On this day in history, America changed forever.
At 8:46 A.M. in Manhattan’s Financial District, as thousands of workers filed into the World Trade Center complex to begin their workday, American Airlines Flight 11 collided with the center of the North Tower. Instantaneously, hundreds were killed— all 92 onboard, including the 5 al-Qaeda hijackers, as well as an unknowable number of victims inside the tower. As of today, American Airlines Flight 11 is the deadliest plane crash in aviation history.
The impact resounded throughout the area, shattering windows and engulfing the North Tower in an inferno. Those who survived the initial impact were trapped in the top 18 floors, which drove hundreds to tragically leap from the tower and plummet to the street below. Then, at 9:03 A.M., United Airlines Flight 175, which contained 60 passengers and 5 al-Qaeda hijackers, crashed into the South Tower’s southern facade. Since the North Tower’s destruction was being actively broadcast and watched by thousands on the streets, Flight 175’s crash can often be caught in action during videos of Flight 11’s aftermath. Jim Ryan, a news anchor covering the scene for Good Day New York, interjected his own coverage as Flight 175 hit, saying, “I think we have a terrorist attack of proportions we cannot begin to imagine at his juncture.” The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 A.M. and the North Tower fell at 10:28 A.M., making the World Trade Center’s destruction the deadliest and costliest building collapse in history.
The attacks in New York City were not the only ones coordinated. American Airlines Flight 77, hijacked by 5 Saudi terrorists, crashed into the Pentagon’s western flank at 9:37 A.M., killing 64 passengers and 125 people inside the Pentagon. The final plane hijacked was United Airlines Flight 93, which was intended to be crashed into the Capitol Building or the White House. However, Flight 93 never reached its target; at 9:57 A.M., passengers revolted upon learning of the New York attacks. Famously, a passenger named Todd Beamer rallied everyone together with three words: “Okay. Let’s roll.” The passengers of Flight 93 seized control of the plane, drew it off course, and crashed it into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 A.M. Everyone on board was killed.
The aftershock of the attacks is impossible to put into words. It is considered not only a watershed moment in American history, but also for the whole world. President George W. Bush, immediately following the tragedies, launched what became the Global War on Terror. In all, the complex conflict lasted from Sept. 14th, 2001, to Aug. 30th, 2021.
The impact of the 9/11 attacks is best summed up in its most iconic phrase: “Never forget.” It is described by some as the last moment of true unity for the United States. Despite the indescribable horror of that fateful day, it will live on not just for its tragedy, but also for the indomitable human spirit that rose in the face of true evil.
