9 September 2011 was a beautiful day in North Eastern USA. The sky was clear, the weather perfect.
People started the day thinking it would be like every other good day, but this was not to be the case.
At the base of Manhattan island two metal and glass clad buildings stood tall and bold.
The tallest at the time of construction standing at 417 and 415 meters, functioning as key business and trading centers.
They housed :
Financial Institutions (Cantor Fitzgerald, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Morgan Stanley, and Aon Corporation),
Media companies (Dow Jones & Company, The New York Times, and Reuters),
Law firms (Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Shearman & Sterling, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom),
Insurance companies (American International Group (AIG), MetLife, and Travelers),
Technology companies (Goldman Sachs, IBM, and MCI)
Government agencies (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Secret Service)
The usual business day was interrupted at 8:46am when a Boeing 767 plunged into the side of the North tower between the 93rd and 99th floors creating a gaping hole out of which dense black smoke started to billow.
Realisation that this was a terror attack began to grip all onlookers when at 9:03am another 767 airliner impacted the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors. Dark smoke blocked out the skyline, signalling impending doom.
At 9:37am the Pentagon was hit by a 757 (American Airlines Flight 77) creating an unsightly scar in the side of the hexagonal super-structure, the center of the US's military planning.
9:59am saw the collapse of the WTC South Tower just 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175.
At 10:03am a 757 cratered in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. United Airlines Flight 93's presumed target was either the White House, the House of Congress or the Senate.
The WTC North tower collapsed at 10:28am, 1 hour 42 after the impact of Flight 11.
The death toll from 911 was over 3250 people, with over 9000 injuries. The terrorist attack resulted in the collapse of the entire World Trade Center Complex comprising 7 buildings.
