United Airlines Flight 93 left the Newark International Airport around 8:40am, heading towards San Francisco but destined for Pennsylvania. At approximately 9:30am, the airplane was hijacked by 4 terrorists. The passengers, however, figured out what was happening and started a coup against the hijackers. At 10:00am, Flight 93 crashed just outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people on board. We will never know for sure what the target for the hijacked flight was, but there are many theories. Among these are: the White House, the capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, or one of several nuclear power plants along the East Coast. Any of these would have been disastrous, had the passengers aboard Flight 93 not taken charge and sacrificed their own lives to prevent the terrorists’ plan from unfolding. 

American Airlines Flight 11 left the Boston Logan International Airport at 8:00am, also bound for Los Angeles. About 15 minutes later, the plane was hijacked. At this same time. United Airlines Flight 175 also left from the Boston airport, also bound for Los Angeles. Half an hour later, around 8:45am, Flight 175 was also hijacked. It was at this time that Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, leaving a burning hole near the 80th floor of the building. At 9:00am, Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the WTC, between the 77th and 85th floors of the building. At 10:00am, the South Tower collapsed; at 10:30am, the North Tower collapsed. In total, 2,763 people died after the two planes crashed into the buildings, and there were between 6,000 and 10,000 people injured. These numbers include 343 firefighters and paramedics and 50 police officers, who were trying to help evacuate the buildings and attempting to rescue those trapped higher up.