What is the name of the September 11 terrorist organization. Who really blew up the Twin Towers in New York? Cheating with speed

The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York divided the history of the United States of America into before and after. The three thousand people killed in the explosion of the Twin Towers is an irreparable loss for the American people. Question: “Who blew up the towers?” For many it remains open to this day. Too many logical inconsistencies in official version investigations.

Mission Possible?

According to the official version, the twin towers were destroyed due to the explosions of planes that rammed the buildings. The fire that broke out during the attack weakened the metal structures and the building collapsed. Then the same thing happened to another skyscraper.

Ordinary people are still perplexed: how could people from Arab countries, whose names were previously known to the intelligence services, come to the United States, undergo training to pilot passenger Boeings, carry dummy firearms on board the aircraft, and seize several at the same time aircraft and ram several buildings with enviable accuracy?

This whole operation looks incredible in appearance, but, nevertheless, theoretically it is feasible. Much more complex questions to the commission involved in the investigation are asked by experts who have received the results of analyzes obtained after examining the wreckage of the twin towers. At the scene of the tragedy, traces of explosives and thermite were found - a substance that reaches a temperature of 1500 degrees when burning. But let's talk about everything in order. Let's consider the main conspiracy theories of explosions.

Analysis of building debris taken to landfill

Less than a month after the terrorist attack, the US Army invaded Afghanistan, destroying the hotbeds of terrorism, and at the same time writing off its debts, destabilizing the situation in the region and laundering multi-billion dollar investments in the military industry, in which, as it became known during the election campaign, Washington “hawks” have not only state interests, but also personal interests.

The terrorist attack freed the hands of US intelligence services, which received the right to listen to other people's conversations and read other people's letters, not only on their own territory, but in any corner of the world. Even the leaders of the G7 countries have no right to their little secrets from Washington. This was clearly demonstrated by the scandal surrounding phone tapping. Angela Merkel.

There are many supporters of the idea that American intelligence services at least knew about the preparation of terrorist attacks, and most likely played a key role in the preparation. Only with the support of "Big Brother" could Islamic radicals with ties to al-Qaeda find themselves on US soil, receive top-notch flight training, end up on board planes with gun-like items, hijack planes and fly them into the wrong direction. predetermined goals.

Like a house of cards

Looking at the collapse of the Twin Towers, experts agree that it looks a lot like a controlled explosion. Such explosions are used when it is necessary to demolish large building in a densely populated area of ​​the city. Explosive engineers, having studied the design of the structure, calculate the power of each charge placed at the base of the supporting structures. As a result, the demolished object should fold like a house of cards, so that each wall rushes inward.

When carrying out such events, residents of nearby houses are evacuated just in case. If there is an error in the calculations or some charges do not work, the building, instead of folding inward, may fall on its side, and then the destruction will be much greater than planned. Looking at the video, it’s hard not to be amazed at how neatly and how quickly the towers fold. It looks like real professional explosives experts worked on this.

Well, what about airplanes? After all, thousands of people saw them, and they were captured on film. Proponents of the controlled explosion theory are confident that the planes were needed for beautiful picture and so that ordinary people don’t have questions: how could a bunch of terrorists deliver tons of explosives into two heavily guarded buildings in the center of New York and set the charges in such a way that they collapse completely?

As for the plane that hit the Pentagon, it may not have been there at all. Images taken immediately after the attack show destruction, but do not show any details of the Boeing. The plane could explode, but it could not dissolve. Large pieces of the fuselage and engines should be visible. In addition, the damage to the building is too minor for a large passenger airliner to invade. They are more reminiscent of the consequences of being hit by a cruise missile, and terrorists simply could not have such missiles.

Who shot down the fourth plane?

There was also a fourth hijacked airliner, which the terrorists planned to aim either at the White House or at the Capitol. But he did not reach his goal. According to the official version, the passengers began to fight the terrorists and, as a result of a fight that broke out on board the plane, the plane crashed to the ground. Some conspiracy theorists are confident that the plane was shot down by the American military. This theory is confirmed by the fact that the debris was scattered at a great distance from each other. But several passengers managed to call their loved ones before the crash; even recordings of these conversations were preserved, confirming the official version.

Small atomic bomb

There are so many different opinions about the September 11 tragedy that some of them are even completely fantastic and incredible. For example, they say in all seriousness that a small atomic bomb was exploded under each building. Allegedly, the developers who planned to build the Trade Center were given a condition by the New York authorities - to provide for the possibility of dismantling the building. After all, it is clear that sooner or later it will fall into disrepair, and demolishing such a huge structure at that time, as it seemed then, would be much more difficult than building it. And for subsequent dismantling, the builders allegedly placed a nuclear charge under each building. But this theory is easily refuted by critics. At the site of a nuclear explosion, even a small one, there should be an increased level of radiation. But he was not observed.

She's also a victim

According to the official version of the American government, the most painful issue is the third tower that collapsed during the terrorist attack. This skyscraper was called the Seventh Tower of the World shopping center" This building was not hit by a plane, however, it collapsed overnight, like the two twin towers.

According to the official theory, the cause of the collapse was a fire that spread from neighboring towers. Allegedly, the communications through which water was supplied to the building to automatically extinguish the fire were destroyed, the fire engulfed the building, the structures could not stand it and collapsed.

Half of Americans surveyed a few years ago were unaware that three buildings were destroyed in New York City during the 2001 events. Many of those who know do not believe that the 47-story structure could instantly collapse as a result of a fire. In the United States, activists have repeatedly demanded a new investigation into the case and the publication of the results of the investigation, but the authorities did not hear them or simply did not want to hear them.

Ten years ago, a tragedy occurred in New York that forever changed the lives of millions of people around the world. All these ten years we have been learning more and more details about the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, but no one would dare to say that it has become completely clear what and why happened on the morning of that autumn day V largest city USA.
We decided to introduce our readers to an article published on the website of the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, which contains facts that allow us to better understand and more acutely feel the horror of the tragedy, symbolized by the two numbers 9/11.

1. Number of children who lost their parents as a result tragic events September 11 was 3051. 17 children were born later to women who lost their husbands during the terrorist attack. Nine months after the attack, New York's birth rate was 20% higher than the year before.

2. According to research, alcohol consumption in New York in the weeks following the attack was 25% higher than a year earlier. Tobacco consumption increased by 10%, marijuana by 3.2%, and church and synagogue attendance by 20%.

3. The total value of works of art lost as a result of the terrorist attack exceeds $100 million. Among the lost masterpieces are a series of Entablature paintings by Roy Lichtenstein, works by Pablo Picasso and David Hockney, many other original objects, interior elements, and so on.

4. One of the unknown heroes of this day was the guide dog, Labrador Roselle, who led her blind owner Michael Hingson from the 78th floor of the North Tower to his friend’s house. The dog recently died.

5. It took firefighters 100 days to extinguish all the fires caused by the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC).

6. The parents of 22-year-old Lisa Ann Frost, who was on United Flight 175, waited nearly a year before rescuers sifting through the wreckage at the crash site were able to find anything that belonged to their daughter. Only 291 bodies were found intact.

7. In total, workers had to sift through more than 1 million tons of structural debris and debris in search of remains and objects that belonged to the victims of the terrorist attack. They found 437 watches and 144 wedding rings.

8. Three hours before the attack on the World Trade Center, at Princeton University, a system called the Random Event Generator issued a message about an imminent catastrophic event.

9. The section of the Pentagon building into which the plane hijacked by terrorists landed was subjected to reconstruction shortly before the attack, during which the walls and windows of the mission were especially strengthened. Some windows near the impact zone remained undamaged.

10. The four most popular queries on Google in the week of the attack were as follows (in descending order): Nostradamus, CNN, The World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden.

11. The bestselling novel in America in 2001 was Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

12. When the leader of the terrorist group, Mohamed Atta, went through security at the Boston airport on the morning of September 11, the security information system responded to his name and the terrorist’s luggage did not get onto the plane.

13. Hundreds of monuments, flagpoles and crucifixes around the world are made from metal taken from the site of a terrorist attack. In particular, a monument in the city of Padua, Italy, was made from the metal of the North Tower.

14. Personnel of the US air defense system (NORAD - the North American Aerospace Defense Command), a week before the terrorist attack, conducted exercises in which officers practiced the situation of terrorists hijacking four aircraft. Another round of training was scheduled for the morning of September 11th.

15. Six months before the terrorist attack, the 99-year lease for the World Trade Center buildings was purchased for $3.2 billion by Larry Silverstein's development firm. He is currently restoring an office and shopping center next to memorial complex and a museum.

16. At the beginning of this year, the number of victims of the September 11 terrorist attack increased by one and reached 2,753 people. A medical center in New York concluded that Jerry Borg, an accountant and part-time actor, died at the end of 2010 from a lung disease caused by dust from the ruins of the World Trade Center.

17. Five terrorists lived and prepared to hijack planes, immediately before the attack, in a motel located near the National Security Agency.

18. The black boxes of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon were found on September 12, 2001. As US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld later reported, the voice recording data from one of these boxes could not be read. It is believed that this is the only time in 40 years that no information could be found on a recording device from the nose compartment of an aircraft.

19. During the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, a store where they sold the Koran and a room for Muslim prayers was destroyed.

20. John Patrick O'Neill, the FBI special agent who investigated the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the activities of al-Qaeda, left the service due to disagreements with his superiors. He later took the position of chief of security at the World Trade Center, where he died on September 11, 2001.

21. Scientists used the three-day ban on flights over US territory after September 11 to study the impact of jet aircraft on climate. They found that on these three days it was somewhat warmer during the day and slightly colder at night than usual. The researchers saw the reason for this in the traces that jet engines leave in the atmosphere and which are actually artificial clouds. During intensive flights, these traces reflect part of the sunlight during the day, and at night, on the contrary, retain heat.

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the most terrible and daring terrorist attack in the history of the United States and the whole world. In the United States on Monday, mourning ceremonies will be held to commemorate the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Six minutes of silence will be observed on this day.

Militants of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda captured four passenger aircraft and two of them were aimed at the World Trade Center towers, the other two at the Pentagon, as well as the White House or the Capitol. All planes reached their targets except the last one. The fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The attack killed 2,977 people, including 343 firefighters and 60 police officers. In addition to the Americans, citizens of 92 other countries were killed. The attack claimed 2,753 lives in New York, 184 in the Pentagon and 40 in Pennsylvania.

19 terrorists were also listed as killed in the attacks, 15 of them were citizens Saudi Arabia, two - United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt and Lebanon.

The exact amount of damage caused by the terrorist attacks is still unknown. In September 2006, the then head of the White House, George W. Bush, said that the damage from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 for the United States amounted to $500 billion, according to the lowest estimate.

In November 2002, America created a special independent commission to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks. Two years later, she released the final report on the investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy, which contained 600 pages. Experts acknowledged that suicide bombers took advantage of serious “administrative failures” in the work of US authorities and intelligence.

The only person convicted in the case of terrorist attacks in the United States was Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan origin. He was arrested in August 2001 after he graduated flight school in Oklahoma and trained on a Boeing 747 simulator in Minnesota. In the spring of 2005, the court found Moussaoui guilty of intending to commit a terrorist attack, which on that tragic day was supposed to be the fifth. The Frenchman admitted that, on the personal instructions of Osama bin Laden, he was supposed to hijack the plane and fly it to the White House. In May 2006, a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, sentenced Moussaoui to life imprisonment.

In 2002 and 2003, police arrested six other people suspected of involvement in the attacks. They spent several years in CIA prisons, and in 2006 they were taken to a camp at the American base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In early 2008, the US Department of Defense charged six prisoners with murder and war crimes as part of the investigation into the September 11 attacks.

The investigation brought charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who, according to the authorities, was the central figure in the preparation of the terrorist attacks. Organizational support for the terrorists was provided by Ramzi Binalshiba (Ramzi bin al-Shiba) from Yemen. Mohammed al-Qahtani, according to investigators, was to become the 20th hijacker of four American planes on September 11, 2001. Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Walid bin Attash were also accused of preparing the terrorist attack. In 2008, the charges against al-Qahtani were dropped.

In January 2009, the new US President Barack Obama promised to close it, ordering the suspension of the military prosecutor's office. The military department had to abandon accusations of terrorists. However, as we know, Obama's promise remained unfulfilled - Congress did not approve of his plans. Therefore, already in the spring of 2011, he ordered the resumption of military trials against terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay.

In May 2011, US military prosecutors again charged five suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with involvement in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. A year later, a military tribunal formally charged them with conspiracy, attacking civilians, intentionally causing physical harm, murder, violating the laws of war, causing destruction, hijacking an aircraft and terrorism. All five remained silent during the trial.

In July 2014, a military court at Guantanamo concluded that Ramzi Binalshibh should be tried separately after military doctors discovered that the Yemeni had a “serious mental illness.” To date, hearings in the case of those accused of involvement in organizing the terrorist attack are ongoing.

Last spring, New York District Judge George Daniels issued a default judgment requiring Tehran to pay $7.5 billion to relatives and other representatives of those killed at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The judge also determined that the Islamic Republic authorities must pay another three billion to insurers who covered property damage. Previously, the judge ruled that since Tehran could not prove its non-involvement in providing assistance to the organizers of the terrorist attack, therefore the authorities of this country bear a share of responsibility for the damage caused.

The US Congress passed a law in September 2016 that allows the heirs of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue - most of the terrorists were holders of passports from this particular country. In early October last year, an American woman who lost her husband in a terrorist attack filed her first lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, and this spring, relatives of victims in the United States filed a class action lawsuit against Riyadh. Later, dozens of insurance companies filed a lawsuit against two banks in the kingdom, as well as firms associated with the family of Osama bin Laden - the amount of the claim amounted to more than $4 billion. Saudi Arabia, in turn, asked a Manhattan federal court to dismiss 25 of the lawsuits. According to the country's authorities, the plaintiffs have no evidence of the involvement of Riyadh or its associated organizations in the 9/11 attack.

In 2011, on the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York, the World Trade Center Memorial appeared, which consists of two square fountain pools located right at the bases of the former Twin Towers. Streams of water cascade down the inner walls of these pools and flow into square holes located at the bottom of the fountains. The names of 2,983 victims of the terrorist attacks are carved on bronze slabs that line the parapets of the buildings.

Since 2002, September 11 has been celebrated in the United States as Patriot Day; since 2009, this date has also been referred to as the national Day of Service and Remembrance.

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With this, Gazeta.Ru completes the online broadcast of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Take care of yourself and your loved ones, see you again!

Since 2002, September 11 in the United States has been marked on American calendars as Patriot Day. Since 2009, this date has also been named the national Day of Service and Remembrance.

Jason Cohn/Reuters

In 2011, the World Trade Center Memorial appeared on the site of destroyed buildings in New York: it is presented in the form of two square fountain pools located right at the bases of the former twin towers. The names of the victims of the terrorist attacks are carved on bronze slabs that lie at the base of the structures' parapets.

On the eve of the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the Washington Sociological Center conducted a survey that found that over 90% of respondents clearly remember where they were and what they were doing when the news of the attack on the World Trade Center reached them.

In addition, nearly half of Americans do not feel safe and believe that the ability of terrorists to carry out another major attack on US soil is increasing every year.

Tenet also tried to convince the public that thanks to its actions, “major attacks planned by al-Qaeda in 1999 and 2000” were prevented. However, he could not provide any details on special operations.

Jeff Christensen/Reuters

The CIA also cites Tenet's own overly harsh reaction to the publication of this report, which he called "nonsense" and a "mistake."

“Your analysis unfairly and inaccurately portrays my actions and the heroic work of the men and women of the intelligence community. It's simply unfair to judge my work without having a full understanding of all the facts. “I did everything I could to report, warn and take measures to prevent terrorist attacks,” the former CIA director said in 2005.

In particular, the document states that Tenet recognized the need for a “comprehensive and interdepartmental plan” to combat Al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation). However, he did nothing for this. “He bears full responsibility for the fact that such a strategic plan was never created, despite his clear position,” the document notes.

The CIA watchdog also prepared a report on the 2001 tragedy, which contained criticism of the Director of Central Intelligence and head of the US CIA, George Tenet, who held this post from 1997 to 2004.

Gazeta.Ru publishes last words passengers caught in four passenger planes, which were destined to serve as a weapon in the hands of Arab terrorists. You can listen to words that convey the depth of fear and despair in the face of impending tragedy

“This date completely changed life in the USA and his largest metropolis, dispelled Americans' ideas about safe world, in which they live,” emphasized Joe Daniels, director of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Peter Morgan/Reuters

All these manifestations of the “arrogance of power” caused rejection and protests both in America itself and beyond its borders. According to international polls, anti-American sentiment was growing around the world.

Domestic and foreign policy propaganda in the United States has also intensified. America showed particular disregard for international law by creating a concentration camp at its Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, a kind of legal vacuum, to house and process people captured during anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The prisoners of this “zone” are essentially not US prisoners of war and have no official legal status. In this regard, the authorities came to the possibility of keeping them behind bars almost indefinitely.

The atmosphere in the country was gradually heating up - the States looked more like a besieged fortress. Denunciation was encouraged, but at the same time, leaks of official information and, in general, any deviations from the “patriotic consensus” were punished. One could lose one's job just by recognizing the courage of the terrorists.

After the events of September 11, 2001, the Republican administration of George W. Bush declared a “war on terror.” In this regard, Congress adopted a whole package of “emergency” laws, which, among other things, significantly expanded the powers of the intelligence services. Now they have the opportunity to conduct “biased interrogations” bordering on torture, and also closely monitor not only foreigners, but also citizens of the country. In addition, the United States increasingly closed its borders and tightened immigration and visa regulations.

Jeff Christensen/Reuters

However, Saudi Arabia responded by asking a Manhattan federal court to dismiss the 25 lawsuits because the plaintiffs have no evidence of Riyadh's involvement in the 9/11 attack.

Later, dozens of insurance companies also filed lawsuits against two Saudi Arabian banks, as well as firms associated with Osama bin Laden's family. The total amount of the claim was more than $4 billion.

In September 2016, the US Congress passed a law allowing the heirs of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, since most of the terrorists were citizens of this country. A month later, the first lawsuit was filed by an American woman who lost her husband during a terrorist attack. In the spring of 2017, other relatives of the victims also filed a class action lawsuit.

Peter Morgan/Reuters

In particular, in May 2012, the trial of the ideological mastermind and main organizer of the terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, detained in 2003 in Pakistan, began at the Guantanamo base. He has still not been sentenced.

In 2002 and 2003, police arrested six more people suspected of involvement in the attacks. After several years spent in CIA prisons, they were taken to a camp at the American base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Charges were brought against five of the suspects only in May 2011. To date, hearings in the case of the 2001 terrorist attacks continue.

Later, the identities of all the suicide bombers were established - they turned out to be citizens of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Lebanon. At the same time, the men were in the United States legally. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden also released a video message in which he admitted that he directly supervised the actions of 19 terrorists.

Win McNamee/Reuters

In November 2002, the United States created a special independent commission to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks. Two years later, experts published the final report on the investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy - in total it took up 600 pages.

The exact amount of damage caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 is still unknown. In September 2006 - five years after the tragedy - the head of the White House, George W. Bush, said that the lowest estimate was $500 billion.

Those who survived September 11, 2001 in the United States will never be able to erase the events of those days from their memory.

“The fact that the towers could collapse seemed unimaginable. If you are an American, grew up here, and even if you are a foreigner who watched films about the United States, then for you they were a symbol, something like the Taj Mahal or even something more. They seemed eternal,” emphasizes Jonathan Wachtel.

The men spent almost 20 hours under the rubble; firefighters only reached McLaughlin on the morning of September 12. At the hospital, the doctors practically admitted their own powerlessness - the injuries of the injured sergeant were too serious. John was later put into a coma for 6 weeks and had about 30 operations, including skin grafts on his legs. After several years of therapy, he was able to return to normal life.

John McLaughlin was the last person to be pulled from the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center.

Peter Morgan/Reuters

Sergeant John McLaughlin was at the scene of the tragedy of his own free will - having learned about what had happened, he went to help. They were on the ground floor connecting the buildings of the World Trade Center complex when the South Tower collapsed. The police were trapped under the rubble.

“At first I thought I died. I didn’t feel anything: I didn’t see, I didn’t smell, I didn’t hear. There was a ringing silence all around,” recalls John McLaughlin.

The rescuers were also in mortal danger - many of them risked their lives to get people out.

“Looking over my left shoulder, I managed to see a huge cloud of dust and a piece of falling concrete. The debris was flying straight towards me, from the outside it looked as if a block of ice that had broken off from a glacier was falling on you. I froze, sensing the end, and then I saw a fire truck. I decided to hide under it, not having the slightest confidence that it would save me. I just wanted to escape the wreckage and acted unconsciously,” said police Sergeant Dennis Frederick. He later learned that many of his colleagues had died in a building collapse on another staircase.

The lucky ones were also among those who were in the Pentagon on the fateful day. One of them was John Yates, a security manager.

“The room was just black, and everything I touched burned my hands. I crawled on all fours and realized that I was moving in the right direction when it became lighter. Once in the yard, I realized that I was badly burned, because I looked at my hands and saw how the skin was peeling off them. I remember sitting on the grass, and the doctor cut off my clothes. At the time of the explosion, five people were standing next to me. “I was the only one who survived,” the man recalls.

People in the South Tower made their way through stairwells completely littered with chunks of concrete, exploding soda cans and burst pipes.

“You could only hear people coughing and moaning. One of the women suffered from asthma and had to stop to catch her breath. The lady with the cut hand was walking with difficulty, her leg was bleeding. Every time she stepped on the floor, she left a bloody imprint. I tried to hold back my panic, and my inner voice told me: “Calm down,” says an employee of the Euro Brokers company, located within the walls of the south tower. She and all her companions managed to get out into the street.

On the 40th floor, Michael and his colleagues, who were going down, met firefighters. They advised us to continue moving. Having overcome the level of the 20th floor, Wright found himself on the site of the South Tower, where he realized the seriousness of what was happening: there were corpses everywhere, dozens of bodies.

The building began to collapse when Wright and his colleagues were at the escalator at one of the exits from the building. The air instantly turned black with clouds of dust. Michael was led outside by a fireman who knew the way through the surviving bookstore building.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

“What helped me stay calm on the stairs was the thought of the unreality of what was happening; it seemed like the building couldn’t collapse. Once we had climbed a few floors, we relaxed a little. We knew something bad had happened, but once the fire was thirty floors above, it wasn’t as much of a concern,” Wright recalls.

However, there were those who managed to survive. Thus, 30-year-old Michael Wright was on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at the time of the terrorist attack. According to the man, at a certain moment the building shook - he looked out of the toilet and saw fire. There was also a huge crack running along the floor of the corridor, the hall near the elevator was completely destroyed, and there was smoke everywhere.

2977 people became victims of terrorist attacks: 246 passengers and crew members of aircraft, 2606 people in New York, in the World Trade Center buildings and on the ground, 125 in the Pentagon building. Citizens of the United States and 91 other countries were killed.

The rescue also killed 341 firefighters and two paramedics, 60 police officers and eight ambulance personnel.

On the day of the tragedy, Alexander Bratersky, now a political commentator for Gazeta.Ru, was in New York. He witnessed what was happening in the city during these terrible hours. “On September 11, 2001, I was in the United States as part of the accompanying group “Tatu,” which received an MTV award on September 9,” ​​says Alexander Bratersky. — Early in the morning I was on the subway when, together with other passengers, I saw a fire in one of the high-rise buildings. We were thrown out of the carriage - we learned from the police that the plane had crashed into the tower. We immediately thought it was a terrorist attack. I rushed to call a street payphone to go on air at Nashe Radio, where I was working at the time.”

A Gazeta.Ru columnist recalls that there was panic all around. “Many people were crying, police officers were shouting, 'Go north!', urging people to go to New Jersey on organized transport. Hearing that I spoke Russian, a girl grabbed my hand - she was confused. It turned out that the girl came from Ukraine. She was crying, so I took her to a cafe: there were people sitting there in complete silence and watching the towers fall on TV.”

When asked about the number of victims, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani replies: “More than you can bear.” At the same time, the mayor of Washington declares a state of emergency and the National Guard arrives in the city.

Mike Segar/Reuters

American Airlines confirms the loss of two aircraft. Within an hour, United Airlines also reported the loss of two of its aircraft.

The media are reporting the cancellation of the New York mayoral election due to the tragic events.

According to CNN, mass evacuations have begun in Washington and New York. A few minutes later, the mayor of New York also orders the evacuation of Lower Manhattan.

“I saw bloody people coming out of the towers. It was like a movie. Everything seemed somehow unreal. I distinctly remember the firefighters walking in with their gear, looking up and shaking their heads. Probably, many of them later died,” says an eyewitness to the events, Fox News producer Jonathan Wachtel.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The North Tower of the World Trade Center is completely destroyed - 1 hour and 41 minutes have passed since Flight 11 hit it. None of those on the upper floors survive. The Marriott Hotel, whose building was located between the two towers, was also completely destroyed. The destruction of the second tower, like the first, was shown live.

As head of state George W. Bush would later note, he perceived the third attack as a declaration of war. Immediately after that, he flew out of Florida.

“It became clearer in my head: what happened with the first plane could still be an accident, with the second it was definitely an attack, but with the third it was already a declaration of war,” the president wrote in his memoirs.

A wing of the Pentagon collapses.

United Airlines flight 93 falls 129 km southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Presumably, his target was the Capitol building or the White House. However, passengers of the airliner intervened - having received messages about two other hijacked planes, they forcibly tried to regain control of the board. Realizing that they could not withstand the pressure of people, the terrorists sent the plane into the ground.

The South Tower of the World Trade Center is completely destroyed. 55 minutes have passed since Flight 175 hit it. Lower Manhattan is completely covered by huge clouds of dust.

Handout Old/Reuters

A riot of passengers on flight 93 begins. According to the crew of the plane flying past, the airliner is “shaking its wings” - at this time there is a struggle in the cockpit between passengers and the hijackers.

The FAA command center requests aviation administration headquarters to intervene militarily in the Flight 93 situation. However, the FAA civil aviation The US still doesn't make a decision until the plane crashes.

Larry Downing/Reuters

After reports that Flight 77 was diverted towards Washington, the Secret Service decides to evacuate the Vice President from the White House.

Lost consciousness after the explosion, Fred Eichler opens his eyes from the light of a flashlight. A fireman climbed onto the floor and managed to save the people found, but he himself later died. When Fred got outside, he called his wife and heard her voice: “Run, run, run!” He ran - a few minutes later the North Tower collapsed.

The hijackers begin their assault on Flight 93's cockpit and seize control of the plane. Dispatchers in Cleveland receive a radio transmission from the liner: “Sit in your seats. We have a bomb."

Flight 93 receives a text warning from United Airlines dispatch: "Beware of cabin intrusion - two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center."

The Federal Aviation Administration is grounding all aircraft heading to or through New York City airspace, as well as the airspace of Boston and Washington. The ban applies to the entire country.

US President George W. Bush was caught in a terrorist attack in Florida. He is in a school in Sarasota during a reading lesson. The head of state reads “Little Goat” to the children, but the lesson is interrupted.

As the president sat in class, Chief of Staff Andy Card approached him and whispered in his ear that another plane had crashed into a second building. “America is under attack,” Chief of Staff Andy Card says in the president’s ear.

Win McNamee/Reuters

At a speed of approximately 959 km/h, Flight 175 crashes into south side of the south tower of the World Trade Center between floors 78 and 85. Parts of the plane penetrate the building and fly out from the east and north sides, some of them falling to the ground six blocks from the building. Interruptions begin in the operation of television stations, since studios, transmitters and antenna equipment were located on the south tower.

Reuters

Flight 175 heads to New York. One of the passengers, Peter Henson, was able to reach his father from the plane:

“Everything is bad, father. The flight attendants are injured. They (the hijackers) seem to have knives and gas. They say they have a bomb. The situation on the plane is very bad. Passengers are in panic, some feel bad. The plane makes sudden movements. I don't think it's the pilot who controls the plane. I think we're going down. I think we're going to Chicago or something and we're going to crash into a building." The call is interrupted by a woman's scream.

Terrorists hijack Flight 77. The plane's transponder switches off and is out of radar range. Invisible to dispatchers, the airliner turns east. After this, Flight 77 continues to fly towards Washington for another 36 minutes without being displayed anywhere.

A flight attendant on Flight 175 contacts the United Airlines office in San Francisco. According to him, the plane has been hijacked, both pilots have been killed, and a flight attendant has been wounded. In addition, the kidnappers took control of the plane.

At least 100 people (in some sources the figure is 250 people), caught in the terrorist attack on the upper floors, jump out of the windows. A significant portion of the floor on one of the floors of the north tower had caved in, leading people to believe the building might collapse.

One person, firefighter Daniel Suhr, who was standing on the ground, is killed when a person who jumped out of a window falls directly on him.

At approximately 790 km/h, Flight 11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center between the 93rd and 99th floors. The plane goes almost entirely inside the building, penetrates the building to the middle and cuts all three stairwells, covering them with debris. 80 tons of aviation kerosene mixed with the remains of the plane and the wreckage of the building create a huge fire.

Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

54-year-old insurance agent Fred Eichler arrived at his office on the 83rd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center and went to the restroom, where he met colleagues and stopped to chat. While talking, they see a plane rushing straight towards them. Literally a few minutes later, the men were sharply thrown back several tens of meters by the blast wave.

Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, called American Airlines in Boston.

"Is there something wrong. We are descending quickly. I see water. I see buildings. We're flying very, very low. We're flying too low." After a few seconds, she slowly says, “Oh, God.” The call is interrupted by loud, persistent noise.

Flight 175 hijacked. The flight attendant contacts the United Airlines office in San Francisco and reports that both pilots have been killed, a flight attendant has been wounded, and that the hijackers are probably flying the plane.

Ruben Sprich/Reuters

From international airport A United Airlines Boeing 757 takes off from Newark. The 37 passengers on board Flight 93 are bound for San Francisco after a 40-minute delay. There are four hijackers on board.

The Boston center contacts Otis Air National Guard Base and reports the hijacking of Flight 11. A few minutes later, the dispatcher also receives a message from the pilot of Flight 175, who had previously taken off from Logan: the crew saw the hijacked flight 16 km from their side.

“... we heard a strange transmission at the moment when we took off from Boston. Someone could be heard pressing a microphone button and saying “everyone stay in their seats,” the pilots reported.

Flight 11's transponder switches off, but the aircraft remains on surveillance radar as a blip with no additional information. It then makes a 100-degree turn south and heads straight for New York.

Suddenly a radio transmission breaks through to the dispatchers: “We have several planes. Be quiet and everything will be fine. We're heading back to the airport." These words are addressed to the people in the plane—the terrorist simply mixed up the buttons.

Another Boeing 757 belonging to American Airlines takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles. Flight 77 carries 58 passengers and six crew members. And again there are five hijackers on board.

Flight 11 flight attendant Betty Ong calls the American Airlines office on the in-flight phone.

“The cockpit is not responding, someone is injured in business class, I think they used tear gas, we can’t breathe, I don’t know, it looks like we’re being hijacked,” the girl said, adding that two were injured flight attendants.

United Airlines Flight 175, another fully fueled Boeing 767, also departs Logan Airport for Los Angeles. There are 56 passengers and nine crew members on board. And five hijackers.

Flight 11 makes final contact with air traffic control in Boston. After just a few minutes, the flight stops following the dispatcher’s instructions and does not reach the required altitude of 10.7 thousand meters.

American Airlines flight 11 (Boeing 767) departs with a 14-minute delay. All five hijackers are on board among other passengers.

Five terrorists board the plane; their faces do not yet evoke any negative emotions among the other passengers. The first of the five to board the plane was Mohammed Atta along with Abdulaziz al-Omari.

Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice

American Airlines Flight 11 is preparing to take off at Boston's Logan Airport. According to the schedule, he should fly to Los Angeles. There are 86 passengers on board.

On September 4, 2001, the national security advisers of the George W. Bush administration approved a draft version of the plan to combat al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation). The plan was due to be submitted on September 10. But the US President was away and didn’t see him.

The Memorandum reminded the US President that since 1997, Osama bin Laden had openly spoken about his intention to strike the United States. Moreover, in 1997 and 1998, he said on television that his supporters were ready to follow the example of Ramzi Youssef, who in 1993 left a truck filled with explosives in an underground garage of one of the World Trade Center towers. Then six people died and about a thousand were injured.

September 11, 2001, 7:30 New York time. American Airlines Flight 11 boarding from Boston to Los Angeles is boarding at Logan Airport in Boston. 92 people board, including five terrorists led by Egyptian Mohammed Atta.

7:59 . Flight 11 (Boeing 767) takes off from Boston with a 14-minute delay and heads for Los Angeles.

8:13 . The crew of Flight 11 conducts the last communication session with ground services, after which it stops answering calls. At this moment, the hijackers break into the cockpit and take control of the Boeing.

8:14 . A United Airlines Boeing 767 departs from Logan Airport on flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles. On board there are nine crew members and 56 passengers, including five terrorists.

8:19 . Flight 11 flight attendant Betty Ong manages to contact the airline office using the onboard telephone. She reports that unknown assailants sprayed tear gas, several people were injured, and the plane was apparently hijacked.

8:20 . A Boeing 757 takes off from Dulles Airport, Washington, DC
American Airlines flight 77 Washington - Los Angeles. On board there are six crew members and 58 passengers, including five terrorists.

8:24 . Flight 11 turns around and heads for New York. At the same time, the terrorist mistakenly presses the button for communication with ground services instead of the button for in-cabin communication, and dispatchers hear the words of the hijackers addressed to the passengers: “We have several planes. Be quiet and everything will be fine. We're heading back to the airport."

8:37 . The dispatchers transmit the message about the hijacking of flight 11 to the American military, more precisely, to the command of the Eastern Air Defense Sector.

8:42 . A United Airlines Boeing 757 departs from Newark Airport on flight 93 Newark - San Francisco. There were 37 passengers on board the plane, which took off with a 40-minute delay, including four terrorists.

8:43 . Terrorists hijack Flight 175.

8:44 . American Airlines calls from Flight 11 Flight attendant Amy Sweeney. She reports that something incomprehensible is happening, the plane is rapidly descending. The last phrase of the flight attendant: “Oh, God...” After this, the call is interrupted.

8:46 . At a speed of about 800 kilometers per hour, Flight 11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York at the level of 93-99 floors of the building. Interceptor aircraft, prepared in response to information about the hijacking of Flight 11, still remain at the airfield.

8:48-8:49 . American television companies begin live reporting from the scene of the disaster. There is no information yet that a terrorist attack occurred.

A large fire breaks out in the north tower of the World Trade Center. People, cut off by fire on the upper floors of the building, begin to throw themselves out of the windows. Over the next hour and a half, at least 100 people will commit suicide in this way. One of those thrown out will cause the death of a firefighter, on whom he will fall from a great height.

8:51 . Flight 77 is hijacked.

8:52 . The flight attendant of Flight 175 contacts the United Airlines office via the on-board phone, reporting that the plane has been hijacked, both pilots have been killed, a flight attendant has been wounded, and the plane is being controlled by hijackers.

8:53 . Two interceptor aircraft were taken into the air, but they were only tasked with patrolling the Long Island area.

8:54 . Flight 77 changes course, heading south.

8:55 . US President George W. Bush, which is located in the elementary school named after. Emma Booker of Sarasota, Florida, reports that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center tower in New York.

8:56 . Terrorists on Flight 77 disable the transponder on board, and air traffic controllers lose the ability to monitor the plane. The liner heads for Washington.

8:58 . Flight 175 heads to New York.

9:00 . Flight 175 passenger Peter Henson from the plane he calls his father and reports that the passengers are in panic, the flight attendants are injured, the plane is making sudden movements, descending, and, most likely, will crash into some building. “Don't worry, dad. If this happens, everything will happen very quickly. My God, my God,” are the last words of Peter Henson.

9:03 . At a speed of about 960 kilometers per hour, Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center at the level of 78-85 floors.

9:05 . President George W. Bush is reported about the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center tower, with the words: “America is under attack.”

9:08 . A flight ban is imposed on all aircraft whose route passes through New York airspace.

9:17 . Named for the first time as the organizer of the attack on America - version belongs to CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart.

9:23 . The crew of Flight 93, the last to carry the terrorists and not yet hijacked, are warned: "Beware of cabin intrusion - two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center."

9:28 . Terrorists aboard Flight 93 storm the cockpit as ground controllers hear.

9:29 . President Bush's first public statement regarding the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers. The president’s entourage has no information about two more hijacked planes.

9:35 . In Washington, a decision was made to evacuate the US Vice President from the White House.

9:37 . Flight 77 crashes into the west wing of the Pentagon in Washington.

9:43 . In Washington, there is a complete evacuation of the White House and the Capitol.

9:45 . Air space The USA is completely closed, all flights are prohibited, aircraft in the air are ordered to land at the nearest airports.

9:57 . The passengers of Flight 93, thanks to calls to family and friends who know what happened to the previously hijacked planes, rebel against the terrorists.

9:59 . Happening complete destruction South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.

10:03 . Flight 93 crashes 129 km southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Later, from the voice recorders, it became known that the terrorists sent the plane into the ground at the moment when passengers burst into the cockpit, trying to regain control of the plane.

10:10 . The damaged wing of the Pentagon collapses.

10:11 . US Vice President Dick Cheney, not knowing about the crash of Flight 93, gives the order to the military to destroy it.

10:28 . The north tower of the World Trade Center is destroyed. The Marriott Hotel, located between the two towers, was also completely destroyed.

17:20 . The 47-story building of World Trade Center 7 collapses, having received extensive damage during the destruction of the Twin Towers.

As a result of the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed, not counting 19 suicide bombers, and more than two dozen people are considered missing. Among the dead, in addition to US citizens, were citizens of 91 states. 96 of them were citizens of countries of the former USSR or immigrants from them.

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