September 11th twin tower tragedy. Who really blew up the twin towers in New York? The fourth liner was shot down by the US Air Force
September 11, 2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States, unprecedented in world history. The tragedy claimed the lives of almost three thousand people.
19 terrorists are citizens of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Lebanon - captured 4 passenger airliners. Two planes were sent to the skyscrapers of the World shopping center in New York, a third airliner crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania - its passengers and crew tried to take control of the airliner from the terrorists.
The victims of the attacks were 2977 people from 92 countries: 246 passengers and crew members, 2606 people in New York, in the WTC buildings and on the ground (including 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics of the New York Fire Department, 60 police officers and 8 employees "ambulance"), 125 people - in the Pentagon building.
As a result of the attacks, the 110-story twin towers collapsed. Work to clear the World Trade Center area lasted more than eight months. Burning and smoldering in the rubble at the site of the collapsed twin towers continued for 99 days before the fire was completely extinguished.
Chronicle of the tragedy 9/11
The moment of the collision of the first plane with the skyscraper of the shopping center. Video: Youtube
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Passers-by on the streets of New York point to the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
People look out of the windows of the North Tower. September 11, 2001 
The President of the United States is introduced to schoolchildren, after which George W. Bush begins to read The Pet Goat to them. At that moment, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card approaches him and reports: “The second plane crashed into the second tower. America is under attack." September 11, 2001 
People watch the collapse of one of the WTC towers. September 11, 2001 
Rescuers carry a mortally wounded man out of the destroyed WTC building. September 11, 2001 
The burning towers of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
A helicopter circles over the burning Pentagon after one of the hijacked planes crashed into the building. September 11, 2001 
A group of firefighters among the wreckage of the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
A helicopter is circling near one of the WTC towers. September 11, 2001 
In the background is the smoldering World Trade Center building. September 11, 2001 
Medical staff at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York awaiting casualties. September 11, 2001 
A firefighter among the rubble at the foot of the destroyed World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
The damaged wing of the Pentagon. September 11, 2001 
A firefighter calls for help at the ruins of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
Firefighters clear the rubble of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
Car wrecks near the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney at the Presidential Emergency Control Center in Washington, September 11, 2001 
US President George W. Bush speaks on the rubble of the World Trade Center. September 14, 2001
Survivor stories
Fred Eichler
On September 11, 2001, 54-year-old insurance agent Fred Eichler came to his office on the 83rd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:15 am. At 8:40 a.m. Fred went to the bathroom, but on the way he met four colleagues and they stopped to chat. Through the window they saw a plane flying towards their building. At 8:46 a.m., the airliner crashed into a skyscraper, destroying everything in its path. The shock wave threw Fred and his colleagues several tens of meters away. After recovering, the man called 911 and then phoned home to talk to his wife, daughters and parents. He was sure he would never see them again.
Fred entered the meeting room and was joined by three strangers. The floor was gradually covered with smoke, streams of water from broken pipes rushed along the corridors and stairs. The crowd stuffed the gap under the door with wet rugs and towels, trying to stop the smoke. After conferring, they decided not to open the windows, fearing that the air would fan the flames.
At 9.02 a second blow was heard: the plane crashed into the neighboring South Tower. Fred and the others decided to try to climb the fire escape. But when they got to the door, the lights went out in the building. They returned to the meeting room and hid under the tables.
At 9.30 Fred saw the light of a flashlight. A fireman arrived on their floor. He was able to save the found people, but he himself died. The rescuer led the survivors to the stairs and advised on the 78th floor to go to another staircase and go down it. On the 20th floor, they heard a new bang sound. The whole building shook as the South Tower collapsed. The northern one began to tremble - the elevators fell into the shafts, the stairs swayed. When Fred got outside, he asked someone for a phone and dialed his wife's number. She screamed into the phone: “Run, run, run!” Firemen and police shouted the same thing. A few minutes later, the North Tower collapsed.
Michael Wright
Michael Wright, 30, was on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the plane crashed into the building.
At that moment, Michael was in the men's room, where they were setting up a sign asking them to keep the room clean. The building shook. When Wright looked out of the toilet into the corridor, he saw fire and heard a woman scream - his colleague Alicia could not get out of the burning women's toilet. The men broke down the door and were able to pull the woman out.
There was a huge crack in the floor of the corridor, the hall near the elevator was completely destroyed, there was smoke everywhere. Michael began to lead his colleagues to the stairs, people descended like during a fire drill - in two rows.
“The thought of the unreality of what was happening helped to keep calm on the stairs, it seemed that the building could not collapse. As we climbed a few floors, we relaxed a bit. We understood that something bad had happened, but when the fire remained thirty floors above, it was no longer so disturbing, ”recalls Wright. According to him, people passed some floors quickly, others within 10 minutes.
On the 40th floor, Michael and his colleagues met firefighters who advised them to keep going down, assuring them that it was safe there. Having descended below the level of the 20th floor, Wright got to the site of the South Tower and realized the seriousness of what was happening: there were corpses everywhere, dozens of bodies.
When the building began to collapse, Wright and his colleagues were at the escalator at one of the exits from the building. A cloud of debris and dust rose, the air seemed to turn black. Michael tore off his shirt and covered her nose and mouth with it. Seeing no direction, he crawled, trying to find a way out.
Michael was lucky - he stumbled upon a fireman who was able to take him through the surviving bookstore building.
Reaching the phone, Michael called his wife Jenny.
“I said, 'Jenny, it's me.' There was a groan from the other end of the tube. I said, "I'm alive. I'm alive. I love you. I love you". We cried and wept. Then the connection was cut off, ”says Michael Wright.
Frank Razzano
On the morning of September 11, famed American lawyer Frank Razzano was sleeping in his suite on the 19th floor of the Marriott Hotel, located at the foot of the World Trade Center Twin Towers. He was awakened by the sound of the first blow, saw papers flying outside the window, and went back to bed. A few minutes later there was a second blow. The plane crashed into the South Tower, which overlooked Frank's windows. Razzano turned on the TV and heard the news. He still thought that there was nothing to worry about, because all the problems of the floors were 60 higher. The firemen will come and everything will be all right.
Frank took a shower, dressed, packed his things and suddenly felt as if the hotel was being fired from heavy artillery: it was the South Tower that began to fall apart. Through the window, the lawyer saw mountains of concrete and steel falling from the sky, as if in slow motion. He ran to the opposite side of the room and pressed himself against the wall.
Suddenly, the rumbling stopped. Razzano looked out into the corridor and shouted: "Is anyone alive?" Someone said, "Come here." The fireman directed Razzano to the stairs. Falling, the tower broke through the hotel in the middle, but the far staircase remained intact. Razzano followed it to the third floor, and there, together with a group of people, climbed through a hole in the wall to the second floor. A few minutes later, the North Tower collapsed, filling up the remains of the hotel. Several lower floors remained intact.
That's where Razzano was. There was nothing to breathe: the air seemed to consist of nothing but dirt and dust. People still managed to find an opening in the destroyed wall of the building, and with the help of a carpet path, go down to the mountain of debris. There, the police helped Razzano get to the doctors.
Pascal Bazzeli
43-year-old design engineer Pascal Bazzeli was in the elevator of the North Tower when the first impact was heard. The elevator stopped at the 44th floor, and Pascal saw people panicking, but decided to go up to his office on the 64th floor anyway. He called his pregnant wife and asked her to turn on the TV and find out what was wrong. When she told him what was going on, Buzzeli and his colleagues surrounded the television in the office themselves and saw the plane fly into the nearby tower. They rushed to the stairs and managed to get down to the 22nd floor when the building began to fall.
Buzzeli turned out to be an incredibly lucky man - curled up, he rolled down the wreckage 15 floors down like a surfer on a huge wave and, most amazingly, survived with a broken leg. All his colleagues died.
On the way down, Bazzeli lost consciousness and woke up three hours later on the ruins of the seventh floor.
Ron DiFrancesco
On the morning of September 11, broker Ron DiFrancesco, 37, was working in his office on the 84th floor of the South Tower. At this time, a plane crashed into the North Tower. Seeing the smoke, DiFrancesco decided to get out of the building and left the office. A few minutes after he left, the plane crashed into the South Tower - between the 77th and 85th floors.
Going down, DiFrancesco met a group of people who began to persuade him to go to the roof - they said that the fire below was too strong, and there should be fresh air above.
Ron tried to go up a few floors, but all the doors were closed or blocked. Panic intensified, breathing became increasingly difficult, and DiFrancesco finally decided to go down. He made it to the landing in the impact zone and lay down on the floor, among other people choking. He began to panic. But some voice in his head, says Ron, ordered him to run downstairs. Covering his face with his hands, he fled to the first floor, where the guard sent him to another exit and, already running out of the door, DiFrancesco heard a deafening roar from above - the building began to collapse.
Seeing the explosion, the broker lost consciousness and woke up already in the hospital - with burns and a fracture of the spine.
According to official records, he was the last person to leave the building before the collapse and one of four surviving Americans who worked above the 81st floor but were able to escape.
John McLaughlin, the last to be saved
When the plane crashed into the South Tower, Sgt. John McLaughlin was a few miles from the mall, patrolling the bus station in Manhattan. Like many, that day he went to the towers to help the victims.
Arriving at the scene of the tragedy and still not knowing the extent of the damage to the World Trade Center, McLaughlin assembled a team of four people - three policemen Antonio Rodriguez, Chris Amoroso, Dominic Petsullo, and recruit Will Gimeno.
They were on the ground floor connecting the buildings of the World Trade Center complex when the South Tower collapsed. The police were covered in rubble.
“At first I thought I was dead. I didn't feel anything: I didn't see, I didn't smell, I didn't hear. There was a ringing silence around, ”recalls John McLaughlin.
Officers Amoroso and Rodriguez died immediately. McLaughlin and the two remaining members of his team were trapped. Dominic Petsullo managed to free himself from the rubble and tried to save his colleagues when the North Tower collapsed: he was mortally wounded by debris.
McLaughlin and Will Gimeno, lying under the rubble, heard the voices of rescuers and firefighters.
“I heard screams and screamed too, but it was useless. I said then: “I don’t think they will look for us. There's too much going on upstairs. They are already busy,” McLaughlin recalls.
He reached for the radio and left a final message for his family, as well as for Will's wife, who was seven months pregnant.
“I think the moment when Will asked to be passed on to his wife to name their unborn daughter Olivia was the worst. I think that then we kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that we will die here, ”says the sergeant.
The men spent more than 10 hours under the rubble before help arrived. At about 11 pm, rescuers managed to pull Jimeno out. Firefighters got to McLaughlin only on the morning of September 12 - he had to wait another 8 hours for his rescue.
The sergeant was sent to the hospital, where the doctors at first did not believe that he would survive - the injuries were very serious. Doctors put John in a coma for 6 weeks, he underwent about 30 operations, including skin grafting on his legs. After several years of therapy, he was able to return to a normal life.
John McLaughlin was the last person to be pulled out from under the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Causes and perpetrators of the tragedy
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. The large-scale terrorist attack was a consequence of the declared jihad against Jews and Americans, and the American policy of supporting Israel, aggression against Iraq, as well as the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia were also named as reasons. Al-Qaeda accused America of "plundering" the region, oppressing the people by supporting totalitarian regimes, and controlling the policies of the legitimate rulers of the Arab countries.
The identities of all the suicide bombers were established - they were citizens of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. It turned out that the men were in the United States legally, and some were trained in American flight schools. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden admitted in a video message that he directly directed the actions of 19 terrorists.
On May 2, 2011, in the northwest of Pakistan, the "terrorist number one" was the US intelligence services. The operation to eliminate bin Laden was watched live by US President Barack Obama and his team.
US President Barack Obama and his team are monitoring the operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden. Photo: White House press office In May 2012, the trial of the mastermind and main organizer of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was detained in 2003 in Pakistan, began at the Guantanamo base. The verdict is still pending.
The attack that changed the world
In October 2001, the United States and Great Britain launched a military operation in Afghanistan to destroy the bases of al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The operation lasted 13 years - most of the US military and NATO forces left this country only at the end of 2014, but about 8 thousand US military personnel still remain in Afghanistan - to "maintain peace and order."
9/11 triggered yet another military conflict. A year after the terrorist attack on the United States, the US government accused Iraq and Saddam Hussein's regime of resuming weapons development. mass destruction and in collaboration with al-Qaeda. On February 5, 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered his famous speech at a special meeting of the UN Security Council. In his speech, Powell said that Iraq is working on programs to create biological and chemical weapons and has two of the three necessary components for the production of nuclear weapons.
In 2004, Powell admitted that the data he released was largely inaccurate and sometimes falsified. But it was too late - on March 20, 2003, the US and allies invaded Iraq in violation of the UN Charter, and the war was already in full swing. Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006, but coalition forces left Iraq only in 2011.
These wars have become one of the reasons for the radicalization of Islamists in the Middle East. After the destruction of bin Laden, al-Qaeda is limited to the tactics of declarative statements, which, as a rule, are not associated with specific terrorist attacks. But one branch of the group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, eventually became the Islamic State terrorist organization. It was the Islamic State group that seized part of Libya, Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate on the occupied lands. And it is the Islamic State that is responsible for the high-profile terrorist attacks of recent years.
Material prepared on the basis of open sources
The once unforgettable and at one time very popular Karl Marx, predicting the imminent death of capitalism, argued that, and this is none other than the proletariat. Since then, a lot of time has passed and life has flowed in a slightly different scenario. The proletariat calmed down, acquired petty-bourgeois tricks, and in some places even became capitalism's best friend, ready to break anyone for its sake. Straight to Confucius. "You can't defeat the enemy - become his best friend".
But, a holy place is never empty. And now, at the turn of the century, it appeared in the abyss. Not capitalism, not an oligarchy, but the entire Western world en masse, with all its European values and traditions. Completely. To the abyss. How unworthy to exist.
Of course, it is still too early to panic, especially since panic does not lead to anything good, but -. Anyone who once at least somehow taught history remembers how it all began in Russia. At first there were terrorist attacks against generals, ministers and members of the royal family, and in 1917 the communists revealed their doctrine of socio-economic development to the broad masses of the people.
Of course, there is not much in common between the communists, but the goals and methods are somewhat similar.
The September 11 attacks - the beginning of the Third World War?
attacks are different. But - a series September 11, 2001 attacks- these are terrorist attacks of a special kind, a kind of reduced model of the war of the worlds, Western and otherwise, carefully grown and released into free swimming, like a genie released from a bottle.
In the morning 11 September 4 groups of terrorists, totaling 19 people, captured 4 passenger aircraft Boeing 767-200s from Boston, Washington, and Newark, which were then used to strike ground targets. Two planes crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and a third crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington. As for the fourth hijacked aircraft, the target of the terrorists who hijacked it was the Capitol or the White House.
Flight 11 american airlines took off from Boston, crashed into the north side of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, in the time period from 8:46:26 before 8:46:40 local time, approximately at the level of 94-98 floors.
Flight 175 american airlines
took off from Boston, crashed into the south side of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 9:02:59
, approximately at the level of 78-85 floors.
Flight 77 american airlines flew out of Washington, crashed into the Pentagon in 9:37:46 .
Flight 93 american airlines flew out of Newark 10:03:11 fell on a field in Pennsylvania about 240 km north of Washington.
Tuesday was chosen for the attack is by no means accidental. According to statistics, it is on Tuesday that the least number of passengers fly by planes, and the aforementioned planes on that ill-fated day were not even half full.
The planes were hijacked by residents of Arab countries, most of them from Saudi Arabia. There were five terrorists on flights 11, 175, 77, and four on flight 93, apparently because at the very last moment the fifth member of their group was not allowed into the United States for fear that he would become an illegal migrant (the guy intended to enter the country having 2800 dollars and not having a return ticket on hand).
One terrorist in each group had flight training from one of the flight schools, where the Arab guys attracted attention by learning only to fly the aircraft in the air, ignoring the classes in which they taught how to take off and land. At the same time, other terrorists were rehearsing the capture of the aircraft with its subsequent retention.
The capture of aircraft took place according to the same scheme. The terrorists waited for the plane to gain altitude and the flight attendants to start delivering food, after which they broke into the cockpit, where they changed the pilot to their own. At the same time, they used edged weapons (, office knives for cutting paper), several flight attendants, at least one passenger and at least one pilot (John Ogonowski, captain of the aircraft, flight 11) were immediately killed during the capture.
It is worth noting that, apart from John Ogonowski, the pilots were left alive, apparently in order to, if necessary, be involved in the management of the liner. Threatening with an explosive device, as well as cold steel, the hijackers drove passengers into the tail section of the aircraft. It is not difficult to guess (and the flight recorders confirm this) that panic arose among the passengers, in a sense, a friend and ally of the terrorists.
And the terrorists changed course and some time later rammed pre-allocated buildings.
September 11, Flight 93 - how it was
About flight 93 I would like to write in more detail. For me, it is interesting, first of all, in the context of the relationship between people and non-humans, who play with other people's lives for the sake of only them understandable "higher interests". This plane did not reach the goal, which was either the White House or Congress, because the passengers and flight attendants prevented the terrorists.
On board the aircraft were two pilots, five flight attendants and 37 passengers, four of whom were hijackers. Ziyad Jarrah from Lebanon, the leader of the group, who had previously received flight training, and his three Saudi Arabian accomplices. Consider the chronology of events.
Flight 93 was scheduled to board at 08:00 and depart at 08:01. However, due to the heavy load of the airport, the flight was delayed until 08:42 . Who knows, perhaps in this way life gave people (people, not creatures) a chance for salvation, but it was not destined to take advantage of it.
By this time, Flight 011 had already been hijacked, and after another 4 minutes crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 175 was just in the process of being hijacked, flight 75 will be hijacked in 9 minutes.
On these three flights, no more than half an hour passed from the moment of takeoff to the beginning of the capture. For some reason, the terrorists waited 46 minutes on Flight 93.
AT 09:02
Flight 175 rammed the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and it became clear that all these events (2 air rams and the hijacking of Flight 75) were nothing more than a terrorist attack. Controllers began to send warnings to all aircraft in the air. At 09:24, the pilots received a message - " Beware of cockpit intrusion - two planes crashed into the World Trade Center» At 09:26, the FAC sent a reply: « Ed, confirm the last message. Jason»
AT 09:27:25 the crew responded to the dispatcher's usual call and the seizure began immediately.
AT 09:28:17 crew crew sent a distress signal Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!". The sounds of fighting could be heard in the cockpit. After 35 seconds, the distress signal was retransmitted. Someone in the cockpit was shouting: Mayday! Get out of here! Get out of here!»
AT 09:31:57 Jarrah, the leader of the terrorist group and "part-time" suicide pilot, announced: " Ladies and gentlemen, this is the commanding officer. Stay where you are and don't get up. We have a bomb on board, so sit down.»
Probably realizing that the aircraft was coming under the control of terrorists, the captain changed the communication settings in such a way that the dispatchers heard Jarrah's announcement.
The dispatcher asked, "Who's calling Cleveland?" There was no answer. For some time in the cockpit there was a struggle between the terrorists and one of the flight attendants. Against the background of the sounds of the struggle on the flight recorder, you can hear the terrorists ordering someone: "Sit" "Don't move" "Shut up" "Lie down." Judging by the voice, some woman tried to resist, but she was either killed or rendered harmless in some other way. Someone said in Arabic: “It's all right. I've finished".
AT 09:39:11 Jarrah made the announcement again, which was also heard by the controllers: "" The captain of the ship is speaking. Stay where you are. There's a bomb on board and we're going back to the airport to make our demands. Please don't make noise».
Passengers and flight attendants began calling families, friends, and the police to inform them of the incident. Starting at 09:30, 35 calls were made by "aerophone" and two calls from mobile phones. Ten passengers and two flight attendants managed to get through. They were informed about the attacks, and people in trouble realized that they were also in the clutches of suicide bombers.
This is how a person is arranged, in him faith in the best is indestructible, in the sense, in the lesser of two evils. A person believes in what he really wants to believe, and sometimes his brain clings to this belief for a long time. "Everything will be fine". “Now they will put forward their demands, and negotiations will begin with them.” "Help will come, of course." "The Lord will not leave us in trouble."
In order to be saved, one had to act, but even in this case, the chances of success were not very great. However, the worst thing in such a situation is to play by the rules of the terrorists. What to do, in life sometimes you have to choose not between “good” and “bad”, but between “bad” and “even worse”.
AT 09:45:25 someone in Arabic ordered to return the pilot, and at 09:48:38 someone already in English ordered (obviously, the pilot) to take a course.
AT 09:53:20 someone in Arabic someone suggested to scare everyone using .
Approximately at 09:57 the passengers decided to storm the cabin. The terrorists became suspicious.
AT 09:58:33 someone in Arabic said "Go, guys", after which he began to cry out to Allah. ("Alla Akbar"). The sounds of a struggle could be heard outside the door.
AT 09:58:55 someone shouted in English: “In the cockpit!”.
Jarrah banked the plane to the right, then to the left, in 09:58:57
he shouted in Arabic: “They are climbing over here. Don't let them! Don't let them! Hold on! AT 09:59:52
The suicide pilot started throwing the plane up and down. AT 10:00:03
he stabilized the plane and after 5 seconds asked: “Well, is that all? Shall we get it? To which the other terrorist replied: Not yet. As everyone enters, then we will finish". Apparently he hoped to reach the goal. I am more than sure that, going into action, the terrorists first used drugs.
AT 10:00:25 behind the door someone shouted: Everyone in the cockpit! Otherwise we will all die!". Passengers used a delivery cart as a ram. Jarrah again threw the plane up and down, after which at 10:01:08 he asked: “Well, what, down?”, To which he received the answer: “Yes, down.”
Passengers continued to storm the cabin. AT 10:02:18 someone shouted in Arabic: “Down! Down". Behind the door was heard in English: “We are falling. Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!”
Now panic reigned in the cockpit. AT 10:02:33 someone shouted in Arabic: “Hey! Hey! Give me! Give me! Give me! Give me!"
With 10:03:02 – 10:03:09 but in the cockpit one could hear the repeatedly repeated “Allah Akbar!”
This phrase was the last recorded by the flight recorder.
The committee's conclusion states that " the hijackers retained control of the plane, but decided that in a few seconds the passengers would break into the cockpit”, but some relatives of the victims believe that the passengers managed to break into the cabin and even kill one terrorist.
The exact time of the fall varies from 10:03 before 10:10 , at a speed of 906 km per hour, in an inverted position at an angle of 40 degrees, the plane crashed into the ground. All 44 people on board were killed. At the site of the fall, a funnel formed about twelve meters in diameter and about three meters deep.
The damage caused by the September 11 attacks is irreparable
The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 9:56 am, the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 am. The people who remained on the upper floors died. Only 18 people managed to get out of the hit zone in the South Tower and escape. 1366 people died on the upper floors of the North Tower, more than 600 in the South Tower.
At least 200 from the top floors of the towers jumped down, preferring to crash to their deaths than to die from the smoke. Some tried to climb onto the rooftops of the towers, hoping to be evacuated by helicopters, but the doors to the roof were locked and the fire and smoke made it impossible to use the helicopters.
In total, 2977 people became victims of the tragic events (19 terrorists are not included here): 246 passengers and crew members, 2606 people in New York, in the WTC buildings and on the ground, 125 in the Pentagon building. Citizens of the United States and 91 other states died, including 96 citizens and immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union. 24 people remain on the list of missing persons.
The Western world was shocked. At the same time, joyful carnivals swept through a number of Arab countries.
There are different opinions regarding the events of 9/11. Up to the point that the attacks were set up by the US government or intelligence agencies, that the Pentagon and the World Trade Center buildings were rammed not by planes at all, but by. What was originally laid in the buildings, and, moreover, in the most vulnerable places. That the planes, in fact, were controlled from the ground, and the hysterical Arabs were used as a distraction.
It is possible that our entire world is controlled from a single center. The only question is who controls it. And, it is very likely that this is not God at all.
A series of horrific terrorist attacks rocked the United States and the world on September 11, 2001. It was on that fateful day that two planes led by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. In the same way, the Pentagon was attacked, and the fourth plane, controlled by suicide bombers, fell to the ground in Pennsylvania.
The terrible catastrophe claimed the lives of almost 3 thousand people (excluding 19 terrorists). It united people all over the world, because among the victims of the terrorist attack were not only Americans, but also citizens of 91 countries.
Even after 17 years, there are new facts about the 9/11 terrorist attack. collected 10 of the most amazing of them.
Not the first terrorist attack
The towers of the World Trade Center have been hit by terrorist attacks before. On February 26, 1993, a car loaded with explosives crashed into the World Trade Center building. It exploded in the underground garage of the North Tower and provoked a powerful blast wave. Six people became victims of the incident, and another 50,000 employees and visitors experienced difficulties due to lack of oxygen in the building. Ramzi Youzefs, who later fled to Pakistan, was driving the crashed truck. Soon he was 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 federal agency Emergency Management (FEMA) published the book Emergency Response to Terrorism. On the cover of the collection there was a photo of the northern tower under an optical sight. It was at the place indicated in the photo that the first plane crashed under the control of terrorists.
Ominous number 11
The name New York City has 11 letters, just like the word Afghanistan. Also, in one of the hijacked aircraft there were 92 passengers (9+2=11), and on board the other - 65 passengers (6+5=11). The terrorists staged an attack in New York on September 11, or 11.09 (1+1+9=11). Ramsin Yuseb (the perpetrator of the 1993 Twin Towers attack) has 11 letters, just like George W Bush.
However, the most frightening 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 - at number 9.11, the following verse is written:
"And it is written that the son of Arabia will awaken the terrible Eagle.
The wrath of the Eagle will be felt by all the lands of Allah,
And while some people will tremble in despair
Many will rejoice: for the wrath of the Eagle will purify the lands of Allah
And there will be peace."
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 in Manhattan was planned by the US authorities to later explain the military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to explain several laws that, among other things, allow intelligence agencies to have access to the private lives of Americans.
But this theory is questionable due to certain difficulties. Boeing's remote control technology, which could guide aircraft, does exist, but it is extremely difficult to do so. 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 rental
At the end of June 2001, entrepreneur Larry Silverstein rented (one might say bought) the WTC twin towers for 99 years for $3.2 billion. On the day of the tragedy, he was in one of the towers. However, Silverstein's wife called him to remind him of the appointment with a dermatologist. So, he walked out of the World Trade Center and saved his life.
Photo of George 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 control center in Washington, D.C., after a couple of hours of the attack. The photographs show the US 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 pose.
99 days of fire
The fire at the site of the ruins of the World Trade Center lasted 99 days, and the work to clean up the area took 261 days. All this time, tens of thousands of people were engaged in garbage disposal, of which 18 tons were collected. The steel structures of the building, taken to a 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 the attack
Christine Hanson, who was flying with her parents to Disneyland, died in a terrorist attack. 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.
American depression
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), which is usually given to people who come from hot spots. In addition, alcohol consumption in Manhattan increased by a quarter, while tobacco and marijuana consumption increased by 10%.
Barack Obama and the elimination of Osama bin Laden
The identities of all the terrorists who carried out the attack have been established. 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 it was he who oversaw the work of 19 terrorists on four planes. 10 years after the bloody terrorist attack American intelligence agencies eliminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. This was watched live by the then US President Barack Obama along with his team.
In 2011, a World Trade Center memorial appeared on the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York. In New York City in 2018, 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 dead. Also, the Pentagon will arrange special services for the families of the victims.
Having received no support in Congress, the head of state in early March 2011 ordered the resumption of military trials against suspected terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay prison.
In early April 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants in the 9/11 case would not appear before a US civilian court, but before a special military commission at Guantanamo Bay.
On May 31, 2011, the US Military Attorney's Office again charged five suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On May 5, 2012, a military tribunal formally charged five suspects with involvement in organizing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. They are accused of organizing a conspiracy, attacking civilians, intentionally causing physical harm, murder, violating the laws of war, causing destruction, hijacking and terrorism.
All five defendants refused to answer whether they plead guilty.
New York District Judge George Daniels ruled in absentia, ordering Iran to pay $7.5 billion to the families and other members of those who died at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The judge determined that the Iranian authorities must pay another three billion to insurers who covered property damage and other material losses. Earlier, Judge Daniels ruled that Tehran could not prove its non-involvement in assisting the organizers of the attack, and therefore the Iranian authorities bear a share of responsibility for the damage caused during it.
On the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2011 was the World Trade Center Memorial. It consists of two square pools-fountains, located right at the bases of the former twin towers, along the inner walls of which water streams cascade down, leaving into square holes located at the bottom of each of the pools.
The names of the 2,983 victims of the attacks (including the six who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack) are carved on the bronze slabs that line the parapets of both fountains.
Was opened new complex World Trade Center. It is the fourth tallest skyscraper in the world - its height is 541 meters. Construction began in April 2006 on the corner of a 65,000-square-meter site where the twin towers of the demolished mall used to stand.
Celebrated in the United States as Patriot Day, since 2009, after the approval of Act 111-13 of the General Law of the United States, this date is also referred to as the nationwide Day of Service and Remembrance.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
There is a beautiful theory that centuries - like certain historical periods - rarely fit into the rigid framework allocated to them in the calendar. So, for example, the 19th century began only after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and ended on July 28, 1914, on the day the First World War began, which launched a number of events that determined the course of the next, 20th century.
Following this logic, the new XXI century began on September 11, 2001 with a series of terrorist attacks committed by the Islamic radical organization Al-Qaeda in the United States.
Until that moment, the collective West was still on the laurels of the winner in the Cold War, its hegemony seemed undeniable, and its military and political power seemed unshakable. It seemed that Fukuyama's prophecy had come true and history finally stopped. However, the events of September 11, 2001 dispelled these illusions. The fall of the Twin Towers in New York was broadcast live by television companies around the world. The picture on the TV screen seemed so unreal that it looked more like the shooting of another Hollywood blockbuster about the end of the world.
The September 11th terrorist attack was a real shock to the United States. The terrorists were able to strike at the main symbols of America: its money and military power - the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Despite the huge defense budget and all the might of the American intelligence services, it turned out that the United States was completely unprepared for such an attack. On September 11, 2001, confusion and panic reigned in the high offices of Washington.
For America, the events of September 11, 2001 became the second Pearl Harbor, the most powerful country in the world simply could not leave such a slap in the face unanswered. A few days later, Al-Qaeda was announced as the organizer of the attacks, which was the reason for the start of the operation in Afghanistan. In 2003, American troops invaded Iraq, accusing Saddam Hussein of supporting the terrorists.
Analyzing all subsequent events, we can say that the world today lives in a geopolitical reality, which is a consequence of the explosions that sounded on September 11, 2001.
Despite the fact that more than fifteen years have passed since the tragedy, great amount people around the world believe that we still do not know the whole truth about September 11th. This also applies to the number of victims of the attack, and its participants, and the role of American special services in these events.
Naturally, an official investigation was carried out, which recognized Osama bin Laden as the organizer of the attacks, but its results are still the objects of harsh criticism to this day. Moreover, the events of September 11, 2001 have become a favorite topic of numerous conspiracy theories. Even today they claim that there were no Arab terrorists, and the World Trade Center explosions were prepared by American intelligence services and the world behind the scenes.
So what really happened in the US on September 11, 2001? How many people died during the terrorist attack? And why does the official version of events not suit the conspiracy theorists?
Official version of events
According to official version, a group of terrorists managed to capture four passenger airliners that were heading to California from different airports. In total, 19 criminals boarded the planes, fifteen of whom were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two more were from the OAU, one person was from Egypt, and another was from Lebanon. Several more members of the terrorist group were unable to enter the United States.
To capture airliners, the terrorists used the simplest edged weapons, most likely stationery or penknives, as well as gas cartridges. In addition, they threatened to blow up the planes, although it was just a bluff - they did not have any explosive devices. About the dramatic tragedy that played out that day in the sky, we know little, only what the passengers who managed to use satellite or mobile phones were able to report. It is known that as a result of clashes with criminals, several flight attendants, passengers, and at least one of the pilots were killed.
The terrorists were well prepared for the attack, each of the groups included at least one person who had passed special courses in aircraft control.
At 0846 local time, Boeing 767-200 N334AA collided with the north side of the World Trade Center (WTC-1) tower. The blow fell on the site of the building at the level of 94 to 98 floors. After a fire that lasted about 100 minutes, the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
The second of the hijacked aircraft, a Boeing 767-200 tail number N612UA, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center at 09.02 at the level of 78-85 floors. The fire lasted about 50 minutes and at 9.56 the building collapsed.
According to the investigation, at the time of the attack, there were approximately 16,000 people in the WTC buildings. The vast majority of them survived, as they were evacuated before the collapse began. To date, it is believed that 2977 people (not including terrorists) died as a result of the attacks. This list included 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked aircraft, as well as 2,606 people who were in or near the WTC buildings. The attack on the Pentagon resulted in the death of 125 people. The vast majority of the victims are Americans, but among the dead are citizens of another 91 countries.
Most of the victims were in the north tower of the World Trade Center. Here, 1,366 people died in an explosion caused by a plane crashing into a building, followed by a fire and collapse. In the south tower, a large number of people fell into a death trap on the upper floors of the building, from which only a few managed to escape. Many of the unfortunates preferred to jump down rather than burn alive. Because of the fire and smoke, it was not possible to carry out the evacuation of people from the roof by helicopters.
During the attacks, a large number of firefighters, policemen, and other emergency personnel were killed, their total number exceeds 400 people. These people worked really selflessly. Many police and firefighters from other regions of the country took vacations and traveled to New York to help their colleagues.
Of the total number of dead, only 1670 bodies were identified, more than a thousand bodies are still nameless.
The beginning of an unprecedented terrorist attack led to real chaos throughout the United States. All commercial flights were canceled and planes in the air were diverted or landed at airports in Mexico or Canada. In large numbers, there were reports of new terrorist attacks, which later turned out to be false. Fighters from the US Air Force and the National Guard took to the skies.
The American Emergency Alert System, which was developed in 1997 to alert the population in the event of large-scale natural disasters, major terrorist attacks, or the outbreak of war, was put on high alert. However, no one turned to the people. The US government went into emergency mode, the country's national leaders were hastily evacuated.
Just a few days after the attacks, the FBI has already released the names of the terrorists, as well as their basic data. The luggage of one of the participants in the attack was never loaded onto the plane and fell into the hands of the investigation. In it, law enforcement officers found records that shed light on the organization of the terrorist attack and its participants. Soon, American intelligence agencies announced that al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, was behind the organization of the September 11 attacks. The intelligence services of other countries came to a similar conclusion: Great Britain and Germany.
Bin Laden initially denied his participation in the events, but already in 2004 he admitted that he personally led the terrorist attack, and his closest associate, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, directly controlled the hijackers.
For bin Laden, this was not the first attack against America. In 1998, he organized bombings of American embassies in African countries.
The main reasons for organizing the attacks were the support of the Americans for Israel, as well as the war against Iraq in 1990. In turn, American President Bush Jr., shortly after the tragic events, said that terrorists attacked the United States because they hate American freedom and democracy.
The international reaction to the bloody events of September 11 was expected: the world community, with rare and absolutely marginal exceptions, condemned them. The exception was the Palestinians, who, without hiding their joy, celebrated the massacre of infidels. Iraq has said that America is reaping the rewards of its crimes, and there have been reports of a demonstration by Chinese students ostensibly in support of the attacks. Most world leaders expressed their absolute support for the United States. Russian President Putin, in a telephone conversation with Bush, offered to help investigate this crime. The attacks were officially condemned in the Middle East.
About a month later, American troops at the head of an international coalition invaded Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden's headquarters were located at that time. Within a few months, the Taliban regime was defeated, and a pro-Western government came to power in the country. In the months following 9/11, arrests of people suspected of having links with al-Qaeda took place around the world.
In 2003, the United States and its allies launched a second war against Iraq, accusing its leadership of participating in the September 11 events, as well as of manufacturing and storing weapons of mass destruction.
This is the official version of the 9/11 attacks and the events that followed. However, it does not suit everyone. There are many alternative versions, whose supporters include not only obvious outcasts, but also highly respected people, including well-known scientists, journalists, and public figures.
Conspiracy theory
The events of September 11 were a real shock to American society. Many simply couldn't figure out how a small group of terrorists could conceive and successfully carry out such a large-scale attack against a country with the most powerful intelligence services in the world.
Soon a conspiracy hypothesis appeared that in fact there were no terrorists, and the explosions and hijackings were staged by the US authorities in order to solve their geopolitical and financial problems. It can be added that today the events of September 11, 2001 have become a favorite topic of conspiracy theorists, pushing into the background even such "eternal classics" as the landing of Americans on the moon or the government's cover-up of aliens in Area 51.
Controlled drift theory. Conspiracy theorists believe that the WTC towers collapsed not due to collisions with aircraft, but as a result of the detonation of some explosives that were previously planted in them. Proponents of this theory argue that the construction of the twin towers was so strong that the impact of the aircraft and the subsequent fire could not have caused them to collapse. The combustion temperature of aviation fuel is about 1 thousand degrees Celsius, which is not enough to melt the supporting metal structures.
Adherents of this theory claim that thermite was planted in the building (sometimes they speak of a mysterious nanothermite or superthermite), which burned through the supporting structures of the World Trade Center. However, this hypothesis is not supported by any material evidence.
However, official American experts say otherwise. Indeed, aviation kerosene cannot melt steel, but the high combustion temperature can significantly weaken it. Already at 600 °C, the metal becomes half as strong, and if the flame temperature reaches 980 °C, then about 10% of the steel strength remains. In addition, from high temperature, it begins to expand, breaking the concrete surrounding it.
So the action of two factors at once - high temperature and ramming - is quite enough for the collapse of even such a huge building as the World Trade Center.
Pentagon. Conspiracy theorists also claim that no plane crashed into the Pentagon at all, and the building was destroyed as a result of a missile strike that was inflicted by the US military itself. As proof of this theory, photographs of the building are usually cited, in which the destruction zone is much smaller than the wingspan of the Boeing 757. Conspiracy theorists believe that another proof of their correctness is the absence of aircraft wreckage (engines, landing gear, fuselage parts) in the photographs.
Indeed, the destruction zone of the building looks much smaller than a huge passenger liner. However, experts who studied the crash site said that the plane cut off one wing on impact with the ground, and the second on the supporting column of the building. The Boeing fuselage directly crashed into the building itself.
In addition, the very moment of the plane's impact on the Pentagon was seen by many witnesses; parts of the landing gear, engines and fuselage of the liner were found at the crash site. As well as numerous remains of passengers and black boxes of the aircraft. After Flight 77 was hijacked, many of the passengers were able to use their mobile phones to tell their families that their plane had been hijacked by terrorists. However, conspiracy theorists believe that the calls were fabricated by the secret services.
Flight 93. Another popular topic for conspiracy theorists, which concerns the events of September 11, is the fate of the fourth airliner hijacked by terrorists. According to the official version, the criminals planned to send it to the Capitol, but the passengers rebelled and tried to neutralize the hijackers. A struggle ensued, as a result of which the plane crashed. Fans of conspiracy theories believe that all this is not true, and in fact the liner was shot down by a combat fighter.
The main evidence for this theory is the large spread of the wreckage of the liner at the crash site. According to conspiracy theorists, this only happens if the plane is shot down by a missile.
Several witnesses claimed that almost immediately after the crash of Flight 93, an unusual white aircraft was seen over the crash site. This information gave rise to conspiracy theorists to talk about another evidence of a downing. passenger liner military aircraft. Later, on several resources, there were reports that the FBI officers allegedly put pressure on the witnesses of the incident, forcing them to remain silent.
In fact, such a white plane really was. On that tragic day, a commercial Dassault Falcon 20, owned by one of the corporations, flew near the crash site. He was contacted and asked to inspect the Boeing crash site from the air, which was done. Falcon descended to a height of 460 meters and his crew saw a black funnel in the ground, from which smoke poured. Noting its coordinates, Falcon returned to its original route.
Without portholes. Another point under discussion regarding the events of 09/11/2001 is an interview with a certain Mark Birnbach. He told reporters that the plane that crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center had no windows. From this statement, conspiracy lovers immediately concluded that instead of the passenger liner of Flight 175, the cunning military used tanker planes filled to capacity with fuel to ram the buildings of the shopping center.
However, this fake is especially easy to disprove, because on the Internet you can easily find photos of the wreckage of the aircraft, in which the windows are clearly visible. And in the case of using tanker aircraft, a reasonable question immediately arises, what happened to the hundreds of passengers flying on four liners?
The above lists only the main questions regarding the tragedy of September 11, which do not allow conspiracy theorists to sleep. In fact, there are many more. However, answers have already been found to them, moreover, they were given by officials or representatives of the special services, and professional experts working in different fields: civil engineers, pilots, firefighters, explosives experts, forensic experts.
However, that's not even the point. It seems highly unlikely that anyone at all would be able to fake events similar to what happened on 9/11 in America. Imagine how many people needed to be involved in such a dramatization? And then how to make them all keep their mouths shut?
Our world is too big, complex and “messy” for any serious conspiracy to have any chance of success. So, as the smartest monk from Ockham once said: "Do not multiply entities unnecessarily."
