From hours at security to bulletproof cockpits: How 9/11 changed air travel
One of the biggest changes to US aviation travel was the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (TSA).
Not long after several planes were hijacked and used to wreak devastation on downtown New York and Washington, DC, a quarter of a century ago, air travel for millions of people all over the world changed beyond recognition – forever.
Two of the planes, hijacked by men linked to al-Qaeda, were flown into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre at the south end of Manhattan Island in New York City, causing the buildings to collapse and killing nearly 3,000 people.
A third hit the Pentagon, the building in Washington that houses the United States Department of Defense, while a fourth, believed to be headed towards the White House, crashed into an empty field in Pennsylvania after passengers on board wrested control of the aircraft from the hijackers.
He was thwarted when other passengers on board restrained him, but the incident prompted the TSA and some airlines worldwide to begin asking passengers to remove their shoes for security screening on a voluntary basis.