September 11 Attacks

The **September 11 Attacks**, often referred to as **9/11**, were a series of four coordinated attacks by the Islamic Extremist group known as Al-Qaeda against the United States of America on the morning of September 11, 2001. The events of this day resulted in the deaths of 2,977 people, over 25,000 injuries, and long term health consequences on survivors and law enforcement at the scene. Along with this, over $10 billion in American  infrastructure was lost. 9/11 is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the world, and one of the single deadliest attacks in American history. 9/11, along with the Capitol Bombing, are the two deadliest terrorist attacks in the United States.
Four American passenger airliners, all built by Boeing, were hijacked by 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists. Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 , both taking off from Boston's Logan International Airport , were bound for California. Both flights were hijacked only a few minutes into flight, and were crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center , known then as the **Twin Towers**. Within an hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story buildings collapsed, turning New York City into an active war zone.

A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77 , was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, the United States Armed Forces Headquarters. The crash caused a partial collapse of the buildings west side. This attack, brought Washington, D.C. into the battle. As a result, all government buildings in the city were evacuated, including the White House and Capitol Building. However, at the time, President George W. Bush was not in D.C.

The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93 , was initially hijacked and flown towards Washington, D.C., along with Flight 77. It is rumored that Flight 93 was headed for either the White House or Capitol Hill, however, it went off course when the terrorists got lost due to the radar being off. The passengers aboard the flight rallied together and stormed the cockpit of the aircraft, killing one terrorist and preventing the others from attacking. Some passengers then jumped into the captain and first officer seats and began an attempt to take the aircraft out of its nose dive and land it safely on the ground. However, as they began pulling the plane up, it was too late, and it smashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Within a month of the attack, the United States retaliated, ordering the Taliban , the governing body of Afghanistan, to dismantle Al-Qaeda and pay back for the attacks. When the Taliban refused, Congress drafted a declaration of war at the President's asking, with Bush immediately signing it. Within a matter of days, the United States invaded Afghanistan, beginning the War on Terror . Although Osama bin Laden initially denied any involvement, in 2004 he claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. After evading capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located in Pakistan in 2011 and killed during a U.S. military raid.

The destruction of the World Trade Center and nearby infrastructure seriously harmed the economy of New York City and had a significant effect on global markets. Wall Street  was closed until September 17, and the U.S. and Canadian civilian airspaces until September 13. Many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. The construction of One World Trade Center  began in November 2006, and the building opened in November 2014. Numerous memorials have been constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum  in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial  in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial  at the Pennsylvania crash site.