firefighters, paramedics, and police officers who had rushed to the area to save the people trapped inside the skyscrapers.

At 9:43 a.m., shortly before the WTC towers collapsed, a third hijacked airliner slammed into the western side of the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. American Airlines Flight 77 had been on route from Washington's Dulles Airport to Los Angeles, and was carrying 64 persons. A fourth hijacked plane—United Airlines Flight 93—never reached its intended target, later believed to be the Capitol building in Washington, DC. Following a struggle between the hijackers and some of the passengers, the airliner crashed in rural southwest Pennsylvania.

The North Tower

American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked by five individuals who had received prior training in Afghan terrorist camps. The hijacker who piloted the plane was Mohammed Atta, believed to have been the ring-leader and coordinator of the entire operation. On September 11, Flight 11 took off from Boston at 7:59 a.m. The hijacking apparently started about 15 minutes later, when two of the hijackers stabbed flight attendants who were preparing to serve breakfast.

The hijackers quickly gained access to the cockpit, and Atta, who had been trained as a pilot, took the controls. Meanwhile, four other terrorists used irritant sprays to push the passengers toward the rear of the plane. Two flight attendants, Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney, managed to phone the authorities on the ground and alert them of the crisis, but the plane could not be stopped.

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