American Airlines and its CR Smith Museum are making an extensive collection of artefacts related to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks available to national memorial institutions, as the aviation sector marks 25 years since the events that transformed air travel and security.
The initiative honours those aboard American Airlines Flights 11 and 77, as well as the thousands of other people killed in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
NEW YORK, 11 Sept. 2001
— UPDATEBOYZ (@Updateboyx) September 11, 2026
United Airlines Flight 175, hijacked after takeoff from Boston, strvck the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. The recorded images of that impact remain among the clearest public records of the day. They exist so the event is not reduced to… pic.twitter.com/nZjBWiM4ON
“9/11 forever changed our airline, our industry and our world,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. “Over the years, our team has worked to honor the legacy of those lost, preserve their memories and shed light on the remarkable showing of care, resilience and humanity that followed that dark day.”
The CR Smith Museum, located at the airline’s campus in Fort Worth, Texas, currently holds more than 1,000 objects connected to the attacks and the response that followed. American and the museum now plan to make additional material available to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York through donations or expanded long-term loans.
Among the objects is an American flag that was passed from flight deck to flight deck on the airline’s aircraft in the weeks following 9/11 as a symbol of unity and resilience. The collection also includes memorial quilts and hundreds of messages sent from around the world expressing support for those who lost their lives, the airline and the wider aviation industry.
Other American Airlines artefacts are already held by the New York museum, including aircraft fragments, employee identification cards and boarding passes recovered from Ground Zero. More than 27 million people have visited the National September 11 Memorial & Museum since it opened to the public in May 2014.
“While these items have served as a powerful educational resource for our team members and the public who have visited the CR Smith Museum over the past several years, their appropriate home should be where they can reach the broadest possible audience and contribute to the ongoing mission of remembrance and education,” Isom said.
Preserving the memory for new generations
The transfer comes at a moment when an increasing proportion of the population has no personal memory of the attacks. According to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, more than 100 million Americans were either born after 11 September 2001 or were too young at the time to remember what happened.
“With over 100 million Americans born after or too young to remember 9/11, our mission to ‘never forget’ is even more essential,” said Beth Hillman, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
American Airlines is also supporting the museum’s Never Forget Fund, which finances remembrance programming and educational activities.
In Washington, the airline is providing financial support to the Pentagon Memorial Fund and its planned 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center. The project is due to reach an important milestone in 2026 with the start of construction and will provide a permanent educational space dedicated to the 184 people killed aboard American Airlines Flight 77 and at the Pentagon.
American and the CR Smith Museum are also examining their collections for objects that could eventually be donated to the new centre, particularly material documenting the airline’s response to and recovery from the attack on the Pentagon.
Aviation sector remembers passengers and crews
The 25th anniversary has particular significance for the aviation industry. All passengers and crew aboard the four hijacked aircraft were killed, while the attacks triggered fundamental changes to airport screening, cockpit protection and the wider international approach to aviation security.
American’s large-scale preservation initiative is being accompanied by commemorations elsewhere in the sector. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 80,000 pilots, is holding a remembrance ceremony on 11 September honouring the crews of American Airlines Flights 11 and 77 and United Airlines Flights 175 and 93.
Its anniversary programme also recalls the changes to cockpit security that followed the attacks, including the introduction of reinforced flight-deck doors.
At the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers, the US National Park Service is holding several days of commemorative and educational activities from 9 to 13 September.
Aviation museums are also participating in the anniversary, including Aviation Heritage Park & Museum in Kentucky, which is holding a ceremony to remember the victims and recognise those who responded to the attacks.
An industry transformed by 9/11
The commemorations come as aviation reflects not only on those who died but also on how profoundly the attacks changed the experience of flying.
As Travel Tomorrow reported this week, 25 years after 9/11, some of the security restrictions introduced in the aftermath are beginning to evolve. The US Transportation Security Administration is allowing non-ticketed visitors to access secure gate areas at 13 airports through its new Gateside programme, under strict conditions.
Before 9/11, friends and relatives could routinely accompany travellers to airport gates. That largely disappeared after the attacks, alongside a much wider overhaul of aviation security.
The return of limited gate access provides a striking contrast with the immediate post-9/11 era. Security remains significantly more sophisticated, but new screening technology and trusted-traveller programmes are allowing authorities to reconsider some of the restrictions that have defined air travel for a quarter of a century.
For American Airlines, however, this year’s anniversary is principally about preserving the human stories behind an event that permanently changed the company and its employees.
The airline itself is marking another historic milestone in 2026, celebrating its centenary. Yet the events of 11 September 2001 remain among the most consequential in its 100-year history.
By moving more of its collection into institutions dedicated to public remembrance, American is seeking to ensure that the story remains accessible as the generation with first-hand memories of 9/11 gradually becomes smaller.
