On the morning of September 11, 2001, four airplanes were hijacked from East Coast airports. The hijackers intended to crash the planes into important buildings, ones that
served as symbols of U. S. society: the two World Trade Center towers in New York City
and the Pentagon, and either the White House or the U. S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Three of the four planes struck their targets, but the fourth plane crashed after
passengers learned they were onboard a hijacked plane. After the attacks, people across
the country experienced fear and chaos, and
the entire airline industry was shut down for
days. The attacks of September 11 were the
first attacks on U. S. soil since the 1941
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
In the weeks following the attacks, the
American people and government struggled to
make sense of the attacks, while also trying to
ensure that the airways were safe for flying.
The terrorist attacks of September 11 are
forever embedded in the minds of most
Americans, and they have permanently
changed the policies and procedures—
especially for travel—of the United States.
A New York Firefighter surveys the damage to
the Twin Towers. More than 300 firefighters
and paramedics were killed during rescue
attempts from the towers as they collapsed.
Attacks from the Air
Early in the morning, nineteen hijackers arrived at three different airports. It is difficult
to know exactly what happened on that day, because the planes all crashed, but the
hijackers were all able to clear security and make it to the different planes. Investigators
know that shortly after reaching cruising altitude on American Airlines Flight 11 from
Boston, hijackers claimed they had a bomb and physically attacked two flight attendants
and a passenger. They entered the cockpit of the plane and took control of the plane’s
navigation system. The hijackers then aimed the plane directly at the North Tower of the
World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City, crashing into the building at 8:46 a. m.
Early news reports stated that this crash may have been a tragic accident involving a
commuter plane.
At the same time that Flight 11 crashed into the WTC, United Airlines Flight 175 from
Boston was heading to Los Angeles. The terrorists took control of this plane and flew it
into the South Tower of the WTC just 17 minutes later. Many from around the world
witnessed the second attack live on television.