Unbelievable as it may seem but on the morning of Tuesday Sept 11, 2001, I woke up to these headlines:-
(see USA TODAY's Cover Page and NEW YORK TIMES' Cover Page)

Terrorists Hijack 4 Airliners, Destroy World Trade Center, Hit Pentagon; Hundreds Dead - The Washington Post
Terrorists Destroy World Trade Center, Hit Pentagon in Raid With Hijacked Jets - The Wall Street Journal
ACT OF WAR. Terrorists strike; death toll "horrendous" - USA Today
U.S. ATTACKED - Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon in Day of Terror - New York Times
Strike Against The Nation - Terrorists Attack New York , Pentagon - Los Angeles Times

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 - Terrorists unleashed an astonishing air assault on America's military and financial power centers yesterday morning, hijacking four commercial jets and then crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside.

It was the most dramatic attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, and it created indelible scenes of carnage and chaos. The commandeered jets obliterated the World Trade Center's twin 110-story towers from their familiar perch above Manhattan's skyline and ripped a blazing swath through the Defense Department's imposing five-sided fortress, grounding the domestic air traffic system for the first time and plunging the entire nation into an unparalleled state of anxiety.

The terrorists hijacked four California-bound planes from three airports on the Eastern Seaboard; the airliners were loaded with the maximum amount of fuel, suggesting a well-financed, well-coordinated plot. First, two planes slammed into the World Trade Center. Then an American Airlines plane out of Dulles International Airport ripped through the newly renovated walls of the Pentagon, perhaps the world's most secure office building. A fourth jet crashed 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, shortly after it was hijacked and turned in the direction of Washington.

None of the 266 people aboard the four planes survived. There were even more horrific but still untallied casualties in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which together provided office space for more than 70,000 people. The spectacular collapse of the Trade Center's historic twin towers and another less recognizable skyscraper during the rescue operations caused even more bloodshed. At least 300 New York firefighters and 85 police officers are presumed dead.

Anatomy of an Attack - World Trade Center, NYC
(MAP) Manhattan The Day After - A City in Shock
(MAP) Ground Zero Damage Report - Sep 14, 2001
(VIDEO) First Plane Crash into the North Tower

The disaster began to unfold at 8:48 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 92 people from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the landmark glass-and-steel complex at the southern tip of Manhattan that provided office space for 50,000 workers. Islamic militants had detonated a bomb there in 1993, killing six people. Yesterday's terrorism turned out to be far worse.

Eighteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, carrying 65 people on the same Boston-to-Los Angeles route, tore through the South Tower with an even larger explosion. The collisions shrouded New York's helter-skelter financial district in pallid ash, and created mass pandemonium inside and outside the towers. Workers were screaming, running for stairways, gasping for air. Several of them began leaping to their death from the upper floors. Animated GIF of AA11 and UA175 flight paths.

WASHINGTON, DC - PENTAGON ATTACK

Anatomy of an Attack - Pentagon
(MAP) Pentagon Strike
(MAP) Flight paths for hijacked flight AA11, AA77, UA93, UA175
Satellite picture of the Pentagon after the attack

But the scene soon shifted from America's financial mecca to its military fortress. At about 9:40 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 64 people from Dulles to Los Angeles, barreled into the west wing of the Pentagon in yet another fiery collision, destroying at least four of the five rings that encircle the world's largest office building. A Pentagon spokesman called the casualties "extensive," although they were clearly not as extensive as New York's.

The Federal Aviation Administration promptly banned takeoffs nationwide, ordered domestic flights to land at the nearest airport and diverted international flights to Canada. But officials soon confirmed that a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, carrying 45 people from Newark to San Francisco, had crashed in Shanksville, Pa. It had been hijacked as well -- one passenger called 911 from a cell phone -- and had been heading toward Washington when it went down.

MORE HEADLINES

Triple Attacks Rock The Nation - Trade Center Towers & Pentagon Struck - New York Daily News
Today, our nation saw evil - Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel
War at home - The Dallas Morning News
New Day of Infamy - Thousands feared dead after planes hit towers, Pentagon - Boston Globe
ACT OF WAR - World Trade Center destroyed; many dead - New York Post
Terror Attacks Strike the U.S. - The Star Ledger
U.S. ATTACKED - Hijacked Planes Destroy Trade Towers, Hit Pentagon; Thousands Feared Dead - Philadelphia Inquirer
NATION IN ANGUISH - Thousands feared dead after terrorists crash hijacked jets into World Trade Center, Pentagon - San Diego Union-Tribune
Darkest Hour - The Denver Post
TERROR IN AMERICA - America's Darkest Day - Detroit Free Press, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Day of Terror - The Oregonian, Concord Monitor, The Tennessean
Evil Acts - The Miami Herald
Day of Infamy - Time
America's Day of Terror - A New Date of Infamy - Newsweek.MSNBC.com
America Under Attack - CNN
America Attacked. TERROR - Newport News Daily Press
National Tragedy - Knoxville News-Sentinel
A New Day of Infamy - San Antonio Express-News, The Charleston Gazette, Albuquerque Journal
ATTACKED. Attacks rip Trade Center, Pentagon, America's Soul - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
TERROR - The Florida Times-Union, Anchorage Daily News, The Arizona Republic, The Seattle Times
ATTACK! - Philadelphia Daily News
ATTACKED - Birmingham Daily News, The Idaho Statesman
WAR ON AMERICA - Sydney Morning Herald, Boston Herald
Attack on America - The Charlotte Observer
Who would do this? How many dead? - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Acts of War - San Jose Mercury News
OUTRAGE - The Atlanta Constitution
America's Bloodiest Day - The Honolulu Advertiser
Day of Death - The Indianapolis Star
Attacks Shatter Nation - The Post and Courier
Devastation - The Sun
Assault on America - The Wichita Eagle
None of us will ever forget this day - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bloody Terror - Great Falls Tribune
Unthinkable - The Salt Lake Tribune
Freedom Under Siege - Times Union
A day of Infamy - The Globe and Mail
Terror Strikes U.S. As Hijacked Jets Ram World Trade Center - The Asian Wall Street Journal
Terror Assaults Stun U.S. - The Wall Street Journal Europe
Hijacked Jets Hit Trade Towers In New York and Plow Into Pentagon - The International Herald Tribune
Terror Hits the U.S. - Asahi Shimbun
War on America - The Daily Telegraph
America's Nightmare - Day of Terror Rocks America - South China Morning Post
Planes strike U.S. icons of power - Jakarta Post
War in the U.S. - The world holds its breath - De Telegraaf

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