Disturbing reconstruction shows 9/11 from the pilot's cockpit with actual audio
A disturbing reconstruction has shown the flight path before the first aircraft struck the first tower in the 9/11 attack.
The digital clip appeared to depict the unsettling moments from the cockpit during the descent into New York, as official audio was heard following a distressed call from flight attendant Betty Ann Ong.
The reconstruction comes after the US last week marked 25 years since the horrific terror attack on 11 September 2001.
Al Qaida extremists had hijacked four commercial jets and crashed them into New York’s World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.
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The attacks brought down the World Trade Centre’s twin towers, symbols of US economic power and among the tallest buildings on Earth, and blew a hole in the Pentagon, the US military’s fortress-like headquarters near Washington.
The fourth plane was heading for the nation’s capital, officials concluded, but the aircraft went down in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew members stormed the cockpit and fought the hijackers. The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands more.
A digital 12-minute simulation video now appears to show what the tragic final minutes would have looked like from the pilot's cockpit before the first hijacked aircraft struck one of the two towers.
It shows the descent into New York on American Airlines flight 11, and also shares audio from inside the aircraft following an alert distress call from Betty Ong.
She was the flight attendant on board and was the first person to alert authorities to the hijackings taking place.
On the emergency line, a member of staff for the airline can be heard saying: "I am monitoring a call in which flight 11, the flight attendant is advising our rep that the pilot, everyone's been stabbed... They can't get into the cockpit is what I'm hearing."
The emergency call handler can also be heard talking to Betty, confirming that passengers had been moved out of first class, and that two men were 'in the cockpit with the pilot'.
Less than 15 minutes after takeoff of the flight, from Boston, the hijackers on board injured two flight attendants, murdered one passenger, and breached the cockpit.
They forced passengers and crew to the rear of the aircraft before attacking both pilots. This allowed lead hijacker Mohamed Atta to take over the controls, and the plane subsequently hit the first tower.
After the plane struck the tower, the emergency line handler talking to Betty is heard to say: "What's going on Betty? Betty, talk to me. Are you there? Betty you can do it.
"Wait, I think we might have lost her."
Horrifying audio was also captured by handheld camera when the second flight, United Airlines Flight 175, was hijacked.
Shortly after the first plane struck, it then crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, sparking mass panic and killing all 65 people aboard the flight.
It also resulted in the deaths of more than 600 in the upper levels of the towers and an unknown number of civilians on the floors beneath the impact zone.
President Donald Trump said at a 9/11 remembrance in Washington last week: “In the course of history, there are a few moments that divide time into, really, what came before and after."
Mr Trump, who was in New York on September 11 and has often recounted his memories, attended the Pentagon’s anniversary ceremony on Friday.
Former presidents George W. Bush, who was in office on 9/11, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden and current vice president JD Vance convened for the observance at the National September 11 Memorial in New York.
The attacks changed US air travel, prompted new federal surveillance and intelligence-gathering powers and banking regulations, and generated ongoing debate over the balance between security and freedom.
The department of homeland security, many state anti-terrorism laws and billions of dollars in state and local counterterrorism funding all are post-9/11 creations.
James Holt