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6:45-7:45AM: The 19 hijackers pass through airport
security checkpoints to board their flights at Boston Logan, Newark and
Washington Dulles airports. At Logan International Airport in Boston,
three of the five hijackers from American Airlines Flight 11 are
selected by CAPPS (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System)
which identifies passengers subject to special security measures. Their
luggage is held off the plane briefly but they are permitted to board.
United Flight 175 also boards at Logan Airport, but no hijackers are
stopped for search. At Washington Dulles Airport three of the hijackers
are also flagged by CAPPS before boarding American Airlines Flight 77
but are not stopped. Before boarding United Flight 93 at Newark Liberty
International Airport, only Ahmed al Haznawi is selected by CAPPS. His
bag is screened for explosives but he is not stopped.
7:59AM: American Airlines Flight 11 departs Logan International Airport
en route to Los Angeles International Airport. The plane is carrying 81
passengers, two pilots and nine flight attendants.
8:14AM: United Airlines Flight 175 departs 14 minutes late from Logan
International Airport en route to Los Angeles International Airport. The
plane is carrying 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants.
8:19AM: A flight attendant on Flight 11 alerts American Airlines of a
hijacking in progress.
8:25AM: In accordance with federal aviation protocol, Boston Center
traffic control managers started notifying their chain of command that
American 11 had been hijacked.
8:42AM: United Airlines Flight 93 departs 42 minutes late due to runway
congestion from Newark International Airport en route to San Francisco
International Airport. The plane is carrying 37 passengers, two pilots
and five flight attendants.
8:45AM: United Airlines Flight 175 is taken over by five hijackers who
use knives, Mace and the threat of a bomb. Both pilots are killed and
the plane is diverted southward to New York City.
8:46AM: American Airlines Flight 11 crashes at a speed of roughly 470
mph into the north side of the North Tower of the World Trade Center,
between floors 93 and 99. The impact of the crash incinerates everything
in its way, including wallboards, filing cabinets and computers.
8:54AM: American Airlines Flight 77 is hijacked by five terrorists using
knives and box cutters to enter the cockpit. The plane is diverted
toward Washington, D.C.
9:03AM: United Airlines Flight 175 crashes at a speed of about 590mph
into the south side of the South Tower of the World Trade Center,
crashing through the 77th and 85th floors. By this time, several media
organizations are covering the first plane crash and millions see the
impact live.
9:28AM: United Airlines Flight 93 is hijacked.
9:32AM: A man on United Airlines Flight 93 transmits a message to what
he believes to be only the passengers, but is overheard by air traffic
control: “Ladies and gentlemen, hear the captain, please sit down, keep
remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit.”
9:37AM: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the southwestern side
of the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. All on board all killed, as are 125
Pentagon personnel.
9:59AM: After burning for approximately 56 minutes from the impact of
Flight 175, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses,
covering lower Manhattan in a gray-white cloud of dust and debris.
10:03AM: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a coal-mining area
southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pa.
10:10AM: A large section of the west side of the Pentagon collapses.
10:28AM: As if being split down the center, the North Tower of the World
Trade Center collapses from the top down. This second collapse is also
viewed live on television and heard on radio.
5:20PM: After being damaged by the collapse of the North and South
Towers, the evacuated 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center
complex collapses. Other nearby buildings continue to burn.
8:30PM: President Bush addresses the nation, saying, “thousands of
lives were suddenly ended by evil” and asks for prayers for the families
and friends of the victims. “These acts shattered steel, but they cannot
dent the steel of American resolve,” he says. The president says the
U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who
committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government
offices in Washington have reopened for essential personnel Tuesday
night and for all workers Wednesday.
Most of the elements of this timeline were drawn from the “The 9/11
Commission Report: The Final Report of the National Commission on Terror
Attacks Upon the United States, Authorized Edition” by the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks.
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