Saturday marked the nine-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. 9/11 was a tragic event in U.S history when nineteen hijackers hijacked four planes and crashed them into three major sites in America. Three planes crashed into both World Trade Centers and into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, United Flight 93, crashed into Shanksville, Pennsylvania because the passengers took charge and attacked the hijackers.
September 11, 2001 began as any other day in Manhattan. People were going to their jobs at the World Trade Center. CIA agents and military workers were going to the Pentagon for business. Fathers and mothers were heading back out west after an east coast visit. 81 passengers on board Flight 11 were unaware of the five hijackers alongside them. The flight took off from Boston's Logan Airport at 7:59am. As the plane reached high altitude, everything seemed to be fine. Around 8:10am, five hijackers jumped out of their seats, sprayed mace in the air, and invaded the cockpit. At 8:13am, the plane had been completely taken over.
Back at the airport, Flight 175 took off from Boston’s Logan Airport as well, carrying 55 passengers with five hijackers. Flight 11 began going off course and heading for New York. At 8:20am, Flight 77 took off from Washington, DC, carrying 58 passengers with five hijackers. Flight 93 took off from Newark, New Jersey a short time later, and had 37 passengers and five hijackers.
Back on the other planes, Flight 175 was hijacked at 8:43am, three minutes before Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
The state of New York was in shock. No one knew what had happened. Some people thought that maybe it was an accident. They didn’t know that the next two hours would change America forever.
20 minutes later, Flight 175 hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The attacks on the Trade Center were devastating. Smoke and fire were coming out of the top of the towers, debris was falling everywhere, and thousands of lives had just been lost. Firefighters did everything in their power to save as many people as they could, but time was working against them as the South Tower collapsed at 10:05am. Debris and ash from the WTC blew everywhere – covering Manhattan with a white cloud. A short time later, the North Tower also collapsed.
The bombing of the WTC was a huge loss for American families and for the American way of life. The total loss of people in the World Trade Center was estimated at 2,752. September 11, 2001 is a day that will be remembered by Americans forever.
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