25 years since the most tragic event in aviation history

 September 11 marked the 25th anniversary of the suicide terrorist attacks carried out in the United States by members of the radical Islamist organization Al-Qaeda. On that day, they hijacked four passenger airliners and turned them into weapons of attack. In the English-speaking world, the tragedy has come to be known as “9/11” (“Nine Eleven”). It is the deadliest terrorist attack in terms of human casualties in both the history of aviation and history in general.

 At 7:59 a.m. local time, an American Airlines Boeing 767-200ER departed from Boston Logan Airport on Flight 11 bound for Los Angeles. There were 92 people on board, including the crew, five of whom were terrorists. They hijacked the plane and, at 8:46 a.m., crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York.

 At 8:14 a.m., a United Airlines Boeing 767-222 departed from the same airport on Flight 93, also bound for Los Angeles. There were 65 people on board, including five terrorists. At 9:03 a.m., this plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Severe fires broke out, leading to the complete destruction of the towers themselves and significant damage to nearby buildings. A total of 2,763 people, including those on board the planes, were killed.

At 8:20 a.m., an American Airlines Boeing 757-200 took off from Washington Dulles International Airport with 64 people on board. It was also headed to Los Angeles on Flight 77. At 9:37 a.m., five terrorists crashed the plane into the west wall of the Pentagon. In addition to the victims on board the plane, another 125 people were killed on the ground.

At 8:42 a.m., a United Airlines Boeing 757-200 took off from Newark Liberty International Airport on Flight 93 bound for San Francisco. It was hijacked by four al-Qaeda members. According to the most widely accepted account, the passengers fought back, resulting in the plane crashing in a field near the small town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All 44 people on board were killed.

A total of 2,996 people died (including 12 of Ukrainian descent), and another 24 are still considered missing. By comparison, on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese air attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, 2,403 people were killed.

Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden referred to “9/11” as part of the war that Muslims are forced to wage against the United States, the entire West, and Israel. He cited a series of conflicts in which, he claimed, Muslims were killed simply because they were Muslims. In response, the United States recognized global terrorism as the greatest contemporary threat and launched large-scale measures to combat it.