On September 11, 2001, four commercial airplanes were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington D.C., and the fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which caused extensive death and destruction and triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism. The 9/11 attacks had a significant impact on public opinion and world politics.

1. September
th
11
2001
By: Sara Sabo

2. Passengers
Passengers and crew aboard the flights provided information about the hijackers while the
hijacking was in progress. Two flight attendants on American Airlines Flight 11, Betty Ong and
Madeline Amy Sweeney, contacted airline personal on the ground. Sweeney provided the
seat numbers of the hijackers, and descriptions of the men, identifying Mohamed Atta as one
of the hijackers. A flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175 called a United Airlines
mechanic and reported that hijackers had killed the crew. While the hijacking was in progress
on American Airlines Flight 77, several passengers, including a flight attendant, Renee May,
contacted and reported details of the hijacking to people on the ground.

3. Evacuation and Rescue
No one on the 91st floor or above is believed to have survived. In many cases people broke
windows for fresh air. At least 37 and perhaps twice that number of people jumped to their
deaths, apparently to escape agonizing deaths from smoke inhalation. At 10:07 a police
helicopter sent a warning for firefighters to evacuate the North Tower because the South
Tower had just collapsed. Unfortunately most of the firefighters' radios did not work inside the
towers. 121 firefighters were killed when the North Tower collapsed.

4. Fires
For a few minutes after the impact fires could be seen on several floors, including most of the
perimeter of one floor. By the time the South Tower was hit, less fire was visible from the
Building's north side, and the smoke had turned darker. As time progressed, the fires spread to
new areas while burning out in others.

5. During 9/11
A total of 2,977 people are killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanks
Ville, Pennsylvania, in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.

6. Pentagon
At about 9:37 AM a jetliner flew toward the western face of the Pentagon and exploded. 125
Pentagon workers were killed in the attack.

7. Memorial
It’s a day Americans will never forget. In remembrance, we give our sober regards not only to
those who lost their lives that day, but also to the torn families, the brave emergency crews
and the patriots who have since given their all in the pursuit of freedom.

8. The World Remembers
The 9/11 attacks, which have been documented as they unfolded are some of
the most watched and documented tragedies in history.

9. Victims
The September 11th attack was the most deadly single-day assault on civilians in the United
States in history.
World Trade Center: 2,823 presumed dead (including plane victims)
Flight 11:
92 people on board
Flight 175:
64 people on board
Pentagon:
125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 77:
64 people on board
Flight 93:
45 people on board

10. Missing
In every building collapse in history, all of the victims’ bodies have been recovered. . That is
because falling buildings crush human bodies. They do not shred them into tiny pieces, or
cause them to vanish into thin air. Yet on September 11th, 2001, the most famous “building
collapses” in history somehow caused the bodies of more than 1,000 victims to magically
disappear. 1,116 9/11 victims went missing after the attack.

11. 9/11 Facts
•
•
•
•
•
9/11 was not the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. A bombing in February of
1993 killed six people
9/11 was the single largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil.
23 New York City Police Officers died
People from 83 different countries died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
The death toll affected many as a total of 3,051 children, lost a parent in the attack and
17 babies were born to widows whose husbands had been 9/11 victims.

12. Quotes
•
“May your soul finally rest in peace. Your son Nathan and I, as the years go by, grow
strong. Goodbye, my dear friend, my teacher and my hero.” Candy Glazer, whose
husband Edmund Glazer was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, speaking at the
memorial service in New York
•
Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have
been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I
pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages
in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil,
for You are with me.” --President George W. Bush September 11, 2001.
•
"All of a sudden there were people screaming. I saw people jumping out of the building.
Their arms were flailing. I stopped taking pictures and started crying." - NY free-lance
photo journalist, Michael Walters