Reflection of 9/11

 September 11 2001 was one of the darkest days in the history of the United States. The September attacks were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamic militant group Al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks.

 The 9/11 attacks had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the American people. Police and rescue workers from around the country took leaves of absence, traveling to New York City to help recover bodies from the twisted remnants of the Twin Towers.

The attacks had a significant economic impact on United States and world markets. In New York City, about 430,000 job-months and $2.8 billion dollars in wages were lost in the three months after the attacks.





North American air space was closed for several days after the attacks and air travel decreased upon its reopening, leading to a nearly 20% cutback in air travel capacity, and exacerbating financial problems in the struggling U.S. airline industry.

The thousands of tons of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers contained more than 2,500 contaminants, including known carcinogens. Debilitating illnesses among rescue and recovery workers are said to be linked to exposure to these carcinogens. The Bush administration ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue reassuring statements regarding air quality in the aftermath of the attacks, citing national security; however, the EPA did not determine that air quality had returned to pre-September 11 levels until June 2002. Health effects also extended to residents, students, and office workers of Lower Manhattan. Several deaths have been linked to the toxic dust.