September 12, 2001

News analysis of terrorist attacks on World Trade Center towers in New York City and on Pentagon with hijacked jetliners; devastating and astonishingly well-coordinated attacks plunge nation into warlike struggle against enemy that will be hard to identify and certainly hard to punish with precision; sense of security and self-confidence that Americans take as birthright suffers grievous blow, from which recovery will be slow; photos (M)

Hijackers ram two jetliners into World Trade Center towers in New York City, eventually toppling them in hellish storm of ash, glass, smoke and leaping victims; third plane crashes into Pentagon in Virginia, and fourth plunges to ground near Pittsburgh; military is put on highest state of alert; National Guard units are called out in Washington and New York; two aircraft carriers are dispatched to New York harbor; Pres Bush, who remained aloft on Air Force One shortly after attacks, later addresses nation; condemns 'evil and despicable acts of terror' and vows revenge; says US will hunt down and punish those responsible and will make no distinction between those who carried out hijackings and those who harbored and supported them; says acts of 'mass murder' were intended to frighten nation into chaos and retreat, but have failed; Sen Orrin Hatch says US has evidence that people associated with Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden sent messages that targets had been hit; attacks seem carefully coordinated; all planes are on transcontinental flights and are fully loaded with fuel; Boeing 767 owned by American Airlines and Boeing 757 owned by United Airlines were en route from Boston to Los Angeles; were diverted and struck towers 20 minutes apart, beginning at 8:48 am; Boeing 757 owned by American Airlines and on Washington, DC, to Los Angeles flight, struck western part of Pentagon at 9:40am; United Airlines Boeing 757 on Newark-San Francisco flight later crashed outside Pittsburgh, raising possibility that hjiackers may have failed in whatever mission was; Atty Gen John Ashcroft says hijackers on at least two planes may have been armed with knives; Barbara Olson, wife of Solicitor Gen Theodore Olson who was passenger aboard American Airlines plane that crashed into Pentagon, reportedly called husband by cell phone to say hijackers were armed with knives and box cutter; 266 people perish on four planes and several score more are known dead elsewhere; numerous New York City firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers who responded to initial disaster in Lower Manhattan die or are injured as buildings collapse; hundreds are treated for other injuries; collapse causes third building to fall 10 hours later, and other buildings in area are damaged or set ablaze; New York City is virtually shut down; transportation into it is halted, as is much of public transportation within it; parts of Lower Manhattan remain without electricity; Battery Park City is evacuated; major stock exchanges are closed; primary elections for mayor and other city offices are cancelled; medical staffs at hospitals citywide treat hundreds of injured; other carnage described; incident is ranked as worst and most audacious terror attack in US history; photos; maps; chronology (L)

World Trade Center Towers Collapse After Attack In attacks on symbols of American financial and military power, hijacked airplanes slammed into both towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and, less than an hour later, into the Pentagon, outside Washington. The 110-story towers at the World Trade Center soon collapsed in a storm of flying glass and rubble. Pedestrians and workers fled the area after the attack, and for much of the workday, people found it virtually impossible to enter or leave Manhattan. Wall Street shut down soon after the crashes. [Page A1.]

RESCUERS BECOME VICTIMS -- Firefighters who rushed to the trade center were killed. PAGE A2 SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS -- Some people trapped in the rubble for hours were rescued. PAGE A2

Article describes scenes of horror in Lower Manhattan after World Trade Center towers were rammed by two hijacked jetliners; photo (M)