On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial jet airliners and crashed into the World Trade Centers and Pentagon in what is believed to be one of America’s worst tragedies. Collectively, 2993 deaths were accounted for in the aftermath, including the hijackers and the planes’ passengers. Noting the majority of fatalities were of civilians, investigators sought answers as to why the building collapsed. They believed that had the infrastructure of the building been better, there would have been less casualties and the World Trade Center would still be standing. In the investigation, government officials probed through the wreckage of twisted steel and stone to come to several theories as to why the building collapsed.

To understand the ignorance behind the theories, one must remember that the World Trade Center was developed in the early 1960s, and so, did not utilize modern engineering techniques and procedures. At the time of development, numerous tests and simulations were conducted before the actual building of the World Trade Center to ensure that such tall towers would be able to endure a bevy of elements. At the end of construction, the World Trade Center managed to fulfill its expectations; it withstood the wind and was able to accommodate the many people who traversed its 107 floors.

Years later, on that fateful day, the buildings’ engineering was put to the test. When the first airliner struck the World Trade Center, it plowed right through the core structure of the building and ended with an explosion. The original designers of the World Trade Center had engineered the building to withstand an airplane crash, so the initial impact merely caused the building to sway. However, what came next completely shocked engineers. When the plane crashed, its fuel tank burst, causing a torrent of aviation fuel to soak the impact site. Like lighter fluid, the aviation fuel ignited an evanescent, scorching fire that ignited nearby flammable objects. The building was not specifically designed with the prospect of fuel-based fire, thus, the building was not able to hold in the end. The fire raged through the building, stirring up a surge of ash and dust in its wake.

People above the impact site, between the 93rd and 99th floor, were out of luck. The plane had wiped out the core supports and emergency stairways; because they were all bunched in the center, it was easy to take them all out at once. Secondly, the use of drywall in the building proved to be hindrance to those who trying to escape. Drywall, though fire-resistant, was very stiff and tended to shatter when struck – especially after it has been weakened by fire. Pieces of drywall were blown off the core supports and walls and blocked several escape routes. In one incident, a piece of drywall stood in the way of a group of people in an elevator; their only chance of survival was to laboriously destroy the rubble and run the remainder. About an hour later, the World Trade Center buckled, teetered, and eventually collapsed upon itself, like a pancake stack. In the end, all that was left was tons of debris in a spot that came to be known as Ground Zero. When the fire spread throughout the building, it had weakened the building’s trusses, triangular structures used in the entirety of the building to give strong support. Due to the layer of fire-proof foam on the trusses, they were ostensibly invincible to any force that comes its way. Any glimmer of hope was quickly snuffed out once the jet hit. Upon impact, the fire-proof foam was blasted of the trusses by the mere force of the jet. From there, the resulting fire, reaching temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit, directly heated the trusses, leading to the inevitable weakening and deflection of the infrastructure. All in all, the plane crash wasn’t the main cause of the buildings’ collapse; rather, it was the inferno that burned, weakened, and razed the World Trade Center.

Appalled by the severity of the attacks, I have done my own research on the incident. Source to source, whenever I read up on this event, I cannot keep from feeling sorry and depressed for all those who died. The September 11 attacks seem almost too bad to have even happened; I almost didn’t believe it. Whether it be all the accounts of survivors or the videos of those jumping to their deaths, I now realize that I should not take life for granted. Many innocent people couldn’t guarantee that they were to live that day – nor can I. Any day, I may fall victim to a tragedy without having any prospect of such. Sad as it is, many people cannot hold their life for very long; I am very lucky to be alive and healthy, thanks to God.