September 11th, 2001

The Attack That Shaped The 21st Century

The First Plane Hits The North Tower

• On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 at 8:45 am an American Airlines Boering 767 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre

• The Plane was loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel that ignited on impact and created a gaping burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper

The First Plane Hits The North Tower

• A group of firefighters were filming a training exercise near the towers and captured this footage

• After the collision, they evacuated the buildings and the media showed up to film what they believed to be a freak accident

The Second Plane Hits The South Tower

• 18 minutes later at 9:03am, news cameras captured live footage of United Airlines Flight 175 as it turned and crashed into the South Tower near the 60th floor

• The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris on nearby buildings

The Perpetrators

• The attackers were Islamic terrorists from an organization known as al-Qaeda

• They came from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations

• The terrorists acted under the command of their leader Osama Bin Laden

Reasons For The Attack

• The terrorists attacked in retaliation for;– American support for the state of Israel– American involvement in the First Gulf War– America’s continued military involvement in the

Middle East

• Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than 1 year and had studied at American flight schools

• Others slipped into the country in the months leading up to the attack and acted as muscle for the attack.

The Initial Hi-Jacking

• 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through airport security and boarded four flights on the East Coast bound for California

• Soon after takeoff, the terrorists attacked the flight crew on the four flights and took control of the planes

• By doing this, they transformed ordinary airplanes into guided missiles that perpetrated the biggest terrorist attack ever on American soil

The Third Plane Hits The Pentagon

• At 9:45am American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the west side of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

• Jet fuel from the plane caused a massive fire that led to the structural collapse of a portion of the building

• 125 people were killed inside The Pentagon along with all 64 people aboard the airplane

The Towers Collapse

• At 10:00am, the South Tower collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke

• The tower had been built to withstand 200 mile an hour winds but was not able to survive the explosion caused by the terrorists

• At 10:30am, the North Tower collapses too

The Casualties in New York

• Nearly 3000 people died when the two towers collapsed including;– 343 firefighters and paramedics– 23 New York City Police Officers– 37 Port Authority Police Officers

• Only 6 people that were in the tower when it collapsed were rescued alive from the rubble

• 10,000 others were treated for injuries after the attack, some quite severe

United 93 – A Tale of Heroism

• The plane took off later than the other planes that successfully reached their target

• The passengers were already aware of the attacks in New York and Washington from cellphone calls and airphone calls from friends back home

United 93 – A Tale of Heroism

• When the terrorists took over the plane, they claimed that the planes would be returned to the airport it came from

• The passengers who knew this was not the case banded together with the flight crew and decided to fight back against the terrorists

• Several passengers called home to say good-bye to their loved ones and tell them what was happening

Thomas Burnett Jr. called his wife to say “I know we’re all going to die, There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you honey.”

Todd Beamer was heard saying, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” on an open line to someone on the ground.

Sally Bradshaw, a flight attendant called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were “Everyone`s running to first class, I`ve got to go. Bye.”

United 93 – A Tale of Heroism

• The passengers fought the four terrorists by storming the cockpit with a fire extinguisher

• The plane flipped and crashed into a farmer’s field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10am

• All 45 people aboard died in the crash• The intended target of United 93 is not known

but some of the theories for where it was headed include; The White House, The U.S. Capitol Building, Camp David or a nuclear power plant

George W. Bush Addresses The World

• George W. Bush spent the day of the attack being shuttled around the country for security concerns

• At 7pm he returned to the White House

• At 9pm, he delivered an address from the Oval Office declaring the War on Terror

“Operation Enduring Freedom” The War on Terror

• On October 7, 2001, the United States led an international effort to remove the Taliban from Power in Afghanistan and destroy Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden who were stationed there

• Within two months, the U.S. Forces had removed the Taliban regime, but the war continued

The Capture of Osama Bin Laden

• Osama Bin Laden evaded capture until May 2, 2011

• He was tracked down and killed in his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan by U.S. Forces

• President Barack Obama announced that American troops would begin to withdraw and will be out of Afghanistan by 2014.