ABSTRACT
On the morning of September 11, 2001, four US commercial aircraft were hijacked and used as weapons of mass destruction by 19 terrorists of the radical Islamist terror network, al-Qaeda.1 After seizing control of the planes, terrorists crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, while another plane was flown into the Pentagon in the US capital city. After learning of the fate of the other three aircraft from loved ones by cell phone, passengers of the fourth plane struggled for control of the aircraft and succeeded in diverting it from its intended target. The plane crashed into the ground in western Pennsylvania, killing all aboard but not a single individual beyond those on the flight. These tragic events produced a death toll reaching into the thousands and marked the start of America’s War on Terror.2
