“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our greatest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundations of America. These acts have shattered the steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American Resolve.” –President George W. Bush. On September 11, 2001, America was hit by one of the largest terrorist attacks in history. Four separate acts of terror were launched against America that day, but the damage was worse than anyone could have imagined. This series of four terrorist attacks was organized by the Islamic terrorist group “al-Qaeda”. This day in history will never be forgotten by any American. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayFour planes were hijacked during the September 11 attacks. The first of the four commercial planes to depart was American Airlines Flight 11. This flight operated its daily flight from Boston to Los Angeles and had 81 passengers in 158 seats. The second commercial flight to take off was United Airlines Flight 175. It was scheduled to fly from Boston to Los Angeles and held 65 passengers in 168 seats. The third plane to take to the skies was American Airlines Flight 77. This plane was coming from Dulles to Los Angeles, and had 64 passengers in 176 seats. The fourth and final plane of the 9/11 attacks to take off was United Airlines Flight 93. Coming from New Jersey, bound for San Francisco, it carried only 44 passengers in 182 seats. The hijackers took cross-country planes because they were expected to consume most of their fuel on impact. The nineteen hijackers were taking commercial flights four months before the actual attacks. These nineteen are; Mohamed Atta, Abdulaziz al-Omari, Wail al-Shehri, Satam al-Suqami (American Airlines Flight 11), Marwan al-Shehhi, Fayez Banihammad, Mohand al-Shehri, Hamza al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Ghamdi (United Airlines Flight 175), Hani Hanjour, Khalid al-Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf al-Hazmi, Salem al-Hazmi (American Airlines Flight 77), Ziad Jarrah, Ahmed al-Haznawi, Ahmed al-Nami and Saeed al-Ghamdi (United Flight airplane 93). These hijackers took commercial flights to study how American planes operate and fly. They noticed when the seat belt signs went on and off. They would also take note if and when the cockpit was being watched. All nineteen hijackers made it through airport security, and all were carrying knives. Before 9/11, a passenger could carry a knife up to four inches long on board. Other items then permitted include baseball bats, darts, box cutters, scissors and knitting needles. These certain elements were considered non-threatening. All of these items were banned immediately after the attack or soon after. In order to hijack the planes, the men stabbed numerous flight attendants and pilots, using knives that were apparently "non-threatening". At 9:37 am, American Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. This plane came in at 530 miles per hour and hit the Pentagon on the first floor. The plane reached 350 feet inside the building, which was the outermost three rings of the building's five. The impact created a breech 2 stories high and 70 feet wide. This accident killed all people on board and 125 people who were in the building, 92 were on the first floor and 41 on the second. Thirty-three minutes after the attack, the west wall collapsed from top to bottom. United Airlines Flight 93 was a different story. The passengers on the plane learned of the other attacks carried out by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and thus triggered a riot. The plan.
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