11 September 2001 What Happened
On September 11, 2001, the United States was subjected to a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City, causing both 110-story skyscrapers to collapse. A third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane, initially targeting a location in Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers and crew attempted to regain control from the hijackers. The attacks began at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower. The subsequent fires caused catastrophic structural failure, leading to the collapse of the South Tower at 9:59 a.m. and the North Tower at 10:28 a.m. At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western facade of the Pentagon. The final aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. Evidence from the cockpit voice recorder indicated a passenger revolt prevented the hijackers from reaching their intended target, believed to be either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. ...