September 11, 2001 started out as a normal, beautiful day in New York. People went off to work at the World Trade Center, expecting it to be just another work day. Little did they know that that day was going to be one of the most tragic days in US history but also a day that changed America.
The goal for the terrorists attack was to try and lessen Americas’ power and destroying the World Trade Center was a good idea for that. The WTC was built in the 1960’s to restore the people confidence of the future. The complex was located in New Yorks financial district. With a total of 7 world Trade Centers, 107 floors, and 13.4 million square feet of office space the World Trade Center quickly became the symbol of New York City. The WTC was home to many business and many people (www.wikipedia.com). 9/11 wasn’t the first attempt to destroy the WTC, in 1993 a group of terrorists planted a van, with 1,500 pounds of explosives in it, in an underground parking garage near the north tower. Their plan was to blow up the north tower and causing it to fall into the south tower. They did not succeed but did cause six deaths, 1,000 injuries, and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (www.wtc.com). After the world trade center was destroyed they created a memorial for all of the people who lost their lives last day called ground zero. They are now thinking about rebuilding the twin towers in the future.
Before 9/11 from what I remember, airport security was nothing. All you had to do was walk through a metal detector and get on the plane. After the terrorist attack, airport security has really stepped it up. Now you have to arrive at the airport at least two hours before your flight takes off. You also have to take off your shoes and jackets while walking through security, open and turn on your computer, and you are not allowed to have more than 12 oz. of fluid on your carryon bags. Airport security sometimes picks out people that look suspicious and do a full body search. If you have been dealing with explosives they can tell and you will not be allowed to fly on the plane. Also when I visited Holland, at the gate, airport security would come up to you and ask you questions like did you pack your bags yourself and have you let your bags out of sight at all? The Amsterdam airport is one of the worst airports to fly out of because they have a lot of connecting flights from the Middle East countries.
Air travel today is the second most common way to travel besides traveling by car. After 9/11 the air traveling decreased in huge numbers. People were scared to travel again just because of the risk of another terrorist attack. It didn’t just hurt airlines it also hurt the hotels and restaurants that survive on the tourists who visit. Today United States air travel is the safest in the world. After 9/11 the FAA and air traffic organization designed new equipment to help keep the skies safe. The new invention is called the Next Generation Air Transportation System or NextGen. This system uses satellites in space to pick up on the movement of the aircraft instead of radars that are on the ground. This will allow the people who are tracking the aircrafts a much more visual picture. You would think when you see the towers at the actual airports, that they are the ones who are guiding you throughout the trip but they are only tell the pilot when to take off and where there gate is. The ones who guide you throughout your trip are people all through the country who are picking up your radar on the ground. They have a section of controllers, for example Potomac TRACON deals with the planes that fly out of Baltimore MD, Richmond VA, and Washington DC. This allows the transportation of aircrafts to be as safe and easy going as possible. When aircrafts use satellites instead of controllers on the ground the aircrafts wont physically have to pass over that control allowing them to go anywhere in the country.
I think that right now it is okay to fly. I have been on many airplanes after 9/11 and there haven’t been any problems yet.
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