9-11 Attacks: Timeline, Facts, and Resources
September 11, 2001, often referred to by many as “9/11,” was the date of the deadliest attack by foreign enemies on the United States. At 8:46 that morning, an American Airlines flight that had been commandeered by hijackers on a Boston to Los Angeles flight crashed into the north tower of New York City’s 110-story World Trade Center. Below you will find a timeline of the 9/11 attacks along with facts and quotes about the events that happened before, during, and after this horrible attack on the US. Below the timeline of events you will find resources about the attacks along with links to sites that explore the physics of 9/11 and the conspiracy theories that were brought up due to what conspiracy theorist thought were strange inconsistencies.
Timeline of the 911 Attacks
6:02: Mohamed Atta travels Colgan Air from Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine to Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, along with Abdulaziz al-Omari.
6:45: Atta and al-Omari arrive at Boston’s Logan Airport.
7:35: Atta and al-Omari board American Airlines Flight 11.
7:59: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport, bound for Los Angeles, California.
8:13: Flight 11 has its last routine communication with the FAA’s air traffic control center in Boston.
8:14: United Airlines Flight 175, another fully-fueled Boeing 767, carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members, departs from Boston Logan airport, also bound for Los Angeles.
8:19: Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11 alerts American Airlines via an airphone, “The cockpit is not answering, somebody’s stabbed in business class—and I think there’s Mace—that we can’t breathe—I don’t know, I think we’re getting hijacked.”
8:20: The Federal Aviation Administration’s Boston Center flight controllers decide that Flight 11 has been hijacked.
8:20: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 departs from Washington Dulles International Airport in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, for Los Angeles.
8:21: Flight 11′s transponder signal is turned off, but the plane remains on radar screens as a blip without additional information.
8:24: Flight 11 makes a 100-degree turn to the south heading toward New York City. A radio transmission comes from Flight 11: “We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you’ll be okay. We are returning to the airport.” It is believed Atta mistakenly held a button directing his voice to radio rather than to the plane’s cabin as he intended. A few seconds later, Atta’s voice says, “nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you’ll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.” Air traffic controllers hear the transmission.
8:25: Boston Center flight controllers alert other flight control centers regarding Flight 11.
8:34: A third transmission from Flight 11: “nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don’t try to make any stupid moves.”
8:34: Dan Bueno from Boston Center notifies the tower controller at Otis Air National Guard Base at Cape Cod of the hijacking of Flight 11.
8:37: Flight 175 confirms sighting of hijacked Flight 11 to flight controllers, 10 miles to its south.
8:37:52: Boston Center control notifies NEADS of the hijacking of Flight 11, the first notification received by NORAD that American 11 had been hijacked.
8:42: United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757, takes off with 37 passengers and seven crew members from Newark International Airport, bound for San Francisco International Airport, following a 40-minute delay due to congested runways.
8:42 to 8:46: Flight 175 is hijacked.
8:44: Flight attendant Amy Sweeney, aboard Flight 11, reports by telephone to Michael Woodward at the American Airlines Flight Services Office in Boston, “Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent… we are all over the place.” A minute later, Woodward asks her to describe what she sees out the window. She responds, “I see the water. I see the buildings. I see buildings…” After a short pause, she reports, “We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low.” Seconds later she says, “Oh my God, we are way too low.” The call ends with a burst of very loud, sustained static.
8:46: Two F-15 fighter jets are ordered to scramble from Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, intended to intercept Flight 11.
8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes at roughly 490 mph into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99.
8:46 to 10:28: At least 100 people, primarily in the North Tower, trapped by fire and smoke in the upper floors, jump to their deaths.
8:48:08: The first television report of an incident at the World Trade Center is broadcast locally in New York by WNYW less than two minutes after the plane crashed into the North Tower.
8:49:34: The first network television and radio reports of an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center.
8:50: NEADS is notified that a plane has struck the World Trade Center as they continue to locate the flight on radar.
8:50 to 8:54: Hijacking begins on Flight 77.
8:51: A flight controller at the FAA’s New York Center notices that Flight 175 had changed its transponder code twice four minutes earlier; he tries to contact the flight.
8:52: A flight attendant aboard Flight 175 calls a United Airlines office in San Francisco, reporting that the flight had been hijacked, both pilots had been killed, a flight attendant had been stabbed, and the hijackers were probably flying the plane.
8:52: The F-15s at Otis Air National Guard Base are airborne.
8:54: Flight 77 deviates from its assigned course, turning south over Ohio.
8:55: Announcements are made over the building-wide PA system by officials in the still-undamaged South Tower of the World Trade Center, reporting that the building is “secure” and that people should return to their offices.
8:55: President George W. Bush is at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida as part of a scheduled visit to promote education when presidential advisor Karl Rove, who is with Bush, informs him that a small twin-engine plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
8:56: The transponder on Flight 77 is turned off and even primary radar contact with the aircraft is lost. During radar blackout Flight 77 turns east, unnoticed by flight controllers.
8:58: Flight 175 takes a heading toward New York City.
9:01 to 9:02: A manager from the FAA’s New York Center tells the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, “We have several situations going on here. It’s escalating big, big time. We need to get the military involved with us. . . We’re, we’re involved with something else, we have other aircraft that may have a similar situation going on here.”
9:01: FAA’s New York Center contacts New York terminal approach control and asks for help in locating Flight 175.
9:02: Evacuation is ordered by FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer.
9:03:04: Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, banked between floors 77 and 85.
9:03: President Bush enters a classroom as part of his school visit.
9:03: FAA’s New York Center notifies NORAD of the hijacking of Flight 175.
9:04: The FAA’s Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center stops all departures from airports in its jurisdiction.
9:05: After brief introductions to the Booker elementary students, President Bush is about to begin reading The Pet Goat with the students when Chief of Staff Andrew Card interrupts to whisper to the president, “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.” The president stated later that he decided to continue the lesson rather than alarm the students.
9:06: The FAA bans takeoffs of all flights bound to or through the airspace of New York Center from airports in that Center and the three adjacent Centers.
9:08: The FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through New York Center airspace.
9:13: The F-15 fighters from Otis Air National Guard Base leave military airspace near Long Island, bound for Manhattan.
9:14: President Bush returned to a holding room commandeered by the Secret Service shortly before 9:15.
9:15: NBC’s Today program reports unconfirmed statements from employees at United Airlines that an American Airlines aircraft had been hijacked previous to its destruction.
9:17: The FAA closes down all New York City-area airports
9:21: All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan closed.
9:23: Flight 93 receives warning message text from United Airlines flight dispatcher: “Beware any cockpit intrusion- Two aircraft hit World Trade Center.”
9:24: The FAA notifies NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector about the suspected hijacking of Flight 77.
9:25: The Otis-based F-15s establish an air patrol over Manhattan.
9:25: A video teleconference begins to be set up in the White House Situation Room, led by Richard A. Clarke, a special assistant to the president, that eventually includes the CIA, the FBI, the departments of State, Justice, and Defense, and the FAA.
9:25: The Associated Press informs CNN that the two plane crashes in the World Trade Center appeared to be an act of terrorism.
9:28: Hijackers storm the cockpit on Flight 93 and take over the flight. The entry of the hijackers is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland.
9:29: President Bush makes his first public statements about the attacks, in front of an audience of about 200 teachers and students at the elementary school.
9:32: A radio transmission from Flight 93 is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland: “Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board.”
9:32: Controllers at the Dulles Terminal Radar Approach Control in Virginia observe “a primary radar target tracking eastbound at a high rate of speed”, referring to Flight 77.
9:33 to 9:34: Tower supervisor at Reagan National Airport tells Secret Service operations center at the White House that “an aircraft is coming at you and not talking with us,” referring to Flight 77.
9:34: The FAA’s Command Center relays information concerning Flight 93 to FAA headquarters.
9:35: The President’s motorcade departs from the elementary school, bound for Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and Air Force One.
9:35: Flight 93 reverses direction over Ohio and starts flying eastwards.
9:35: Based on a report that Flight 77 had turned again and was circling back toward the District of Columbia, the Secret Service orders the immediate evacuation of the Vice President from the White House.
9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon and starts a violent fire.
9:39: Another radio transmission is heard from Ziad Jarrah aboard Flight 93: “Uh, this is the captain. Would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands. Please remain quiet.”
9:40: Video teleconference in White House Situation Room begins with the physical security of the President, the White House, and federal agencies.
9:43: The White House and the Capitol are evacuated and closed.
9:45: United States airspace is shut down.
9:50: The Associated Press reports that Flight 11 was apparently hijacked after departure from Boston’s Logan Airport.
9:52: The National Security Agency intercepts a phone call between a known associate of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and someone in the Republic of Georgia, announcing that he had heard “good news”, and that another target was still to be hit.
9:57: Passenger revolt begins on Flight 93.
9:57: President Bush leaves Sarasota, Florida, on Air Force One.
9:59:02: The South Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse, 55 minutes and 58 seconds after the impact of Flight 175.
10:00: Moments after the South Tower fell, Chief J. Pfeifer said on the radio the order to all firemen, at least twice, “Evacuate the building”.
10:01: The FAA Command Center advises FAA headquarters that an aircraft had seen Flight 93 “waving his wings,” the hijackers’ efforts to defeat the passengers’ counterattack.
10:02: Communicators with the Vice President in the security bunker begin receiving reports from the Secret Service of an inbound aircraft heading toward Washington. This is Flight 93.
10:02: CNN announces that the Sears Tower in Chicago has been evacuated.
10:03:11: United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:03: The National Military Command Center learns from the White House of Flight 93′s hijacking.
10:05: Andrea Mitchell, reporting on NBC from outside the Pentagon, reports that Osama bin Laden may have been involved in the attacks.
10:07: NBC reports for the first time that the South Tower of the World Trade Center has collapsed.
10:07: NEADS, controlling the only set of fighters over Washington, first learns of the hijacking of Flight 93.
10:08: Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon reports to FAA headquarters that Flight 93 may be down near Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
10:10: Part of the west side of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10: NEADS emphatically tells fighter pilots over Washington, “Negative clearance to shoot.”
10:10 to 10:15: Vice President Cheney, unaware that Flight 93 has crashed, authorizes fighter aircraft to engage the inbound plane, reported to be 80 miles from Washington, but speed and trajectory projections.
10:13 to 10:22: The 9/11 Commission’s estimated arrival of Flight 93 over Washington had it not crashed in Pennsylvania.
10:14 to 10:19: A lieutenant colonel at the White House repeatedly relays to the NMCC that the Vice President has confirmed that fighters are cleared to engage inbound aircraft if they can verify that the aircraft was hijacked.
10:20: President Bush, aboard Air Force One, tells Vice President Cheney that he has authorized a shootdown of aircraft if necessary.
10:28:25: The North Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse.
10:35: Air Force One, carrying the president, turns for Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana.
10:37: Associated Press reports that officials at the Somerset County airport confirm that a large plane has crashed in western Pennsylvania.
10:41: NBC News confirms that a plane has “gone down” in Somerset County.
10:43: CNN reports that a mass evacuation of Washington, D.C. and New York has been started.
10:50:25: The five stories of the Pentagon have collapsed.
11:00: Transport Canada halts all aircraft departures until further notice, except for police, military, and humanitarian flights, as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon.
11:05: The FAA confirms that several planes have been hijacked in addition to American Airlines Flight 11.
11:16: American Airlines confirms the loss of its two aircraft.
11:53: United Airlines confirms the loss of its two aircraft.
11:55: The border between the U.S. and Mexico is on highest alert.
12:04: Los Angeles International Airport, the intended destination of Flights 11, 77 and 175, is shut down.
12:15: San Francisco International Airport, the intended destination of Flight 93, is shut down.
12:15: The airspace over the 48 contiguous United States is clear of all commercial and private flights.
12:30: Secretary of State Colin Powell boards a plane in Lima, Peru, for Washington, D.C.
12:39: On CNN, Senator John McCain characterizes attack as an “act of war.”
12:41: Senator Orrin Hatch tells CNN, “Both the FBI and our intelligence community believe that this is Bin Laden’s signature.”
1:00: At the Pentagon, fire crews are still fighting fires.
1:04: President Bush puts the U.S. military on high alert worldwide.
1:27: Mayor Anthony A. Williams of Washington, D.C., declares a state of emergency; the District of Columbia National Guard arrives on site.
4:25: The New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the American Stock Exchange report that they will remain closed Wednesday September 12.
4:36: President Bush departs Offutt Air Force Base on Air Force One to return to Washington, D.C.
5:20: The penthouse on top of 7 World Trade Center crumbles apart, only about 6 seconds before the entire building would begin to collapse.
5:20:33: 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building that had sustained damage from falling debris and widespread fires, collapses.
6:00: Members of Congress join on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and sing “God Bless America”.
6:00: Iraq announces the attacks are the fruit of “U.S. crimes against humanity” in an official announcement on state television.
6:00: The last of the aircraft headed for the U.S. to land at a Canadian airport lands at Vancouver International.
6:54: President Bush arrives at the White House.
8:00: Port Authority Police Officer Will Jimeno, who was in an underground corridor between the two towers, is found alive in the rubble, and eventually freed at approximately 11:00 p.m.
8:30: President Bush addresses the nation from the White House.”Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts,” “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve,” and “The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts…we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”
The attacks on America were a tragic event that shaped many of the views and policies for both travel and security that we have today in American and throughout the free world.
Resources about 911 Attacks
Final 9/11 Commission Report
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002.
Commemorations and Information about 9/11
The FBI’s Investigation of the 9/11 attacks
Commission Records of 9/11
PDF about Racial Profiling Post 9/11 from the Chicago Law School
Nutty 9-11 Physics No amount of evidence will dissuade a conspiracy theorist, but when they appeal to scientific evidence, they’re fair game. And the 9-11 conspiracy sites have some very strange science.
I am a recent masters graduate from FL. I enjoy the beach, traveling, and writing. I just moved to South Carolina in hopes to find a job as a journalist.
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