9/11. An infamous day in American history. Four planes were hijacked, two hitting both North and South tower in New York, one striking the Pentagon, and one – whose original target was a federal building in the capital – crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.
The Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, reaching 110 stories each. The skyscrapers ultimately collapsed due to the damage from the impacts and the heat from the resulting fires. Bob Swierupski, who worked inside
the World Trade Center, stated, “It was the loudest bang I ever heard. It wasn’t just a single sound but seemed to reverberate for over a second. Since I was located on the fourth floor of WTC 6 I couldn’t tell what just happened. One of my employees then noticed that some debris had fallen from above right past my window.” Bob Skwierupski is lucky to have survived the attack.
The third flight – American Airlines Flight 97 – destroyed one side of the Pentagon, the world’s second-largest office building and the headquarters of the DoD (United States Department of Defense). There is now a memorial at the site of the attack.
And of course, Flight 93. The fourth and last plane of the 9/11 attacks. While the first three left with little delay, United Flight 93 was delayed due to routine traffic in Newark. Just after the plane took off, everyone was alerted of the attacks on the Twin Towers. When the passengers
on Flight 93 realized that their plane had also been hijacked, they revolted. They ran towards the cockpit, while the pilot tried to roll the plane back and forth to destabilize the revolt. He ultimately failed, and the plane crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. While the passengers on board did perish, their bravery saved the lives of the hijackers’ intended target.
Over 2,600 people died in the attack on the World Trade Center that morning; another 125 died at the Pentagon and a total of 256 passengers passed away.
