NEW YORK - September 11th, 2001: Never Forget (AD-FREE RE-RELEASE):

Summary

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Murder In America: NEW YORK - September 11th, 2001: Never Forget (AD-FREE RE-RELEASE)

Podcast: Murder In America (Bloody FM)
Hosts: Courtney Shannon & Colin Browen
Release Date: September 11, 2025 (original episode from 2021, marking the 20th anniversary)

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Episode Overview

This powerful, ad-free re-release commemorates the events and victims of September 11th, 2001, on its 20th anniversary. Courtney and Colin meticulously walk listeners through the timeline of the attacks, offer personal stories from victims and survivors, share rarely heard audio and emotional moments, and reflect on the lasting impact of 9/11 on the United States and the world. Rather than focusing solely on true crime, the episode is positioned as one of the most significant and tragic murder stories in American history—a day that transformed a nation forever.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Reflections and Trigger Warning

• [00:00-01:17] Colin introduces the episode’s intent: “We are re releasing our earlier episode about the 9/11 attacks completely ad free because Courtney and I want to memorialize the victims and the events of that day in any way that we possibly can.”
• Emphasis on the unsettling and graphic detail of the episode; explicit trigger warnings for violence and traumatic content.

2. Setting the Scene: A Quiet Tuesday Morning

• [01:48-03:42] Courtney sets the tone by painting a vivid picture of a peaceful September morning in New York.
• “2,973 people nationwide would leave their homes that morning completely unaware that this would be their very last day on earth.”
• Timeline of the attacks is carefully outlined:
  • 8:46am: Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower.
  • 9:03am: Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower.
  • 9:37am: Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
  • 10:03am: Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania.

3. The Hijackings: Detailed Timelines and Eyewitness Accounts

American Airlines Flight 11 (North Tower)

• [04:24-12:59]
  • Hijackers described boarding at Logan International, their methodical tactics, and the rapid descent into violence.
  • Flight attendant Betty Ong’s call recounted (“Hello, my name is Betty Ong… the cockpit's not answering…” [06:53])—a chilling, real-time account of chaos and confusion.
  • Amy Sweeney, another attendant, provides crucial info, her last words: “We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low. Oh my God. Oh my God.” ([10:48])
• Inside the North Tower:
  • Emergency dispatcher call from 106th floor: “We have smoke and it's pretty bad. We can't get down the stairs.” ([17:10])
  • Personal stories, like Melissa Hughes calling her father and saying goodbye from the 101st floor ([17:48]).

United Airlines Flight 175 (South Tower)

• [24:30-33:43]
  • Real-time pilot communications as the second plane is hijacked and crashes.
  • Poignant voicemails from passengers, like Brian Sweeney to his wife Julie: “If things don't go well… I want you to know I absolutely love you... I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe.” ([27:03])
  • Peter Hansen’s heartbreaking last call to his father about being hijacked with his wife and two-year-old daughter—the youngest victim of 9/11 ([28:08-29:08]).

The Impact and Immediate Aftermath

• [16:26-20:56]
  • Trapped in the towers: 911 calls, accounts of jumping from windows, vivid commentary on the desperation of those inside.
  • Discussion of the “jumpers”—the estimated 200 who leapt from the towers, with personal, haunting anecdotes: “She had a business suit on, her hair was all askew… she held down her skirt and then stepped off the ledge. I thought, how human, how modest...” ([22:06])

4. Humanizing the Numbers: Stories of Individuals

• [18:26-19:35] The story of Jim Gardenberg, who left a voicemail for his wife, trying to reassure her moments before dying.
• [38:27-41:04] Survivor stories from the South Tower: Keating Crown and Brian Clark among just 18 people to escape from floors above the impact.

5. First Responders: Bravery Amidst Chaos

• [41:04-45:56]
  • Firefighter communications capture the confusion and danger inside the towers.
  • The collapse of the South Tower at 9:59am, with the final 911 call from Kevin Cosgrove (“I must have called about a dozen times already... We’re looking at the Financial Center…” [45:19])—his call ends as the tower falls.
  • Courtney: “Hundreds of their fellow firefighters, their co workers and friends are dead.” ([44:43])

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6. The Other Planes

American Airlines Flight 77 (Pentagon)

• [48:16-52:44]
  • Hijacked about 20 minutes into the flight; at 9:37am, it crashes into the Pentagon.
  • Real-time confusion within air traffic control as they fail to track the hijacked plane.

United Airlines Flight 93 (Shanksville, PA)

• [52:44-71:13]
  • Passengers become aware of the other attacks by making calls to loved ones.
  • Multiple listener testimonials and voicemail recordings, including Tom Burnett, Elizabeth Waino, Lauren Grandkolis, and Linda Gronley.
    • Elizabeth’s mom: “Look, Elizabeth, I've got my arms around you and I love you...” ([59:47])
  • Cece Lyles’ message to her husband: “I'm on a plane that's been hijacked… I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you.” ([64:56])
• The Revolt:
  • Todd Beamer speaks to a call center worker, famously saying, “Let’s roll.” ([69:08])
  • The passengers’ planned revolt causes the plane to crash in Pennsylvania; they are credited with saving innumerable lives.

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7. Aftermath in New York

• [71:22-74:49]
  • Second tower collapse at 10:28am; chaos on the streets.
  • Emotional news coverage: “There are no words. I'm about a block away and there were several people that were hanging out the windows right below where the plane crashed when suddenly you saw the top of the building start to shake and people began leaping from the windows…” ([71:39])
  • Overloaded communications; thousands left uncertain about loved ones’ fates.

8. Search, Identification, and Loss

• [74:49-77:12]
  • Search & rescue finds 18 alive in the rubble; 60% of bodies identified, with many families never given closure.
  • Recent advances see victims’ DNA identified even decades later.

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Deeper Dive: The Roots, Planners, and Motives

9. Who and Why? The Path to 9/11

• [77:12-85:31]
  • Background on Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda’s ideology, and why America was targeted.
  • Quotes from Al Qaeda’s fatwas: “We with God's help call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their Money wherever and whenever they find it.” ([78:33])
• [79:28-82:06]
  • Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the true mastermind, and initial plans to hijack up to 12 planes.
  • Recruitment and radicalization, often in Europe, with “ordinary” backgrounds.

10. Detailed Preparation & Missed Warnings

• [85:31-92:37]
  • Years of planning, flight school training, and meticulous attention to US security failures.
  • Chilling accounts of hijackers blending into normal American life, frequenting shops, gyms, and even tourist attractions in places like Florida and California.
  • Security oversights highlighted—a hijacker triggering the metal detector but waved through ([91:19]).

11. The Morning of September 11th

• [91:19-93:28]
  • The hijackers’ final preparations and their ordinary appearances at security checkpoints—a grim lesson in how indistinguishable evil can appear.

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The Legacy of 9/11

12. Immediate and Long-Term Impact

• [93:28-94:59]
  • War in Afghanistan, the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, and increased government surveillance.
  • “Americans lost their privacy. To some degree, US Intelligence agencies became much bolder. They began spying on normal Americans.” ([94:35])
• [94:59-95:12]
  • The hosts reflect on the loss of innocence and permanent transformation of America.

13. Stories of Luck and Survival

• [95:12-98:29]
  • Personal accounts showing how minor choices—changing a shirt, missing a flight—meant the difference between life and death.
  • “All of these stories are from people who, without even realizing, made a decision that day that would save their lives.” ([98:29])
  • Quote from author Garrett Graff: “The sheer randomness of how the day unfolded. Who lived, who died, who was touched, who escaped… 1,000 times a day, we all make arbitrary decisions…” ([99:24])

14. The Memorial and Remembrance

• [100:03-102:33]
  • Present-day Ground Zero: the transformation from rubble to a place of peace and collective mourning.
  • “Despite all the hatred and horror that occurred at the World Trade Center on 9/11, there is now a sense of peace that resides over the memorial.” ([101:08])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Betty Ong’s call from Flight 11:
  “The cockpit's not answering. Somebody stabbed in business class... we can't breathe.” ([06:53])
• Amy Sweeney’s final words:
  “We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low. Oh my God. Oh my God.” ([10:48])
• Ryan Sweeney’s voicemail to his wife:
  “If things don't go well and it's not looking good, I absolutely love you... I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe.” ([27:03])
• On the jumpers:
  “She held down her skirt and then stepped off the ledge. I thought, how human, how modest to hold down her skirt before she jumped.” ([22:06])
• Fire Division Chief Peter Hayden:
  “We had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble. But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try to rescue them.” ([41:04])
• Elizabeth Waino’s mother, as her daughter called from Flight 93:
  “Look, Elizabeth, I've got my arms around you and I love you. Let's just be together here.” ([59:47])
• Todd Beamer’s famous last words:
  “Let's roll.” ([69:08])
• On randomness and fate:
  “Wherever you are in life is exactly where you’re meant to be.” ([99:01])
• Courtney’s closing reflection:
  “If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there's no time for hate... our days are not promised and everything can change in the blink of an eye. So enjoy every moment you’re given, be kind to one another, tell your friends and family how much you love them, and never take your life for granted.” ([101:08])

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [01:48] “It’s September 11, 2001 in New York City…” – The morning begins.
• [06:53] Betty Ong’s chilling real-time call from Flight 11.
• [12:59] North Tower is struck; on-the-ground eyewitness accounts.
• [17:10] The Windows on the World 911 call—immediate panic inside the tower.
• [22:06] Graphic account of the “jumpers” and their impossible choices.
• [24:30] Flight 175 hijacking; final calls from passengers.
• [27:03] Ryan Sweeney’s voicemail; Peter Hansen’s calls about his wife and daughter.
• [29:37] The world realizes this is no accident—second plane hits South Tower.
• [41:04] Firefighters’ heroism and the South Tower collapse.
• [45:19] Final 911 call from Kevin Cosgrove as he dies during collapse.
• [54:26] Audio from Flight 93’s cockpit struggle.
• [59:47] Elizabeth Waino’s peaceful call to her mother from Flight 93.
• [69:08] Todd Beamer: “Let’s roll.”
• [71:39] Collapse of the North Tower and mass devastation.
• [74:49] Aftermath: Missing persons, desperate families, and ongoing pain.
• [77:21] Explanation of Al Qaeda’s motives and background.
• [91:19] Security failures and morning-of details as hijackers board flights.
• [95:12] Survival stories—those saved by coincidence or small choices.
• [100:03] The 9/11 Memorial’s role in remembrance and healing.
• [101:08] Closing reflections, life lessons, and a call for empathy and awareness.

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Tone and Style

Courtney and Colin’s narration is somber, respectful, and thorough—with a sense of reverence for the victims and survivors and a deep focus on humanizing what could otherwise be a recitation of headlines. Their careful inclusion of firsthand phone calls, survivor interviews, and family reflections heightens the raw emotional impact. The episode is at once informative, heartbreaking, and ultimately, a moving tribute.

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Final Reflections

The episode ends not with the show’s regular sign-off or talk of paranormal tales, but with Colin inviting listeners to honor a minute of silence—for “life, love, liberty, and America, [and] those lives that were lost” ([102:33]). Both hosts encourage listeners to hold close the lesson that each day is precious.

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This episode stands as both a meticulously documented historical account and a deeply personal memorial—a reminder to ‘Never Forget’ not just the events, but the individual lives and the collective loss of September 11th, 2001.

Transcript

[Colin]

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Today we are re releasing our earlier episode about the 911 attacks completely ad free because Courtney and I want to memorialize the victims and the events of that day in any way that we possibly can. This is a re release of our episode from 2021. So you'll hear us discussing the 20th anniversary of the attacks. But that's because this episode was recorded and released over four years ago. It's kind of crazy to think that we've been doing this show for that long. Tomorrow we will be back with a brand new episode of Murder in america telling some 911 stories that we feel haven't gotten enough representation in the media over the years. But anyways, let's get into this rerelease of the episode and Courtney and I's thoughts and love and good energy is with anyone who knew someone or loved someone affected by these horrific events. Warning the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

[Courtney]

Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder and offenses against children.

[Colin]

This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

[News Reporter]

It is 8am in Salisbury, N.C. 7am in Chicago, 5am in Calaveras County, California where the news is being made on this Tuesday, September 11th. Mr. Roker Al it is such a pretty morning, isn't it? Perfect fall morning here. Although it's not fall yet, so it's still a perfect summer morning. Miles and miles of sunshine. Miles Davis. We're gonna put Miles out there today, nice as it can be across the Northeast. Rough sea still from from the chop from that hurricane. But other than that, it's kind of quiet around the country. We like quiet.

[Courtney]

It's quiet.

[News Reporter]

It's too quiet.

[Courtney]

It's September 11, 2001 in New York City. Like the news reporter stated, it was quiet. A little too quiet. On this beautiful Tuesday morning, thousands of New Yorkers wake up and start getting ready for the day. They make their coffee, put on their clothes, grab a bite to eat and kiss their loved ones before heading off to work. Their family members wave them goodbye as they walk out of the door for the very last time. 2,973 people nation nationwide would leave their homes that morning completely unaware that this would be their very last day on earth. Because at 8:46am American Airlines Flight 11 would crash into the north tower of the World trade Center. At 9:03am, United Airlines Flight 175 would crash into the south tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:37am, American Airlines Flight 777 would crash into the Pentagon. And at 10:03am, United Flight 93 would crash into the ground in Pennsylvania. In less than two hours, nearly 3,000Americans would lose their lives and our country would face the most devastating and deadly terrorist attack in United states history. Today, September 11, 2021, is the 20th anniversary of the day that changed America from forever. A day that we will never forget. This is the story of September 11, 2001, and you're listening to Murder in America.

[News Reporter]

S.A.

[Courtney]

It'S the morning of September.

[Colin]

11, 2001, and our story starts at the Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Many people are in a hurry, rushing to make American Airlines Flight 11, a flight leaving for Los Angeles. At 7:59am 92 people pile into the aircraft that morning, including the captain, John Ogunowski, age 50, his co pilot, Thomas F. McGinnis, age 42, nine flight attendants and 81 total passengers. And as the plane takes off down the Runway, no one has any idea that 5 of the passengers on board are members of a terrorist group called Al Qaeda.

[Courtney]

The first 13 minutes of the flight went smoothly. Some people were looking out the window as the plane flew over Massachusetts. Others were chatting with their neighbors, and some even took a little nap. But two of the passengers sitting in seat 2A and 2B were patiently waiting for the perfect moment to start their reign of terror. At 8:13am Air Traffic Control instructs the pilots to make a 20 degree right turn towards Life Angeles.

[News Reporter]

American 11, turn 20 degrees right. American 11.

[Courtney]

As the aircraft makes the turn, the two passengers signal at each other that it's time. They get up from their seats with weapons in hand, walk over to flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestege and violently stab them. They then walk over to passenger Daniel Lewin and slash his throat.

[Colin]

The rest of the Al Qaeda members then get up from their seats and storm the cockpit, killing both pilots immediately. And they now have full control over the aircraft. The Boston air traffic control, completely unaware of what's happening on the plane, radios into the pilots, instructing them to climb to 35,000ft. But they're met with silence.

[News Reporter]

American 11 Confirming table level 350. American 11 Climbing table level 350. American 11 Boston.

[Colin]

At this point, chaos has erupted throughout the aircraft as people begin to realize that their plane is being hijacked. At 8:19am Flight attendant Benny Ong runs to the back of the plane and places a Call to American Airlines.

[News Reporter]

Hello, my name is Betty Ong. I'm number three in the back. The cockpit's not answering. Somebody stabbed in business car and I think there's mate that we can't breathe. I don't know, I think we'll get tied. Which flight are you on? I'm number three on flight 11. Okay, you're in the flight attendant. Yes. And the copshead is not answering their phone. Our number one is GOT staff, our first class galley flight attendant and our purser is Ms. Staff and we can't get a good copy it. The door won't open. Can anybody get us to stop it? I think the guys are up there. They might have found their way up there or something. Nobody can call the cops that we can't even get inside.

[Colin]

The supervisor on the other end of the call does her best to keep Betty calm and she places a call to an emergency number to report the hijacking.

[News Reporter]

American Airlines emergency line. Please state your emergency. Hey, this is nitty American Airlines calling. I am monitoring a call in which Flight 11. The flight attendant is advising our reps at the pilot. Everyone to the stab. Flight 11. Yep. They can't get into the cockpit is what I'm hearing. Okay, flight attendant on the line with one of our agents. Okay, I'm still on with security. Okay, Betty, you're doing a great job. Just stay calm.

[Courtney]

Okay.

[News Reporter]

Okay, we're contacting the flight crew now. We're all con. We're also contacting atc. Okay, they are in the conflict with the pilot.

[Courtney]

At 8:21am the leader of the terrorist group Mohammed Adda disables the aircraft's transponder which tracks the location of the airplane. But the airline can still track Flight 11 through a primary radar. And they see that at 8:24am the plane changes direction and instead of heading towards Los Angeles, it's heading towards New York. Around this time, Ada, the leader of the group, tries to make an announcement to the passengers. But instead he transmits the message to air traffic control.

[News Reporter]

Is that America 11 trying to call? We have some claims. Just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We're returning to the airport and who's trying to call me here? American 11, are you trying to call? Nobody moved. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any move, he'll injure himself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.

[Courtney]

Muhammad Ada could hear the commotion of the passengers on board. And he knew that if he told everyone that they'd be safe as long as they remained calm that he and his members could successfully execute their plan. But as we all know, the group didn't have plans to safely land the plane because at 8:26am the group makes a sharp 100 degree turn towards new York City.

[Colin]

The members of Al Qaeda followed the Hudson river, knowing that it would lead them to Manhattan. At 8:34am, ADA again tries to radio to the passengers of the plane, but instead accidentally sends a message to air traffic control. At this point, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is sending out alerts that Flight 11 has been hijacked.

[News Reporter]

Hydro sweat and Powell hi Boston center team, you, we have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York and we need you guys to, we need someone to scramble some F16s or something up there to help us out. This, is this real world or exercise? No, this is not an exercise manifest.

[Colin]

But since the aircraft's transponder has been turned off, they were having a hard time finding its exact location in the sky.

[Courtney]

At 8:44am, Flight 11 begins descending quickly towards Manhattan. And the passengers on board know that things are not going to end well. As the plane speeds towards the city, many passengers begin crying with their loved ones. They say their goodbyes and they even say a quick prayer, knowing that these will be their final moments. Another flight attendant on Flight 11 named Amy Sweeney called the airline officials and gave them seat numbers and descriptions of all of the hijackers. Her last words in this phone call were, quote, I see water and buildings. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low. Oh my God. Oh my God. End quote.

[Colin]

At the World Trade center, hundreds of people step inside the North Tower that morning, ready to start their workday. It was an average Tuesday. They walk through the front doors of the building and take the long elevator ride up to their floor. They step out, greet the receptionist and start their day just like any other. They're in meetings, answering important phone calls and rushing to meet deadlines. But their busy workday is interrupted when many people on the upper floors of the North Tower begin to notice that a plane is flying fairly close to the city. Many people stop what they're doing and watch in disbelief, saying, planes aren't supposed to fly that low, right?

[Courtney]

They continue to watch, assuming that the plane will soon reach a higher altitude. But it never does. As the plane gets closer and closer to the North Tower, the people on the upper floors realize that it's coming straight towards them. And at 8:46am before they're even able to react, the plane plummets into floors 93 through 99 instantly killing everyone on board the plane and hundreds of people in the North Tower.

[News Reporter]

This is off duty five for. I guess you got this already, but you got a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. You aware of that? You have a plane that crashed into the World Trade center in Manhattan. World Trade center in Manhattan. A few moments ago, something claimed to be a plane crashed into the tower of the World Trade Center. I just saw flames inside. You can see the smoke coming out of the tower. We have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom just a few moments ago. You can hear around me emergency vehicles heading towards the scene now. This could have been an aircraft or it could have been something internal. It appears to be something coming from the outside due to the nature of the opening on about the hundredth floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. Breaking news this out of downtown Manhattan. A plane is allegedly crashed into the World Trade Center. Details at this hour, very sketchy. Just a few moments ago, allegedly a plane is crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't have any reports of what type of plane, what perhaps the carrier was. How many injuries are there right now. Police and fire units are being dispatched to the scene as we speak. The whole outside of the building is just a huge explosion.

[Courtney]

Oh my God.

[News Reporter]

Dude, what is up with that? That's. That's the building. Yeah. Hold him in. I can tell you as as we are looking here at the north side, at the north face of tower number one. The gash that is in the building runs from about 10 stories up to about 15 stories, going from right to left. And now we have quite a bit of smoke and flame pouring out of the eastern side of tower number one. And at this point, Jeff, that is all we have. We are still looking at smoke billowing out of tower number one. It's 8:52 here in New York. I'm Brian Gumbel. We understand that there has been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center. We understand that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We don't know anything more than that. We don't know if it was a commercial aircraft, we don't know if it was a private aircraft. We have no idea how many were on board or what is, what the extent of the injuries are right now.

[Colin]

As first responders rushed to the World Trade center, calls started to come in from inside the North Tower. You see the plane destroyed three stairwells inside the building, thus trapping over 1300 people on floors 92 to 110. And as Fire and smoke filled the rooms of the upper floors, the people trapped inside were beginning to panic. Some even started breaking the windows trying to get some air. Within the first 10 minutes of the crash, there were 3,911 calls placed from inside of the tower. One of the first calls that dispatch received was from a man named Christopher Hanley who was attending a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant located on the 106th floor of the building. There were 100 other people at this conference.

[News Reporter]

Yeah, hi, I'm on 106th floor of the World Trade Center. We just heard an explosion. The 106th floor? Yes, 106. Okay, we have smoke and it's pretty bad. We can't get down the stairs. All right, we had about 100 people up here. Do not leave, okay? There's a fire or an explosion or something in the building. All right? I want you to stay where you are. Yes. All right, we're there. Coming up to get you. All right, we're on the way. Just sit tight, all right? Just sit tight. We're on the way, all right, Please hurry.

[Colin]

We don't have the audio for the next call, but a woman named Melissa Hughes placed a call to her father from the North Tower. She was in hysterics and told her dad that she was on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center. Her father did his best to keep her calm and told Melissa to find an exit sign and take the stairs down the building immediately. Little did he know that the stairs were already obliterated and that there was no way Melissa could escape that day. Melissa's father hoped that she would make it out alive. But as he watched the news coverage, he knew that things were not looking good. So the two said their I love yous and goodbyes before they both hung up the phone. This would be their very last conversation.

[Courtney]

Jim Gardenberg had worked at the World Trade center for years, but four days before 9 11, he would accept another job offer that paid a little better. On the morning of September 11th, he kissed his three year old daughter and his pregnant wife goodbye and he left for his very last day of work at the World Trade Center's North Tower. When his wife Jill got to work that morning, she noticed she had a message on her answering machine from her husband.

[News Reporter]

I love you.

[Courtney]

Jill immediately calls Jim back and although he sounded frantic on the voicemail, she said that he was very calm when he answered the phone this time. And he tells his wife Quote, there's a fire. I'm gonna be okay, don't worry. I'm behind a desk and I'm crouched on the floor. Everything's going to be fine, end quote. But everything would not be fine. Jim was on the 86th floor, six floors beneath where the plane had hit. But he would never make it out alive that day.

[Colin]

On the ground, hundreds of people in New York watched in disbelief as smoke and fire billowed from the building. Video footage from this day shows chaos all throughout New York City. In front of the Trade center, first responders rushed to the scene and bystanders stood wide eyed as paper from inside the tower rained down and covered the streets.

[News Reporter]

It is Tuesday morning, the 11th of September, and you will not forget this date. Let's go, sir. Let's go. You can't stay here. I'm sorry. You gotta go. Go. You got it. Let's go, let's go.

[Courtney]

Soon started clearing people from the area. One, because of the falling debris and two because of the people jumping from the building.

[News Reporter]

We heard a big bang and then we saw smoke coming out and everybody started running out and we saw the plane on the other side of the building and there was smoke everywhere. People are jumping out the windows over there. They're jumping out the windows, I guess because they're trying to see themselves, I don't know. And if you go over by that, you can see the people jumping out the window. They're jumping out the window right now.

[Courtney]

Oh my God.

[News Reporter]

All right, man. Thank.

[Courtney]

Many people that were on the ground that day said that they will never forget the sound and images of the jumpers hitting the pavement. As the fire and smoke filled the rooms of the North Tower, people inside begin to hang out of the windows, windows that they had broken themselves to get oxygen. There are countless images of people hanging outside of their office window, waving their shirts around, hoping that somebody would come to their rescue. When the fire on their floor would get too close and the oxygen became limited, these people were faced with an unthinkable decision. To burn and suffocate to death inside the building, or to jump off of the building to their death. And many people would choose the latter. The thought of even having to make that decision illustrates just how terrible the conditions were inside of the building. Some sources say that the temperatures on some of the floors reached upwards of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and that some employees inside of the buildings had to stand on their desks because the floors were so hot. There aren't much. There are many pictures and Videos online taken of people that jumped off the upper floors of the World Trade Center. Some held hands with a co worker as they jumped, not wanting to be alone as they fell to their death. Others jumped by themselves and some even tried to make makeshift parachutes with their clothing. It's reported that their fall would take 10 whole seconds. 10 seconds of falling through the air knowing that you're about to die. One Manhattan resident watched a woman jump from the tower and later said, quote, she had a business suit on, her hair was all askew. This woman stood there for what seemed like minutes. Then she held down her skirt and then stepped off the ledge. I thought, how human, how modest to hold down her skirt to before she jumped. I couldn't look anymore. End quote. The images of these jumpers are ingrained in the minds of Americans still to this day. Images that we will never forget. It's estimated that nearly 200 people jumped to their death that day. And while the identities of the jumpers are still unknown, their bravery will never go unnoticed.

[Colin]

Below the towers, people watched as thousands of pieces of paper rained down from the sky. I know it sounds strange, but if you look at the photos from that day, there was seriously paper everywhere from the office buildings inside of the towers, along with paper dust, debris, smoke and absolute chaos filled the streets of Manhattan. Strangers were embracing each other and crying together as they watched people jump to their deaths. And many people were doing everything in their power to help those in need. At first, many people believed that this was all a horrible accident, that a plane must have lost control and just hit the tower. And while New Yorkers and the rest of the country were trying to comprehend what had just happened, another plane was on its way towards the World Trade Center. United Airlines Flight 175. This aircraft, like Flight 11, had departed from Logan International Airport in Boston and was headed to Los Angeles. The pilots were 51 year old Victor Sarasini and 38 year old Michael Horrocks. In total, there were nine crew members and 65 passengers aboard. And amongst these five passengers were five members of Al Qaeda.

[Courtney]

At 8:37am Flight 175 was cruising at 31,000ft when air traffic control contacted the pilots letting them know that Flight 11 had been hijacked. A few minutes later, the pilots contacted New York to let them know about the suspicious transmission that they heard from Flight 11.

[News Reporter]

This is New York United 175. Yeah, 175, go ahead. We figured we'd wait to go to your center. We heard a suspicious transmission on our Departure out of Boston with someone see the bike and said, everyone stay in your seat. Oh, okay, I'll pass it along over here. It's cut out.

[Courtney]

This would be the very last contact that the pilots would make with air traffic control because shortly after, sometime between 8:42 and 8:46, the hijackers would take over Flight 175. Two of the terrorists would storm the cockpit immediately murdering both pilots while the other three terrorists begin moving all passengers toward the back of the plane. As soon as the hijackers take over, Flight 175, Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center's north Tower.

[Colin]

And tragically, most of the people working at the Air Traffic Control center are so preoccupied with Flight 11 that they fail to notice that Flight 175 has turned off the aircraft's transponder. It isn't until 8:51am about five minutes later that they finally notice that the aircraft has deviated from its initial route.

[News Reporter]

United 175, recycle your transponder score code of 1470. United 175. New York. United 175, do you read? New York.

[Colin]

The controller realizes that the aircraft has most likely been hijacked. But at this point it's far too late, because at 8:57am Flight 175 takes a sharp turn towards New York City and starts descending at 10,000ft per minute.

[Courtney]

@ this point, everyone on board can sense that they are not going to make it out of this alive. And many of the passengers begin to call their loved ones, one being a man named Ryan Sweeney, who at 8:59am leaves a voicemail for his wife Julie.

[News Reporter]

Jules, this is Ryan, lives up on an airplane that's been hijacked and things don't go well and it's not going to do this. I just want you to know I absolutely love you. I want you to be good, so have your time. Same for my parents and everybody and I just totally love you and I will see you in jester. Bye, babe.

[Courtney]

I know it's a little bit hard to hear, so if you didn't get that he says, quote, Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked. If things don't go well and it's not looking good, I want you to know that I absolutely love you. I want you to do good, go have good times. Same to my parents and everybody and I just totally love you. I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe. This is a voicemail That I listen to every 911 and every single time. It makes me cry when I hear it.

[News Reporter]

It.

[Courtney]

Another passenger on board named Peter Hansen decided to call his dad.

[Colin]

Dad, we are on the plane. It's being hijacked. I think they've taken over the cockpit. An attendant has been stabbed and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines.

[Courtney]

Peter's dad Lee would call for help but was met with terrifying news after he heard about the first hijacked plane. Peter Hansen. Hansen was on Flight 175 with his wife sue and two year old daughter Christine. Peter had finally gotten some vacation time at his job and decided to take his family on a trip to Disneyland. It was their daughter Christine's first time on an airplane. Christine Hansen would be the youngest victim of 9 11. But before their plane crashed, Peter would call his dad one last time.

[Colin]

Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we're going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry dad, if it happens it will be very fast.

[Courtney]

In Peter's last moments he held his family in his arms. And the last thing his father heard him say was oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And then the sounds of people screaming and then silence.

[Colin]

After the first tower was hit. Many people assumed that the crash at the World Trade center was a horrible accident. But at exactly 9:03am as military millions of people were watching the live news coverage of the towers, they noticed another plane come into view. The plane was getting close, too close to the World Trade center. And then suddenly it crashes directly into the South Tower and explodes.

[News Reporter]

Right now. Can you, can you see a guy at about 4,000ft about 5 east the airport right now? Yeah, I see him. Is he descending through the Berman also? He's descending really quick too. Yeah. Well that's 2500ft now. He just dropped 800ft in like, like one wind sweep. Another one just hit the building. Wow. The whole building just came apart. Holy smokes.

[Colin]

And it was at that very moment that everybody knew that this was no accident. This was a terrorist attack.

[News Reporter]

Not appear that there's any kind of an effort up there yet. Now remember. Oh my God. That looks like a second plane go in that, that just exploded. We just saw another plane coming in from the side. You did that was out of. Yes. And that's the second explosion. You could see the Plane come in just from the right hand side of the screen. So this looks like it is some sort of a concerted Arriving at the scene. Jim Friedel in Hoboken said it appeared to back sharply and smash directly, perhaps purposefully into. Oh, my goodness. Oh, God, there's another one.

[Colin]

Oh, my goodness.

[News Reporter]

There's another one. Seems to be on purpose.

[Colin]

Oh, my goodness.

[News Reporter]

Now you. Now it's obvious, I think, that there's a second plane. Just. Okay, where do you get your. Your knowledge from? How much time do you have? Oh, no. Okay. Explosion. An explosion. Multiple explosions. Ladies and gentlemen, we just saw another explosion. Obviously, we're just watching it again. It's the first time. This is now. This is the other tower. Ladies and gentlemen, another explosion at tower number two of the World Trade center just happened live on our air. You're over in Chelsea. Did you hear the explosion in your position? Yes, we did. As a matter of fact, we heard it. And because I was just like standing there pretty much looking out the window, I didn't see what caused it or if there was an impact. So you have no idea, right? Oh, there's another one. Another plane just hit. Oh, my God. Another plane has just hit. It hit another building, blew right into the middle of it. Explosion. It's right in the middle of the building. This one into the East Tower. Yes, yes, right in the middle of the building.

[Courtney]

It. And right now that.

[News Reporter]

Yes, that was definitely look like it was on purpose. You saw. Yes, I just saw a plane go into the building. Okay, go ahead. I said the hole takes about 6, 7 floors were taken out. And there's more right now. Hold on. People are. Hold on just a moment. We got an explosion inside. The building's exploding right now. You got people running up the street. Okay, what's going on? Okay, just put. Put Winston on pause there for just a moment. The whole building just exploded some more. The whole top part. Okay. Building still intact. People are running up the streets. Am I still connected? Winston, this would support probably what Libby and you both said, that perhaps the fuselage was in the building. That would cause a second explosion. Such as. That's what just happened.

[Courtney]

Then that would.

[News Reporter]

That certainly.

[Colin]

I.

[News Reporter]

We're getting word that perhaps. Okay, hold on. The people here are. Everybody's panicking. All right, Winston. You know, Winston, let me put Winston on hold for just a moment, okay? I don't know how much longer we stay. I'm inside of a diner right now. Well, Winston, you know what? If you could give us a call back. I just don't Want to panic here on the air. Let's just take some of our pictures from News Chapter seven.

[Courtney]

Now, you say that emergency vehicles are there, understandably so. But of course, the major concern is human loss. I mean, do you know if there were many people in the building?

[News Reporter]

Oh, another one just hit. Something else just hit. A very large plane flew directly over my building and there's been another collision. Can you see it? I can see it on the shot. Something else has just saw a plane circling the building. We just saw a plane circling the building a second ago on the shot right before that. There may have been another impact. Can you tell? I just heard another very loud bang and a very large plane that might have been a DC 9 or 747 just flew past my window. And I think it may have hit the Trade center again. To be honest, Elliot, I didn't. I didn't get the impression that it was. Was that big a plane. It looks big from here. I did see a plane go by a second ago, though, and it. It has now impacted the building. I'm trying to see if it's the different tower. First one was World Trade center one. And it looks, from what I'm seeing on the television, like it may have been building. This is a piece of tape and we may actually see another plane. Enter the picture here in a second. I wonder if there are air traffic control problems. Let's go back to Jennifer Oak, who was talking to a second ago. Jennifer, did you see this happen? Hello? Did you just see this happen? Jennifer? Matt, I've never seen any. It looks like a movie. I saw a large plane, like a jet, go immediately headed directly into the World Trade Center. Just flew into it, into the. Into the other tower, coming from south to north. I watched the plane fly into the World Trade Center. It was a jet. It was a very large plane. It was going south. It went past the Ritz Carlton Hotel that's being built in Battery Park. It went. Flew right past it, almost hit it and then went in.

[Courtney]

This is so shocking, of course, to.

[Colin]

Everybody watching after the second tower was hit, President George W. Bush would go on to make this statement.

[News Reporter]

President Bush is now speaking about the situation here in New York City at the World Trade Center. We're trying to bring you his comments live as best we can quickly hear. To hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand. And now if you join me in a moment of silence.

[Colin]

President Boyce speaking.

[News Reporter]

From an elementary school. Families in America, thank you very much. Brief comments in which apparently we didn't catch the beginning of it, but he was talking about this being a terrorist attack and talked about getting the folks responsible.

[Courtney]

Flight 175 had plowed through the World Trade Center's south tower, killing all 65 people on board and most of the people on floor 77 through 85. When the first tower was hit, many people in the south tower began to evacuate. I feel like that's what anyone's reaction would be after seeing your twin tower in flames. But unfortunately, as the people began to evacuate, the port authorities who supervised the building made a public announcement telling everyone to go back to their offices and that their building was secure. Some people had even made it all the way down downstairs into the lobby and then were told to make their way back up to the top. One man named Ernie Falk, who delivered packages in the building, said that he heard the plane hit the North Tower and he immediately made the run for outside. On his way out, he heard people being told, quote, the building is secure, the safest place is inside. Stay calm and do not leave. End quote.

[Colin]

Many people decided to ignore the port authorities and evacuated the building anyways, and this decision would end up saving their lives. Unfortunately, though, hundreds of people would listen to the authorities and they made their way back up to the floors that would get hit by the second plane just minutes later. But unlike the North Tower, the South Tower actually had a usable stairwell after the crash. Because the plane didn't hit directly in the center of the building, stairwell A would allow a number of people to get to safety that day and save their own lives.

[Courtney]

One of these people was a man named Keating Crown. He, along with 200 others were at the 78th Floor Sky Lobby that very day, directly where the plane would hit at 9:03am Nearly all 200 people in the room would die in a blink of an eye. And all that was left was Keating and about 14 others. Luckily, though, he was just out of reach from the plane's impact. Keating then ran down 78 floors with a broken leg and was loaded into an ambulance. There were hundreds of people that were above floor 77 when the plane hit the building, and only 18 of those people would successfully evacuate the south tower that day, one being Keating Crown himself.

[Colin]

Another one of the 18 survivors above floor 77 was a man named Brian Clark, who was the executive Vice President at a brokerage firm on the 84th floor. He and his colleague Ron DeFrancisco felt the entire building sway from the crash that had hit the floors beneath them, and they knew immediately that they needed to evacuate. By total chance, they randomly chose to head down stairwell A. On their way down, they heard a muffled voice behind a collapsed wall, and they end up rescuing a man named Stanley Prayman.

[Courtney]

The three continue down the stairs, but keep in mind they were having to pass through the floors that were just hit by the plane. And as they make their way down, the smoke started getting thicker and thicker, so much so that people were actually running up stairwell A, hoping to get to the roof so that a helicopter could save them. Ron decided to go upstairs with the group of people, but Brian and Stanley kept heading down, knowing that that would be their only way out. And eventually they made it to safety. Ron made it all the way up to the 91st floor, and then he started to panic and make his way back down the stairs. He later stated, quote, I wanted to see my wife and kids again, end quote. So at that point, he and a group of people began to make their way down stairwell A again. And as they made their way down, the smoke and the fire got more and more intense. When the smoke was too much to handle, Ron would lay on the floor, gasp for air, get back up, and keep running down the stairs. Luckily, he too made it out alive.

[Colin]

All of the people that we just mentioned were among the very few that would escape the upper floors of the South Tower. And as people were running out of the building, firefighters were heading into the building. Almost every single first responder in the city, whether they were off duty that day or not, were called that morning to the World Trade Center. And when they arrived, hundreds of them began making their way up to the top floors of the burning towers without giving it a second thought. Peter Hayden, the division chief for Lower Manhattan, later stated, we had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble. But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try rescue them.

[News Reporter]

Problem wall is a breach, so be careful. Yeah, that's what I saw, that on 68, we're on 71. We're coming up behind you. Let me know when you see fire. 15 to 15ov1500v. Tommy, have you made it back down to the lobby yet? How do you. Elevator screwed up. You can't move it. I don't want to get stuck in that shaft. Tommy, it's imperative that you try to get down to the lobby command post. We got injured people up here on 70. If you make it to the lobby command post, these things somehow get elevated past the 40s block. We got two isolated pockets of fire. We should be able to knock it down with two lines. South Stadium, South Tower, 478South Towers down on the coast out of stairway to knock down two fires. We can get some water on and knock it down. Okay. All right, turn four. We're coming up with this. We're on 77 now in the beach.

[Courtney]

You can tell by the stress in his voice that the conditions inside the towers were bad. But they kept making their way up the floors regardless, looking for people to rescue. At the same time, the firefighters on the outside of the towers watched as dozens of their friends and colleagues enter the burning building. I'm sure that as they watched, they would say a quick prayer, hoping that they would get to see them again. But all of those hopes would immediately disappear at 9:59am because the firefighters on the ground would hear a sound almost like an explosion. And when they look up to see what's happening, they watch in horror as the South Tower begins to collapse. And they know right then and there that hundreds of their fellow firefighters, their co workers and friends are dead. The firefighters on the outside of the building run for their lives. Unfortunately, some were killed by the debris. The entire country would watch in disbelief as the South Tower collapses, killing nearly 800 people in a single moment. This is a 911 call of a man named Kevin Cosgrove who was on the phone with dispatch as the tower collapsed. Warning. It is incredibly hard to listen to mine's Cosgrove.

[News Reporter]

I must have called about a dozen times already. T O S T R O V E I called and said I was leaving the building. I was fine. Hello? Hello. We're looking at Financial Center.

[Courtney]

This is as close as we can.

[News Reporter]

Get to the base of the World Trade Center. You can see the firemen assembled here.

[Courtney]

The police officers, FBI agents.

[News Reporter]

And you can see the two towers. A huge explosion now raining debris on all of us. We better get out of the know how much fire equipment they've been able to move up onto those. Oh, it's just coming down, Pat. It is just coming down. Watch the right. It's exploding. It is billowing. Pat. The debris is flying. I'm going to run. Okay. God. Holy. What happened? Oh, my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. The World street center just fell. Oh, my God. The roof of the building we can say is not where it was 10 minutes ago. Floor Manhattan was simply completely enveloped in smoke. Visibility zero. You can hardly breathe. It looks like a nuclear war happened here. You can't see the sky at all. It's of great. Right now I'm on Broadway and Leonard street and I'm in a crowd where we are escaping an enormous cloud of dust and debris. Ladies and gentlemen, there are times in our lives that are life changing, where your life can never be the same. And this appears certainly to be one of them.

[Courtney]

At 9:59am, just 56 minutes after the plane hit the building, the South Tower collapsed. And as the building fell, thousands of people started to run from the cloud of debris that was billowing towards them. Many people aren't able to escape the cloud in time and are forced to hide under cars and inside of nearby restaurants. People of all ages are running as fast as they can to get away from the cloud. But it soon catches up to them. And what was once a beautiful sunny day quickly turns into a pitch black nightmare as people emerge from the cloud of debris. They are coughing, unable to see, hear or breathe. And they're covered from head to toe.

[Colin]

And gray ash, chaos and debris fill the streets of Manhattan. But just before the South Tower collapsed, another tragedy occurred in Arlington, Virginia. At the Pentagon, while all eyes were on New York City's World Trade center center, another plane had been hijacked. American Airlines Flight 77. The flight departed from Washington Dulles Airport at 8:20am and was set to arrive in Los Angeles. On board the plane were pilots Charles Burlingame and David charlebois, along with four other crew members and 58 passengers. And once again, amongst the random passengers on the plane that day were five members of al Qaeda.

[Courtney]

About 20 minutes into the flight, at 8:43am Air traffic control instructs the pilots to climb to an altitude of 35,000ft, to which they do. A few minutes later, they're instructed to turn 10 degrees to the right.

[News Reporter]

American 77, turn 10 degrees to the right. Baxter traffic, turn right. American 77.

[Courtney]

And this would be the very last contact with the pilots from Flight 77. Because as soon after this, the terrorists would hijack the plane. Unlike the first two planes, the hijackers don't kill or stab anyone. Instead they shove the pilots, crew members and passengers to the back of the plane. Once they have control of the aircraft, they start making their way towards Washington.

[Colin]

D.C. air traffic control would attempt to make contact with the plane at 8:56, but they were met with no response.

[News Reporter]

American77 Direct Balmond.

[Colin]

American77 it isn't until the second plane hit the World Trade center that they realized that Flight 77 had been hijacked. But there is Some major confusion going on within air traffic control at this point and they seem to be getting their aircrafts mixed up.

[News Reporter]

American 77, Indy. American 77, Indy. American77. American Indy. American 77, American Indy. Radio check. American 77, American. Radio check. How do you read?

[Colin]

Soon after this, Flight 77 takes a sharp turn towards Washington D.C. can you.

[News Reporter]

Tell me if we know for sure it was American 11 that went into the trade? We think that's who it was. Okay. And we're missing another flight also. Which flight are you missing? 77. And when was the last time you knew for sure? Something about him. He was in. Wait a minute, he's out of Dulles. Okay. And Dulles, la. And they both apparently have been hijacked.

[Colin]

Everyone assumed that the hijacked plane was on its way to the White House, but instead it took a last minute detour towards the Pentagon.

[News Reporter]

Moving away from the White House. Yeah. Six outpost. White House deviating away. Deviating away.

[Courtney]

You don't have a type aircraft since.

[News Reporter]

You don't know who he is. Nothing. Nothing. So I have no clue.

[Colin]

Fighter jets were sent out to take down the plane, but they were too late. Because at 9:37am Flight 77 would crash into the western side of the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on board and 125 people inside of the building. Terror was quickly spreading. And now that the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense was hit, no one in America felt Safe.

[News Reporter]

This is Gopher06. It looks like that aircraft crashed into the Pentagon, sir. Gopher 86. Gopher 06. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. We're looking at a live picture from Washington and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon. It would appear that there has been another major explosion, this one in the nation's capital. You are looking at a scene of apparent blast aftermath. There is smoke in the air over the Pentagon. We don't know whether this is the result of a bomb or whether it is yet another aircraft that has targeted.

[Courtney]

Two hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade center and one had crashed into the Pentagon. But as you know, our story doesn't end there. There would be one more aircraft that would get hijacked. United Airlines Flight 93. Flight 93 left from Newark International Airport and was on its way to San Francisco on the morning of September 11, 2001. On board were pilots Jason Dahl and Leroy homer, along with five flight attendants and 37 passengers. Among the passengers were four members of Al Qaeda. The aircraft takes off 25 minutes late at 8:42am just minutes before the first plane hit the World trade Center. At 9:02am the aircraft reaches 35,000ft in altitude and everything is going to going smoothly. At 9:23am the aircraft received an ominous message from the ground that stated, quote, beware of any cockpit intrusion. Two aircrafts hit World Trade center, end quote in just five short minutes. Later at 9:28am the hijackers would storm the cockpit and a struggle in ensues over the aircraft's controls as the pilots fight off the attackers pilot Leroy Homer is able to get a message through to air traffic control.

[News Reporter]

Somebody call.

[Colin]

What you just heard were the pilots screaming. Mayday, mayday. Get out of here. Two of the terrorists continue to fight with the pilots and as the other two send the passengers and crew to the back of the plane, the air traffic control realizes that Flight 93 has quickly descended. So they try to make contact with the pilots. At 9:32am the leader of the terrorist group tried sending a message to the passengers, but instead sends it to air traffic control.

[News Reporter]

He got United 93 char descended. What's that? I just can't look like he descended there. United 93, verify three five zero. United 93, verify your flight level 350. United 93, Cleveland. United 93, Cleveland. United 83, if you hear Cleveland center again, please.

[Colin]

If you couldn't hear that, that he says, ladies and gentlemen, here's the captain. Please sit down. Please remain sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit. The air traffic controller then reports the hijacking. But at this point the aircraft has changed directions and is headed directly for Washington D.C. at 9:39am, the terrorist leader sends out another accidental message to air traffic control. Once again he says, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board. We are going back to the airport to have demands. Please remain quiet.

[Courtney]

By 9:42am The FAA has demanded that all planes in the United States were to cut their route short and land at the nearest airport. Every airline in the United States was shut down and over 4,500 planes were making immediate landings all over the country. Every plane except for Flight 93. At this point, people on board were starting to make calls to their loved ones. One man named Tom Burnett placed a call to his wife Dena. After watching the news, Dena was relieved to see that her husband was called calling. She thought that this meant he was safe. But as soon as she answered, she learned that her worst fears had come true. Tom was extremely intelligent and Always very matter of fact. And when Dina answered the phone, he told her everything. He said, we're on Flight 93, someone's hijacked the plane, there's two people up front that are injured. Call the the authorities immediately. And then he hung up the phone.

[Colin]

Tom calls Dina back a few minutes later, hoping to get some information about what's happening. Keep in mind, no one on board knows anything about the other hijackings, and many people are scared, but they're hopeful that they will make it out alive. For the next few minutes, we're going to use interviews from a documentary called the Tragic story of Flight 93, which I highly recommend watching. In this documentary, Tom's wife Dena explained what happens next.

[Courtney]

I then told him about both towers of the World Trade center being hit. And he relayed that information to the people around him were being hijacked up and down the east coast, that they had all originated on the East Coast.

[Colin]

Tom instructed his wife to give him all information possible about the hijackers. Tom then relayed that information to the people around him, and a few minutes later he would call his wife again. On this phone call, Dina told him about the plane hitting the Pentagon. And it was at this moment when Tom started discussing the idea of overpowering the hijackers. A few minutes later, Tom would call Dina for the fourth and final time and he told her that they were about to overtake the hijackers.

[Courtney]

It frightened me terribly and I pretty much yelled into the telephone for him to sit down, be still and be quiet and not draw attention to himself. And he yelled back and he said no. I was so afraid for him and.

[News Reporter]

I wanted to help and that's what.

[Courtney]

I had been told, so I wanted.

[News Reporter]

To pass it on. But I am so very glad he.

[Courtney]

Did not take my advice.

[News Reporter]

He rarely did.

[Colin]

Tom would be one of the many heroes on board flight 93, heroes who started forming a plan against the terrorists. In their last words to one another. Dina would say, I told him that.

[News Reporter]

I loved him and asked if there.

[Courtney]

Was anything else I could do.

[News Reporter]

He said, pray, Dina, just pray.

[Courtney]

Another passenger on board flight 93 was 27 year old Elizabeth Waino, and she decided to call her mom, Esther. Esther had already seen the news about the hijacking, so when Elizabeth called, she had already prepared herself for the worst. In the documentary, Esther says this.

[News Reporter]

Fortunately, I had been watching on that little tv, so I had some mental preparation and I was able to be unselfish instead of just crying and thinking about myself and, you know, wanting to Cling to her. I was able to love her, you know, and help her become peaceful with the inevitable. The only way I could tell she was agitated is she had shallow breathing at the beginning of the phone call. It was real short and choppy, and I wanted to help calm her down. And so I said, look, Elizabeth, I've got my arms around you and I love you. Let's just be together here. So I said, let's just look out the window at the beautiful blue sky and take some deep breaths together. And we did. And it was amazing because within just a few breaths, she was calm. And so we were together. And a lot of the time we were quiet. And it was just peaceful between us. No crying, no hysteria, no yelling. And I think that's a perfect example of Elizabeth unselfishness, that in the midst of all of that, she could be thinking about the impact of it on us.

[Courtney]

The two sat on the phone together for a while before Elizabeth told her mom that she knew this would be harder on them than it would be on her.

[News Reporter]

And that was a beautiful thing she did say. She called my mother Omi and Ben's mother, grandma. And she said that she knew Omi and grandma were waiting for her and they both were dead. It made me feel clear that she was really going through a transformation while we were on the phone. I just feel like she was really releasing her life and going to wherever she had to go. And again, we were quite quiet.

[Courtney]

She ended the phone call by saying that she knew her grandmothers would be waiting for her in heaven.

[News Reporter]

It was excruciating. I think, you know, mother feels like you're supposed to be able to keep your children safe. I could love her, but I couldn't keep her safe.

[Courtney]

Elizabeth and her mom ended the phone call knowing that it would be their very last time speaking to one another. A few other passengers on board were able to leave voicemails to their loved ones. Here is 38 year old Lauren Grandkolis leaving a message for her husband.

[News Reporter]

Hi, are you there? Jack, pick up, sweetie. Okay, well, I just wanted to tell you I love you. We're having a little problem on the plane. I'm totally fine. I just love you more than anything. Just know that. And you know, I. I'm, you know, I'm comfortable and I'm okay for now. It's a little problem. So I'll. I just love you. Please tell my family I love them too. Bye, honey.

[Courtney]

Next passenger, Linda Gronley calls her sister, leaving her this message.

[News Reporter]

Elsa, it's Lynn I only have a minute. I'm on United 93 and it's been hijacked by terrorists who say they have a bomb. Apparently they have flown a couple of planes into the World Trade center already, and it looks like they're going to take this one down as well. Mostly I just wanted to say I love you and please keep my love to my dad and, well, see, I just love you. And I just wanted to tell you that. I don't know if I'm gonna get a chance to tell you that again or not. All my stuff is in a safe. The safe is in my closet in my bedroom. Accommodation is you put push steep or clear. And then 0913. And then. And then it should. And maybe pound and then it should unlock. I love you and I hope I can talk to you soon. Bye.

[Courtney]

And lastly, flight attendant Cece Lyles calls her husband and leaves him a message.

[News Reporter]

Hi, baby, I'm. Baby, you have to listen to me carefully. I'm on a plane that's been hijacked. I'm on the plane. I'm calling from the plane. Want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much and I'm so sorry, babe. I don't know what to say. There's three guys, they've hijacked a plane. I'm trying to be calm. We're turned around and I've heard that there's planes that's been flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I don't love you.

[Colin]

One man on board flight 93 was a man named Todd Beamer. Todd was a father of two with another baby on the way. And he knew that calling his pregnant wife would cause a lot of stress on her and the baby. So instead, he talked to a woman named Terry at an emergency call center. Todd explained everything to Terry, and she did her best to try and keep him calm. In the documentary, Terry said the following.

[Courtney]

And I asked him if he wanted to speak to his wife, if he wanted me to connect him, but for any reason, if he didn't make it off that plane, would I call her and let her know in his family how much he loved them? And I told him I would. Everyone was calm until the plane started.

[Colin]

To take a dive and fly erratic.

[Courtney]

Then you could hear a lot of.

[News Reporter]

Commotion, an awful lot of commotion.

[Courtney]

You can tell the difference when someone is screaming for their life. And that's what I felt. They were screaming for their lives. I could hear that.

[News Reporter]

I could Hear the screams, the crying.

[Courtney]

The hollering, total commotion. That was the worst part of my entire conversation with him was hearing the commotion of those passengers.

[Colin]

Around this time, everyone on the plane knew that they didn't have much time left. So Todd asks Terry if she would recite the Lord's Prayer with him. I hear their voices.

[News Reporter]

Often.

[Courtney]

Something I'll never forget. Lastly, a man named Jeremy Glick, who was on Flight 93, decided to call his wife Liz. In the documentary, Liz says that when Jeremy explained what was happening, she began to scream in panic. Then the two just started saying I love you back and forth for several minutes. That's all that they could get out, the words, I love you. But soon after this, Liz saw on the news that the south tower had collapsed. Jeremy then told his wife about how the people on board were planning to attack the hijackers, and he asked her if she thought if it was a good idea. I hesitated for a minute before I.

[News Reporter]

Told him, but, you know, I really trusted him. I trusted his strength. It was valuable information for him to.

[Courtney]

Have, you know, to be able to make a decision. You know, most times, the hijacking, they land the plane or they blow it up. And this was a completely different type of hijacking.

[News Reporter]

You know, I remember thinking in my.

[Courtney]

Mind, say I give him the wrong information and, you know, it causes him to die or something like that. And there really wasn't a lot of time. You know, there really wasn't another option after seeing what I had seen in New York.

[News Reporter]

And then finally, I think I told.

[Courtney]

I think I said, honey, you need to do it.

[Colin]

For the next few minutes, Jeremy and Liz expressed their love for one another and said their goodbyes. He then told her he was going to put the phone down and that they were going to put their heroic plan into action. He actually didn't end up hanging up the phone. So Liz could still hear everything going on in the background, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to what was going to happen next. After Jeremy Glick put the phone down, he, Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett, and many others on Flight 93 began grabbing anything on board that they could use as weapons. And suddenly, Todd Beamer can be heard on the phone saying his famous quote, let's roll. As the group attempted to take back.

[Courtney]

The plane, many people that were still on the phone with their loved one said that after Todd yelled, let's roll. All they could hear were screams. Liz Glick couldn't stand to hear the last moments of her husband's life. So she handed the phone over to her dad.

[News Reporter]

He said, he'll be back. You take the phone. And she couldn't, couldn't listen anymore. So I took the phone and it was probably 45 seconds of silence. Series of screams, kind of like a.

[Colin]

Like a roller coaster diving.

[News Reporter]

I mean, just a, a mass of people with a, with a scream. And I'm hoping that Jeremy or someone's going to come back and say, we got them or something.

[Colin]

Then nothing.

[Courtney]

The passengers on board flight 93 put up one hell of a fight. The hijackers attempted to stop them by rolling the plane from side to side, hoping to knock them off balance, but they kept fighting. The hijackers knew that the passengers were close to taking control of the, of the aircraft, and instead of letting that happen, they decided to run the plane into the ground. At 10:03am, Flight 93 would crash into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people on board. Although it's unclear what the terrorist target was, it's widely assumed that they planned on hitting Washington D.C. 's Capitol building, but they were never able to do so solely because of the brave men and women on board. Flight 93.

[News Reporter]

United 93. Yes. There is a report of black smoke in the last position I gave you. It hit the ground. That's speculation only.

[Colin]

Although United Flight 93 would be the last attack on September 11, it wouldn't be the last tragedy because back in New York at 10:28am, millions of people watched as the World Trade Center's north tower collapses, killing everyone that was still trapped inside.

[News Reporter]

And there, as you can see, perhaps the second tower, the front tower, the top portion of which is collapsing. Good Lord. There are no words. I'm about a block away and there were several people that were hanging out the windows right below where the plane crashed when suddenly you saw the top of the building start to shake and people began leaping from the windows in the north side of the building. You saw two people at first plummet and then a third one, and then the entire top of the building just blew up. And splinters of debris are falling. On the street where I'm right now, there's a thick plume of smoke and you can see crowds of people, including emergency service workers and police officers running from the scene screaming a lot. But I think it's important as people join us as they do in moments like this, they are coming in all the time that there have been attacks in two American cities, New York and in Washington. The trade centers here in New York have been hit by airplanes in Washington. There has. There is a large fire at the Pentagon. The Pentagon has been evacuated. And there is. You can see perhaps the second tower, the front tower, the top portion of which is collapsing. Good Lord. There are no words. You can see large pieces of the building falling. You can see the smoke rising. You can see a portion of the side of the building now just being covered. On the right side, as I look at it, covered in smoke. This is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment. The President, who is in Florida today, is en route back to the White House. He took off a short time.

[Colin]

Luckily, many of the firefighters that were in the north tower evacuated when officials radioed in that the south tower had collapsed. Some, however, never heard the evacuation order and were still trapped in inside. One of the chiefs even ran throughout the north tower stairwell yelling on a bullhorn, all firefighters get the out in action, which saved many of their lives. But at the end of the day, 23 New York police officers died, 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department died. 343 New York firefighters died. And around 2,740 New York civilians had died. And after the attack, people were frantic, trying to call their loved ones to make sure that they were safe. But because of the overload of calls throughout the city, many cell phone networks crashed and thousands of people were left completely in the dark about the fate of their loved one.

[News Reporter]

I can tell you the reaction on the street. There are people sobbing, there are people frantically trying to dial their cell phones. Many of them don't know that service has been cut off. Everybody sharing what little information they have with each other. But I can tell you that people are very, very frightened. All right, thank you. Kelly Edwards reporting live from downtown where so many thousands and thousands of people are waiting to hear the fate of the loved ones after the World Trade.

[Colin]

Center south tower completely collapsed, the north in flames.

[Courtney]

Many families would go to bed that night without their loved one, without answer. They weren't sure if their friend or family member had died in the attack or if they were in a hospital somewhere injured. But as the days went on and their loved ones still didn't return home, many families had to come to terms with the fact that they were most likely dead. Thousands of people experienced this heartache. And over the next few months, New York was covered in missing persons flyers, people desperate to find their friends and family. A lot of people even tried contacting hospitals in New York City, but a number of doctors reported that they didn't receive nearly as many patients as they thought they would that day because sadly, despite a few cases, most people either escaped the towers with minor injuries or they didn't escape at all. In the days following the attack, search and rescue missions worked tirelessly trying to find people that were still alive among the rubble. And they ended up finding 18 people that lived. But as the days went on, finding victims that were alive were was becoming less and less likely. For the next nine months, search and rescue teams, along with 300 K9 units from around the world were brought to ground zero to try and recover the bodies. Search and rescue workers would dig through 1.8 million tons of debris among the rubble. They would find 22,000 body parts. But only 60% of the people killed in the towers would be identified. The other 40% were among the body parts of people who will never receive a proper burial. Their families will never get the closure they deserve. But to this day, victims are still being identified. Recently, two victims DNA and were identified giving their family closure. Twenty years later.

[Colin]

While the entire nation did its best to heal from this horrible tragedy, many people had the same questions. How did this happen? And why?

[Courtney]

On that morning, 19 hijackers snuck box cutters and fake bombs onto our nation's trustable airlines. They took control of our planes, killed thousands and terrorized our nation. And as this day took most Americans by surprise, the members of Al Qaeda had actually been carefully planning this attack for years. Their leader, Osama Bin Laden had actually been calling Muslims to kill Americans since 1992.

[Colin]

To try and explain why Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda hated America so much is quite the task. And the truth is there is no simple explanation. However, in Layman's terms. In 1988, while fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden founded Al Qaeda, which means the base in English, an extremist militant group whose goal was to wage global jihad. While the term jihad has many different meanings, we can assume that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda used the term to mean holy war. Essentially, what this means is that the group wanted to defend and strengthen the Islamic Islamic faith, defend Muslims under attack and punish enemies that attacked Islamic countries. The US at the time was Al Qaeda's main target.

[Courtney]

In the year 1998, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda released their second fatwa, or a formal ruling or position on Islamic law that called for violence against America. The fatwa stated, quote, we with God's help call on on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their Money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim Ylema soldiers, youth and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's US troops and the Devil's supporters allying with them and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson. End quote. Obviously American leaders were concerned by this, but they had no idea how capable Al Qaeda was of carrying out a mass scale terrorist attack.

[Colin]

It was around this time when an Islamic extremist named Khalid Muhammad began throwing around the idea of a planes operation in America. In 1999, after bin Laden stated that he was going to move the battle to American soil, Khalid Muhammad started plotting the attack and recruiting its members. Four of the recruits agreed to be the pilots of the hijacked airplanes. And one of Khalid Muhammad's recruits was a man who would become the leader of the hijackers. A man named Muhammad Atta. And his story is not one that you'd expect. Muhammad Atta was born on September 1, 1968 in Egypt. He was raised in the country in a small community and he studied architecture at Cairo University from which he graduated in 1990. After graduating in Egypt, Mohammed decided to continue his studies in Hamburg, Germany at the Hamburg University of Technology. It was there in Germany where he first met Marwan Elshehi, Ramzi Bin El Shayb and Ziad Jirah, future conspirators of the 911 attacks. It is interesting to note that when you look at the history of all four of these men, almost none of them came to Germany as radicalized Islamists. Muhammad Atta was simply a student when he arrived in Germany. But after being drawn to a specific mosque in Hamburg that adhered to a fundamentalist militant version of Islam, he began to become radicalized. Marwan Alshahi came to Germany on a scholarship to study marine engineering and Ziad Jarrah came over from Lebanon to attend junior college. While living in Germany, Ziad had a girlfriend who was a medical school student and he even worked a summer job at a paint shop factory for Volkswagen. They all seemed to be pretty normal.

[Courtney]

The group met three to four times a week to discuss their anti American and anti Israel views. During these discussions they argued amongst one another about the best way that they could fight for their cause. And it wasn't until one day after a chance meeting with a stranger on a train that they were put into contact with an Al Qaeda operative in Germany and they were convinced to go to Afghanistan. The four traveled to Pakistan soon after this meeting where they were instructed by the Al Qaeda operative to meet up with a man named Umar al Masri. But once they arrived, they found out that there was no such man. The name was actually a code word that instructed Taliban officials to bring the men to a house Afghanistan, where after some convincing, the four men agreed to join Al Qaeda and fight the holy war against America.

[Colin]

While in Afghanistan, the men met with Osama bin Laden himself and swore their allegiance and loyalty to him. Muhammad Atta was handpicked by bin Laden to lead the terrorist attacks in America. And after some discussion of strategy, planning and goals, the four men headed back to Germany. It was here in Germany where they first attended flight school and learned how to pilot planes. One of the group's instructors in Germany recommended that they continue their flight school studies in America. And thus three of the four members headed off to the US to complete their training.

[Courtney]

And these four were horrible, but they were mostly just soldiers taking orders from the real mastermind behind the attack. The real idea for the attack came from a man named Khalid Muhammad. Khalid has had his hand in a number of terrorist attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade center, which was carried out by his own nephew. Khalid was a member of Al Qaeda and a close associate of Osama bin Laden's. The plan to hijack planes and create chaos in America was first suggested to bin Laden in 1996 by Khalid. According to the September 11 Commission, Khalid envisioned a plan where radical Islamist militants would hijack 12 airplanes on both the east and west coasts of America and crash the planes into selected targets. These targets at the time were the World Trade center, the Empire State Building in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the Prudential Tower in Boston, Massachusetts, the White House and the United States capitol in Washington, D.C. the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. bank Tower in Los Angeles, California, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California and the Columbia center in Seattle, Washington. Bin Laden criticized the plan at first, believing that it was too elaborate.

[Colin]

It should be noted that in as far back as December of 1998, the Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist center reported to then President Bill Clinton that Al Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the U.S. including training personnel to hijack aircrafts. But the U.S. government at the time didn't do much. In late 1998 and early 1999, bin Laden and Khalid met a number of times to discuss a new plan. Bin Laden had approved Khalid's planes operation, but they had to narrow down their plan targets. While bin Laden wanted to target the US Capitol, the White House and the Pentagon, which He believed would lead to a collapse of the federal government. Khalid pushed for the destruction of the world trade center and thus the plan for 911 was born. And it was soon after when the four men from Germany traveled over, met with Bin Laden and were selected as a few of the operatives that would carry out the attack.

[Courtney]

So back to Afghanistan. After their meetings with Bin Laden, their discussions of the attacks, and their selections as leaders of the assault, Mohammed, ziad and Ramsay headed back to Hamburg to obtain their new passports, Claiming that their old ones were lost in order to obtain U. S Visas. Marwin, too, headed back to his home country to obtain a new passport and visa as well. While back in Germany, the three attempted to present themselves as, quote, less radical. They stopped attending extremist mosques, changed up their physical appearance, and distanced themselves from friends and acquaintances.

[Colin]

In 2000, all members that were to be involved in the September 11 attacks began moving to the United States. Some members first settled in California While living in the San Diego area. A few members had season passes to SeaWorld and the San Diego zoo. A few other future hijackers regularly visited Cheetahs, a local strip club, and at times members would drive to Las Vegas for the weekend in a Toyota that they had purchased.

[Courtney]

It was also in California where some members took their first flight lessons. They only took one lesson, then decided afterward to carry out their training at a different flight school. The instructor of that first California flight school would go on to say in an interview, quote, the first day they came in here, they said they wanted to fly Boeing. We said, you have to start slower. You can't just jump right into Boeing's end quote.

[Colin]

In March of 2000, Muhammad Atta, the ringleader of the plot, contacted the academy of Lakeland in Florida and said the following in an email. Dear sir, we are a small group of young men from different Arab countries. Now we are living in Germany since a while for study purposes. We would like to start training for the career of airline professional pilots in this field. We have haven't yet any knowledge, but we are ready to undergo an intensive training program up to ATP and eventually higher. Muhammad apparently sent a similar message to 50 to 60 different flight schools across America.

[Courtney]

Let's fast forward. At this point, 12 of the 19 future hijackers are living in Florida. In about three weeks before September 11, the targets that the groups were told to destroy were assigned to four teams. All of the targets had codenames. The United States Capitol was nicknamed the Faculty of law. The Pentagon was dubbed the Faculty of Fine arts, and the World Trade center was referred to as the Faculty of town planning.

[Colin]

In mid 2000, Muhammad, Ziad and Marwin, the three men who had personally met with Bin Laden, came over from Germany after their visas had been approved and settled in Venice, Florida. By the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, all three had finished flight school and knew how to operate large planes. The day of Terror was rapidly approaching and they were all getting excited to die.

[Courtney]

While studying for the attacks, most of the hijackers watched training and promotional videos, took flight lessons and became familiar with planes. But this wasn't enough. Chillingly, the future hijackers and The Munchkin before September 11th took multiple flights in first class so they could study the layout of the large planes and to see exactly how flight procedures were handled in the US Hundreds of Americans during this time flew with the future hijackers, and no one had any idea that they were in the air with them.

[Colin]

But while in Florida, when they had some free time, what did these future hijackers do? It's somewhat surprising. A few of the hijackers, including the man that would eventually crash the plane into the south tower of the World Trade center, named Marwan Elshehi, allegedly spent hundreds of dollars at a time on sex toys and porn. Another hijacker worked as a stock boy at a local warehouse. They at times visited Lowe's, Target, the Pharmacy, and even at times the beach. A select few of the hijackers even purchased gym memberships and worked out frequently.

[News Reporter]

Why?

[Colin]

Because they were to be the muscle hijackers or the ones that would take over the planes using physical force. Chillingly, at one point in his life, Muhammad Atta, the ringleader himself, had been an urban planner who claimed that he hated office buildings. It should also be noted that eerily, the community where several of the hijackers lived was named Delray Florida. And in July of 2001, just over a month or so before 911 Delray, the city was selected to win the title of All American City. Sadly, though, right under the surface in Delray that summer was anti American hate. Before we get to the night of September 10th, I want to point something out. I've always thought that the date 911 was chosen as some sort of a symbol, a cry for help. After all, you dial 911 in America to reach emergency services. I've also always thought that it was crazy too, how the 11 in 911 is almost reminiscent of the Twin Towers 1 and 1 standing side by side, just like the World Trade Center. But as it Turns out the date wasn't picked for its symbolic value. Mohamed atta decided on 911 for allegedly two reasons. One, it was the week after Labor Day, and as people were returning to work, the airports wouldn't be as crowded. Also, 911 that year fell on a trip Tuesday, and Muhammad assumed that as it was a weekday, the airports wouldn't be as crowded, the planes wouldn't be as full, and it would be easier to hijack a somewhat emptier flight than a full one.

[Courtney]

In the days before September 11, the hijackers laid low. Most stayed in hotels on the east coast. Some visited ATMs, and others said goodbye to their loved ones. Allegedly, one of the hijackers even hired an escort from a local agency in Boston. But on the evening of September 10th, all of these future terrorists engaged in the same behavior. Following instructions, they washed their bodies and shaved off excess hair. They were also instructed to, quote, forget this world. It's hard to imagine what those 19 men were feeling at the time. Not only were they about to commit suicide, but they were also about to commit mass murder. No matter how they all felt though, or where they were staying, all 19 men went to bed that night for the very last time, then woke up early the next morning and headed to the airport.

[Colin]

That morning, all 19 hijackers checked in for their flights, headed through security, and made it to their departure gates with no issues. No one noticed the box cutters that they had smuggled on board or the fake bombs. One of the most chilling images that emerged in the wake of 911 was a photo of the hijackers walking casually through the security screening in the airport. Nobody had any idea what these men were about to do. And in an infuriating twist, a number of the hijackers, while going through airport security were selected for additional screening procedures. But the only thing that these procedures guaranteed was that the selected person's checked baggage was kept off of their neck flight until it was confirmed that the passenger had boarded. In addition, a few of the hijackers were deemed suspicious by the customer service representative at the check in counter. And even though these men raised suspicions once again, the only repercussion that they faced was that their checked baggage was kept off of their flight until the passenger had boarded. And finally, one of the hijackers set off both metal detectors at the security checkpoint that they were passing through. Even though security camera footage that was seized and scoured by authorities later showed that the hijacker had a suspicious item in his back pocket, the agent at the security checkpoint didn't notice it and allowed the hijacker through the checkpoint and into the airport.

[Courtney]

Mohamed Ada and Abdul Amari both flew that morning from Portland, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts. It was at the Logan Airport in Boston where they would board Flight 11. At the same time, same airport in Boston was another team waiting to board their flight. Mohammed Atta took a phone call from Marwin, the soon to be pilot of the plane that would run into the south tower a short time before boarding their flights. This would be their last communication. It was soon after this call when all 19 hijackers would board their planes and take off into the skies.

[Colin]

The impact that 911 had on the world was massive. First of all, not even a month passed after the events of 9 11, before the US army invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to squash Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. This military engagement would end up becoming the longest war in United States history. As I'm sure many of you guys already know, the last US army troops just left Afghanistan a few weeks ago. The military engagement ended in absolute chaos and death. During the war, more than 6,000Americans were killed and roughly 44,000Americans were wounded.

[Courtney]

After the 911 attacks, many government agencies were formed, including the Department of Homeland security and the U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The TSA, or Transportation Security Administration was also formed before airlines were left to hire their own private security officials to conduct pre flight security checks. Now that task is left up to the government and the restrictions on passengers are much more stringent.

[Colin]

And finally, Americans lost their privacy. To some degree, US Intelligence agencies became much bolder. They began spying on normal Americans. They collected emails, texts, phone calls, sometimes from individuals with no connections to terrorists or terrorism. Some people have become angry with these practices, while others have asked the question, what do I have to hide?

[Courtney]

The world that day was changed forever in just a matter of hours. And the world will never be able to go back to where it was before 9 11. It's a sad fact, but that's just reality.

[Colin]

But no matter what, we want to end today's episode with a few survival stories from 911 of people that should have died that day but didn't. Only by pure luck.

[Courtney]

A man named Joseph Lott was supposed to be at a work conference at the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower that morning. But before that meeting, a colleague named Elaine Greenberg gifted him with a red and blue tie. Joseph was flattered by her gift and went to put the tie on. But Elaine told him that if he was going to wear it, he needed to go change shirts because it didn't match. So Joseph went all the way back to his hotel, changed shirts, and then made his his way back to the North Tower. As he walked inside the building and approached the elevator, he felt Flight 11 hit the tower. Elaine Greenberg and the 100 other people at the conference would die in the tower that day. Joseph Lott would escape. All because he went to change his shirt.

[Colin]

Another man named Michael Lominako was a chef at the Windows of the World Restaurant. He was supposed to clock in that morning at 8:30am but he was running behind because he made a quick stop to get a new pair of glasses. That morning, over 70 of his colleagues would die in the towers, but Michael's life was spared.

[Courtney]

A woman named Monica o' Leary was laid off the day before the attacks on September 10, 2001. And although at the time it seemed like a very low point in her life, it ended up saving her life. Because the next day, right where she worked, the plane hit the towers and all of her former colleagues would die.

[Colin]

David Corvette would survive the attacks on the World Trade center because he offered to walk a client downstairs to the security desk. He would have normally made his assistant do it, but she was eight months pregnant, so he did it instead. David would make it out of the towers alive that day, but all of his colleagues would perish.

[Courtney]

Nicholas Rayner was supposed to be on American Airlines Flight 11, but he ended up missing the flight because he sprained his ankle hiking right before.

[Colin]

Interestingly enough, Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the popular cartoon show Family Guy, one of our favorite shows, was supposed to be on United Airlines Flight 175 that day. But his travel agent had accidentally told him the wrong time for his departure. When he arrived at the gate that morning, they informed him that he had just missed the flight. The next thing he knew, he saw the plane that he was supposed to be on crashing into the World Trade.

[Courtney]

Center across TV army official Philip Smith would later say that the plane that hit the Pentagon hit at the strongest point of the building with the least amount of people, and that if the hijacker would have hit any other wedge on the building, he could have killed up to 5,000 people.

[Colin]

A crew of firefighters led by Captain J. Jonas were evacuating the towers when they made the heroic decision to help an injured woman named Josephine Harris. As they stopped to help her, the tower collapsed. But because of their exact position within the stairwell, they all made it out alive.

[Courtney]

Dozens of others had similar stories to this one, like the people who slept in that morning because the New York Giants game was the night before. Or the employees who decided to take the next elevator up the towers because it was already too full. Or even people who decided to stop and look at the Manhattan skyline for a few minutes that morning. All of these stories are from people who, without even realizing, made a decision that day that would save their lives. So the next time you're sitting in annoying traffic or you lost track of time or you stopped for a bite to eat, remember that wherever you are in life is exactly where you're meant to be. A man named Garrett Graft wrote a book about 9 11, and in his research he stated, quote, one theme that never ceases to amaze me. The sheer randomness of how the day unfolded. Who lived, who died, who was touched, who escaped. 1,000 times a day, we all make arbitrary decisions. Which flight to book, which elevator to board, whether to run an errand or stop for coffee before work, never realizing the possibilities that an alternate choice might have meant. In the 18 years since 9 11, each of us have made literally 1 million such decisions, creating a multitude of alternate outcomes while never know. End quote.

[Colin]

Ground zero used to be a site of disaster where rubble and debris filled the streets. Now, 20 years later, it serves as a beautiful memorial remembering what happened on that tragic day in September. September of 2001. In place of where the World Trade center once stood are now two twin memorial pools. And the names of every 911 victim are inscribed into the bronze parapets around it. Every year, thousands upon thousands of people come to visit to pay their respects. Next to some of the names are flowers and memorabilia that family members will leave from time to time. For some of the families who loved ones were never identified, this memorial is the only closure that they will ever have. But despite all the hatred and horror that occurred at the World Trade center on 9 11, there is now a sense of peace that resides over the memorial.

[Courtney]

Although we normally tell stories about Americans murdering each other, we thought it was important to tell you one of America's most prolific murder stories, especially on its 20th anniversary. 911 was my first memory ever. I was only four years old when it happened, but I remember all of my loved ones crying and the collective sadness that it left on everyone. I hope today, 20 years later, you can reflect on all that was lost on September 11, 2001. All of the people who went into work that morning and never made it back home, think of their friends and family members and what they're going through today. Think of the first responders who ran into the burning buildings while everyone else was running out. The pilot on Flight 93, Jason Dahl, was married to a woman named Sandy, who after the attacks said, if we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there's no time for hate. 911 is a great reminder that our days are not promised and that everything can change in the blink of an eye. So enjoy every moment you're given, be kind to one another, tell your friends and family how much you love them, and never take your life for granted.

[Colin]

To end today's episode, instead of saying our usual catchphrase and discussing the paranormal and everything, I'm just gonna end the podcast with outro music and then place at the very end of this edit a minute of silence. So if you're listening, don't turn the podcast off yet. Listen to the silence for a minute before you start your next next activity or whatever show you're gonna listen to next and use that minute to really reflect on life, love, liberty, and America, those lives that were lost. It's Colin here signing off and Courtney, and we'll, we'll see you on the next one. Everybody.

[News Reporter]

Sa it.