The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were crashed into by two hijacked American passenger airplanes on September 11, 2001. The first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, was deliberately flown into the North Tower, and the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, was flown into the South Tower. These attacks were carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden. These terrorists hijacked the planes and used them as guided missiles to crash into the towers, causing the catastrophic destruction and loss of nearly 3,000 lives.