On this day in 2001 terrorist hijackers took control of US passenger jets and crashed them into New York’s Twin Towers killing thousands of innocent people.
Among the 2,977 dead were four Scots who are being remembered as events take place on both sides of the Atlantic to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Colin McArthur, 52, from Glasgow, Gavin Cushny, 47, from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Derek Sword, 29, from Dundee and Iain Gray, 55, from Wick in Caithness were honoured as part of a poignant drone memorial show which illuminated New York harbour with 2,977 lights for each life lost that day and spectacularly recreated the Twin Towers along the New York skyline.
The artwork, titled ‘2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor’, is a commemorative public art installation in collaboration with artists, producers, and members of the 9/11 community, including victims’ families, survivors, and first responders.
Thousands of drones recreated the silhouette of the Twin Towers on September 9 during the moving tribute honouring all those killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The display appeared alongside the annual Tribute in Light memorial.
Colin McArthur, vice president of insurance company Aon Inc, was working when a plane struck the South Tower. He was killed on the 87th floor trying to escape as the second plane hit and the building collapsed.
Gavin Cushney worked as a technology consultant for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. His body was tragically found near the 15th floor after the building was reduced to rubble.
Derek Sword was working for American finance firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods when the second jet went into the South Tower.
And Iain Gray was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when hijackers crashed the plane into the Pentagon.
Families and friends mark the anniversary each year honouring the Scottish lives lost.
On September 11, 2001 four planes flying over the eastern US were seized by small teams of hijackers.
They crashed into landmark buildings in New York and Washington. Two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York 17 minutes apart.
The horror moment the second plane hit is forever etched in the memories of people around the world who have never forgotten where they were as they watched in real time.
The blazing buildings trapped people on the upper floors as people watched helplessly on the ground. And, in less than two hours, both 110-storey towers were reduced to rubble collapsing into dust.
A third plane destroyed the western face of the Pentagon - the giant headquarters of the US military - just outside the nation’s capital, Washington DC.
The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. It is believed the hijackers had originally planned to target Washington’s Capitol Building.
When the first plane struck, an estimated 17,400 people were in the two towers. Nobody survived above the impact zone in the North Tower, but 18 managed to escape from the floors above the impact zone in the South Tower.
Citizens of 77 different countries were among the casualties. New York City lost 441 first responders.