Which twin tower was hit first?

The hijacked Flight 11 was crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower (1 WTC) at 8:46 a.m. The hijacked Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower (2 WTC) 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. When the towers were struck, between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the WTC complex.



On the morning of September 11, 2001, the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) was the first to be hit. At exactly 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11, a hijacked Boeing 767, crashed into the northern face of the building between floors 93 and 99. The impact killed everyone on board and trapped hundreds of people on the floors above. For approximately 16 minutes, many believed the event was a tragic pilot error or a freak accident until United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. While hit first, the North Tower actually stood longer; it collapsed at 10:28 a.m., nearly 102 minutes after impact, whereas the South Tower collapsed first at 9:59 a.m. In 2026, the North Tower's site is marked by the "North Pool" of the National September 11 Memorial, where the names of those who perished in that specific building and on Flight 11 are permanently inscribed in bronze.

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The property damage alone cost about $100 billion, and estimates of the total economic damage inflicted by the attack range up to $2 trillion. The cost of the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that flowed out of the 9/11 tragedy has been estimated recently by Brown University scholars at about $4 trillion.

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U.S. airlines lost $8 billion in 2001. The industry wasn't profitable again until 2006. Losses topped $60 billion over that five-year period and airlines again lost money in 2008 during the Great Recession. Job cuts in the wake of 9/11 were in the tens of thousands and workers faced massive pay cuts.

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New York City took the brunt of the death toll when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan were attacked, with an estimated 1,600 victims from the North Tower and around a thousand from the South Tower.

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On Sept. 11, 2001, 343 firefighters and paramedics were killed, most when the towers collapsed. Now, an equal number have died from 9/11-related illnesses, the FDNY says.

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The original World Trade Center featured landmark twin towers, which opened on April 4, 1973, and were destroyed in the September 11 attacks of 2001.

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8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes into the north face of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99. No passengers survive the crash and an unknown number of people inside the building are also instantly killed.

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Ultimately, 8 EMS providers and 343 firefighters died that day and countless more have succumbed to 9/11-related illnesses from their time working at Ground Zero.

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The North Tower lasted around 46 minutes longer than its twin, having been struck 17 minutes before the South Tower was attacked and standing another half-hour after the South Tower collapsed.

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The 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs honor FDNY firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice. Each 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb participants pays tribute to a FDNY firefighter by climbing or walking the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center.

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