A Suicide Mission

September 11th, 2001 was a historical event executed by nineteen airplane hijackers

and ended up with two thousand nine hundred and seventy seven victims. The department of homeland security was created as a response to 9/11. Homeland security is a combination of twenty two different governmental agencies and is designed to protect America from threats and terrorism attacks. I believe that the creation of Homeland Security in direct response to 9/11 was a good idea because Homeland Security is a newer more technologically advanced way to protect the United states from terrorist threats and attacks such as 9/11.

On September 11th, 2001 air travel wasn’t as much of a hassle as it is today. Nineteen airplane hijackers were able to get onto and hijack four airplanes. Their weapon of choice; box cutters. You used to be able to bring knives on aircrafts, which today would be unthinkable. The armed men took hostages and held box cutters to plane passengers’ throats. They were able to walk into the cockpit with no questions, and hold the pilots hostage with the box cutters. The men then took control of the aircrafts, and famously and historically crashed the four planes into the twin towers. A suicide mission, and mass murder of two thousand nine hundred and seventy seven victims, ranging in age from two years old to eighty five years old.

Although I wasn’t born yet, there are still many ways 9/11 has affected me and the ways I travel. We have to go through searches before we get on airplanes, metal detectors, and random checks. There is now a lock on the planes cockpits, you used to be able to bring a bottle of water or listerine on the plane, now you are only able to bring 3.4 oz bottles or less. Passengers are now required to take their shoes off before boarding the plane in order for security to check in case any bombs are hidden inside the shoe(s). A college student has been detained overnight, she was studying arabic, and she had homemade flashcards on her while boarding the airplane. IDs must be presented and the name must match the name on the ticket. Now, only ticketed passengers are allowed in the airline gate areas.

This was a very historical attack, that will go down in the history books. Although flying is now a hassle and more difficult than before the attacks, I feel that it is important to take these extra steps to ensure the safety of passengers and pilots while traveling. I also think that it is important to have one trained security guard on a passenger aircraft at all times, with a firearm on his/her person so it is easily available in times of need such as 9/11.

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