Research Paper: Final On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda, hijacked four American planes and executed pre-engineered terrorist attacks against various targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown directly into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane then hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, DC, and the fourth and final plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Now referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive destruction, over 3000 merciless deaths in New York City and Washington, and triggered the driving force behind major US initiatives to combat terrorism. Also, may view this horrific event as a defining moment in the presidency of George W. Bush. The first strike was on the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 11, a Boeing 747 carrying 76,000 pounds of jet fuel and 92 passengers, was overtaken by five Arabic passengers, that was later discovered to have worked directly with al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden to both plan and give life to this attack. At 7:40 am the flight departed from Boston as normal, the flight maintained its course for the first thirteen minutes. Following this, the crew was not acknowledging communications with the FAA. Several attempts were made to communicate with the crew but no reply was received, with the exception of the sound of static and was thought to be a scream. Connection was finally made at 8:18am to Cary, North Carolina to the American Airlines office stating that the plane was being hijacked. Initially, the call was grossly mishandled; transferred to a colleague who began recording the conversation, and taken to a supervisor who then passed the call to the security office in Texas. The caller was senior flight attendant Betty Ong, who informed them that a passenger had been stabbed, which was later