Exactly 23 years ago, on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, at around 9 AM New York time, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes shortly after takeoff. In addition to the two planes that crashed into the Twin Towers, causing their collapse, another plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth was diverted to a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly three thousand people lost their lives in these attacks.
Daniel Levin, a former officer in Sayeret Matkal, attempted to take control of the plane that crashed into the North Tower. Levin, who was a computer scientist and an Israeli-American entrepreneur—founder of Akamai Technologies—was en route to a business meeting that day. The plane he was on was the first to be hijacked and crashed into the North Tower.
According to an FBI report, based on conversations with the plane's crew during the hijacking, Daniel was murdered by one of the hijackers during the takeover. He was stabbed in the neck while trying to stop the attackers, making him one of the first casualties on that tragic day. Levin was 31 years old at the time of his death and left behind a wife, two sons, parents, and two brothers.
