19 hijackers hijacked 4 passenger jets on September 11, 2001, flying two planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon building near Washington D.C., and another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 2,900 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks planned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, with the twin towers collapsing after being struck.