September 11th Attacks

   On September 11, 2001, 19 militants from the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda orchestrated an attack with hijacked airplanes against targets in the United States. In total, four aircraft was hijacked with three succesfully hitting three buildings, two planes were directly flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, collapsing both of them, the third plane hit the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed by a retaliation of it's passengers, it crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed and approximately 6,000 injured during the September 11th terrorist attacks, which triggered a global combat against terrorism, with the U.S playing the major initiative.

  The first attack started in 8:02 AM with 2 hijackers stabbing one of the six flight attendants and killing both pilots on an American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 aircraft en route at 7;59 AM from Boston's Logan International Airport to Los Angeles, with 11 crew and 76 passengers, the plane diverted southward towards New York City, in 8:46 the plane were flown straight into the World Trade Center's north tower, hitting the tower in the 80th floor on the northern facade, killing everyone on board and killing and injuring many in the tower, upon noticing the loss of contacts from the airplane, 2 F-15 fighter jets were scrambled from Otis AFB in Boston at 8:51 AM, the same time as the second hijacking. 

   United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 757 en route at 8:14 AM from Logan's International Airport to Los Angeles, with 9 crew and 51 passengers, it too diverted southward towards New York City, hitting the south tower of the WTC between the 77th and 85th floor on the southern facade at 9:03 AM, killing all on board, it is on this occasion that the U.S acknowledged this tragedy as an attack.

   Immediately at 9:04 AM, the FAA ordered a National Ground Stop Order, meaning any aircraft in the U.S were not able to take off and join the airspace, however at 9:05 AM, the third attack was detected, this time an American Airlines Flight 77, a flight departing at 8:20 AM from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, with 6 crews and 53 passengers, 11 minutes earlier it had changed course and flew back to Washington DC, cutting off all contacts, at 9:25 AM, the F-15s arrived at Manhattan to a devastating scene, at the same time at Langley AFB in Virginia, 500 kilometers away, two F-16 fighter jets were deployed on the search of Flight 11, at 9:36, the jets vectored to Washington DC, in an attempt to intercept flight 77, however at 9:37, the airplane hit the western facade of the Pentagon, killing all on board.

   Immediately after that, over 4,000 aircraft were ordered to land in various airports across the U.S, however at 9:44 AM, United Airlines Flight 93, with 7 crew and 33 passengers en route from Newark International Airport just outside New York to San Fransisco at 8:42 AM, started behaving erratically, 15 minutes later at 9:59 AM, at the WTC, the 110th story south tower collapses, taking down with it and injuring thousands, at 10:03, Flight 93 crashed in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville Pennsylvania, by the retaliation of it's passengers, killing all on board, 25 minutes later the north tower of the WTC collapses, this 102 minutes would change the course of history.

in commemoration of the 3,000 people who lost their lives in this tragic event.

Credits : 
History.com article
Wikipedia's article
Seconds From Disaster documentary

Infographic :