When I was in 1st grade, Mrs. Bruns’s class actually, I remember teachers talking about a bomb in New York City. I was little so I didn’t realize how serious this actually was, I just knew it was bad. Now that I am older and have a better understanding of it, I realize the tragedy of the situation. All those lives that were lost make me feel very sad. No one should have to go to work and worry about possible bombing attacks. The way I see it is the al- Qaeda terrorists are people just like you and me. It makes me sick when I hear stories about people trying to take down their own species. Why can’t we all just get along? Anyways, here’s the full story…
On September 11th in 2001, four airplanes with passengers in them were hijacked by a total of 19 al-Qaeda terrorists under the orders of Osama bin Laden. The first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, was crashed into the north tower of the Twin Towers in the World Trade Center located in New York City. The second plane, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower. The 3rd plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The final flight didn’t go as the al- Qaeda had planned. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Nobody on any of these hijacked planes survived.
American Airlines Flight 11:
This plane was originally scheduled to go from Boston to Los Angeles. Five hijackers pretending to be passengers sprang into action not long after the plane had taken flight. They injured the pilot and first officer, killed a passenger, stabbed two stewardesses, and took control of the plan. While trying to give orders to passengers, they accidently pressed the wrong button and Boston ARTCC was notified instead. Nine minutes later the plane crashed into the top of the north tower. The building caught on fire. The north tower eventually completely collapsed, but not until after the attack of the south tower fifteen minutes later.
United Airlines Flight 175:
This plane had exploded on impact when it crashed into the south tower. This plane was also scheduled to go from Boston to Los Angeles. There were five hijackers. In order to gain control of this plane, hijackers killed both pilots and stabbed a stewardess. Also, they had threatened passengers with a bomb. The building burned for almost an hour and then collapsed. This explosion also caused damage to nearby buildings. Plus, the air was harmful because there was smoke and debris everywhere.
American Airlines Flight 77:
The 5 hijackers turned the plane nearly 330 degrees when nearing the Pentagon. Other then crashing a different building, the hijacking procedure was very similar to the other planes that were hijacked. Unlike the Twin Towers, only part of the Pentagon collapsed, the western side.
United Airlines Flight 93:
On this plane, very heroic actions took place. The passengers, who heard about the Twin Towers over cell phone, started attacking the hijackers. In effort to throw the passengers off balance, the terrorist in charge of flying the plane tilted it side to side. It was said that the real target for this attack was the Capital. By disrupting the hijackers, many lives were saved though everyone on the plane died. The plane left a crater were it crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
Overall Deaths:
Passengers and Crew- 226
Hijackers-19(all of them)
People in World Trade Center-2,606
People in the Pentagon-125
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_77
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_175
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