Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks of 2001, in addition to being a unique act of terrorism, constituted a media event on a scale not seen since the advent of civilian global satellite links. Instant worldwide reaction and debate were made possible by round-the-clock television news organizations and by the internet. As a result, most of the events listed below were known by a large portion of the world's population as they occurred.

All times given are in Eastern Time Zone (EDT), or UTC−04:00.

Major events

7:59 a.m.:

.

8:14: United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, with registration number N612UA carrying 56 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 9 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Marwan al-Shehhi will pilot the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

8:14: Flight 11 is hijacked over central Massachusetts, turning first northwest, then south heading straight to New York.

8:20:

.

8:42: United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with registration number N591UA with 37 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 7 crew members, departs 42 minutes late from Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport), bound for San Francisco International Airport. Four hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot is Ziad Jarrah. At this time, Flight 175 is being hijacked and Flight 11 is about to descend to New York and is 4 minutes away from crashing.

8:42–8:46 (approx.): Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of New York City, continuing southwest briefly before turning back to the northeast. At this time estimate, Flight 11 is about to descend over New York and is just minutes away from crashing.

8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99. All passengers aboard are instantly killed with an unknown number inside the building. The aircraft enters the tower intact.^[1]

8:50–8:54 (approx.): Flight 77 is hijacked above southern Ohio, turning to the southeast. The transponder is turned off by hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour.

9:03:02: Flight 175 crashes into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85. All passengers and crew are killed together with an unknown number inside the building. Parts of the plane, including the starboard engine, leave the building from its east and north sides, falling to the ground six blocks away.^[1][2] Out of the four attacks, it is the only one witnessed by a live television audience and confirms that the North Tower had been deliberately attacked.

9:28: Flight 93 is hijacked above northern Ohio, turning to the southeast.

9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of The Pentagon. All 59 passengers and crew are killed aboard the aircraft including an additional 125 (including emergency workers) on the ground. The crash starts a violent fire.^[1]

9:45: United States airspace is shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration; all operating aircraft are ordered to land at the nearest airport, and international flights are not permitted into the airspace.

9:57: The passengers aboard Flight 93 begin a revolt, planned by Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, and others, moving against the hijackers in an attempt to take back the plane.

9:59:00: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. Impact speed is considered one of the likely factors during its much faster collapse unlike that of the North Tower.^[1]

10:03:11: Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers as a result of fighting in the cockpit 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Later reports indicate that passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes and were resisting the hijackers. The 9/11 Commission believed that Flight 93's target was either the United States Capitol building or the White House in Washington, D.C. but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claims that the United States Capitol was the main target.^[1]

10:28:25: The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11. The Marriott Hotel, located at the base of the two towers, is also destroyed.^[1][3]

10:50:19: All five stories of the Pentagon on the West side where American 77 crashed collapses due to the fire started by the crash.

5:20:33 p.m.: 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building, collapses after fires started inside the building.

Detailed timeline of events

5:00 a.m.

5:01: Ziad Jarrah in Newark calls Marwan al-Shehhi in Boston; this call was most likely to confirm the hijackers were ready to carry out the attacks.^[4]

6:00 a.m.

6:00: Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari travel on Colgan Air Flight 5930 from Portland International Jetport in Maine to Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts.^[5]

6:00: Polls open for primaries for the New York City mayoral elections, as well as other local offices.^[1]

6:31: President Bush goes for an early-morning jog around the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, Florida, where he and his staff had spent the night.^[6]

6:45: Atta and al-Omari arrive at Logan International Airport.^[5]

6:52: Al-Shehhi calls Atta from another terminal at Logan to confirm that the plans for the attack are set.^[5]

7:00 a.m.

7:04–7:40: Jarrah and his hijacking team arrive at Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport) and check in for United Airlines Flight 93.

7:15: Khalid al-Mihdhar and Majed Moqed arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport and check in for American Airlines Flight 77.

7:18: al-Mihdhar and Moqed arrive at the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport. Both set off alarms and are consequently given a more thorough search.

7:23–7:28: Al-Shehhi and his hijacking team board Flight 175.

7:35–7:40: Atta and his hijacking team board American Airlines Flight 11.^[7]

7:35: Hani Hanjour arrives at the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport. He passes through the checkpoint without suspicion or setting off any alarms.

7:39–7:48: Jarrah and his hijacking team board Flight 93.

7:40: Flight 11 is pushed back from Gate B32 at Logan International Airport.

7:50: Hanjour and his four fellow hijackers board Flight 77.

7:58: United Airlines Flight 175 is pushed back from Gate C19 at Logan International Airport.

7:59: Flight 11, a Boeing 767 carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston. Its destination is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California.^[8]

8:00 a.m.

8:00: President Bush has his daily intelligence briefing. The material is routine, mostly concerning the

8:01: United Airlines Flight 93 is pushed back from Gate A17 at Newark International Airport.

8:09: Flight 77 is pushed back from Gate D26 at Dulles International Airport.

8:13–8:20:^[9] Flight 11 is hijacked. Waleed and Wail al-Shehri rise from seats 2A and 2B and stab flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui. Atta rises from seat 8D and approaches the cockpit. Passenger Daniel Lewin rises from seat 9B and tries to stop Atta but is fatally stabbed by hijacker Satam al-Suqami, who sat in 10B. The hijackers also spray Mace in the first and business class cabins, forcing everyone in those sections to vacate to the back of the airplane. Flight attendant Madeline Amy Sweeney reports being shown a bomb by one of the hijackers.

8:13:35: Flight 11 has its last routine communication with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center^[10] (hereinafter "Boston Center").

Boston Center: American 11, turn twenty degrees right.

American Airlines Flight 11: Turning right, American 11.^[11]

8:13:52: Boston Center Sector 46 controller Pete Zalewski instructs Flight 11 to climb to 35,000 feet twice, but receives no reply. He informs the Athens Sector controller that the flight is "NORDO" (no radio). Boston Center continues to attempt to re-establish contact with the flight without success.^[11]

8:14: Flight 175, another fully fueled Boeing 767, carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members, also departs from Logan International Airport in Boston; its destination is also Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are aboard. One of them, most likely al-Shehhi, communicated with Mohamed Atta shortly before American Airlines Flight 11's takeoff.^[10]

8:19:

8:20: Boston Center flight controllers decide that Flight 11 has probably been hijacked.

8:20: Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 58 passengers and six crew members, departs from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are aboard.

8:21: Flight 11's transponder signal is turned off, but the flight can still be tracked via primary radar by Boston Center; prior to the 9/11 Commission's report, news organizations reported this time as 8:13 or immediately thereafter.

8:24: A radio transmission comes from Flight 11: "Eh..... We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport." It is believed that Atta mistakenly held a button directing his voice to radio rather than to the plane's cabin as he intended. A few seconds later, a second transmission is received, in which Atta says "Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."

8:26:30: Flight 11 makes a 100-degree turn to the south, following the Hudson River toward New York City.^[12]

8:29:24: Boston Center alerts the neighboring

(NORAD) is not yet alerted.

8:33: Flight 175 reaches its assigned cruising altitude of 31,000 feet.

8:33:59: A third transmission from Atta onboard Flight 11: "Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."

8:34: Boston Center traffic manager Dan Bueno notifies the tower controller at

8:37: Flight 175 confirms sighting of hijacked Flight 11 to flight controllers, 10 miles (16 km) to its south.

8:37:30: Flight 11 begins a rapid descent at 3,200 feet per minute, starting from an altitude of 29,000 feet. This descent continues until the moment of impact with the North Tower. Half a minute later, having descended one thousand feet, the flight makes a slight southward turn.[16]

8:37:52: Boston Center control notifies NEADS of the hijacking of Flight 11, the first notification received by NORAD that Flight 11 had been hijacked. The controller requests military help to intercept the jetliner. As NEADS is running a training exercise at that point, it inquires as to the veracity of the request, with Boston Center responding that it is "not an exercise, not a test."^[17]

8:41: The FAA's New York Center requests information about Flight 11 over the radio. Flight 175 responds: "We heard a suspicious transmission on our departure out of Boston with someone, [it] sounded like someone keyed the mic and said: 'everyone stay in your seats'".^[18] New York Center acknowledges and says it will pass the information on.

8:41: NEADS drives two fighter pilots at Otis Air National Guard Base to battle stations.

8:42: Flight 93, a Boeing 757, takes off with 37 passengers and seven crew members from Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport), bound for San Francisco International Airport, following a 42-minute delay due to congested runways. Four hijackers are aboard. Its flight path initially takes it close to the World Trade Center, which is within four minutes of being struck, before moving away westbound. All four planes are now in the air.

8:42–8:46 (approx.): In the skies over northern New Jersey, Flight 175 is hijacked. Most likely, two of the "muscle hijackers", Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri, make the first moves, stabbing a flight attendant and then storming the cockpit, killing both pilots. Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi then order remaining passengers and crew to the back of the plane, allowing their leader, Marwan al-Shehhi, to take control. ^[19]

8:43:30: While descending at 10,000 feet, Flight 11 makes a final turn, turning south-southwestward towards New York City, aiming for the World Trade Center.^[20]

8:44–8:46:^[a] 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.

8:46:40:^[a] Flight 11 crashes almost directly midway into the North Tower's central core at roughly 440 miles per hour (710 km/h; 200 m/s; 380 kn),^[24] striking the center of the north face between floors 93 and 99. Hundreds are killed instantly, including everyone on the plane and countless others inside the North Tower. The impact gouges a plane-shaped hole spanning nearly the width of the skyscraper and triggers an explosion that can be seen and heard for miles. At least 166 windows are broken in the North Tower.^[25] The blast also shatters windows in the adjacent South Tower as its western and northern facades are battered by debris.^[26] Sweltering heat is felt by South Tower occupants across from the burning floors,^[27] and the smoke, blowing southeast, seeps into the building through air vents.^[28] Additionally, Flight 11's explosion sends ignited jet fuel pouring down through various passages in the North Tower, causing fatal injuries nearly a hundred floors below when a fireball sweeps through the main lobby. Severed water pipes, collapsed walls, dislodged ceiling tiles and severed electrical wires are reported from the lobby to the 92nd floor.^[29] All three stairwells from the roof to the ground (labeled A, B and C) are clustered together in the impact region, with just 70 feet (21 metres) of space between each one. The impact of the plane, given its size, instantly severs all three. The 92nd floor, though technically the last floor below the impact zone, is also cut off from the rest of the tower due to the stairwells being blocked by debris from the impacted 93rd through 99th floors immediately above and the elevators being destroyed or inoperable from the 50th floor upward. People in both towers start to evacuate, but no one above the 91st floor of the North Tower is able to do so.

8:46:43: Chief of the New York City Fire Department's 1st Battalion, Joseph W. Pfeifer, makes the first fire department radio message advising the FDNY Manhattan Fire Dispatch Office of the crash. Chief Pfeifer and personnel from other fire companies were several blocks north, on the corner of Church Street and Lispenard Street investigating an odor of gas in the street, and witnessed the attack, along with Jules Naudet, who was accompanying the firefighters at the time:

Battalion 1 Chief (Chief Pfeifer): Battalion 1 to Manhattan.

Manhattan Dispatch: Battalion 1, K [go ahead].

Battalion 1 Chief (Chief Pfeifer): We just had a plane crash into the upper floor of the World Trade Center. Transmit a 2nd Alarm and start re-located companies into the area.

Manhattan Dispatch:

10-4

[message received], Battalion 1.

8:46:48: Two

fighter jets are ordered to scramble from Otis Air National Guard Base, intended to intercept Flight 11.

Sergeant Jeremy W. Powell: This is HUNTRESS with an active air defense scramble for Panta 45, 46, time 12:46, authenticate delta x-ray. Scramble immediately, Panta 45, 46, heading 280, flight level 290, contact HUNTRESS on frequency 228.9, back-up 364.2. All parties acknowledge with initials.^[32][33]

Because Flight 11's

is off, the pilots do not know the location of their target. When Flight 11 crashed, its track disappeared from radar. NEADS spends the next several minutes watching their radar screens in anticipation of Flight 11 returning a radar contact. However, unknown to NEADS at the time, Flight 11 has already impacted the North Tower. NEADS will not become aware of the crash at the World Trade Center until 8:50am.

8:48:08: WNYW breaks into a Paramount Pictures movie trailer for Zoolander to make the first broadcast report of an incident at the World Trade Center, less than two minutes after Flight 11's crash. One of the station's camera crews, already out on location at City Hall Park that morning for New York's mayoral primary election, takes the first live pictures of black smoke coming from the North Tower.^[34] As these pictures are broadcast, the voice of reporter Dick Oliver is heard as he reports from the scene to anchor Jim Ryan, who was not in the studio at the time:

Jim, just a few moments ago, something believed to be a plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. I just saw flames inside, you can see the smoke coming out of the tower; we have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom just a few moments ago. You can hear around me emergency vehicles heading towards the scene. Now this could have been an aircraft or it could have been something internal. It appears to be something coming from the outside, due to the nature of the opening on about the 100th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Three minutes later, Jim Ryan corrected the location of the first plane crash from the South Tower to the North Tower.

8:48:29: The first radio report of the incident is heard on WCBS-AM through traffic reporter Tom Kaminski. WCBS' traffic reports are delivered every ten minutes "on the 8s", meaning that Kaminski's traffic report was to come within two minutes of the initial impact of Flight 11 (although there is no record of how much time actually passed). At the time Kaminski was in "Chopper 880", WCBS' helicopter that he reports from for morning and evening rush hour traffic reports. The following consists of WCBS anchor Pat Carroll crossing to Kaminski in the chopper before he files his report.

Pat Carroll: WCBS news time, 8:48, it's traffic and weather together sponsored by Henry Miller's Theatre. Tom Kaminski, Chopper 880.

Tom Kaminski: Alright uh, Pat, we are just currently getting a look at the World Trade Center, We have something that has happened here at the World Trade Center. We noticed flame and an awful lot of smoke from one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We are just coming up on this scene, this is easily three-quarters of the way up. We are… This is… Whatever has occurred has just occurred, uh, within minutes and, uh, we are trying to determine exactly what that is. But currently we have a lot of smoke at the top of the towers of the World Trade Center, we will keep you posted.

8:49: The first report of an incident at the World Trade Center crosses the Associated Press newswire.

8:49:03: Local New York public radio station WNYC host Mark Hilan broadcasts that station's first report of the incident.

8:49:34: The first network television and radio reports of an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center. CNN breaks into a Ditech commercial at 8:49. The CNN screen subtitle first reads "WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER". Carol Lin, the first TV network anchor to break the news of the attacks, says:^[35]

This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is, once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

Just a minute later,

web servers remain operational, and their website shows a picture of the North Tower on fire. Minutes later, email news bulletins revise the reports of fire to a plane crash.

8:50: NEADS is notified that a plane has struck the World Trade Center as its on-duty personnel continue to try to locate Flight 11 on radar.

8:50: FDNY 1st Battalion chief Joseph Pfeifer is the first fire chief to enter the World Trade Center after the North Tower impact. He is joined by several FDNY companies on entry as he starts setting up command in the tower.[36]

8:50: Local New York radio station WOR news anchor Ed Walsh makes that station's first on-air report of the incident.

8:50: WCBS-TV in New York breaks away from the CBS network to cover the attack, with anchor Mike Pomeranz providing that station's first report.

8:50: On CNBC's Squawk Box, host Mark Haines is interviewing a mutual fund portfolio manager, Bill Nygren of the Oakmark Select Fund, when he sees pictures of the burning North Tower. "Is that the World Trade Tower?" he asks. He is told by staff that a plane had hit the tower.^[37] CNBC is the first NBC outlet to begin reporting on the disaster.

8:50: Local New York cable television channel NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan begins that channel's coverage of the incident.

8:50: Local New York radio station WABC news anchor George Weber broadcasts that station's first report of the incident.

8:50–8:54 (approx.): As it nears the border of West Virginia and Ohio, Flight 77 is hijacked. But unlike the other hijackings in which they killed members of the flight crew, the pilots of Flight 77 are sent to the back of the aircraft with all the other passengers and crew while Hani Hanjour takes the controls.

8:50:07: The traffic management units for Boston Center and New York Center state that they have both lost the primary target that they were tracking, referring to Flight 11. Roughly a minute later, New York Center passes on information supplied by Kennedy Tower about a fire at the World Trade Center.^[11][38]

New York Center: Kennedy Tower reports...you serious? Kennedy Tower reports that there was a fire at the World Trade Center. And that's, ah, that's the area where we lost the airplane.

8:50:47: Local New York television station WNBC breaks away from the NBC network to begin its coverage of the attack, with anchor Jane Hanson providing that station's initial report.

8:51–10:28:^[b] With Flight 11 leaving more than a thousand people still alive but trapped in the top 18 floors of the now-burning North Tower,^[40] some 100–200 people plummet from the skyscraper.^[41] Most of the victims witnessed falling are left with no choice but to take their own lives by jumping to escape the heat, smoke and flames,^[42] although some of the falls are accidents caused by people losing their grip or balance.^[43] No form of airborne evacuation is attempted as smoke is too dense for a successful landing on the roof of either tower.

8:51: ABC, the first terrestrial television network to break news of the attack, was airing Good Morning America in the eastern half of the country at the time. After returning from a commercial break, WABC-TV in New York breaks away from the ABC network, with anchor Steve Bartelstein beginning that station's own local coverage of the disaster, while on the network, GMA host Diane Sawyer makes this statement:

We want to tell you what we know, as we know it, but we just got a report in that there's been some sort of explosion at the World Trade Center in New York City. One report said, and we can't confirm any of this, that a plane may have hit one of the two towers of the World Trade Center, but again, you are seeing the live pictures here. We have no further details than that. We don't know anything about what they have concluded happened there this morning. But we're going to find out, and of course, make sure that everybody knows on the air.^[44]

Coverage of the incident began on the rest of the ABC network a minute later.

8:51: Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC News' Today, interrupts an interview with author Richard Hack and says to the audience, "We wanna go live right now, and show you a picture of the World Trade Center, where I understand... Do we have it?" However, NBC did not immediately have the picture ready and went to a regularly scheduled commercial break. They return with a shot of the burning tower.^[45]

8:51: GloboNews anchor Leila Sterenberg makes the first Brazilian television report of the first plane crash.^[46]

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. Another flight in the area, Delta Air Lines flight 1489, reports the sight of smoke coming from lower Manhattan to New York Center. This is the first word any pilots in flight receive of the incident.

8:51: New York City's Amateur Radio Emergency Service net is activated, with ham operators in the area assisting with emergency communications.^[47]

8:51:34: WINS-AM interrupts its 8:51 traffic report and anchor James Faherty relays word of the crash of Flight 11 to the listening audience, with the station having been notified by one of its employees who lives near the site.

8:52: Lee Hanson receives a phone call from his son, Peter, a passenger on United 175, who says: "I think they've taken over the cockpit—an attendant has been stabbed—and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines—tell them it's Flight 175, Boston to LA." Also on board Flight 175, a flight attendant calls a United Airlines office in Chicago, 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.^[48]

8:52: The F-15s at Otis Air National Guard Base are airborne. Still lacking an intercept vector to Flight 11 (and not aware that it has already crashed), they are sent to military controlled airspace off Long Island and ordered to remain in a holding pattern until between 9:09 and 9:13.

8:52: Anchor Chris Jansing makes the first announcement on MSNBC of a plane crash into the World Trade Center.

8:52: CBS interrupts The Early Show to report the news of the attack. Bryant Gumbel makes the announcement that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

8:52:

8:52: Sky News presenter Kay Burley breaks the news of the first plane crash to the UK.

8:52:50: Fox News comes back from a commercial break to report the attack. E. D. Hill informs viewers that a plane crashed into the North Tower.^[50]

8:53:

makes the first report of the incident over Australian television.

8:53:23: Business presenter

8:54: Flight 77 deviates from its assigned course, turning south over Ohio and then heads back east towards Washington DC.

8:54:

makes that channel's first report of the disaster. The channel does not start continuous coverage until 9:00.

8:54:

8:55 (approx.): An announcement is made over the building-wide

.

8:55: President George W. Bush arrives at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, as part of a scheduled visit to promote education and is reading The Pet Goat when White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who is with Bush, informs him that a small twin-engine plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Before entering the classroom, the President speaks to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who is at the White House. She first tells him it was a twin-engine aircraft—and then a commercial aircraft—that had struck the World Trade Center, adding "that's all we know right now, Mr. President."^[54]

8:56: Ten minutes after the North Tower of the World Trade Center was hit by Flight 11, 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. When primary radar information is restored at 9:05, controllers searching for Flight 77 to the west of its previous position are unable to find it.^[55] Flight 77 travels undetected for 36 minutes on a course heading due east toward Washington, D.C.

8:58: Flight 175 makes a final turn toward New York City.

8:59: Flight 175 passenger Brian Sweeney leaves a message via airphone to his wife Julie:

Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked. If things don't go well, and it's not looking good, I just want you to know I absolutely love you, I want you to do good, go have good times, same to my parents and everybody, and I just totally love you, and I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe. I hope I call you.

9:00 a.m.

9:00: The first French television report of the disaster is broadcast over La Chaîne Info by anchor Marianne Kottenhoff.^[56]

9:00: The first Spanish television report of the disaster is broadcast over Antena 3 by news anchor Matías Prats Luque.^[57]

9:00: Lee Hanson receives a second call from his son Peter, aboard Flight 175:

"It's getting bad, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They seem to have knives and Mace. They said they have a bomb. It's getting very bad on the plane. Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we are going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast. My God, my God."^[48]

The call ends abruptly, as Lee Hanson hears a woman scream.

9:01–9:02: A manager from the FAA's New York Center tells the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Virginia:

New York Center: We have several situations going on here. It's escalating big, big time. We need to get the military involved with us.

ATCSCC: 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

and asks for help in locating Flight 175. The flight is now in Central New Jersey headed for lower Manhattan.

9:01: News anchor Lynne White of local New York television station WPIX (channel 11) begins that station's report on the attack.^[58]

9:01: The first Japanese television report of the disaster is made over NHK Television by news anchor Masaaki Horio.

9:02: Evacuation of both World Trade Center towers is ordered by

9:02: Air traffic controllers at New York Center watch Flight 175 as it descends rapidly to a very low altitude.

9:03: Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph (950 km/h, 264 m/s or 513 knots) into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85.

Jim Ryan: As you look at the picture from our chopper now, arriving at the scene, uh, Jim Friedl in Hoboken, uh, said it appeared to bank sharply and smash directly, perhaps purposefully into... Oh, my goodness. There's another one. Oh, my goodness. There's another one!

Lyn Brown: This seems to be on purpose.

Jim Ryan: Oh, my goodness. Now you...

Kai Simonsen (WNYW helicopter reporter): Was that a plane?

Jim Ryan: Now it's obvious. I think that there's a second plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I think we have a terrorist act of proportions that we cannot begin to imagine at this juncture.

Kai Simonsen: Oh, my God.

Jim Ryan: My goodness, a second plane now has crashed into the other tower of the World Trade Center. Obviously, suicide terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. What we have... what we have been fearing... what we have been fearing for the longest time here apparently has come to pass. A disastrous terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Both towers, planes smashing into each one.

A massive evacuation begins in the South Tower below its impact zone. One of the stairwells in the South Tower remains unblocked from the top to the bottom of the tower because of the plane hitting at an offset from the vertical center line of the building, but it is filled with smoke. This leads many people to mistakenly go upwards towards the roof for a rooftop rescue that never comes. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey kept the two sets of heavy metal doors leading to the building's only roof exit tightly locked.^[69] The impact severs communication with several television and radio broadcast towers at the WTC; WPIX's satellite feed freezes on a still image of the second impact which is all the station broadcasts until alternate transmitters are set up hours later. The affected television stations' terrestrial signals go off the air, however, they continue to broadcast, with their signals still receivable through local cable TV systems in the area, and WCBS-TV having backup transmitter facilities atop the Empire State Building.

Because of the North Tower's obstruction of the South Tower from certain camera angles, some are initially unaware that a second plane has struck the South Tower, and instead mistakenly believe that the second explosion has occurred in the North Tower. As instant replays of the second plane crash are shown, the anchors on the three major broadcast networks speculate on whether they are witnessing a terrorist attack or some sort of very rare accident. CNN changes its headline to read "Second plane crashes into World Trade Center." The crash occurred as CNN was taking a feed from WABC-TV, and anchor Steve Bartelstein first assumed that the explosion seen was caused when the fuselage of the first plane exploded.

9:03:18: The FAA's New York TRACON stops all departures from airports in its jurisdiction. Ground movements at those airports are not yet stopped.^[70]

9:03: President Bush enters a classroom as part of his school visit.

9:03: FAA's New York Center notifies NORAD (NEADS) of the hijacking of Flight 175, at the same time it crashes.

9:04: Fox News anchor Jon Scott mentions Osama bin Laden as a possible suspect.

9:04 (approximately): 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."^[71] The president stated later that he decided to continue the lesson rather than alarm the students.

9:06: The FAA begins imposing blanket

.

9:08: The FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through New York Center airspace. ABC News reports later that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that runs the New York-area airports, asked the FAA for permission to close down the New York Center airspace.

9:11: The last

train leaves the World Trade Center. The station was vacant when the towers collapsed.

9:11: ABC News anchor Peter Jennings begins reporting on the disaster.

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 returns to an adjacent classroom commandeered by the

9:15: NBC News reports unconfirmed statements from employees at United Airlines that an American Airlines aircraft had been hijacked prior to its destruction.

9:17: The FAA closes down all New York City-area airports.^[73] The city had initially asked the FAA to close down the airports.

9:17:02: CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart in Washington mentions that in the intelligence community, Osama bin Laden is a probable suspect.

9:18:

was investigating a report of plane hijacking. CNN changes headline to read "AP: Plane was hijacked before crashes".

9:19: United 93 en-route to San Francisco is over Central Pennsylvania. United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger begins sending warning text messages to his flights: "Beware any cockpit intrusion—Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center." Because he was sending this warning to his 16 transcontinental flights, this takes several minutes.^[74] His message would not be received onboard United 93 for another 4 minutes.

9:21: All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan are closed.

to allow more people to evacuate the island.

9:21: Transport Canada, Canada's transportation agency, activates its Situation Centre (SitCen) in Ottawa.^[75]

9:23: Ballinger's warning message is sent to both Flight 93 and 175, and is received in the cockpit of Flight 93 a minute later.^[74][76]

9:24-9:38 (approximately): Three people either try to climb down or fall from a 79th floor window, 79-351, on the southern end of the South Tower's east face close to the southeast corner.^[77] One lands on firefighter Danny Suhr as he prepares to enter the South Tower, killing them both.^[78] Besides these three individuals, nobody else is seen falling from the South Tower that day―an obvious dissimilarity from the situation in the North Tower, where more than a hundred people continuously fell to their deaths for nearly the entire time it burned.

9:24: The FAA notifies NORAD (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 77. The FAA and NORAD establish an open line to discuss Flight 77, and shortly thereafter Flight 93.

9:25: ABC News correspondent John Nance mentions the possibility of the plane that hit the South Tower being a Boeing 767, among other types of planes.

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

.

9:25: The Associated Press informs CNN that the two plane crashes in the World Trade Center appeared to be an "act of terrorism".

9:26: The FAA bans takeoffs of all civilian aircraft regardless of destination—a national groundstop.

9:26: White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke indicates he gave the instruction to raise the worldwide force protection condition for U.S military bases at around this time. This is likely the earliest instance this actual order was issued. Other evidence suggests the threat condition increase took place in steps, with the next step occurring sometime over the next hour. See link [1]

9:26: Flight 93's pilot, Jason Dahl, replies to Ballinger's text message, "Ed, confirm latest mesg plz – Jason".^[74]

9:26: NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell reports to MSNBC anchor Lester Holt that a top U.S. government official informed her that one of the two planes that hit the Twin Towers was an American Airlines plane from Boston to Los Angeles that was hijacked.^[79]

9:28:05: Flight 93 suddenly begins to descend as hijackers storm the cockpit and take over the flight. The entry of the hijackers is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland. The flight descends roughly 700 feet before the autopilot corrects the altitude.^[80]

9:29: The FDNY's Citywide Tour Commander issues a total recall of the Department, ordering all off-duty firefighters in New York City to report to their fire stations.

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. He states that he will be going back to Washington. "Today, we've had a national tragedy," he starts. "Two airplanes… have crashed… into the World Trade Center… in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," and leads a moment of silence. No one in the President's traveling party has any information during this time that other aircraft were hijacked or missing.^[81]

9:30: Reuters reports that a plane was hijacked from Boston.

9:30: In the North Tower, six men escape express elevator Car 69-A. The elevator, which had been designed to traverse much of the building to reach the upper floors more quickly, had gotten stuck at the 50th Floor when Flight 11 hit the tower. With no exit at this floor, window cleaner Jan Demczur used his squeegee to attempt to cut a hole in the Sheetrock lining the elevator shaft. When the squeegee’s blade broke off and fell down the elevator shaft, he and the other five people in the elevator alternately used the handle to scrape away at the lining, eventually cutting a hole large enough for them to escape into an adjacent bathroom.^[82][83] They are found by firefighters, who immediately escort them to a stairwell. All six safely leave the tower five minutes before it collapses.^[84]

9:32: A radio transmission from Flight 93 is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland: "Ladies and gentlemen, here is the captain please sit down. Keep remaining [sic] sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit."

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.

9:33–9:34: A tower supervisor at

that "an aircraft is coming at you and not talking with us," referring to Flight 77. The White House is about to be evacuated when the tower reports that Flight 77 has turned and is approaching Reagan National Airport.

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 northeast 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.

9:36: Cleveland advises the FAA Command Center that it is still tracking Flight 93 and inquires whether someone had requested the military to launch fighter aircraft to intercept the aircraft.

9:37: Vice President Cheney enters a tunnel leading to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, located under the White House East Wing.

9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon at 530 mph (853 km/h, 237 m/s, or 460 knots) and its jet fuel starts a violent fire. The section of the Pentagon hit consists mainly of newly renovated, unoccupied offices. All 64 people on board are killed, as are 125 Pentagon personnel.

9:39: Another radio transmission is heard from Ziad Jarrah aboard Flight 93: "Uh, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. We have a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands, so please remain quiet."

9:39: Fox News correspondent David Asman reports, "We – we are hearing – right now that another explosion that – has taken place. At the Pentagon."^[86]

9:39:12: NBC News Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports that "it felt, just a few moments ago, like there was an explosion of some kind here at the Pentagon." NBC and MSNBC relay reports of the explosion but do not relay word of the crash of Flight 77 as they do not know the cause.

9:40: Video teleconference in White House Situation Room begins with the physical security of the President, the White House, and federal agencies. They are not yet aware of the Pentagon crash.

9:40:49: CNN's Breaking News bulletin reads "Reports of fire at Pentagon."

9:41: Local Washington, DC television station WUSA breaks away from the CBS network, with anchor Andrea Roane beginning that station's local coverage of the explosion at The Pentagon.

9:41:15: The photograph The Falling Man is taken.

9:42: ABC News broadcasts its first pictures from Washington, D.C. of heavy smoke, from a perspective on the other side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is situated a block west of the White House. Peter Jennings confirms a fire at The Pentagon two minutes later.

9:42: The main CBS network reports an explosion at the Pentagon.

9:42: Senior FAA traffic manager Ben Sliney issues the execution order for SCATANA grounding all air traffic over the United States and diverting any incoming international traffic to alternate destinations.

9:43:

9:43: The White House and the Capitol are evacuated and closed.

9:45: United States

9:45: CNN receives initial reports that, in addition to a fire at the Pentagon, there is also a fire at the National Mall. These reports on the National Mall, however, are later proven to be false.

9:46:36: The ARD news magazine Tagesthemen, hosted by Ulrich Wickert, broadcasts news of the attacks to Germany.

9:49: The FAA Command Center at Herndon suggests that someone at FAA headquarters should decide whether to request military assistance with Flight 93. Ultimately, the FAA makes no request before it crashes.

9:50 (approximately): The Associated Press reports that Flight 11 was apparently hijacked after departure from Boston's Logan Airport. Within an hour this is confirmed for both Flight 11 and Flight 175.

9:51: Chief

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.^[89]

9:53: CNN confirms a plane crash at the Pentagon.

9:55: A CNN correspondent mentions Osama bin Laden as someone determined to strike the US.

9:55: Air Force One leaves

.

9:57: Passenger revolt begins on Flight 93.

9:57: President Bush leaves Sarasota, Florida, on Air Force One. The plane reaches cruising altitude and circles for approximately 40 minutes while the destination of the plane is discussed.

9:59:^{[90]: 80 [91]: 322} The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes^[c] after the impact of Flight 175. Its destruction is viewed and heard by a vast television and radio audience. As the roar of the collapse goes silent, tremendous gray-white clouds of pulverized concrete and gypsum rush through the streets. Most observers think a new explosion or impact has produced smoke and debris that now obscures the South Tower, but once the wind clears the smoke, it becomes clear that the building is no longer standing. No one who is still inside the South Tower at the time of its collapse survives.^[94][95] NY1 correspondent Kristen Shaughnessy, on the scene of the disaster, reports on the collapse of the South Tower at the instant it begins,^[96] while ABC News correspondent Don Dahler, who was home at the time of the incident and lived near the site, reports to anchor Peter Jennings on air that he has witnessed the tower collapse; Dahler's report is perhaps the first broadcast specific confirmation of a collapse as his report is filed seconds after the event.

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