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view · edit Frequently asked questions Many of these questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning the September 11 attacks. To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question. Q1: Is the article biased against conspiracy theories? A1: Wikipedia is a mainstream encyclopedia so this article presents the accepted version of the events according to reliable sources. Although reliable sources have repeatedly reported on conspiracy theories, reporting on conspiracy theories is not the same thing as advocating conspiracy theories or accepting them as fact. The most recent discussion that resulted in the current consensus took place on this talk page in December 2011. If you disagree with the current status, you are welcome to bring your concerns to the article talk page. Please read the previous discussions on this talk page and try to explain how your viewpoint provides new arguments or information that may lead to a change in consensus. Please be sure to be polite and support your views with citations from reliable sources. Q2: Should the article use the word "terrorist" (and related words)? A2: Wikipedia:Words to watch states that "there are no forbidden words or expressions on Wikipedia". That being said, "terrorism" is a word that requires extra attention when used in Wikipedia. The consensus, after several lengthy discussions, is that it is appropriate to use the term in a limited fashion to describe the attacks and the executors of these attacks. The contributors have arrived at this conclusion after looking at the overwhelming majority of reliable sources that use this term as well as the United Nations' own condemnation of the attacks.[1]

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

	September 11 attacks is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
	September 11 attacks has been listed as one of the History good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones Date Process Result January 19, 2004 Refreshing brilliant prose Kept February 26, 2004 Featured article review Demoted January 10, 2005 Featured article candidate Not promoted December 29, 2006 Featured article candidate Not promoted January 27, 2007 Good article nominee Not listed February 14, 2007 Good article nominee Not listed October 16, 2007 Good article nominee Not listed May 19, 2008 Good article nominee Listed May 29, 2008 Peer review Reviewed July 10, 2008 Featured article candidate Not promoted August 20, 2008 Good article reassessment Kept June 19, 2010 Good article reassessment Delisted July 5, 2011 Good article nominee Not listed July 25, 2011 Good article nominee Listed August 23, 2011 Peer review Reviewed August 30, 2011 Featured article candidate Not promoted September 25, 2011 Good article reassessment Delisted May 24, 2013 Good article nominee Not listed July 13, 2015 Good article nominee Listed October 27, 2018 Featured article candidate Not promoted News items involving this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on September 11, 2001, and September 11, 2002. Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on September 11, 2003, September 11, 2004, September 11, 2005, September 11, 2006, September 11, 2009, September 11, 2012, September 11, 2013, September 11, 2017, September 11, 2018, September 11, 2020, September 11, 2023, and September 11, 2024. Current status: Former featured article, current good article

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations: Noam Cohen (11 September 2011). "On Wikipedia, Echoes of 9/11 'Edit Wars'". The New York Times. Brian Keegan (November 17, 2020). "How 9/11 Shaped Wikipedia". Slate (magazine). Retrieved September 9, 2021. Stephen Harrison (September 8, 2021). "How Wikipedia Grew Up With the War on Terror". Slate (magazine). Retrieved September 9, 2021. Alex Pasternack (September 11, 2021). "How 9/11 turned a new site called Wikipedia into history's crowdsourced front page". Fast Company. Retrieved September 13, 2021.

September 11 attacks (final version) received a peer review by Wikipedia editors, which was archived on 5 April 2026. It may contain ideas you can use to improve this article.

Warning: active arbitration remedies The contentious topics procedure applies to this article. This article relates to post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people. The following restrictions apply to everyone editing this article: Changes challenged by reversion may not be reinstated without affirmative consensus on the talk page. Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator.

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This article has been viewed enough times in a single year to make it into the Top 50 Report annual list. This happened in 2011. This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 14 times. The weeks in which this happened: September 8 to 14, 2013 September 7 to 13, 2014 September 6 to 12, 2015 September 4 to 10, 2016 September 11 to 17, 2016 September 10 to 16, 2017 September 9 to 15, 2018 September 8 to 14, 2019 September 6 to 12, 2020 September 13 to 19, 2020 August 29 to September 4, 2021 September 5 to 11, 2021 September 12 to 18, 2021 September 8 to 14, 2024 This article has previously been nominated to be moved. Please review prior discussions if you are considering renomination. Discussions RM, September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks → September 11, 2001 attacks, Moved, 17 January 2004, Discussion RM, September 11, 2001 attacks → September 11, 2001, attacks, Not moved, 21 October 2004, Discussion RM, September 11, 2001 attacks → September 11 attacks, Moved, 20 August 2008, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → September 11, 2001 attacks, Not moved, 13 October 2010, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → 9/11, Not moved, 31 March 2014, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → September 11 terrorist attacks, Not moved, 13 February 2021, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → September 11th attacks, Not moved, 14 February 2021, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → September 11, 2001 attacks, Procedural close, 23 February 2021, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → 9/11, Not moved, 26 January 2024, Discussion RM, September 11 attacks → September 11 terrorist attacks, Not moved, 9 February 2024, discussion. RM, September 11 attacks → 9/11 attacks, Not moved, 23 October 2025, discussion. The content of World Trade Center/Plane crash was merged into September 11 attacks on 11 September 2001. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists. The content of Slogans and terms derived from the September 11 attacks was merged into September 11 attacks on 22 October 2015. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists. For the discussion at that location, see its talk page. Section sizes Section size for September 11 attacks (45 sections) Section name Byte count Prose size (words) Header Total Header Total (Top) 19,877 19,877 715 715 Background 37 46,078 0 2,221 Osama bin Laden 8,142 24,226 281 682 Motives 16,084 16,084 401 401 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al-Qaeda members 3,828 3,828 146 146 Planning 10,167 10,167 580 580 Prior intelligence 7,820 7,820 813 813 Attacks 4,738 78,772 39 3,117 Crashes 29,164 29,164 1,214 1,214 Casualties 31,163 31,163 1,278 1,278 Damage 10,506 10,506 373 373 Rescue efforts 3,201 3,201 213 213 Reactions 3,619 59,229 105 2,447 Immediate response 9,025 9,025 364 364 Domestic reactions 7,860 17,835 295 856 Hate crimes 5,483 5,483 259 259 Discrimination and racial profiling 1,808 1,808 151 151 Muslim American response 1,680 1,680 88 88 Interfaith efforts 1,004 1,004 63 63 International reactions 18,411 18,411 600 600 Military operations 10,339 10,339 522 522 Aftermath 64 47,363 0 2,323 Health issues 10,502 10,502 548 548 Economic 7,438 7,438 344 344 Effects in Afghanistan 7,223 7,223 339 339 Cultural influence 4,162 4,162 217 217 Government policies towards terrorism 11,483 11,483 597 597 Legal proceedings 6,491 6,491 278 278 Investigations 21 32,227 0 1,667 FBI 9,463 9,463 545 545 CIA 2,195 2,195 143 143 Congressional inquiry 6,401 6,401 244 244 9/11 Commission 4,157 4,157 143 143 National Institute of Standards and Technology 6,048 6,048 330 330 Alleged Saudi government role 3,942 3,942 262 262 Rebuilding and memorials 32 19,700 0 926 Reconstruction 8,233 8,233 298 298 Memorials 11,435 11,435 628 628 See also 1,284 1,284 0 0 References 17 117 0 0 Notes 64 64 0 0 Citations 36 36 0 0 Bibliography 10,501 10,501 0 0 Further reading 2,921 2,921 0 0 External links 5,390 5,390 0 0 Total 323,459 323,459 13,416 13,416

Has there been discussion of whether we should write about the possibility of a fifth plane, United flight 23, being involved in the attack? It seems that a mention would be appropriate here, along with an article about the incident and subsequent investigations.

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

I thought I'd propose a change here.

In the Effects in Afghanistan section, there is a sentence that doesn't make any sense (emphasis mine):

In the aftermath of the attacks, tens of thousands of people attempted to flee Afghanistan due to the possibility of military retaliation by the U.S. Pakistan, already home to many Afghan refugees from previous conflicts, closed its border with Afghanistan on September 17, 2001.

Does it mean U.S. and Pakistan? Because, while I may not be that knowledgeable in South Asian history, I don't believe the U.S. ever controlled Pakistan, as the sentence implies. TheAuroraBorealis (u/t/c) 01:59, 29 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

 Not done: according to the page's protection level, you should be able to edit the page yourself. If you seem to be unable to, please reopen the request with further details. Makes sense to me. Unless the change has been made and reverted before, be bold. Umby 🌕🐶 (talk) 02:29, 29 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

@UmbyUmbreon: interesting. I remember reading about a restriction on another user's talk page about some restriction limiting post-1992 US politics to extended confirmed users. This is why I made this request. TheAuroraBorealis (u/t/c) 02:31, 29 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

@TheAuroraBorealis I'm not sure if it was the case before, but there is no current ECR restriction on post-1992 US politics. You can check the list of current ECRs at WP:ECRLIST. Umby 🌕🐶 (talk) 02:35, 29 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

@UmbyUmbreon: thank you! TheAuroraBorealis (u/t/c) 02:36, 29 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change Title, "September 11 attacks" to "September 11 Attacks" for proper capitalization. Tohnnentinky424 (talk) 07:04, 20 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

 Not done: to request a page move, follow the instructions at Wikipedia:Requested moves. Also "attacks" is not a proper name. Tbhotch^™ (CC BY-SA 4.0) 08:03, 20 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

I understand it came from the FEMA report but the graphic seems to be wrong. The explosion erupting from the North Tower's southern facade is depicted as coming out closer to the South Tower, but in images like this, one can clearly see that that side of the southern facade is not obscured by smoke nor damaged like the other half is, implying that the explosion shot out of that side instead. Do we have a better image to show here? And a reliable source to go with it? Zeke, the Mad Horrorist ^{(Speak quickly)} _{(Follow my trail)} 04:53, 29 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

What do RS say? Slatersteven (talk) 09:28, 29 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

I don't quite know what you're asking. I'll answer in a couple of different ways. If you're asking rhetorically, then I would say that if I had a better source myself I'd have brought it up. I was asking if anyone else did.

On the other hand perhaps you're asking literally what sources actually describe, and to that I can only point to the image that's on the article that I feel is wrong even though it comes from an official source. I don't know that another source has literally described what the image shows in a way that's more compatible with reality. It just contradicts photographic evidence from what I've seen, so if something else has emerged that has superseded it we should use it. (I'm doubtful, I lurk in that Subreddit all the time and haven't seen anything so far. But maybe someone else has, thus I asked here.) Zeke, the Mad Horrorist ^{(Speak quickly)} _{(Follow my trail)} 04:00, 30 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

There is no "colloquial" form because you are talking about history. So please change that. ~2026-32705-16 (talk) 22:55, 6 July 2026 (UTC)Reply