The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA

On September 11th 2001, the United-States were struck by unthinkable terrorist attacks that had a lot of global consequences.

In the space of three hours, two planes hit the World Trade Center, one plane hit the Pentagon and one crashed in Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 people died during the attacks, and many more were injured or suffered from smoke inhalation.  

The famous Twin Towers were huge office towers, downtown Manhattan, in NYC.

On Tuesday, September 11th, at around 8.45am, a plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center between floors 93 and 99.

It was American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members which had taken off from Logan International Airport in Boston at 8am and was bound for Los Angeles International Airport.

At a quarter past eight, Flight 11 was hijacked over central Massachusetts. There were five hijackers on board.

Less than 10 minutes after the impact, President George W. Bush, who was attending an event at a Florida elementary school, was informed of the crash (which at that point was characterized as an accident).

At 9 o'clock, the 5 hijackers crashed Flight 175 into the south face of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85 killing the 65 people on board, 9 of which were crew members. 

It had also departed from Logan Airport in Boston, at a quarter past eight and was heading toward Los Angeles too.

At twenty past eight, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 58 passengers and 6 crew members, took off from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport.

Half an hour later, the five terrorists on board hijacked it above southern Ohio and crashed it into the western side of The Pentagon a few minutes after half past nine.

Just before 11am, five stories of the western side of the Pentagon collapsed due to the fire.

At a quarter to nine, the last plane, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 37 passengers and 7 crew members, departed from Newark International Airport. It was going to San Francisco International Airport when it was hijacked by 4 terrorists at 9.30am.

Reports said that the passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes and resisted the hijackers and crashed the plane in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania at 10 o'clock. There are a lot of theories about where this plane was supposed to crash, maybe the Capitol or the White House in Washington DC.

At a quarter to ten, the United States airspace was shut down; all operating aircraft were ordered to land at the nearest airport.

At ten o'clock, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, almost an hour after the impact of Flight 175.

It was followed half an hour later by the North Tower of the World Trade Center which also collapsed, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11. 

In fact, 2.5 hours after the first plane left Boston, the iconic “Twin Towers” lay in ruins in Lower Manhattan, and brave first responders and military personnel were scrambling to save lives and secure the country.

After the attacks, the media termed the World Trade Center site "Ground Zero", while rescue personnel referred to it as "the Pile".

More than 1,500 first responders, ironworkers, engineers, heavy equipment operators, and other workers worked at Ground Zero to attempt to find survivors and clean up the wreckage. Cranes and bulldozers were brought in along with search and rescue dogs in order to locate survivors and bodies of the deceased, however, operations were difficult because of the presence of approximately two feet of soot at the site, which obscured objects and bodies.

In the immediate aftermath, only 20 survivors were pulled alive from the rubble, although there were several human remains and belongings that were removed from the site. 

Fires burnt amidst the rubble of the World Trade Center for weeks after the attack.

Personnel related to the metalwork and construction professions offered their services. They removed some 108,000 truckloads of 1.8 million tons of debris and rubble. They remained until the site was cleared in May 2002, 8 months after the attacks.

On the military side, the U.S. government increased military operations, economic measures, and political pressure on groups that it accused of being terrorists, as well as increasing pressure on the governments and countries which were accused of sheltering them. 

In October 2001, NATO invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime (which harbored al-Qaeda) and capture al-Qaeda forces. 

Today, there is a new World Trade Center: the highest tower is called One World Trade Center.

There are 4 other towers and a memorial to commemorate the victims.

The 9/11 memorial site is composed of two square fountains with an empty bottom at the exact place where the Twin Towers used to stand. The names of the victims are written on the sides of the fountains.

To learn more about the memorial, go and visit https://911memorial.org/