September 11, 2001, 7:30 am New York time... Boston Logan Airport is boarding American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. 92 people are boarded, among them five terrorists, led by the Egyptian Mohammed Atta.
7:59 ... Flight 11 (Boeing 767) departs Boston with a 14-minute delay and heads for Los Angeles.
8:13 ... The crew of Flight 11 conducts the last communication with terrestrial servicesand then stops answering calls. At this moment, the hijackers break into the cockpit and take control of the Boeing.
8:14 ... A United Airlines Boeing 767 departs from Logan Airport on flight 175 Boston to Los Angeles. It has nine crew members and 56 passengers on board, including five terrorists.
8:19 ... Flight 11's flight attendant Betty Ong manages to reach the airline's office via the onboard phone. She reports that unidentified persons sprayed tear gas, several people were injured, and the plane was apparently hijacked.
8:20
... Boeing 757 of the airline departs from Dulles Airport, Washington
American Airlines on flight 77 Washington - Los Angeles. It has six crew members and 58 passengers on board, including five terrorists.
8:24 ... Flight 11 makes a U-turn and heads for New York. At the same time, the terrorist mistakenly presses the button for communication with ground services instead of the button for in-cabin communication, and the dispatchers hear the words of the hijackers addressed to the passengers: “We have several planes. Be quiet and everything will be fine. We are going back to the airport. "
8:37 ... The dispatchers report the hijacking of Flight 11 to the American military, more precisely, to the command of the Eastern Air Defense Sector.
8:42 ... United Airlines' Boeing 757 departs from Newark Airport on flight 93 Newark to San Francisco. On board the liner, which took off with a 40-minute delay, there are 37 passengers, including four terrorists.
8:43 ... Terrorists hijack Flight 175.
8:44 ... From Flight 11, calls the American Airlines office stewardess Amy Sweeney... She reports that something incomprehensible is happening, the plane is rapidly descending. The last phrase of the stewardess: "Oh, God ..." After that the call is interrupted.
8:46 ... At a speed of about 800 kilometers per hour, Flight 11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York at the level of 93-99 floors of the building. Interceptors trained in connection with the hijacking of Flight 11 are still at the airfield.
8:48-8:49 ... American television companies begin live coverage from the crash site. There is no information yet that a terrorist attack took place.
A massive fire breaks out in the north tower of the World Trade Center. People cut off by the fire on the upper floors of the building begin to be thrown out of the windows. Over the next hour and a half, at least 100 people will commit suicide in this way. One of the thrown out will cause the death of a firefighter, onto whom he will fall from a great height.
8:51 ... Flight 77 is hijacked.
8:52 ... The flight attendant of Flight 175 calls the office of United Airlines by phone, saying that the plane has been hijacked, both pilots are killed, the flight attendant is injured, and the hijackers are driving the plane.
8:53 ... Two interceptor aircraft were lifted into the air, but they were only tasked with patrolling the Long Island area.
8:54 ... Flight 77 changes course heading south.8:55 . To US President George W. Bush, which is in the elementary school. Emma Booker of the Florida city of Sarasota, report that the plane crashed into the tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
8:56 ... Terrorists on Flight 77 disable the transponder on board, and the controllers lose the ability to observe the aircraft. The liner heads for Washington.
8:58 ... Flight 175 is heading to New York.
9:00 . Flight 175 Passenger Peter Henson from the plane, he calls his father and says that the passengers are in panic, the flight attendants are injured, the plane makes sudden movements, descending, and, most likely, will crash into some building. “Don't worry, dad. If this happens, everything will be very fast. My God, my God, "is last words Peter Henson.
9:03 ... At a speed of about 960 kilometers per hour, Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center at 78-85 floors.
9:05 ... President George W. Bush is informed of the second plane crashing into the WTC tower, with the words: "America is under attack."
9:08 ... A ban is introduced on the departure of all aircraft whose route lies in the airspace of New York.
9:17 ... First named as the organizer of the attack on America - the version belongs to cBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.
9:23 ... The crew of Flight 93, the last of those on which the terrorists are and which has not yet been hijacked, receive a warning: "Beware of invasion into the cockpit - two planes crashed into the WTC."
9:28 ... Terrorists aboard Flight 93 storm the cockpit, as ground controllers hear.
9:29 ... First public statement by President Bush regarding the terrorist attack on the WTC towers. The president's entourage has no information about two more hijacked planes.
9:35 ... Washington decided to evacuate the US Vice President from the White House.
9:37 ... Flight 77 crashes into the west wing of the Pentagon building in Washington DC.
9:43 ... In Washington, a complete evacuation of the White House and the Capitol is underway.
9:45 . Air space The United States is completely closed, all flights are prohibited, aircraft in the air are ordered to land at the nearest airports.
9:57 ... Passengers of Flight 93, thanks to calls from relatives and friends who know about what happened to the previously hijacked planes, revolt against the terrorists.
9:59 ... There is a complete destruction of the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
10:03 ... Flight 93 crashes 129 kilometers southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Later, from the recording of voice recorders, it became known that the terrorists sent the plane to the ground at the moment when passengers burst into the cockpit, trying to regain control of the plane.
10:10 ... The damaged wing of the Pentagon building collapses.
10:11 . US Vice President Dick Cheney, unaware of the crash of Flight 93, orders the military to destroy it.
10:28 ... The destruction of the north tower of the WTC takes place. The Marriott Hotel, located between the two towers, was also completely destroyed.
17:20 ... The 47-storey building of WTC 7 collapses, which received extensive damage during the destruction of the Twin Towers.
As a result of the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, 2,977 people died, not counting 19 suicide bombers, more than two dozen people are still missing. Among the dead, in addition to US citizens, were citizens of 91 states. 96 of them were citizens of the countries of the former USSR or immigrants from them.
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A series of terrible terrorist attacks rocked the United States and the entire world on September 11, 2001. It was on that fateful day that two planes run by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. In the same way, the attack on the Pentagon was carried out, and the fourth plane under the control of suicide bombers fell to the ground in Pennsylvania.
The terrible disaster claimed the lives of almost 3 thousand people (excluding 19 terrorists). It united people around the world, since among the victims of the terrorist attack were not only Americans, but also citizens of 91 countries.
Even after 17 years, new facts about the 9/11 terrorist attack appear. collected 10 of the most amazing of them.
Not the first terrorist attack
The World Trade Center Towers have been subject to terrorist attacks in the past. On February 26, 1993, a car with explosives crashed into the World Trade Center building. It exploded in the underground garage of the North Tower and set off a powerful blast wave. Six people became victims of the accident, and another 50 thousand employees and visitors experienced difficulties due to the lack of oxygen in the building. The crashed truck was driven by Ramzi Yusefs, who later fled to Pakistan. He was soon found in Islamabad and extradited to the United States for trial. In 1997, Jozefs was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Coincidence or not?
Four years before the attack, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published the book Emergency Response to Terrorism. The cover of the collection features a photo of the northern tower under a telescopic sight. It was at the place indicated in the photo that the first plane under the control of the terrorists crashed.
Ominous number 11
The name of New York City has 11 letters, just like the word Afghanistan. Also in one of the hijacked aircraft there were 92 passengers (9 + 2 \u003d 11), and on board another - 65 passengers (6 + 5 \u003d 11). Terrorists staged an attack in New York on September 11, or 09/11 (1 + 1 + 9 \u003d 11). The name Ramsin Yuseb (the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters, as does the name George W Bush.
Most frightening, however, is another fact. One of the most famous symbols of the United States of America is the eagle.
In the main holy book of Muslims - the Koran - the following verse is written at number 9.11:
"And it is written that the son of Arabia will awaken the formidable Eagle.
All the lands of Allah will feel the wrath of the Eagle,
And while some people tremble in despair
Many will rejoice: as the Eagle's wrath will purify the lands of Allah
And peace will come. "
Conspiracy theory and radio-controlled aircraft
Many Americans are of the opinion that al-Qaeda members did not hijack the planes. In their opinion, the attack on Manhattan was planned by the US authorities in order to later explain the military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as explain several laws passed, which, among other things, allow the secret services to have access to the privacy of Americans.
But this theory is questionable due to certain difficulties. Boeing's remote control technology, which could be used to direct aircraft, does exist, but it is extremely difficult to do. It would require airline staff to coordinate and four remote control teams (one for each hijacked aircraft). And this is already a lot of people who would be privy to the government's plan.
World Trade Center Rentals
At the end of June 2001, the WTC twin towers were leased (one might say bought) for $ 3.2 billion by entrepreneur Larry Silverstein for 99 years. On the day of the tragedy, he was in one of the towers. However, Silverstein's wife called him to remind him of an appointment with a dermatologist. So, he left the World Trade Center and saved his life.
Photo of George W. Bush after the tragedy
US President George W. Bush said that the terrorists staged an attack on the Twin Towers because of their hatred of freedom and democracy. It wasn't until 2015 that images emerged from the emergency response center in Washington DC after a couple of hours of the attack. The photographs show the American leader, US Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and senior staff. Note that Cheney is watching the news of the tragedy in a very interesting position.
99 days of fire
The fire at the site of the ruins of the World Trade Center lasted 99 days, and the cleanup took 261 days. All this time, tens of thousands of people were engaged in garbage disposal, which was collected 18 tons. The building's steel structures, taken to the landfill, were later sold to China and India. The Chinese firm Baosteel bought 50,000 tons of steel at $ 120 per ton.
The youngest victim of a terrorist attack
The terrorist attack killed Christine Hanson, who was flying with her parents to Disneyland. The girl was two years old. In total, three children under the age of five died as a result of the tragedy. More than three thousand children on September 11 were left without one or two parents. During this period, a record number of psychologists worked with children.
Depression of Americans
70% of Americans fell into depression after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. More than 33,000 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a common diagnosis for people who have come from hot spots. In addition, alcohol use in Manhattan increased by a quarter, while tobacco and marijuana consumption increased by 10%.
Barack Obama and the elimination of Osama bin Laden
All the terrorists who carried out the attack were identified. It turned out that they were legally in America, and many of them were trained in US flight schools. Later, in a video message, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden admitted that he was the one who oversaw the work of 19 terrorists on four planes. Ten years after the bloody terrorist attack, the American special services liquidated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. This was watched live by then-US President Barack Obama along with his team.
In 2011, a World Trade Center memorial was built in place of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York. In 2018 in New York, 9/11 survivors and relatives of the victims will come to the Ground Zero site. Two beams of light will be projected into the sky in memory of the victims. Also, the Pentagon will arrange special services for the families of the victims.
On September 11, 2001, a series of terrorist attacks were carried out in the United States, which resulted in the death of 2,977 people. By official version, destructive attacks were carried out by members of the Al-Qaeda * group, but there are facts that can refute the generally accepted point of view.
Quick version
The official version of what happened is as follows. In the early morning of September 11, 2001, four passenger Boeings were captured in the air by Arab terrorists. The hijackers were armed only with stationery knives and gas canisters. Two aircraft attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center, located in southern Manhattan, a third plane was sent to the Pentagon building, a fourth did not reach the Capitol and crashed in the middle of a field in Pennsylvania.
This version was formed literally a few days after the tragedy and the American government did not change it again. Such hasty conclusions suggest that Washington prepared for this in advance.
We have already encountered a situation when the White House "knew for sure" that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, Muammar Gaddafi was sponsoring international terrorism, and Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons.
None of these accusations have ever been confirmed. However, these suspicions became a pretext for the US-sanctioned use of armed forces in Iraq, Libya and Syria. It is expected that after the events of September 11, the Americans stepped up military operations in Afghanistan.
Immediately after the explosions, the head of Al Qaeda * Osama bin Laden declared his innocence in the attacks. Unusual behavior for a person who always gladly took responsibility for terrorist attacks that were carried out with his participation. Later, bin Laden nevertheless admitted to involvement in the events of September 11, however, according to some, this was a person only similar to the leader of Al Qaeda *.
Strange destruction
Probably not everyone knows that during the attack on New York, three buildings of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed. In addition to the well-known twin towers No. 1 and No. 2, there was also a skyscraper No. 7. The government commission, set up to investigate the events of September 11, chose to remain silent about this fact. House at number 7 is a 47-storey high-rise, noticeably inferior to its twin brothers in growth.
In particular, it housed the New York branch of the CIA headquarters. This building escaped being hit by the plane, but by 5 pm it collapsed in the same way as the twin towers.
The building collapsed as a result of burning fragments that fell on it from crumbling skyscrapers, as well as the ensuing fire, authorities said. However, much closer to the towers were the WTC buildings numbered 3, 4, 5 and 6, and they all survived. Maybe there was another reason for the fall of the 7th house?
As for the Twin Towers, researchers are still concerned with an interesting question: why did not only the upper floors of the building collapse, but also the lower ones? The official version is relentless: when the building was destroyed, the top carried away the rest of it.
However, a discrepancy arises here too. Parts of the tower structure did not fall in different directions, but folded right under the base, like a house of cards.
The designers of the World Trade Center all as one declare that during the construction of high-rise buildings the possible hit of an airplane was taken into account, as is the case with all skyscrapers. If a catastrophic scenario does occur, then, according to them, it cannot lead to devastating consequences of this magnitude.
The disaster footage clearly shows that the planes crash into buildings in completely different ways: the liner entered the northern tower right in the center, into the southern tower at an acute angle, chopping off the edge of the skyscraper. At the same time, the destruction of the towers was surprisingly uniform and symmetrical, as in a prepared explosion. And then a strange thing happens: the south tower, which was less damaged by the explosion, collapses first, and only half an hour later the north one falls, where the consequences of the disaster should have been more impressive.
Experts analyzed the video of the collapse of the towers and almost unanimously stated that this is how the industrial demolition of buildings occurs. Indeed, if you look closely at the slow motion footage of the catastrophe, you can see how blast waves run across the entire height of the building at equal distances - as if a pre-laid charge had detonated.
Here are two more facts that will make you think. Shortly before the terrorist attack, the floors into which the planes subsequently flew were closed for repairs. And a few weeks before the tragedy, the owner of the twin towers Larry Silverstein insured them for $ 3 billion, and insurance against terrorist attacks was spelled out as a separate item.
Selective fire
If you believe the official conclusions, then in a monstrous fire, hundreds of thousands of tons of steel structures were melted, and hundreds of tons of concrete were rubbed into dust.
Is it possible that the ignited aviation kerosene, the combustion temperature of which is less than 1000 ° C, made the hardened steel “tremble”, which melts at no less than 2000 ° C. At the same time, there was a critical loss of strength of 50 massive load-bearing beams at once, which is possible only if the fuel is evenly spread over all floor areas.
As a result of the explosions, charred and unidentifiable body particles remained from the passengers of both Boeings. Meanwhile, the passport of Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers of the plane, which became one of the main pieces of evidence in favor of the guilt of Al Qaeda *, was completely unharmed. According to the commission, the document miraculously survived a powerful explosion, fell out of the plane and landed safely near the building.
The US government was in such a hurry to come to the right conclusion that it was not even going to pay attention to such incidents. Further more.
The Investigative Commission announced the identification of some of the passengers and crew members of the aircraft by "DNA remnants." And this is after the fire practically completely destroyed the hull of the liner, made of high-temperature resistant aircraft aluminum.
It is curious that despite the fantastically preserved "remnants of DNA", the black boxes were declared completely destroyed by fire. Looking at this, all that remains is to believe that fire acted selectively, completely not being guided by the laws of the physical world.
No trace
The third hijacked Boeing, flying American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon, according to official figures. To inflict the most sensitive damage to the building and people, the terrorists sent the liner along the lowest possible trajectory. It is known that the height of the Boeing 757 is 13 meters, the Pentagon - 24 meters.
Based on this, the final kilometers of the liner flight had to pass at an altitude of only a few meters above the ground, which is an almost impossible task for pilots who have just completed express courses.
Moreover, such a maneuver was absolutely unjustified, since, in the opinion of many experts, it would not have led to such damage as if it fell at an angle. It would be difficult even for an inexperienced pilot to miss in this case, given the impressive area of \u200b\u200bthe Pentagon - 117 363 sq. M. It turns out that the terrorists, who carefully planned the terrorist attack, chose a more complicated and less effective path.
However, the main incident lies ahead. Independent researchers studying the photos of the crash were alarmed by the fact that the Boeing, when it hit a building, did not leave traces of its wings. No debris was found nearby. Moreover, there were no hints of aircraft fragments inside the destroyed section of the building. According to official conclusions, all of them were destroyed by a powerful explosion and fire, which is very doubtful.
All of the above facts suggest another reason for the destruction at the Pentagon - a planned explosion. But if we assume that the Boeing 757 did not crash into the Pentagon, where did the car itself with the passengers and crew of this ill-fated flight disappear?
As for the fourth Boeing, which did not make it to the Capitol and fell in the fields of Pennsylvania, there are fewer questions for him. However, there are still inconsistencies. The authorities claim that the death was caused by the impact on the ground, but they failed to find any significant number of aircraft fragments at the alleged crash site. Eyewitnesses say the debris was scattered for miles. According to researchers who do not share the official point of view, the airliner could have been hit in the air by a missile launched from a fighter jet.
The official version reads: passengers contacting mobile phones with relatives, learned that two planes had already crashed into buildings in Manhattan and decided to prevent the hijackers' plans. It was as a result of the struggle that ensued on board the plane lost its course and went into a steep dive. However, experts say that the opportunity to use cellular communications in flight has appeared only since 2005.
Avoid misunderstandings
Everything in this story is alarming, including the behavior of top American officials. Thus, President George W. Bush long ignored the invitation to address the Congress, but when he agreed to the meeting, he put forward conditions that at first glance defy logical explanation. He insisted on limiting the conversation in time - no more than an hour and a mandatory invitation to the event, Vice President Dick Cheney. At the request of the head of the White House from the commission investigating the tragedy, only two people were to be present.
After lengthy debates, it was still possible to agree on the participation of 10 commission members and remove the time limit. During the meeting, everyone expected to hear from the president exhaustive, and most importantly, reliable information about what had happened, but everything turned out to be much more complicated. Bush did not allow video filming, audio recording, or even transcription of the meeting. In addition, Bush and Cheney refused to take an oath that could reassure listeners of the truth of what was said.
In April 2004, the performance finally took place. However, to this day it is not known what Bush and Cheney said to the Congressmen. Many people pay attention to the absurdity of this situation. It looks as if one witness agreed to appear in court only in the presence of another witness. Why is this needed? Probably in order to avoid inconsistency in the testimony.
Every year there is a growing conviction in the world that the terrorist attacks were planned by the US special services to justify the actions of the American military in the Middle East. But it is too early to draw final conclusions. So far, we can only say with confidence the following: if the US authorities did not organize the attacks themselves, then at least they did not interfere with their planning.
* Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group banned on the territory of the Russian Federation
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York divided the history of the United States of America into before and after. Three thousand people killed in the explosion of the Twin Towers are an irreparable loss for the American people. Question: "Who blew up the towers?" for many remains open to this day. There are too many logical inconsistencies in the official version of the investigation.
Mission Possible?
According to the official version, the twin towers were destroyed as a result of aircraft explosions that rammed the buildings. The fire that broke out during the attack weakened the metal structures, and the building collapsed. Then the same thing happened with another skyscraper.
Ordinary people are still perplexed: how could immigrants from Arab countries, whose names were previously known to the special services, come to the United States, undergo training in piloting passenger Boeings, bring dummy firearms on board aircraft, capture several aircraft at the same time ram several buildings with precision?
This whole operation looks incredible, but, nevertheless, it is theoretically doable. Much more difficult questions the commission in charge of the investigation is asked by the experts in whose hands were the results of analyzes obtained after examining the wreckage of the twin towers. At the site of the tragedy, traces of explosives and termite were found - a substance that reaches a temperature of 1500 degrees during combustion. But let's talk about everything in order. Consider the main conspiracy theories of explosions.
Analysis of the rubble of buildings taken to the landfill Less than a month after the terrorist attack, the US army invaded Afghanistan, destroying the hotbeds of terrorism, and at the same time writing off its debts, destabilizing the situation in the region and laundering multibillion-dollar investments in the military industry, in which, as it became known during the election campaign, the Washington hawks have not only state but also personal interests.
The terrorist act untied the hands of the US special services, which received the right to listen to other people's conversations and read other people's letters, and not only on their territory, but in any corner of the world. Even the leaders of the G7 countries have no right to their little secrets from Washington. This was clearly shown by the scandal around the wiretapping Angela Merkel.
There are many supporters of the idea that the American intelligence services at least knew about the preparation of the terrorist attacks, and most likely played a key role in the preparation. Only with the support of Big Brother could Islamic radicals with ties to al-Qaeda find themselves in the United States, undergo first-class flight training, be aboard planes with objects that look like firearms, hijack planes and aim them precisely at predetermined goals.
Like a house of cards
Looking at the collapse of the Twin Towers, experts agree that it is very similar to a controlled explosion. Such explosions are used when it is required to demolish a large building in a densely populated area of \u200b\u200bthe city. Explosion technicians, having studied the design of the structure, calculate the power of each charge placed in the base of the supporting structures. As a result, the object to be demolished should fold like a house of cards, so that each wall rushes inward.
When carrying out such events, just in case, the inhabitants of nearby houses are evacuated. If there is an error in the calculations or some charges do not work, the building, instead of folding inward, may fall on its side, and then the destruction will be much larger than planned. Looking at the video, it's hard not to be surprised at how neatly and how quickly the towers are being folded. It seems that real professional explosion technicians were working on this.
Well, what about the planes? After all, thousands of people have seen them, and they are captured on the set. Supporters of the theory of controlled explosion are sure that airplanes were needed for a beautiful picture and so that ordinary people would not have any questions: how could a bunch of terrorists bring tons of explosives into two carefully guarded buildings in the center of New York and set the charges so that they collapsed completely?
As for the plane that got into the Pentagon building, it may not have been there at all. The shots taken immediately after the attack show the destruction, but they do not show any details of the Boeing. The plane could explode, but it could not dissolve. Large pieces of fuselage and engines should be visible. In addition, the damage to the building is too minor for an invasion by a large passenger airliner. They are more reminiscent of the consequences of being hit by a cruise missile, and terrorists simply could not have such missiles.
Who shot down the fourth plane?
There was also the fourth hijacked airliner, which the terrorists planned to target either at the White House or at the Capitol. But he did not reach his goal. According to the official version, the passengers fought against the terrorists and as a result of a fight on board the plane, the airliner crashed to the ground. Some conspiracy theorists are sure that the plane was shot down by the American military. This theory is supported by the fact that the debris was scattered at a great distance from each other. But several passengers managed to call their loved ones before the crash; even recordings of these conversations were preserved, confirming the official version.
Small atomic bomb
There are so many different opinions about the September 11 tragedy that among them there are even absolutely fantastic and incredible ones. For example, they say in all seriousness that a small atomic bomb was detonated under each building. Allegedly, the developers who are planning to build the Shopping Center, the New York authorities set a condition - to provide for the possibility of dismantling the building. After all, it is clear that sooner or later it will become unusable, and it would be much more difficult to demolish such a huge structure at that time, as it seemed then, than to build it. And for the subsequent dismantling, the builders allegedly laid a nuclear charge under each building. But this theory is easily refuted by critics. At the site of a nuclear explosion, even a small one, an increased level of radiation should be observed. But it was not observed.
She's also a victim
According to the official version of the American government, the most painful issue is the question of the third tower that collapsed during the terrorist attack. This skyscraper was called the "Seventh Tower of the World Trade Center". The plane did not hit this building, however, it collapsed overnight, like two twin towers.
According to the official theory, the cause of the collapse was a fire that spread from neighboring towers. Allegedly, the communications through which water was supplied to the building for automatic extinguishing of the fire were destroyed, the fire engulfed the building, the structures could not stand it and collapsed.
Half of Americans surveyed several years ago did not know at all that during the 2001 events in New York, three buildings were destroyed. Many of those who know do not believe that the 47-storey building could instantly collapse in a fire. In the United States, activists have repeatedly demanded a new investigation of the case and the publication of the results of the investigation, but the authorities did not hear them or simply did not want to hear them.
On September 11, 2001, a terrible terrorist attack took place in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,977 people. Planes hijacked by militants crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Today at the site of the disaster there is a memorial with the names of the victims of the tragedy.
9/11 is the name of the most daring and large-scale terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001. The crime took place in the heart of New York. As a result, 2,977 people died. The four hijacked passenger airliners were used as attack weapons. The first two planes collided with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. One was aimed at the Pentagon building. And the 4th crashed 80 miles from Pittsburgh.
After 18 years, the society has no unequivocal opinion on the fact of what happened. Conspiracy theorists and skeptics accuse the US authorities of the tragedy, providing weighty arguments. The number of people in society who do not trust the official version of the investigation of the terrorist attack is growing. Let's remember the black day of the calendar for America 9/11, how the events took place and what interesting Facts is in this case.
How it happened: chronology of events
The crime was committed by 19 people. All of them are from the Middle East, officially residing in the United States. According to the American authorities, it was a cell of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Until 2011, Osama bin Laden was the head of the criminal community. He took responsibility for the attack on the United States. In the early morning of September 11, 2001, the radicals of the al-Qaeda cell split into groups and took seats on commercial passenger planes:
- Boeing-767 flight AA11 "Boston - Los Angeles": 81 passengers, 11 crew members;
- Boeing-767 flight UA175 "Boston - Los Angeles": 56 passengers, 9 crew members;
- Boeing-757 flight AA77 "Washington - Los Angeles": 58 passengers, 6 crew members;
- Boeing-757 flight UA93 "Newark - San Francisco": 38 passengers, 7 crew members.
Flight AA11
The first airliner took off at 7:59 am. He was to follow the Boston-Los Angeles course. But after 46 minutes the Boeing collided with the North Tower skyscraper. The ram occurred at 8:45. The liner's speed was 490 miles (789 km) per hour. The ship was hijacked by 5 terrorists. The battering ram hit the tower area, between the 93rd and 99th floors. Passengers, crew members and several hundred office workers were killed in an instant.
The plane was in the air for 46 minutes, and its tanks were full of unused kerosene, designed for 6 hours of flight. There was an explosion. The temperature at the epicenter of the collision reached 825 ° C (max t of kerosene combustion).
The power of the fire was looking for a way out, burning through the interstorey space, penetrating into the elevator shafts where people were moving. Fire burst from the mines in the building's foyer, where the shock wave killed many more people. Almost 1,000 people were cut off from the exit between the surviving 100th and 107th floors. At 10:29 am, the North Tower collapsed.
According to the official version, the twin towers collapsed due to the molten load-bearing supports. This version is disputed by conspiracy theorists, because the melting point of steel is 1,538 ° C. They believe that the skyscrapers collapsed due to a directional explosion.
Flight UA175
The second ship took to the air at 8:14 and lay down on the same Boston-Los Angeles course. There were 5 terrorists on board. The plane made a maneuver over New Jersey, changed the air corridor and headed for Manhattan (New York). After 18 minutes of flight, local time at 9:03 am, the Boeing crashed into the South Tower. The aircraft's speed was 590 miles (950 km) per hour. By this time, reporters from various TV channels had deployed their headquarters near the World Trade Center. Therefore, the clash was broadcast live. It became obvious that both disasters were not accidental, and this is a terrorist attack. At 9:59 am, the South Tower collapsed.
Fig. 1 A second before the collision of the second hijacked Boeing with the South Tower
Flight AA77
The third airliner departed from Dulles Airport at 8:20 am on the Washington-Los Angeles route. There were 5 terrorists on the plane. They hijacked the aircraft 31 minutes later and sent it southward. The hijackers turned off the airborne transponder in order to exclude the possibility of tracking the liner from the ground. At 9:24 am, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) notifies the US Air Force of a possible hijacking. However, the military hesitated.
14 minutes after the FAA alert, at 9:38 am, a passenger Boeing with 172 passengers (excluding terrorists) and 6 crew members dived into the western portion of the Pentagon complex in Washington. No one survived the crash. 125 people died in the building.
Fig. 2. After the Boeing crash on the Pentagon building Flight UA93
The fourth airliner took off at 8:41. The Newark-San Francisco flight was delayed 40 minutes due to high traffic congestion. 4 terrorists were preparing for capture on board. At 9:28 am, the criminals subdued the liner with difficulty. The pilots already knew about the attack on the twin towers and resisted. According to the materials of the investigation, this plane was supposed to attack the Capitol - the building of the US Congress. But, terrorist pilot Jarrah headed for the White House.
The crew continued to fight the terrorists on board. The plane looped and was poorly controlled (according to radar maps). As a result, the aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania at 10:03, 130 kilometers from Pittsburgh. Black-box records indicate that the airliner was deliberately dived by criminals, as the crew and passengers dominated the fight for the aircraft.
The last plane had 4 terrorists as the 5th accomplice, Mohammed al-Qahtani, did not check in for the flight. The information about the 4 hijacked airliner was taken more seriously by the US Air Force. F-16s were sent to search for the Boeing-757 and patrolled the sky from 8:46 am. However, the technicians did not have time to arm the fighters with ammunition.
In the absence of destructive weapons, pilot Lieutenant Heather Penny received the order to ram flight UA93. But the passenger ship crashed before it could be found. And this despite the fact that the head of the operational department of the US aviation service, Ben Sliney, at 09:26 gave the order to land all 4,300 civilian aircraft flying the country's air lines.
Consequences of the terrorist attack and the number of victims
6 hours 52 minutes after the collapse of the North Tower, at exactly 5:20 pm, the 52-storey building of the 7th WTC building collapsed. It was in the vicinity of the Twin Towers. And at 6:16 pm, the 47-storey building of the World Trade Center complex was formed, located in close proximity to the WTC.
Collapsing skyscrapers destroyed 1,337 vehicle at epicenter, including 91 New York City Fire Department vehicles. The approximate damage from the 9/11 terrorist attack, voiced by US President George W. Bush. in 2006 is $ 500 billion.
On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed at the hands of al-Qaeda radicals. Among them: 343 rescue workers and 60 police officers. The largest number of victims was in the twin towers, 2,152 people. 125 people died at the Pentagon. After dismantling the rubble, about 1,600 victims of the terrorist attack were found and identified. Almost 6,000 were injured. They managed to save 30,000 people.
Fig. 3 Removing the rubble at the site of the collapse of the Twin Towers Investigations, charges, sentences
On November 27, 2002, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks against the United States group was formed. It was headed by Thomas Kean, then the current governor of New Jersey. On July 22, 2004, the department submitted a report on the results of the investigation. Officially, the invaders were al-Qaeda fighters. They were armed with penknives. The reason for what happened is the personal hostility of the leader of the terrorist cell to America. The case materials fit into 600 pages. The CIA arrested 7 people taking part in the preparation of the terrorist attack:
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - leader and organizer;
- Ramzi Binalshib - material support for a terrorist cell;
- Zacarias Moussaoui - organization assistant from France;
- Mohammed al-Qahtani - 20th terrorist hijacker not registered for flight UA93;
- Ali Abdul Aziz Ali - the nephew of the leader;
- Mustafa Ahmed Hawsavi - assistant to the leader;
- Walid bin Attash - Assistant to the leader.
During the investigation, the commission found 4 surviving passports of suicide bombers: Satam al-Suqami (flight AA11), Saeed al-Ghamdi and Ziad Jarrah (flight UA93), Abdulaziz Alomari - whose passport was found in the lost luggage, although the terrorist himself was on flight AA11 ...
All suspects were found and arrested during the period 2002-2003. While awaiting trial, the criminals were held in CIA prisons. In 2006, the terrorists were transferred to the Guantanamo special camp at a US military base in Cuba. In the winter of 2008, all suspects were charged with mass murder and war crimes. The inmates pleaded not guilty. Each of the criminals has already been sentenced to several life sentences. Military trials continue to this day.
World Trade Center Memorial
On the site of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the National 9/11 Memorial was inaugurated on September 11, 2011. The memorial site consists of two giant granite pools, in the center of each of which there is an abyss that absorbs a waterfall. The pools are located in the pits of the twin towers. Leaving water into the abyss symbolizes the transience of human life, which can be interrupted in an instant.
Fig. 4 Memorial 9/11 USA New York On the parapets of the pools around the perimeter, there are memorial bronze plaques with the names of the deceased workers of the World Trade Center. The surnames are not sorted alphabetically, but are arranged in the order of "significant neighborhood": in which tower the person worked, his professional relationship and work space. It took 2 years to develop the project. The winner was announced during the competition. A special fund was opened, which raised $ 350 million by 2008.
On May 21, 2014, the 9/11 Museum opened, dedicated to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack. It is located in the New World Trade Center, built nearby. Here are models of the twin towers, many items, damaged fire and medical vehicles, clothing, personal belongings of employees and companies. Initially, the entrance of visitors was strictly controlled. Since May 2014, Memorial 9/11 is open to the public daily and free of charge from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm.
A video filmed by eyewitnesses and tourists seconds before the collision of planes with the twin towers and subsequent events:
