On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, four hijacked commercial jetliners made coordinated suicide attacks on targets in the eastern United States.
Perpetrated by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda, two of the planes crashed into each of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York city and one hit the Pentagon just outside Washington D.C. A fourth plane failed to reach its target, the White House, due to the heroic efforts of passengers and crew attempts to subdue the hijackers. The plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attack resulted in 2,996 deaths and 25,000 non-fatal injuries triggering a major U.S. initiative to combat terrorism which defined the presidency of George W. Bush.
The photo shows the New York city skyline the morning of the attack.
