On the morning of September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were operating normally before the first hijacked plane struck at 8:46 a.m.. The weather was clear and pleasant, a serene backdrop for a bustling Tuesday in Lower Manhattan.
An estimated 16,400 to 18,000 people were in the complex at the time of the attacks, with many already at their desks in the office space provided for about 35,000 workers across 430 companies. The towers, a massive presence in the city skyline, attracted roughly 70,000 commuters and tourists daily.
Newscasts from the night before, which ran after midnight due to a Monday Night Football delay, focused on sports headlines and celebrity news. Meteorologists forecast the “sunny and pleasant” weather that greeted New Yorkers that Tuesday.
At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. The initial reaction for many was confusion. Many people, both inside the towers and outside, initially thought it was a terrible accident. It was only when a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, struck the South Tower 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. that the horrifying reality of a coordinated terrorist attack became clear.
0 comments:
Post a Comment