Twenty-five years later – what you should know about 9/11

News Stories   —   Posted on September 3, 2026

On September 11, 2001 (“9/11”),   2,977 innocent people were murdered by Islamist terrorists. They included the passengers and crew on the four planes hijacked and intentionally crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon by the al Qaeda terrorists, thousands of workers inside the buildings, and 412 first responders — firefighters, police officers, and paramedics — who courageously rushed into the burning towers to save others and never made it out.

Watch the videos, then read the “Background” and check out the other links and videos under “Resources.”

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Watch two news reports as it happened that morning:

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Watch a video from the World Trade Center site in New York City – “Ground Zero” on 9/11:

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The U.S. Pentagon –  live audio from Air Traffic Control and 911 First Responders:

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Shanksville, Pennsylvania: Phone calls from passengers and crew on Flight 93.

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In 2023, Scott Pelley, CBS/60-Minutes, spoke with New York City firefighters who were there that day and the loved ones of those who never made it home:

Background

September 11, 2001 (9/11):

• The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four suicide attacks committed by Muslim extremists against United States civilians on September 11, 2001, coordinated to strike the areas of New York City and Washington, D.C.
• On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets;
  15 of the terrorists were citizens of Saudi Arabia,
  2 were  from UAE (United Arab Emirates),
  1 from Lebanon and
  1 from Egypt.

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (two Boeing 757 and two Boeing 767) en route to California (three headed to LAX in Los Angeles and one to SFO in San Francisco) after takeoffs from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts; Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey; and Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. They intentionally crashed them into the WTC and Pentagon. Large planes with long flights were selected for hijacking because they would be heavily fueled.

The four flights were:

• American Airlines Flight 11 departed Logan Airport at 7:59 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of 11 and 76 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the north side of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 175 departed Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of nine and 51 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the south side of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 9:03 a.m.
• American Airlines Flight 77 departed Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of six and 53 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the west side of the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, at 9:37 a.m.
• United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark International Airport at 8:42 am en route to San Francisco, with a crew of seven and 33 passengers, not including four hijackers. Flight 93 was heading toward Washington, D.C., with targets likely being the U.S. Capitol or the White House. However, after learning about the other attacks via airphones, the passengers fought back against the hijackers. Because of their extraordinary bravery, the plane crashed in an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m., saving countless lives on the ground.

The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed at 9:59 am;
The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 am.

Nearly 3,000 people died in these attacks, including the 246 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes.

NYC first responder deaths:  A total of 411 emergency workers died as they tried to rescue people and fight fires

• The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) lost 340 firefighters, a chaplain and 2 paramedics.
• The New York City Police Department (NYPD) lost 23 officers.
• The Port Authority Police Department of NY and NJ lost 37 officers.
• Eight emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics from private emergency medical services units were killed.

Directly following the attacks:

• U.S. airspace was closed to civilian air traffic for two days.
• Major professional sports leagues immediately called off games scheduled for September 11 and the days following.
• Major League Baseball remained suspended for a full week, returning to play on Monday, September 17, 2001 after the MLB Commissioner consulted with the commissioners of other sports and President George W. Bush before making the decision for play to resume on Monday, Sept. 17.
• The NFL postponed its full slate of weekend games for the upcoming week (rescheduling them for later in the season).
• College football and Major League Soccer similarly cancelled or postponed events over the subsequent several days.
• In New York City, the primary election taking place on 9/11 was rescheduled for 2 weeks later. NYC schools remained open on 9/11, were closed on September 12 and reopened on the 13th.

Notably, a massive wave of unity emerged. People lined up for hours to donate blood, volunteers rushed to New York to help clear debris, and American flags appeared on homes and cars across the country.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda.

• Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks.
• In May 2011, after years at large, bin Laden was located and killed in Pakistan by the members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six. (from wikipedia)
• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ("KSM") was captured in 2003 in Pakistan by a combined operation of the CIA and Pakistani Intelligence. He was interrogated by U.S. operatives then transferred to military custody at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) in 2006. Following years of delays and appeals, a judge recently set a new trial date for June 5, 2028, nearly 27 years after the September 11 attacks.

Both Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) were equally guilty of the 9/11 attacks, but they held entirely different roles in orchestrating the September 11 attacks. While KSM was the tactical designer ("mastermind") who thought up the plot, bin Laden was the supreme leader who funded, authorized, and staffed it.

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At least 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths from the burning Twin Towers (as exemplified in the photograph The Falling Man), landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below.  Watch a video on The Falling Man photo with photojournalist Richard Drew:

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What do you know about the FIRST World Trade Center terrorist attack in 1993?

• On February 26, 1993, Islamic terrorists detonated a truck bomb below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• The 1,336 pound device was intended to send the North Tower (Tower 1) crashing into the South Tower (Tower 2), bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people.
• It failed to do so but killed six people and injured more than a thousand.

Watch a report from 2013, the 20th Anniversary of the first bombing of the World Trade Center:

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Watch footage from the 1993 terrorist attack: