American Airlines and the CR Smith Museum are honoring those on board Flight 11 and Flight 77 and the thousands of lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by making the airline and museum’s 9/11 collection available to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and providing financial support through The Never Forget Fund. American is also supporting the future National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center through financial contributions and the donation of artifacts from the airline’s care related to the events at the Pentagon.

“9/11 forever changed our airline, our industry and our world,” said American’s 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.”

Ensuring generations never forget

Since opening to the public in May 2014, more than 27 million visitors to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have viewed artifacts related to American, including aircraft fragments, team member identification cards and boarding passes recovered at Ground Zero that help tell the story of the day and its lasting effect.

These artifacts on long-term loan to the Museum have helped to support its important mission to preserve the history of the events of Sept. 11 while ensuring future generations understand the profound effect of that day.

Expanding access to American’s 9/11 collection

The CR Smith Museum, located on American’s Robert L. Crandall Campus in Fort Worth, Texas, currently houses more than 1,000 additional artifacts connected to the events of Sept. 11 and the extraordinary outpouring of support that followed from the aviation industry and global community.

“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,” continued Isom.

American and the CR Smith Museum plan to make additional artifacts from their collections available to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, whether through donation or an expansion of the current long-term loan. These additional artifacts include items such as:

• A flag passed from flight deck to flight deck of American’s aircraft as a symbol of resilience, unity and support in the weeks following Sept. 11
• Memorial quilts crafted in honor of those lost
• Hundreds of pieces of correspondence from around the globe that demonstrate an outpouring of support for those lost, the airline and the aviation industry

“With over 100 million Americans born after or too young to remember 9/11, our mission to ‘never forget’ is even more essential,” said President & CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Beth Hillman. “We are grateful to American Airlines and the CR Smith Museum for supporting our commitment to remembering the courage and resilience shown that day, honoring those who perished and preserving the stories of September 11th for future generations.”

American is also supporting The Never Forget Fund in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Funds will support this year’s remembrance programming and support the Museum’s mission of education.

Supporting the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center

American is also financially supporting the Pentagon Memorial Fund and its mission to honor the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon on 9/11.

This year, the Pentagon Memorial Fund will mark an important milestone with the groundbreaking of the Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center, a future space dedicated to preserving the stories, lessons and lasting impact of the attacks.

“We are incredibly grateful for American’s pivotal support in making the Visitor Education Center a reality,” said Executive Director of the Pentagon Memorial Fund Joseph E. Kornhoff. “When complete, the Pentagon Memorial’s Visitor Education Center will provide a permanent space to honor the victims from that day and ensure that the courage, sacrifice and history of that day are forever etched into the granite of time.”

As the project moves forward, American looks forward to exploring opportunities to support the Visitor Education Center’s mission to educate and inspire future generations.

The airline and CR Smith Museum are exploring artifacts within their collections that may help bolster the Visitor Education Center’s efforts to educate visitors about American’s response to, and recovery from, the events of that tragic day.