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The clock remains frozen in time at just after 9.30am.

That's when the gang of Al-Qaeda hijackers plunged American Airlines flight 77 into the Pentagon killing all 64 people on board and 125 in the building.

America will never forget Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when a series of coordinated terror attacks left nearly 3,000 dead and changed the world forever.

This year the US marks 17 years since the atrocities.

The Department of Defence released an astonishing set of rarely-seen images last year to mark the anniversary.

How George Bush reacted as events unfolded

They include candid pictures of then-President George Bush as they horrific events unfolded.

(Image: Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Houlihan) (Image: Courtesy George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum) (Image: New York National Guard) (Image: National Archives photo) (Image: Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Larry A. Simmon)

In one he turns to watch a television which is showing the smouldering Twin Towers in the background, while in others he consults with his shell-shocked White House team.

President Bush was at Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when he learned of the attacks.

The pictures show his staff then huddled together on Air Force One as they returned to Washington.

(Image: National Archives photo)

(Image: Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Larry A. Simmon)

(Image: National Archives photo) (Image: Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library)

"We're at war"

One stunning images captures Bush meeting firefighters, police and rescue workers at the scene of the World Trade Centre attack.

Notes taken by Bush's press secretary Ari Fleischer recently revealed that one of the first remarks the President made was: "We’re at war.

"When we find out who did this, they’re not going to like me as president. Somebody’s going to pay."

(Image: National Archives photo) (Image: National Archives photo) (Image: Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library) (Image: Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cedric H. Rudisill) (Image: Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library) (Image: Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library)

(Image: Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Pendergrass)

Also last year, the FBI released never-seen-before images of the Pentagon in the aftermath of the attack.

It was the first significant attack on a Washington government building for almost 200 years.

(Image: Courtesy George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum) (Image: FBI)

(Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI)

FBI cops can be seen ducking down behind a wall as they struggle to comprehend the horror in front of them.

Later, firefighters desperately attempt to extinguish the huge fireball caused by the passenger jet slamming into the building.

A gaping hole has opened up where military and civilian staff had previously been going about their morning's work.

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(Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI)

In the days that followed, investigators in HAZMAT suits inspect the charred remains of the plane and the building.

The intensity of the blaze melted windows, computers and even steel girders, leaving more like a Dali painting than an office.

Amid the huge amount of debris, some of it is recognisably from the American Airlines flight.

(Image: FBI) (Image: Getty) (Image: FBI)

(Image: FBI)

A part of the fuselage appears to have the letter 'C' on the side.

Combined with the attacks on the World Trade centre, the 9/11 atrocity was the worst single act of terrorism in history.

They killed 2,996 and injured more than 6,000.

(Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI) (Image: FBI)

This article originally appeared online on September 11, 2017.