AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The meme template 'A Second Plane Has Hit The X', alternately known as 'A Second X Has Hit The Y', is built upon a phrase associated with the September 11th terror attacks. It involves the substitution and alteration of elements in the phrase "A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack," which was originally used during the 9/11 events to describe the second attack. The meme format, which derives from a broader theme related to news coverage of the 9/11 events, is used to create a variety of humorous or dramatic scenarios by replacing the subjects and actions in the original statement.

OriginWho did it first?

The phrase "a second plane has hit" found a memetic usage first on December 9th, 2019, by a Twitter (now X) user @Silver_FalconSA with a tweet saying, "A second dragon plane has hit the tower. #PokemonSwordShield #NintendoSwitch," referencing the game Pokemon Sword & Shield. The meme became more widely recognized following another post on March 22nd, 2022, by Twitter (now X) user @LiberacesWraith, who tweeted 'a second plane has just hit the queen.' This humorous misdirection garnered significant attention. A subsequent notable instance involved a Twitter (now X) user @linaposting on July 7th, who tweeted, 'my God, a second Shinzo Abe just hit the north tower,' further popularizing the format with a variety of similarly structured tweets.^[1]

Origin: 2019