# Canonical recap data for The September 11 Attacks (2001)
# Source: https://recap.at/2001/september-11-attacks
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: september-11-attacks
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2001/september-11-attacks"
wikidataQid: Q10806
originSignals:
- "wikidata:Q10806"
- "wikipedia:September_11_attacks"
title: The September 11 Attacks
aliases:
- 9/11
- September 11
- WTC attacks
- Nine-eleven
subtitle: Four hijacked planes, ninety-one minutes, and the day that ended the post-Cold-War decade
lede: On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers seized four commercial jets in the northeastern United States, flew two into the World Trade Center towers in New York and one into the Pentagon, and crashed the fourth in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. 2,977 people were killed. The decade that followed was reorganized around the response.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: historical
startDate: 2001-09-11
endDate: 2001-09-11
datePrecision: day
year: 2001
decade: 2000
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
location: New York City, Arlington VA, Shanksville PA
geo:
lat: 40.7115
lng: -74.0134
place: World Trade Center, New York
geos:
- lat: 40.7115
  lng: -74.0134
  place: World Trade Center, New York
  note: "American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 08:46:40 EDT. United 175 struck the South Tower at 09:03:02. Both towers collapsed within 102 minutes."
  date: 2001-09-11
  significance: 100
- lat: 38.8718
  lng: -77.0563
  place: The Pentagon, Arlington, VA
  note: "American Airlines Flight 77 struck the western face at 09:37:46 EDT. 184 killed in plane + building."
  date: 2001-09-11
  significance: 90
- lat: 40.0506
  lng: -78.9034
  place: Shanksville, Pennsylvania
  note: "United 93 crashed at 10:03:11 EDT after passengers attempted to retake the cockpit. Target was likely the U.S. Capitol."
  date: 2001-09-11
  significance: 88
- lat: 38.8977
  lng: -77.0365
  place: The White House, Washington DC
  note: "Evacuated at 09:45 EDT. President Bush was in Sarasota, FL when the attacks began."
  date: 2001-09-11
  significance: 75
summaryShort: "September 11, 2001: Four hijacked planes, two World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. 2,977 dead. The U.S. response - two wars, the Patriot Act, DHS, TSA - defined the following two decades."
summaryLong: |-
  At 08:46:40 EDT on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 - a Boeing 767 that had departed Boston for Los Angeles - was flown into the 93rd through 99th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes later, at 09:03:02, United Airlines Flight 175 - also Boston-LAX - struck the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors. The second impact was televised live; the world watched in real time as a terrorist attack escalated from accident to coordinated act.

  Flights had been delayed, transponders disabled. Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker on Flight 11, had passed through Portland, Maine, that morning. The plan was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's, the operation was funded by al-Qaeda, the order was Osama bin Laden's. Nineteen hijackers - fifteen from Saudi Arabia, two from the UAE, one from Egypt, one from Lebanon - boarded four planes that morning. Two more crashed before noon. At 09:37:46, American Airlines Flight 77 hit the western face of the Pentagon. At 10:03:11, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers stormed the cockpit.

  The South Tower collapsed first, at 09:58:59. Fifty-six minutes after impact, the structural steel had softened past its yield strength; the floors above the burning zone pancaked down. The North Tower fell at 10:28:22, 102 minutes after impact. Dust covered Lower Manhattan in a layer six inches thick. 2,977 people died on the day, not counting the 19 hijackers: 2,753 at the World Trade Center, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 on Flight 93. Approximately 3,000 children lost a parent. Over 6,000 were injured. First-responder cancer deaths and 9/11-related illness deaths have since exceeded the day-of toll.

  U.S. airspace closed at 09:45. President George W. Bush, who had been reading to second-graders in Sarasota, Florida, was airlifted to a SAC base in Nebraska before returning to Washington that night. He addressed the nation at 20:30 EDT: 'These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed.' Three days later, Congress authorized the use of military force against those responsible - a 60-word resolution that would underwrite American military operations for the next 20+ years.

  The response reshaped the decade. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, beginning what became the longest war in American history. The Patriot Act was signed October 26. The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002. The Transportation Security Administration was created in 2001. The Guantanamo Bay detention facility opened in 2002. Iraq was invaded in 2003 on a pretext later acknowledged as wrong. Surveillance authorities expanded under FISA. Bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011 - 3,519 days after the attack. U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. The wars cost approximately $8 trillion and roughly 940,000 lives (combined U.S. military, allied military, contractors, and civilians per the Costs of War project). The reorganization of American institutions around terrorism remains in place.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg/1280px-National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg"
heroImageCredit: U.S. National Park Service - view of the burning WTC from Liberty Island, morning of September 11, 2001. Public domain.
importance: 99
sourceConfidence: 98
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: Tuesday, September 11, 2001
- label: Hijackers
  value: 19 (15 Saudi, 2 UAE, 1 Egypt, 1 Lebanon)
- label: Hijacked aircraft
  value: 4 (AA 11, UA 175, AA 77, UA 93)
- label: First impact
  value: "08:46:40 EDT · WTC North"
- label: Second impact
  value: "09:03:02 EDT · WTC South"
- label: Pentagon impact
  value: "09:37:46 EDT"
- label: Flight 93 crash
  value: "10:03:11 EDT · Shanksville, PA"
- label: South Tower collapse
  value: "09:58:59 EDT · 56 min after impact"
- label: North Tower collapse
  value: "10:28:22 EDT · 102 min after impact"
- label: Killed
  value: 2,977 (excl. 19 hijackers)
- label: Injured
  value: ≥6,000
- label: Mastermind
  value: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (planner) · Osama bin Laden (ordered)
timeline:
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: AA 11 hits the North Tower
  description: "08:46:40 EDT. Boeing 767 from Boston, 92 aboard. Hits floors 93–99 of WTC 1 at ~440 mph. Captain John Ogonowski's stuck radio mic transmits Atta's announcement."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: UA 175 hits the South Tower
  description: "09:03:02 EDT. Boeing 767 from Boston, 65 aboard. Live on CNN. First time the world watches a terrorist act in progress on camera."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: FAA grounds all civilian flights over the U.S.
  description: "09:42 EDT. First nationwide ground stop in U.S. aviation history. ≈4,000 aircraft in the air; all are routed to the nearest airport. Many divert to Gander, Newfoundland."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: AA 77 hits the Pentagon
  description: "09:37:46 EDT. Boeing 757 from Dulles, 64 aboard. 125 killed in the building (the construction crew was in the renovated wedge)."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: UA 93 crashes in Shanksville
  description: "10:03:11 EDT. Boeing 757 from Newark, 44 aboard. Cockpit voice recorder captures the passenger revolt. Target was likely the U.S. Capitol."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: South Tower collapses
  description: "09:58:59 EDT. 56 minutes after impact. Structural steel fails; floors pancake. Estimated 600 in the building above the impact zone."
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: North Tower collapses
  description: "10:28:22 EDT. 102 minutes after impact. Survivors above the impact zone: 0. The dust cloud reaches Lower Manhattan rooftops."
- date: 2001-09-14
  title: Authorization for Use of Military Force
  description: Congress passes AUMF - 98-0 in the Senate, 420-1 in the House. Rep. Barbara Lee casts the lone no vote. The 60-word resolution still underwrites U.S. counterterrorism operations.
- date: 2001-10-07
  title: U.S. invades Afghanistan
  description: Operation Enduring Freedom begins. Air strikes against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets. Kabul falls November 13.
- date: 2001-10-26
  title: Patriot Act signed
  description: George W. Bush signs P.L. 107-56. Expands surveillance, search, and detention authorities. Becomes the legal scaffolding of two decades of counterterrorism.
- date: 2011-05-02
  title: Bin Laden killed in Abbottabad
  description: "00:43 PKT. SEAL Team Six raid on a compound in Pakistan. 3,519 days after the attack."
- date: 2021-08-30
  title: Last U.S. troops leave Afghanistan
  description: "23:59 EDT. Twenty years minus 38 days of war. The Taliban - driven from power within months of October 7, 2001 - is back in Kabul."
sources:
- provider: Wikipedia
  title: September 11 attacks - Wikipedia
  url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks"
- provider: Wikidata
  title: Q10806 - September 11 attacks
  url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260512133808/https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10806"
- provider: 9/11 Commission
  title: The 9/11 Commission Report (final report, July 2004)
  url: "https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf"
  publishedAt: 2004-07-22
- provider: Library of Congress
  title: September 11 - Library of Congress collection
  url: "https://www.loc.gov/search/?q=september+11+2001"
- provider: Wikimedia Commons
  title: September 11 attacks - media files
  url: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:September_11_attacks"
- provider: Internet Archive
  title: September 11 Television Archive - over 3,000 hours of TV news
  url: "https://archive.org/details/911"
- provider: Wayback Machine
  title: CNN.com homepage, September 11, 2001 (captured snapshot)
  url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20010911153937/http://www.cnn.com/"
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
- provider: GDELT
  title: Global event coverage stream - September 11, 2001
  url: "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/doc/doc?query=%22september+11%22&mode=ArtList&startdatetime=20010911000000&enddatetime=20010912235959"
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
- provider: Open Library
  title: "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 - Lawrence Wright (2006)"
  url: "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16809W/The_Looming_Tower"
  publishedAt: "2006"
- provider: Open Library
  title: "102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers - Jim Dwyer & Kevin Flynn (2005)"
  url: "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2718946W/102_Minutes"
  publishedAt: "2005"
- provider: Hacker News
  title: HN discussion archive - 9/11 (Algolia historical search)
  url: "https://hn.algolia.com/?query=september%2011%202001&type=story"
related: []
relationships:
- targetSlug: berlin-wall-fall
  type: ended
  confidence: 80
  evidence: The unipolar moment that followed the fall of the Wall (1989–2001) - Pax Americana, the end-of-history thesis - was the world 9/11 ended. Bush's post-attack address explicitly framed it as the start of a new era.
  source: editorial
- targetSlug: american-civil-war-begins
  type: caused_by
  confidence: 75
  evidence: Timeline of "The September 11 Attacks" references "American Civil War" (2 shared tokens incl. title anchor).
  source: ai
- targetSlug: assassination-john-f-kennedy
  type: caused_by
  confidence: 75
  evidence: Timeline of "The September 11 Attacks" references "Assassination of John F. Kennedy" (2 shared tokens incl. title anchor).
  source: ai
- targetSlug: gulf-war
  type: caused_by
  confidence: 75
  evidence: Timeline of "The September 11 Attacks" references "Gulf War" (3 shared tokens incl. title anchor).
  source: ai
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: nyt
  headline: U.S. ATTACKED - HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON
  publishedAt: 2001-09-12
  url: "https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/us/us-attacked-hijacked-jets-destroy-twin-towers-and-hit-pentagon-in-day-of-terror.html"
  excerpt: Hijackers rammed jetliners into each of New York's World Trade Center towers yesterday, toppling both in a hellish storm of ash, glass, smoke and leaping victims, while a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia.
  significance: 100
  type: newspaper
  region: US
- publisher: BBC News
  publisherSlug: bbc
  headline: America under attack
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  url: "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1537469.stm"
  excerpt: Hijacked airliners have crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington in apparently coordinated attacks that have stunned the United States and the world.
  significance: 92
  type: tv
  region: UK
- publisher: Le Monde
  publisherSlug: lemonde
  headline: Nous sommes tous Américains
  publishedAt: 2001-09-13
  url: "https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2001/09/12/nous-sommes-tous-americains_201627_3232.html"
  excerpt: Le 11 septembre 2001 est une date qu'oubliera difficilement le siècle qui commence. Nous sommes tous Américains - comme dans les heures les plus graves de notre propre histoire.
  originalLanguage: fr
  translation:
  headline: We are all Americans
  excerpt: September 11, 2001 is a date that the century just beginning will not easily forget. We are all Americans - as in the most grave hours of our own history.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Bild
  publisherSlug: bild
  headline: Der Angriff auf die freie Welt
  publishedAt: 2001-09-12
  url: "https://www.bild.de/"
  excerpt: Tausende Tote, ein Land im Schock, die freie Welt erschüttert. Was am 11. September geschah, war ein Angriff nicht nur auf Amerika, sondern auf alles, was die westliche Demokratie ausmacht.
  originalLanguage: de
  translation:
  headline: The attack on the free world
  excerpt: Thousands dead, a country in shock, the free world shaken. What happened on September 11 was an attack not only on America but on everything that constitutes Western democracy.
  significance: 78
  type: newspaper
  region: Germany
- publisher: CNN
  publisherSlug: cnn
  headline: America under attack - continuing live coverage
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  url: "https://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/wtc.attack/"
  excerpt: "CNN broke into regular programming at 08:49 EDT with footage of smoke from the North Tower. By 09:03 the second impact was on live air. The network aired commercial-free for 93 consecutive hours."
  significance: 95
  type: tv
  region: US
peoplesVoice:
- source: Sarasota, FL - Emma E. Booker Elementary School
  voiceType: official
  context: President George W. Bush was reading 'The Pet Goat' to second-graders when chief of staff Andrew Card whispered the news. He continued reading for about seven minutes before exiting.
  excerpt: America is under attack.
  attribution: "Andrew Card to George W. Bush, whispered (9:05 AM EDT)"
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 92
- source: United 93, cockpit voice recorder
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Passenger Todd Beamer, on a GTE Airfone with operator Lisa Jefferson, before storming the cockpit. The line stayed open after he set the phone down.
  excerpt: Are you guys ready? Let's roll.
  attribution: Todd Beamer, UA 93 passenger
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 95
- source: Rubble of WTC, Ground Zero
  voiceType: official
  context: Three days after the attack, Bush addressed rescuers atop a wrecked fire truck. A worker shouted that he couldn't hear; Bush picked up a bullhorn.
  excerpt: I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people - and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
  attribution: George W. Bush, U.S. President (Sept 14, 2001)
  publishedAt: 2001-09-14
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 88
- source: U.S. House floor, Sept 14 AUMF vote
  voiceType: official
  context: Representative Barbara Lee of California's speech explaining her sole no vote on the Authorization for Use of Military Force. The resolution passed 420–1.
  excerpt: However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today.
  attribution: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
  publishedAt: 2001-09-14
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 90
- source: Tora Bora, Afghanistan - al-Qaeda video, recovered Nov 2001
  voiceType: expert
  context: Osama bin Laden discussing the attacks with a Saudi sympathizer. Captured on videotape during the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.
  excerpt: We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors.
  attribution: Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda leader (recorded ~Nov 2001)
  publishedAt: 2001-11
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
- source: Lower Manhattan, near WTC site
  voiceType: media
  context: NBC correspondent David Bloom reporting live as the South Tower collapses behind him.
  excerpt: Oh my God - the tower has come down. The tower has come down. We are running.
  attribution: David Bloom, NBC News
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 80
- source: Berlin, Bundestag - Sept 19 speech
  voiceType: official
  context: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the first major foreign leader to pledge 'unconditional solidarity' with the United States.
  excerpt: Diese Tat war eine Kriegserklärung gegen die zivilisierte Welt. Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland steht in dieser schwersten Stunde uneingeschränkt an der Seite der Vereinigten Staaten.
  originalLanguage: de
  translation:
  excerpt: This act was a declaration of war against the civilized world. The Federal Republic of Germany stands, in this gravest hour, in unconditional solidarity with the United States.
  attribution: Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
  publishedAt: 2001-09-19
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 75
- source: Manhattan apartment, eyewitness account
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Photographer Bill Biggart, killed when the North Tower collapsed, had been photographing the burning South Tower. His last frames were on a memory card recovered four days later.
  excerpt: I'm okay, I'm just going to be a little late.
  attribution: "Bill Biggart, photojournalist (last call to his wife Wendy, ~10:15 AM)"
  publishedAt: 2001-09-11
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 70
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg/1280px-National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg/800px-National_Park_Service_9-11_Statue_of_Liberty_and_WTC_fire.jpg"
  caption: The burning towers, viewed from Liberty Island, mid-morning of September 11, 2001.
  credit: U.S. National Park Service (Public domain)
  width: 1280
  height: 852
  alt: The Statue of Liberty stands in the foreground on Liberty Island as thick plumes of smoke pour from the World Trade Center towers across the water in lower Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001. The clear blue sky contrasts sharply with the dark smoke billowing from the burning buildings in the distance.
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/September_17_2001.jpg/1280px-September_17_2001.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/September_17_2001.jpg/800px-September_17_2001.jpg"
  caption: Ground Zero six days after the attacks. Recovery operations continued through May 2002.
  credit: NOAA / U.S. Govt (Public domain)
  width: 1280
  height: 853
  alt: An aerial view of the World Trade Center site showing massive piles of twisted metal debris and ash, with surrounding buildings visible and smoke still rising from the rubble six days after the September 11 attacks.
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Aerial_view_of_the_Pentagon_during_rescue_operations_post-September_11_attack.JPEG/1280px-Aerial_view_of_the_Pentagon_during_rescue_operations_post-September_11_attack.JPEG"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Aerial_view_of_the_Pentagon_during_rescue_operations_post-September_11_attack.JPEG/800px-Aerial_view_of_the_Pentagon_during_rescue_operations_post-September_11_attack.JPEG"
  caption: The Pentagon, hours after AA 77 hit the western face. The renovated wedge absorbed the impact.
  credit: U.S. Navy / Lt. Col. Lloyd Cosby (Public domain)
  width: 1280
  height: 853
  alt: Aerial view of the Pentagon building showing extensive damage and debris from impact on the western face, with emergency response crews, heavy equipment, and rescue personnel working at the disaster site, an American flag visible on the right side of the image.
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20010911153937/http://www.cnn.com/"
  capturedAt: "2001-09-11T15:39:37Z"
  label: CNN.com - captured during the attack
  originalUrl: "http://www.cnn.com/"
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20010912004821/http://www.nytimes.com/"
  capturedAt: "2001-09-12T00:48:21Z"
  label: NYTimes.com - late Sept 11 / early Sept 12 capture
  originalUrl: "http://www.nytimes.com/"
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Drops of Jupiter
  artist: Train
  year: 2001
  note: Grammy winner; ambient pop background to a year that abruptly stopped being light.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
- title: The Rising
  artist: Bruce Springsteen
  year: 2002
  note: Released July 30, 2002 - Springsteen's response album. The title track was written for a New Jersey firefighter killed in the towers.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
- title: America the Beautiful (Concert for New York City)
  artist: Various - Madison Square Garden, Oct 20, 2001
  year: 2001
  note: Benefit concert organized by Paul McCartney 39 days after the attacks. Watched live by 60M+ Americans.
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
topFilms:
- title: United 93
  year: 2006
  note: Paul Greengrass's near-documentary reconstruction of Flight 93. Released to controversy about whether it was 'too soon'; later canonized as the definitive cinematic treatment.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
- title: World Trade Center
  year: 2006
  note: Oliver Stone's film about two Port Authority police officers trapped in the rubble.
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
- title: Fahrenheit 9/11
  year: 2004
  note: Michael Moore's documentary. Won the Palme d'Or; became the highest-grossing documentary in U.S. history.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
topTVShows:
- title: Friends (Season 8)
  year: 2001
  note: Re-shot the season 8 premiere days after 9/11 - the original cut involved a bomb-on-a-plane joke that became unusable.
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
- title: The West Wing - 'Isaac and Ishmael'
  year: 2001
  note: Aaron Sorkin wrote a special standalone episode about a school lockdown during a terror scare, aired Oct 3, 2001 - three weeks after the attacks.
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-07-06T11:40:02.788Z"
zeitgeistNote: "Late 2001 was an inflection point in U.S. culture: irony was declared 'dead' (it wasn't), the country invaded one and then a second country, and the post-Cold-War 'end of history' confidence of the 1990s evaporated. The decade that followed reorganized around the response."
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: U.S. defense spending
  thenValue: $314B (2001)
  thenYear: 2001
  nowValue: $842B (2024)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Roughly doubled in real terms across two decades.
- metric: TSA budget
  thenValue: $0 (agency didn't exist)
  thenYear: 2001
  nowValue: $11.8B / 60,000 employees
  nowYear: 2024
  note: TSA was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, Nov 19, 2001.
- metric: U.S. citizens killed by terrorism on U.S. soil per year (avg)
  thenValue: ≈8 (1990s avg, excluding 9/11)
  thenYear: 2000
  nowValue: ≈15 (2010s avg, excluding the largest single events)
  nowYear: 2024
- metric: Cost of post-9/11 wars (Costs of War project, est.)
  thenValue: $0
  thenYear: 2001
  nowValue: ≈$8 trillion
  nowYear: 2023
- metric: U.S. troops in Afghanistan
  thenValue: 0 (Oct 6, 2001)
  thenYear: 2001
  nowValue: 0 (Aug 31, 2021 - full withdrawal)
  nowYear: 2021
  note: Peaked at 100,000 in 2010. The republic raised in 2004 fell within months of withdrawal.
impactStatement: The September 11 attacks ended the 1990s unipolar moment. The American response - two wars, the Patriot Act, DHS, TSA, Guantanamo, expanded surveillance - reshaped the relationship between U.S. citizens, their government, and the rest of the world. The republic the U.S. tried to build in Afghanistan fell within weeks of the August 2021 withdrawal. The wars cost roughly $8 trillion and about 940,000 lives. The institutional reorganization remains in place.
consequences:
- title: War in Afghanistan begins
  year: 2001
  description: U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan starts October 7, 2001. Becomes the longest war in U.S. history; ends August 30, 2021 with the Taliban back in power.
- title: USA PATRIOT Act signed
  year: 2001
  description: Expands surveillance, search, and detention authorities. Becomes the legal scaffolding of two decades of counterterrorism.
- title: TSA created; airport security reorganized
  year: 2001
  description: Aviation and Transportation Security Act of November 19, 2001 federalizes airport screeners. Shoe removal, liquid limits, and body scanners follow.
- title: Department of Homeland Security stood up
  year: 2002
  description: Largest reorganization of the U.S. federal government since 1947 - 22 agencies merged. 240,000 employees by 2003.
- title: Iraq invaded on a contested premise
  year: 2003
  description: March 20, 2003. WMD claims that drove the war were later acknowledged as wrong. 4,431 U.S. military deaths; estimated 600,000+ Iraqi civilian deaths.
- title: Bin Laden killed in Abbottabad
  year: 2011
  description: May 2, 2011. SEAL Team Six raid on a compound in Pakistan, 3,519 days after the attack.
- title: U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; Taliban return
  year: 2021
  description: Last U.S. military aircraft leaves Kabul August 30, 2021. The Afghan Republic falls within days. 20 years of war end approximately where they started.
categories:
- disaster
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- terrorist_attack
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
- mobilization
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: systemic
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: "September 11, 2001: Four hijacked planes, the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Flight 93. 2,977 killed in 91 minutes. The hour-by-hour story of the day that defined a decade."
relatedQueries:
- American Airlines Flight 11 North Tower impact
- United Airlines Flight 175 South Tower
- Pentagon attack American Airlines Flight 77
- United Airlines Flight 93 Shanksville Pennsylvania
- World Trade Center collapse September 11
- Bush administration response 2001 attacks
- USA PATRIOT Act 2001
- Department of Homeland Security creation
translations:
es:
lede: En la mañana del 11 de septiembre de 2001, diecinueve secuestradores tomaron control de cuatro vuelos comerciales en el noreste de Estados Unidos, estrellaron dos contra las torres del World Trade Center en Nueva York y uno contra el Pentágono, y derribaron el cuarto en un campo de Pensilvania después de que los pasajeros se defendieron. 2.977 personas murieron. La década que siguió se reorganizó en torno a la respuesta.
summaryShort: "11 de septiembre de 2001: Cuatro aviones secuestrados, dos torres del World Trade Center, el Pentágono y un campo en Pensilvania. 2.977 muertos. La respuesta de EE.UU. - dos guerras, la Ley Patriota, DHS, TSA - definió las dos décadas siguientes."
summaryLong: |-
  A las 08:46:40 EDT del 11 de septiembre de 2001, el vuelo 11 de American Airlines - un Boeing 767 que había salido de Boston hacia Los Ángeles - se estrelló contra los pisos 93 al 99 de la Torre Norte del World Trade Center. Diecisiete minutos después, a las 09:03:02, el vuelo 175 de United Airlines - también Boston-LAX - golpeó la Torre Sur entre los pisos 77 y 85. El segundo impacto fue televisado en directo; el mundo observó en tiempo real cómo un ataque terrorista escaló de accidente a acto coordinado.

  Los vuelos habían sido retrasados, los transpondedores deshabilitados. Mohamed Atta, el secuestrador principal del vuelo 11, había pasado por Portland, Maine, esa mañana. El plan era de Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, la operación fue financiada por al-Qaeda, la orden fue de Osama bin Laden. Diecinueve secuestradores - quince de Arabia Saudita, dos de los EAU, uno de Egipto, uno del Líbano - abordaron cuatro aviones esa mañana. Dos más se estrellaron antes del mediodía. A las 09:37:46, el vuelo 77 de American Airlines golpeó la cara occidental del Pentágono. A las 10:03:11, el vuelo 93 de United Airlines se estrelló en un campo cerca de Shanksville, Pensilvania, después de que los pasajeros asaltaran la cabina.

  La Torre Sur se derrumbó primero, a las 09:58:59. Cincuenta y seis minutos después del impacto, el acero estructural se había ablandado más allá de su límite de fluencia; los pisos por encima de la zona de fuego se desmoronaron. La Torre Norte cayó a las 10:28:22, 102 minutos después del impacto. El polvo cubrió Lower Manhattan en una capa de seis pulgadas de espesor. 2.977 personas murieron ese día, sin contar los 19 secuestradores: 2.753 en el World Trade Center, 184 en el Pentágono y 40 en el vuelo 93. Aproximadamente 3.000 niños perdieron a un padre. Más de 6.000 resultaron heridos. Las muertes por cáncer de socorristas y las muertes por enfermedades relacionadas con el 11/9 han superado desde entonces el número de víctimas del día.

  El espacio aéreo estadounidense fue cerrado a las 09:45. El presidente George W. Bush, quien estaba leyendo a estudiantes de segundo grado en Sarasota, Florida, fue trasladado por aire a una base SAC en Nebraska antes de regresar a Washington esa noche. Se dirigió a la nación a las 20:30 EDT: «Estos actos de asesinato en masa fueron destinados a aterrorizar a nuestra nación hacia el caos y la retirada. Pero han fracasado». Tres días después, el Congreso autorizó el uso de la fuerza militar contra los responsables - una resolución de 60 palabras que respaldaría las operaciones militares estadounidenses durante los próximos 20+ años.

  La respuesta reformó la década. Estados Unidos invadió Afganistán el 7 de octubre de 2001, iniciando lo que se convirtió en la guerra más larga en la historia estadounidense. La Ley Patriota fue firmada el 26 de octubre. El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional fue creado en 2002. La Administración de Seguridad del Transporte fue creada en 2001. La instalación de detención de Guantánamo Bay abrió en 2002. Irak fue invadido en 2003 bajo un pretexto posteriormente reconocido como erróneo. Las autoridades de vigilancia se expandieron bajo FISA. Bin Laden fue asesinado por los Navy SEALs en Abbottabad, Pakistán el 2 de mayo de 2011 - 3.519 días después del ataque. Las tropas estadounidenses se retiraron de Afganistán en agosto de 2021. Las guerras costaron aproximadamente $8 billones y aproximadamente 940.000 vidas (militares estadounidenses, militares aliados, contratistas y civiles combinados según el proyecto Costs of War). La reorganización de las instituciones estadounidenses en torno al terrorismo permanece en vigor.
generatedAt: "2026-05-21T11:58:00.307Z"
fr:
lede: Le matin du 11 septembre 2001, dix-neuf pirates de l'air ont saisi quatre avions commerciaux dans le nord-est des États-Unis, en ont envoyé deux contre les tours du World Trade Center à New York et un contre le Pentagone, et ont écrasé le quatrième dans un champ en Pennsylvanie après que des passagers aient riposté. 2 977 personnes ont été tuées. La décennie qui a suivi s'est réorganisée autour de la riposte.
summaryShort: "11 septembre 2001 : Quatre avions détournés, deux tours du World Trade Center, le Pentagone, et un champ en Pennsylvanie. 2 977 morts. La riposte américaine - deux guerres, le Patriot Act, le DHS, la TSA - a défini les deux décennies suivantes."
summaryLong: |-
  À 08:46:40 EDT le 11 septembre 2001, le vol American Airlines 11 - un Boeing 767 en provenance de Boston vers Los Angeles - a été volé contre les 93e à 99e étages de la Tour Nord du World Trade Center. Dix-sept minutes plus tard, à 09:03:02, le vol United Airlines 175 - également Boston-LAX - a frappé la Tour Sud entre les 77e et 85e étages. Le second impact a été télédiffusé en direct ; le monde a regardé en temps réel une attaque terroriste s'intensifier d'accident à acte coordonné.

  Des vols avaient été retardés, les transpondeurs désactivés. Mohamed Atta, le chef des pirates de l'air du vol 11, était passé par Portland, Maine, ce matin-là. Le plan était celui de Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, l'opération était financée par al-Qaïda, l'ordre était celui d'Oussama ben Laden. Dix-neuf pirates de l'air - quinze d'Arabie saoudite, deux des Émirats arabes unis, un d'Égypte, un du Liban - ont embarqué sur quatre avions ce matin-là. Deux autres se sont écrasés avant midi. À 09:37:46, le vol American Airlines 77 a frappé la face ouest du Pentagone. À 10:03:11, le vol United Airlines 93 s'est écrasé dans un champ près de Shanksville, en Pennsylvanie, après que des passagers aient pris d'assaut le poste de pilotage.

  La Tour Sud s'est effondrée en premier, à 09:58:59. Cinquante-six minutes après l'impact, l'acier structural avait ramolli au-delà de sa limite d'élasticité ; les étages au-dessus de la zone incendiée se sont effondrés. La Tour Nord est tombée à 10:28:22, 102 minutes après l'impact. La poussière a recouvert le sud de Manhattan d'une couche de six pouces d'épaisseur. 2 977 personnes sont mortes ce jour-là, sans compter les 19 pirates de l'air : 2 753 au World Trade Center, 184 au Pentagone, et 40 sur le vol 93. Environ 3 000 enfants ont perdu un parent. Plus de 6 000 ont été blessés. Les décès par cancer chez les premiers intervenants et les décès dus à des maladies liées au 11 septembre ont depuis dépassé le bilan du jour même.

  L'espace aérien américain a été fermé à 09:45. Le président George W. Bush, qui lisait à des enfants de deuxième année à Sarasota, en Floride, a été transporté par avion vers une base du SAC au Nebraska avant de retourner à Washington cette nuit-là. Il s'est adressé à la nation à 20:30 EDT : « Ces actes de meurtre de masse avaient pour intention de terrifier notre nation et de la pousser au chaos et à la retraite. Mais ils ont échoué. » Trois jours plus tard, le Congrès a autorisé l'usage de la force militaire contre les responsables - une résolution de 60 mots qui financerait les opérations militaires américaines pendant les 20+ années suivantes.

  La riposte a remodelé la décennie. Les États-Unis ont envahi l'Afghanistan le 7 octobre 2001, marquant le début de ce qui allait devenir la plus longue guerre de l'histoire américaine. Le Patriot Act a été signé le 26 octobre. Le Department of Homeland Security a été créé en 2002. La Transportation Security Administration a été créée en 2001. Le centre de détention de Guantanamo Bay a ouvert en 2002. L'Irak a été envahi en 2003 sous un prétexte reconnu ultérieurement comme erroné. Les autorités de surveillance se sont étendues sous la FISA. Ben Laden a été tué par les Navy SEALs à Abbottabad, Pakistan le 2 mai 2011 - 3 519 jours après l'attaque. Les troupes américaines se sont retirées d'Afghanistan en août 2021. Les guerres ont coûté environ 8 billions de dollars et environ 940 000 vies (combinaison militaires américaines, alliées, entrepreneurs et civils selon le projet Costs of War). La réorganisation des institutions américaines autour du terrorisme reste en place.
generatedAt: "2026-05-21T11:58:09.435Z"
de:
lede: Am Morgen des 11. September 2001 kaperten neunzehn Flugzeugentführer vier Verkehrsflugzeuge im Nordosten der Vereinigten Staaten, flogen zwei in die World-Trade-Center-Türme in New York und eines ins Pentagon, und stürzten das vierte in einem Feld in Pennsylvania ab, nachdem sich Passagiere zur Wehr setzten. 2.977 Menschen wurden getötet. Das darauffolgende Jahrzehnt wurde um die Reaktion darauf reorganisiert.
summaryShort: "11. September 2001: Vier gekaperte Flugzeuge, zwei World-Trade-Center-Türme, das Pentagon und ein Feld in Pennsylvania. 2.977 Tote. Die US-amerikanische Reaktion - zwei Kriege, der Patriot Act, DHS, TSA - prägte das folgende Jahrzehnt."
summaryLong: |-
  Um 08:46:40 EDT am 11. September 2001 wurde American Airlines Flug 11 - ein Boeing 767, der von Boston nach Los Angeles geflogen war - in die 93. bis 99. Etage des Nordturms des World Trade Center geflogen. Siebzehn Minuten später, um 09:03:02, traf United Airlines Flug 175 - ebenfalls Boston-LAX - den Südturm zwischen der 77. und 85. Etage. Der zweite Aufprall wurde live im Fernsehen übertragen; die Welt sah in Echtzeit, wie sich ein Terroranschlag von einem Unfall zu einer koordinierten Aktion entwickelte.

  Flüge waren verspätet worden, Transponder deaktiviert. Mohamed Atta, der Leitentführer auf Flug 11, war an diesem Morgen durch Portland, Maine, gegangen. Der Plan stammte von Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, die Operation wurde von al-Qaeda finanziert, der Befehl kam von Osama bin Laden. Neunzehn Entführer - fünfzehn aus Saudi-Arabien, zwei aus den VAE, einer aus Ägypten, einer aus dem Libanon - bestiegen an diesem Morgen vier Flugzeuge. Zwei weitere stürzten vor Mittag ab. Um 09:37:46 traf American Airlines Flug 77 die Westseite des Pentagon. Um 10:03:11 stürzte United Airlines Flug 93 in einem Feld in der Nähe von Shanksville, Pennsylvania, ab, nachdem Passagiere ins Cockpit stürmten.

  Der Südturm kollabierte zuerst, um 09:58:59. Sechsundfünfzig Minuten nach dem Aufprall war das Stahlgerüst über seine Streckgrenze hinaus erweicht; die Etagen über der Brandzone stürzten zusammen. Der Nordturm fiel um 10:28:22, 102 Minuten nach dem Aufprall. Staub bedeckte Lower Manhattan in einer Schicht von fünfzehn Zentimetern Dicke. 2.977 Menschen starben an diesem Tag, ohne die 19 Entführer zu zählen: 2.753 im World Trade Center, 184 im Pentagon und 40 auf Flug 93. Ungefähr 3.000 Kinder verloren einen Elternteil. Über 6.000 wurden verletzt. Krebstodesfälle bei Ersthelfern und durch 9/11 bedingte Todesfälle durch Krankheit haben seitdem die Bilanz des Tages überschritten.

  Der US-amerikanische Luftraum wurde um 09:45 geschlossen. Präsident George W. Bush, der Grundschülern in Sarasota, Florida, vorgelesen hatte, wurde zu einer SAC-Basis in Nebraska gebracht, bevor er in dieser Nacht nach Washington zurückkehrte. Er wandte sich um 20:30 EDT an die Nation: ‚Diese Massenmordtaten sollten unsere Nation in Chaos und Rückzug treiben. Aber sie sind fehlgeschlagen.' Drei Tage später ermächtigte der Kongress den Einsatz von Militärgewalt gegen die Verantwortlichen - eine 60-Wort-Resolution, die amerikanische Militäroperationen für die nächsten 20+ Jahre finanzieren würde.

  Die Reaktion gestaltete das Jahrzehnt um. Die USA fielen am 7. Oktober 2001 in Afghanistan ein und begannen damit den längsten Krieg in der amerikanischen Geschichte. Der Patriot Act wurde am 26. Oktober unterzeichnet. Das Department of Homeland Security wurde 2002 gegründet. Die Transportation Security Administration wurde 2001 gegründet. Die Guantanamo-Bay-Haftstätte wurde 2002 eröffnet. Der Irak wurde 2003 unter einem später als fehlerhaft anerkannten Vorwand überfallen. Überwachungsbefugnisse wurden unter FISA erweitert. Bin Laden wurde von Navy SEALs am 2. Mai 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, getötet - 3.519 Tage nach dem Anschlag. US-Truppen zogen im August 2021 aus Afghanistan ab. Die Kriege kosteten ungefähr 8 Billionen Dollar und ungefähr 940.000 Leben (kombiniert US-amerikanische Militärs, alliierte Militärs, Auftragnehmer und Zivilisten nach dem Costs of War-Projekt). Die Reorganisation amerikanischer Institutionen um Terrorismus bleibt bestehen.
generatedAt: "2026-05-21T11:58:20.295Z"
heroImageAlt: The Statue of Liberty stands in the foreground on Liberty Island as thick plumes of smoke pour from the World Trade Center towers across the water in lower Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 2001. The clear blue sky contrasts sharply with the dark smoke billowing from the burning buildings in the distance.
