- 8:46am ET - American Airlines Flight 11 (traveled from Boston to Los Angeles) struck the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
The explosion looked real, and it wasn't a movie trailer. We all remember something different about where we were on that brutally, morbid day in history. Every man and woman thought about, "What if...". The news channels gave us the complete details.
-10:28am ET - North tower of WTC collapsed. The time between the first attack and the collapse of both World Trade Center towers was 102 minutes.
"On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four fuel-loaded commercial airlines bound for west coast destinations. That terrorist attack on the United States was orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. A total of 2,977 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history"( http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/index.html)
What was the damage?
Numerous companies counted the value of lives lost as well as property damage. There were also lost production of goods and services. No amount seemed reasonable. The losses already exceeded $100 billion.
You have to include the loss in stock market wealth -- the market's own estimate arising from expectations of lower corporate profits and higher discount rates for economic volatility -- the price tag approached $2 trillion.
Heavy priced items destroyed included:
-Four civilian aircraft valued at $385 million.
-Major buildings in the World Trade Center with a replacement cost of from $3 billion - $4.5 billion.
-Pentagon damage: $1 billion.
-Cleanup costs: $1.3 billion.
-Property and infrastructure damage: $10 billion - $13 billion.
-Federal emergency funds (heightened airport security, sky marshals, government takeover of airport security, retrofitting aircraft with anti-terrorist devices, cost of operations in Afghanistan): $40 billion.
-Direct job losses amounted to 83,000, with $17 billion in lost wages.
-The amount of damaged or unrecoverable property hit $21.8 billion.
-Losses to the city of New York (lost jobs, lost taxes, damage to infrastructure, cleaning): $95 billion.
-Losses to the insurance industry: $40 billion.
-Loss of air traffic revenue: $10 billion.
-Fall of global markets: incalculable.
The culprit didn't remain at large. After his apprehension, President Obama commented to the press: “Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims,” Mr. Obama said. “Indeed, Al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.”
What was the cost of September 11, 2001?
