September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks unfolded over 102 minutes in a highly coordinated strike, taking 2,996 lives. Four hijacked commercial aircraft made an ordinary Tuesday morning in America the deadliest terrorist attack, striking the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.
Early morning departures from three east coast airports
At three major airports, 19 al-Qaeda hijackers boarded four transcontinental flights, pre-selected large Boeing aircraft with full fuel tanks to cause maximal damage. American Airlines Flight 11 left Logan International Airport in Boston at 7:59, 14 minutes late. The Boeing 767 was carrying 76 passengers, 11 crew members, and 5 hijackers bound for Los Angeles. The aircraft was flown by ringleader Mohamed Atta into the North Tower.
United Airlines Flight 175 took off from Logan International Airport at 8:14 AM, also about 14 minutes behind schedule. The Boeing 767 had 51 passengers, 9 crew members, and 5 hijackers headed toward Los Angeles. Lead hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi would fly this plane into the South Tower.
American Airlines Flight 77 departed Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 A.M., a takeoff that was delayed 10 minutes. The Boeing 757 had 53 passengers, 6 crew members, and 5 hijackers, all destined for Los Angeles. This aircraft was flown into the Pentagon by Hani Hanjour.
United Airlines Flight 93 departed from Newark International Airport (Gate A17) at 8:42 A.M. Certainly, its departure was delayed 42 minutes due to air traffic congestion. The Boeing 757 had 33 passengers, 7 crew members, and went to San Francisco with 4 hijackers on board. The delayed departure would prove to be a crucial factor in determining the fate of this flight.
First impact was the North Tower
At 8:46 AM, American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center between Floors 93-99. At a speed of 440 mph, the Boeing 767 cut directly into the center of the tower, severing all three stairwells and trapping all below the impact zone. From the onset, the explosion was presumed by many as the crash of a small aircraft.
Second impact confirms terrorist attack
At 9:03 AM, seventeen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower between Floors 77-85. Flying at 590 mph, the strike unbalanced the weight distribution of the building. Viewers across the world live on television saw a second impact confirming that America is under attack.
The South Tower, which had been struck second, collapsed first at 9:58 AM, just 56 minutes after being hit. The North Tower remained standing for 102 minutes before collapsing at 10:28 AM.
Pentagon strike
9:37 AM saw American Airlines Flight 77 plunge into the west wall of the Pentagon. The Boeing 757 took the lives of all 64 people on board, as well as 125 Pentagon personnel. The impact ignited raging fires that lasted for days and caused the western section of the building to collapse.
Pennsylvania field crash
At 10:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 93 went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. After learning from calls with loved ones about the attacks, passengers and crew tried to wrest control of the cockpit from the hijackers, and during the battle, the plane crashed nose-first while inverted at 563 mph.
The aircraft left behind a crater 8-10 feet deep by 30-50 feet wide, with a debris field extended across 163 acres. All 44 on board were killed intact. Intelligence indicates that the original target of the hijackers was either the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
The heroic response
The precious few minutes Flight 93 was delayed might have saved the Capitol. The passengers had heard about the other attacks by way of cell phones and, in what could only be described as an act of supreme bravery, chose to fight back. Todd Beamer and the others, using cell phones, were able to get a sense of what was happening and organized a counterattack against the hijackers that prevented the airplane from reaching any target in Washington.
The least-old victim was Christine Lee Hanson, a 2½-year-old girl aboard Flight 175, and the oldest was Robert Norton, aged 85, aboard Flight 11. The attacks changed American security protocol and foreign policy forever: a turning point in contemporary history.
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