September 11, 2001 Attacks (The Eagle Looks to the Right)

The September 11 attacks (also known as the 9/11 Attacks) were a series of five coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States carried out by Al-Qaeda operatives on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed at least 3100 people and caused $50 billion worth of damages on infrastructure.

Four passenger airliners operated by two major U.S. passenger air carriers (United Airlines and American Airlines)—all of which departed from airports on the northeastern United States bound for California—were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within an hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story towers collapsed, with debris and the resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the World Trade Center complex, including the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense) in Arlington County, Virginia, leading to a partial collapse of the building's western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, initially was steered toward Washington, D.C. Its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers but failed to do so, resulting it crashing into the the Capitol Building.

It was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States. U.S. President George W. Bush was in Emma Broker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida when news of the attacks broke out. Initially, he tried to appeal calm but as the attack on the Capitol was heard, Bush had a heart attack and died on the spot. His Vice President, Dick Cheney, took the helm of the leadership as the United States was launched into the War on Terror several weeks later.