9781422286005

The Attack on America

9

Smoke billows from the burning World Trade Center shortly after a passenger jet hit the building, September 11, 2001.

10:02 A . M . Everyone on the plane died in the crash. It is believed that the intended target of the fourth plane was either the Capitol, where the U.S. Congress meets, or the White House, where the president resides. Because all of the hijacked planes had been destined for Los Angeles, they carried thousands of gallons of jet fuel. In New York the explosions and ensuing fires raised the temperature inside the Twin Towers by thou- sands of degrees. The extreme heat weakened the buildings’ structures,