What Happened and How Many Died in the September 11, 2001 Attacks on America

On September 11, 2001, suicide attackers hijacked American passenger airplanes and flew them into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The coordinated attacks, carried out by al-Qaeda operatives, killed nearly 3,000 people and became the deadliest terrorist attack in history on U.S. soil. The strikes destroyed both towers of the World Trade Center and also hit the Pentagon, while a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. The event triggered the U.S.-led global war on terror, including the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq, and led to sweeping security, surveillance, and aviation policy changes worldwide. The reporting here is retrospective, revisiting what happened and how many people died in the attack.

Global Impact

The attacks reshaped global geopolitics for two decades, launching the war on terror, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and a permanent expansion of surveillance and homeland security apparatus. Economically, they caused a brief but sharp market shutdown and prompted lasting changes to aviation security, insurance, and defense spending.