What was the attack on the Twin Towers?
On September 11th, 2001, 19 Islamic terrorists attacked the United States with the support and funding of extremist group Al Qaeda. The terrorists took control over four planes and carried out suicide attacks against specifically chosen targets in the United States. The attacks are an important event in not only American, but in world history. Not only did it leave a big wreckage in the center of New York and at the Pentagon, but also left a big emotional footprint all over the earth.
The reason for the attack
Al-Qaeda is a worldwide Islamic extremist organisation, founded at the end of the 1980’s by Osama bin Laden. The goal of the organisation is to create a global order under Islamic authority. It also wants all American influence out of the Muslim nations, especially Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda is also against the pro-Western dictatorships in and around the Middle East. It also wants to destroy Isreal, as this is the central country for judaism.
The Al-Qaeda leaders have declared a holy war against the United States on several occasions. Members of Al-Qaeda have carried out other terrorist attacks in or toward the USA before the 9/11 attacks, such as the bombings of 2 US embassies and a (failed) truck bombing that was supossed to send both the Twin Towers toward the ground.
The terrorists had chosen their targets carefully. Obviously, they couldn’t destroy the entire nation, so they had to choose great symbolic targets.
The World Trade Center’s symbolism was defined by Minoru Yamasaki, the chief architect of the complex, during the opening ceremony on April 4th, 1973:
“The World Trade Center is a living symbol of man’s dedication to world peace…beyond the compelling need to make this a monument to world peace, the World Trade Center should, because of its importance, become a representation of man’s belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his belief in the cooperation of men, and through this cooperation, his ability to find greatness.” [20]
The two towers are obviously showing some sort of power and eliteness, America had the ability to have two magnificent towers protruding above everything else. The towers being an important part of the economic center of the USA, (and maybe even the world) are a symbol of the economic power of America.
The Pentagon is the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, and symbol of the military power of the United States. Al-Qaeda wanted attack this force, to show people that they were the ones with the power.
It is uncertain what the target of the fourth plane would be, though several targets are suspected, because fo their symbolic worth and their importance to the United States.
In all four attacks, a plane was used as a missile. Remarkably, all 4 planes that were used as bombs were destined for California. The terrorists had chosen this carefully, as these planes would be loaded with jet fuel. This meant they would have enough fuel for both the flight and the explosions or fireballs when the fuel tanks would catch fire. [1, 2, 17, 18, 19, 20]
The first attack
At 8:45 AM, Tuesday morning, American Airlines’ flight 11 from Boston, a Boeing 767 destined to go to California and loaded with about 20.000 gallons of jet fuel (more than 75.000 Liter) crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York. The plane was supposedly flying with a speed of about 470 miles per hour (about 756 km/h, which is only a bit slower than the avarage cruising speed of the plane) The plane had 92 people aboard, 5 of them being hijackers.[6] World Trade Center 1 now had a gaping hole around the 80th floor. Debris was falling towards the ground and black clouds of smoke emitted from the building.[1, 2] To get away from the heat, people jumped out of the skyscraper in an attempt to save themselves.
Only minutes after the plane hit the enormous building, officials in World Trade Center 7 coordinated a city-wide emergency response. Their command center was on the 23rd floor of World Trade Center 7. At this time, people hadn’t yet realized that the event was part of a gigantic terrorist attack, but figured it was a freak accident. The weird part was however -beside the fact that planes obviously aren’t supposed to fly at such low altitudes- that flying over Manhattan was definitely not a normal flight pattern: planes would usually fly around Manhattan or far above it. [1, 2, 3, 5]
The second attack
Phone lines all over town are flooded with over 230 million calls. Eye-witnesses tell the CNN News what the situation looks like, also by phone connection. It seems like the plane that hit the North Tower, is still stuck in the building,[3] having killed many and trapping even more into the burning building. Both the North and South Tower, as well as buildings close-by are being evacuated. [1, 2, 3, 4]
It becomes apparent that the events weren’t just an accident, when the South Tower seems to explode, as shown on live television and confirmed by an eye-witness on the phone. As the footage of the explosion is being rewinded, it shows that it wasn’t a regular explosion, but it became apparent that this tower was also hit by a big passenger plane. People all over town panic while burning debris showered all over Manhattan. [1, 2, 3, 4]
This collision was at 9:03 AM, about 18 minutes after the first attack. This plane was also a Boeing 767 and was confirmed as flight 175 of United Airlines destined for Los Angeles, also in California. This plane had made a huge diagonal hole on the southwest side of the tower, that ranged from the 78th to the 84th floor. The plane had 65 aboard, of which again 5 terrorists. [1, 2, 3, 4, 6]
Luckily, the area around the WTC buildings isn’t highly trafficked. It is however quite hard to reach, only one way directly leads to the complex, making it harder for emergency workers to arrive at the scene. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The third attack
Around 9:37 AM, a third attack found place, shocking the world once again. It still wasn’t 100% confirmed, yet by now the events seemed like a thoroughly planned terrorist attack. In this third attack, another passenger plane was involved, but this time the events didn’t take place in New York City.
A boeing 757, supposedly American Airlines ’flight 77, filled with 10.000 gallons of fuel (37854 L) circled over downtown Washington DC at a height of 7000 feet. (2.1 km)
On board were 58 passengers, of which 5 terrorists, four flight attendants and two pilots.
The terrorists supposedly took control over the plane after a little more than 300 miles, as that’s when the transponder lost contact, making radio communication impossible.
About 400 miles into the flight, the hijackers turn the plane around. At 9:37, an hour and 17 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed down into the westside of the Pentagon. This is where the military headquarters are based. Eyewitnesses desribed that the plane hit the ground with a speed of 345 mph (555 km/h) in front of the face of the Pentagon, then exploded and dissolved into the building. The American air was hit with a huge cloud of thick dark smoke once again, after the huge explosion accompanied by a fireball.
Many people found that the damage on the building was relatively small compared by the size of the 757. Immediately after the attack, FBI officials confisticated all video footage of nearby buildings for unknown reasons. The only things that were able to be shown to the outside world, besides the statements of eye-witnesses, were pictures of the damaged building. This caused many people, including researchers, that there never was a Boeing 757 that had crashed into the Pentagon. Those people might state that the plane and it’s passengers has disappeared into the ocean. [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 17]
The collapse of the South Tower
The second tower, World Trade Center 2, falls down less than an hour after the attack. At 9:59 AM, an ever thicker cloud of smoke oozes into the sky as the building collapses before the eyes of hundreds, while millions more follow the event on live television. At first it’s not sure why the building explodes or collapses, but later it appears to be the huge and rising pressure on the foundation of the burning building.
As a result of the collapse, burning debris was spewed in all surrounding directions, damaging the other WTC buildings and other surrounding constructions. [1, 2, 4]
The fourth attack
As if the first 3 episodes weren’t horrible enough, a fourth plane was hijacked by extremists. United Airlines’ flight 93, a Boeing 757 from Newark, New Jersey, with 37 passengers aboard, of which 4 terrorists armed with knives and box-cutters, was destined to go to San Fransisco in California. 7 crewmembers were also on the plane. These 44 people, filled the plane to less than half of its usual capacity. [1, 2, 9, 10]
The plane had a takeoff-delay of about 45 minutes because of air traffic at the Newark Airport. This had agitaded the terrorists’ scheduled timeline for this attack. While the terrorists on the other planes took control only minutes into the flight, the four on this plane didn’t try to execute their hijack until 40 minutes after takeoff. [1, 2, 9, 10]
At 9:28 AM, only minutes after the pilots of flight 93 were informed about the events in New York, the terrorists had succesfully worked themselves into the cockpit of the plane. Air traffic controllers heard sounds of people seeming to struggle, and thought they heard 2 mayday calls, the international radio signal word used for planes or ships in distress, coming from the French “m’aider.” [1, 2, 9, 10]
The words exchanged in the cockpit were recorded by the flight data recorder. It showed that one of the hijackers had told the passengers to sit down, and stated there was a bomb aboard the plane. It had also captured a conversation between the hijackers, discussing whether they should crash the plane already or wait for a longer time. Another hijacker responded, telling the newfound “pilot” to wait until people would come into the cockpit. He wasn’t trying to fly in a straight line, but actually steered the plane in all possible directions to knock the passengers off balance. [1, 2, 9, 10]
As if on cue, you can hear a passenger yelling that they need to get into the cockpit, in an attempt to save the plane and themselves: “If we don’t, we’ll all die!” Loud thumps are audible on the record and after the passengers break into the cockpit, the terrorists tell each other to pull the plane down towards the ground. One of the terrorists, the one that was flying the plane only minutes ago, chants “Allah is the Greatest!” [1, 2, 9, 10]
The passengers are only a tad away from overcoming the hijackers, but the plane is heading down with the control wheel turned completely to the right side, making the plane roll upside down in the air. By now, all the terrorists are chanting. The chants and the sounds of the passengers trying to fight back, are immediatly silenced when the plane crashes into an empty field near Shanksville in Pennsylvania with a speed of 580 mph. (over 930 km/h) The site and its surroundings were covered with debris of the plane and trees surrounding the site were burning because of the huge fireball that came out of the plane. [1, 2, 9, 10]
The target of the plane is unknown, though most likely it would be the White House or the United States Capitol. Other suspected targets are Camp David in Maryland (the country retreat of the president of the United States, also used to host foreign guests of the president) or a big nuclear plant. [1, 2, 9, 10]
Many people thought that the passengers on the plane had crashed the plane on purpose to save the rest of the country. Studies however showed, that there is a big chance that the passengers never actually got into the cockpit. One thing is for sure: the passengers prevented the terrorists from executing their initial plan. [1, 2, 9, 10]
Collapse of the North Tower
At 10:28 AM, 1 hour and 42 m,inutes after flight 11 flew into World Trade Center one, the tower with the television mast collapses. The damaged top part of the building, falls down onto the bottom part. The entire site is on fire. Debris falling from the ramshackle sets WTC 4, 5, 6 and 7 on fire. The site is one gigantic sea of fire. The power in New York is down, and the chaos is enormous. [1, 2, 12]
World Trade Center 7
After burnign debris is tossed around the skyafter the explosion of WTC 1, World Trade Center 4, 5, 6 and 7 are set on fire.
Building 7 was a skyscraper that was 47 stories high and was built in 1984.
Since people aren’t really preoccupied with these buildings, WTC 7 burns freely for about 7 hours.
At 5:20 PM, the building collapsed. New York’s emergency center isn’t sure who gave the order to evacuate the building, but the person who gave the order, has saved many lives.
The collapse of the building is one big, bizarre mystery. The official explanation for it is that the fire had weakened the steel structure of the building, the heavy weight and fuel-drenched parts of the building causing it to collapse. It’s also said that the heat of the fire, caused the floor of the 13th story to expand, The local collapse spread to the other structural element to another, causing the entire building to collapse in the end.
Many people don’t find fire a satisfying explanation for the collapse of the building. that’s why there are many conspiracy theories about the collapse of the building.
Immediate aftermath of the attacks
Sources
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