World Trade Center (2001–present)
The buildings are among many created by the World Trade Centers Association. The original World Trade Center featured the landmark Twin Towers, which opened in 1973, and were the tallest buildings in the world at the time of their completion. They were destroyed on the morning of September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the complex in a coordinated act of terrorism. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,753 people. The resulting collapse of the World Trade Center caused structural failure in the surrounding buildings as well. The process of cleaning up and recovery at the World Trade Center site took eight months, after which rebuilding of the site commenced.
Planning of the September 11 attacks
On September 11, 2001, 19 Arab-Muslim hijackers took control of four commercial aircraft and used them as suicide weapons in a series of four coordinated acts of terrorism to strike the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and an additional target in Washington, D.C. Two aircraft hit the World Trade Center while the third hit the Pentagon. A fourth plane never arrived at its target, crashing in a field in Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt. The intended target is believed to have been either the United States Capitol or the White House. As a result, 2,977 victims were killed, making it the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil; also the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil, exceeding Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which killed 2,403 victims. It was carefully planned by al-Qaeda, who sent 19 terrorists to take over Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft, operated by American Airlines and United Airlines.