The phrase "11 sep 2001 new york" functions as a proper noun, a specific identifier for the coordinated terrorist attacks that occurred in New York City on September 11, 2001. Carried out by the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda, the event involved the hijacking of two commercial airliners, which were subsequently crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan.
The sequence of events began at 8:46 AM (EDT) when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower (1 WTC). At 9:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower (2 WTC). The impacts and the resulting fires from jet fuel compromised the structural integrity of the steel-framed skyscrapers. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 AM after burning for 56 minutes, and the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 AM after burning for 102 minutes. The collapses resulted in the deaths of 2,753 people at the World Trade Center site, including 343 firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers, and thousands of civilians.
The attacks on the World Trade Center were part of a larger series of attacks that day, but the events in New York became the central focus of global attention. The immediate consequence was the initiation of the U.S. "War on Terror," leading to military operations in Afghanistan and significant changes in national security policy, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. The event fundamentally altered international relations, aviation security protocols, and had a lasting cultural and psychological impact on a global scale.
