Chilling footage shows the aftermath of teen who tried to recreate 9/11 by flying an airplane into a skyscraper
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Fox13
Just a matter of months after the tragic 9/11 terrorists attacks in New York, a teen deliberately crashed a plane into a skyscraper.
In January 2002, high school student Charles J. Bishop was inspired by the tragic events of 9/11 and decided that he wanted to recreate it.
On January 5, he was having a flying lesson when the15-year-old's flight instructor left him at the plane to perform basic preflight inspection.
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But this is when things took a chilling turn.
Once the teen was left alone in the aircraft, he started the engine and took off without permission.
Air traffic controllers alerted the United States Coast Guard and MacDill Air Force Base as soon as Bishop took to the skies on the unauthorised flight, with the teen pilot receiving repeated warnings from a helicopter dispatched by the Coast Guard.
However, Bishop decided to ignore the instructions and subsequently crashed the plane between the 28th and 29th floors of the 42-story Bank of America tower in Tampa.
The only casualty from the incident was Bishop.
In their subsequent investigations, police found a suicide note, where he issued his support for Osama Bin Laden.
Bin Laden and al-Qaida have been held responsible for the harrowing September 11 attacks which claimed the lives of around 3,000 people.
Tampa Police Chief Bennie Holder told reporters the note was found on Bishop's body.
"I would characterise it as a suicide note," he told reporters of the handwritten note at the time.
"(Bishop) did ... make a statement expressing his sympathy for Osama bin Laden and the event which occurred on September 11, 2001.
" At this time there is no information to support Bishop's connection with any terror organisation ... all the indications are Charles Bishop was a troubled young man who acted alone without anyone else."
Holder added: "The young man Charles Bishop is best described as a young man who had very few friends and was very much a loner ... a troubled young man."
The perhaps less known story has recently resurfaced thanks to a post on X by the Morbid Knowledge account.
Footage attached to the social media post showcases the chilling aftermath of the crash.
Emergency services can be seen attending the site in the news clip, while parts of the plane wreckage are strewn on the ground.