Macka+H

9 11 Historical Recount

It was a normal morning in New York City until terror struck at 8:46 am. It was the 11th of September 2001 and 19 Al Queda terrorists hijacked 4 commercial aircrafts, intending to hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre and other targets in Washington DC. Thousands of innocent people died and were injured on this day including emergency service men and women who risked their lives for others.

In 1996 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed gave the idea of September 11 to Osama Bin Laden. In late 1998 or early 1999, Osama gave him approval to plan the attacks. Several meetings occurred in 1999 with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Mohhamed Atef. Mohhamed helped with things like target selection and helping with travel plans for the hijackers. Mohammed had come up with numerous ideas of what they should target, such as the US Bank Towers in Las Angeleas but Osama rejected the idea because there was not enough time to prepare for such an operation.

At 8:46 am, Al Queda hijackers purposely crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into floors 94 - 98 of the North Tower in the World Trade Centre. The flight carried 87 passengers and crew. At 9:03 am Al Queda hijackers intentionally crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 78 - 84 of the South Tower in the World Trade Centre. It carried 60 passengers and crew. According to passengers that rang from planes involved in the attacks, some of the hijackers used knives and other weapons to stab the pilots, flight attendants and passengers. The passengers also said the hijackers used chemical spray, tear gas and pepper spray.

At 9:00 am the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Fire Department New York (FDNY) and the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) mobilized at their highest level. All bridges and tunnels in New York were evacuated to everyone but emergency services. Meanwhile at Washington DC, hijackers deliberately crashed American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 59 passengers and crew into the Pentagon at 9:37. After that, the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited take off of all flights in the US. Then they ordered all 4 546 flights in America to land at the nearest airport. After learning of the other attacks, the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 launched a counter attack on the hijackers which sadly made the plane crash land in a paddock. At 9:59 the South Tower of the World Trade Centre collapsed. Shortly after that at 10:28, the North Tower collapsed.

Because of the attacks, Disney World, The United Nations, The White House and other major sites in the US were evacuated. All up, 2 993 people died along with another 6000+ who were injured. Out of approximately 17 400 people in the north and south towers at the World Trade Centre, 15 000 escaped out of the building. 343 FDNY members died, 23 NYPD members died and 37 PAPD members died in the devastation. All up, it took a little under 9 months to clean up but it was official considered finished on the 30th of May 2002 when a ceremony was held at the site.

The devastating events of 9 11 triggered the largest response operation in New York City's history. Within hours, billions of people around the world knew about this event. This horrible time was one of the worst terrorist attacks in the worlds history, if not //the// worst. It is a day that everyone will remeber for the rest of their live.