Twenty-Five Years Later
Twenty-five years after 9/11, iconic images, rebuilt sites, and airspace leaders reflect on history.
Anonymous
Key Points
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Thomas Franklin said the photograph was taken about six hours after the Twin Towers collapsed, using an exposure of just 1/640th of a second.
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The photograph’s original Ground Zero setting now includes a row of Citi Bike rentals and is crossed by workers on lunch breaks, illustrating how ordinary daily activity has returned to the site.
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The former PATH station was replaced by the Oculus, a white steel-and-glass transportation and retail complex that opened in 2016 beside One World Trade Center.
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During the 1981 PATCO dispute, President Ronald Reagan fired about 11,000 air traffic controllers; Sliney, then a supervisor, returned to active control work and later defended 25 dismissed controllers as a lawyer.
Twenty-five years after September 11, the nation still remembers the officials who made split-second decisions that shaped the day's response. Benedict Sliney, an FAA operations manager at the Herndon, Virginia control center, coordinated the unprecedented order to ground all aircraft over U.S. airspace within hours of the attacks WFTV. His swift action helped prevent further catastrophe when four commercial jets had already been hijacked and used as weapons.
Sliney's background prepared him uniquely for that moment. A former military officer and air traffic controller at major New York airports, he had also practiced law and defended air traffic controllers after President Ronald Reagan fired roughly 11,000 of them during the 1981 PATCO dispute Radio Iowa. When he took command at Herndon just before 9/11, he carried decades of experience across aviation, law and leadership.
The Man Who Grounded America's Airspace
On the morning of September 11, Sliney faced an impossible task: shut down the entire U.S. airspace to protect civilians and military personnel. WFTV reported that Sliney, then head of air traffic control operations, made the decision to ground all commercial flights nationwide. Within hours, every plane in American skies had landed safely.
His order was extraordinary and unprecedented. No such nationwide grounding had ever been attempted. Sliney worked in real-time coordination with federal agencies, military commanders and controllers across the country to execute the emergency landing of thousands of aircraft, preventing any additional planes from being used as weapons.
A Career Built on Crisis Leadership
Sliney's path to leadership in America's airspace tested his resolve repeatedly. He served in the military, then worked as an air traffic controller at major New York airports including some of the nation's busiest terminals. His experience in high-pressure environments gave him the judgment needed when stakes were highest.
In 1981, when President Ronald Reagan dismissed roughly 11,000 striking air traffic controllers during the PATCO labor dispute, Sliney returned to active control work as a supervisor Radio Iowa. Later, he switched careers to law and defended 25 of those dismissed controllers in court, combining his deep knowledge of aviation with legal expertise.
Ground Zero's Transformation and Remembrance
The landscape where the Twin Towers stood has been completely rebuilt. One World Trade Center now rises where the original towers fell, joined by the Oculus, a white steel-and-glass transportation and retail complex that opened in 2016. The former PATH station became this striking new hub for travelers and shoppers.
Photographer Thomas Franklin's iconic image of three firefighters raising an American flag above the ruins became a symbol of national resilience and raised over $10 million for victims' families Radiowa. Today, that historic Ground Zero location is crossed by workers on lunch breaks and marked by Citi Bike rental stations—ordinary daily life has reclaimed the site where extraordinary tragedy once stood.
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