September 11, 2001. It’s a date that basically froze time. Most people over the age of thirty remember exactly where they were when the news broke. But as the years pass, the specifics of who crashed into the twin towers can sometimes get blurred by conspiracy theories or general historical distance. We need to be crystal clear about the facts. This wasn't some random accident or a nameless group. It was a meticulously planned, multi-year operation carried out by 19 individuals belonging to al-Qaeda.
They weren't just "terrorists" in a vague sense. They were specific men with names, backgrounds, and a very radicalized mission.
The world watched in horror as American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 struck the North and South Towers. It happened fast. One minute the New York skyline was normal, and the next, it was the center of a global catastrophe. Understanding the "who" behind this requires looking past the cockpit and into the organization that funded and directed them from halfway across the world.
The Men in the Cockpits
When we ask who crashed into the twin towers, we are talking about two specific teams of five hijackers.
The first plane to hit was American Airlines Flight 11. It slammed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. The man flying that plane was Mohammed Atta. He's a name that comes up a lot in the 9/11 Commission Report because he was essentially the tactical leader of the entire "planes operation." Atta was Egyptian, well-educated, and had spent significant time in Hamburg, Germany. He wasn't some unthinking soldier; he was a strategic operative. Joining him on that flight were Abdulaziz al-Omari, Wail al-Shehri, Waleed al-Shehri, and Satam al-Suqami.
Then came the second strike.
United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. This was the moment the world realized this wasn't an aviation glitch. It was an attack. Marwan al-Shehhi was the pilot-hijacker for this flight. Like Atta, he was part of that "Hamburg cell" of radicals who had moved to the West and used that freedom to plot its destruction. His team included Fayez Banihammad, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Mohand al-Shehri.
✨ Don't miss: The CIA Stars on the Wall: What the Memorial Really Represents
Most of these men were Saudi Arabian. In fact, 15 of the 19 total hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks were Saudi nationals. This fact has caused decades of diplomatic tension and intense scrutiny regarding how these men were radicalized and whether they had any low-level support from within their home country, though the official commission didn't find evidence of the Saudi government’s top-level involvement.
Al-Qaeda and the "Hamburg Cell"
You can't talk about the hijackers without talking about Osama bin Laden. He was the architect. While he didn't fly the planes, he provided the money, the ideological "justification," and the training camps in Afghanistan. Bin Laden, along with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (often called KSM), dreamt up the idea of using commercial airliners as kinetic weapons.
KSM is actually the guy who first pitched the idea to bin Laden back in 1996. It took years to find the right people who could blend into Western society.
The "Hamburg Cell" was pivotal. This was a group of radicalized students in Germany. Because they spoke English, had experience living in the West, and were highly educated, they were the perfect "muscle" and "pilots" for al-Qaeda. They weren't hiding in caves. They were living in apartments in Germany and later taking flight lessons in Florida and Arizona.
It's honestly chilling. They went to gyms. They ate at Pizza Hut. They paid their rent on time. They were hiding in plain sight, waiting for the "Go" signal from bin Laden’s inner circle.
Why Did They Do It?
The motives weren't a mystery. Bin Laden had been vocal for years. In his 1998 "Fatwa," he outlined his grievances. He was furious about the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia—the land of the two holiest sites in Islam. He hated U.S. support for Israel. He despised the sanctions against Iraq.
🔗 Read more: Passive Resistance Explained: Why It Is Way More Than Just Standing Still
To the hijackers, crashing into the Twin Towers was a way to strike at the "head of the snake." The World Trade Center was the ultimate symbol of American economic dominance. By destroying it, they hoped to collapse the American economy and force the U.S. to retreat from the Middle East.
They were wrong about the collapse, but they certainly changed the world.
The Logistics of the Hijacking
How did they get on the planes? It was a different world back then. Before 9/11, airport security was focused on bombs, not the passengers themselves using the plane as a missile. The hijackers used box cutters and small knives—items that were actually legal to carry on flights if the blades were under four inches at the time.
They took advantage of a "common strategy" that pilots were taught: if a plane is hijacked, cooperate. Land the plane. Talk to the hijackers. Wait for the negotiators.
The 9/11 hijackers changed that rule forever because they didn't want to negotiate. They wanted to kill. Once they breached the cockpits, the pilots were killed or incapacitated, and the hijacker-pilots took the controls. They turned off the transponders, making it hard for air traffic control to track them, and headed straight for Manhattan.
What We Learned from the Investigation
The 9/11 Commission Report is a massive document. If you ever want to see the sheer scale of the failure of intelligence, that’s where you look. It explains how the FBI and CIA weren't talking to each other. The CIA knew some of these guys were in the country, but that info didn't get to the FBI agents who could have tracked them down.
💡 You might also like: What Really Happened With the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz
It’s a sobering reminder that who crashed into the twin towers wasn't just a list of names; it was a systemic failure of global security.
The hijackers weren't super-spies. They made mistakes. They were almost caught several times. One of them, Nawaf al-Hazmi, was even involved in a minor traffic accident, and another was flagged for a suspicious visa. But the dots were never connected in time.
The Long-Term Impact
Since that day, the way we travel has changed. The TSA exists because of those 19 men. The cockpit doors on every commercial flight are now reinforced and bulletproof. You can’t just walk up to the front of a plane anymore.
But beyond the airport, the identity of the hijackers sparked a massive shift in geopolitics. It led to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It changed how we think about privacy and government surveillance. The "Who" in this story started a domino effect that we are still dealing with in 2026.
Facts to Remember
- 19 Hijackers total: Across four planes, but 10 specifically targeted the World Trade Center.
- The Leaders: Mohammed Atta (Flight 11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (Flight 175).
- The Affiliation: Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
- The Nationalities: 15 were from Saudi Arabia, 2 from the UAE, 1 from Egypt, and 1 from Lebanon.
Understanding the history of who crashed into the twin towers is about more than just memorizing names. It’s about recognizing the danger of radicalization and the importance of vigilance.
Actionable Insights for Learning More
If you want to understand the full scope of this event, don't stop at a summary. The history is deep and sometimes painful, but it's necessary for a full picture of the modern world.
- Read the 9/11 Commission Report. It is available for free online. It’s long, but the "Executive Summary" provides the most accurate account of the movements of the hijackers leading up to the attacks.
- Visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum website. They have extensive digital archives that detail the lives of the victims and the timeline of the day. It’s a powerful way to see the human cost.
- Watch "The Looming Tower." While it’s a dramatization, it is based on Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. It does an excellent job of explaining the rivalry between the FBI and CIA that allowed the hijackers to go undetected.
- Check the FBI’s declassified documents. Over the last few years, more documents regarding the investigation into the hijackers’ potential connections in the U.S. have been released. These provide a more nuanced look at the logistical support they may have received.
The events of September 11, 2001, remain a focal point of modern history. Knowing exactly who was responsible is the first step in ensuring such a tragedy is never repeated.