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 were known by a large portion of the world's population as they occurred.
The attacks themselves lasted less than two hours; the first hijacking commenced at approximately 8:14 am, and the final hijacked plane crashed at 10:03 am. All times given are in Eastern Daylight Time, (UTC−04:00).
Major events
thumb|upright=1.3|Flight paths of the four planes used on September 11
7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with registration number N334AA, carrying 76 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Hijacker and ringleader Mohamed Atta would pilot the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
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 would 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: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with registration number N644AA with 58 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 6 crew members, departs 10 minutes late from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour will pilot the plane into the West side of the Pentagon.
8:42–8:46 (approx.): Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about 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.
8:42: 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 (later 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.
8:46:40: 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 on impact.
8:51–8:54 (approx.): Flight 77 is hijacked above southern Ohio, turning to the southeast. The transponder is turned off by hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour.
9:03:11: 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.
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 58 passengers and crew were killed aboard the aircraft, as well as an additional 125 (including emergency workers) on the ground. The crash starts a violent fire.
5:20:33 p.m.: The 47 story 7 World Trade Center collapses after debris from the collapse of WTC 1 hitting it earlier in the day cause fires that eventually weaken the core columns.
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.
5:33: Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari check out of their room at a Comfort Inn in South Portland, Maine, and leave the hotel to drive their rental car to nearby Portland International Jetport.
5:40: Atta and al-Omari arrive at Portland International Jetport.
5:45: Atta and al-Omari pass through security at Portland International Jetport, consisting of a walk-through metal detector and an X-ray screener for bags.
6:00 a.m.
6:00: Colgan Air Flight 5930 departs from Portland with Atta and al-Omari on board.
6:00: Polls open for primaries for the New York City mayoral elections, as well as other local offices.
6:20: The al-Ghamdi brothers check in at the United Airlines ticket counter for United Airlines Flight 175. Ahmed al-Ghamdi checks in two bags. Both men are confused by the standard security questions they were asked, but they received their boarding passes without incident.
6:31: Ahmed al-Ghamdi's two checked bags are loaded onto Flight 175.
7:15 (approx.): 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: Hani Hanjour arrives at the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport. He passes through the checkpoint without suspicion or setting off any alarms.
7:50–7:55 (approx): Hanjour and his four fellow hijackers board Flight 77.
8:00 a.m.
8:00: President Bush has his daily intelligence briefing. The material is routine, mostly concerning the Al-Aqsa Intifada and other Israeli-Palestinian issues. He calls Condoleezza Rice about one item, but there is no mention in the report of Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda, nor are there any final warnings about the terrorist plot now actively in motion. The briefing lasts about twenty minutes, after which he says goodbye to the resort staff and departs in his motorcade. As the President's scheduled event is considered a garden variety trip to promote his education agenda, accompanied by low-level aides and reporters, Chief of Staff Andrew Card remarks to him "It should be an easy day."
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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.
8:17:59: A brief unknown sound (possibly a scream) from an unknown origin was heard over the frequency that Flight 11 and other nearby flights are using.
8:19: Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, alerts an American Airlines reservations center in Cary, North Carolina, to the hijacking via an airphone.
8:24: Boston Center receives a radio transmission from Flight 11. Atta is heard saying "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." This leads Boston Center flight controllers to conclude that Flight 11 has probably been hijacked.
8:24: Flight 11 flight attendant Amy Sweeney attempts to call the American Airlines Flight Service Office at Logan International Airport again but cannot get through.
8:28: Boston Center notifies the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Virginia (hereinafter "Herndon Command Center") of Flight 11's hijacking.
8:32: Flight 11 flight attendant Amy Sweeney calls the American Airlines Flight Service Office at Logan International Airport a final time. The office manager, Michael Woodward, takes over the call. She tells him that she is sitting in the back of the aircraft next to Betty Ong; the plane has been hijacked; a man in first class has had his throat slashed; two flight attendants have been stabbed-one flight attendant has been stabbed seriously and is on oxygen while another flight attendant's wounds are not as serious and seems to be okay; a doctor has been paged; the flight attendants are unable to contact the cockpit; and there is a bomb in the cockpit. She also tells him that she and Ong are trying to relay as much information to the ground as possible. The controller then notifies Otis Operations Center that a call from NEADS might be coming. Two F-15 pilots begin to suit up.
8:36: The manager at the American Airlines SOC, Craig Marquis, initiates a "lockout" of Flight 11. This means that the airline is acknowledging that there is an emergency on the flight. A lockout isolates information so that the case can be managed by top leadership at the airlines in a way that protects information from being altered or released, and also protects the identities of the passengers and crew. Marquis then asks a coworker if Flight 11 is descending. The coworker replies "We don't know. The transponder is off so we have no active read on him."
8:37:52: Boston Center control notifies NEADS of the hijacking of Flight 11, the first notification received by NORAD of a hijacking that morning. 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."
8:40: NEADS drives two fighter pilots at Otis Air National Guard Base to battle stations. New York Center acknowledges and says it will pass the information on. This is Flight 175's last communication with New York Center.
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.
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.
8:43: An air traffic control specialist at the FAA's Herndon Command Center calls Washington Center to inform them that Flight 11 is a "possible hijack" and that the plane will enter Washington Center's airspace if it continues south.
8:44–8:46: Flight attendant Amy Sweeney, aboard Flight 11, reports by telephone to Michael Woodward at the American Airlines Flight Services Office at Logan International Airport: "Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent. We are all over the place." A minute later, Woodward asks her to look out the window to see if she can tell where the plane is. 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." before the call is cutoff. An employee relaying information about the call to the American Airlines SOC reports: "She [Sweeney] started screaming and saying something's wrong and now he's [Woodward] having trouble-now he thinks he might be disconnected. Okay, we just lost connection." At the same time, Betty Ong's call with the American Airlines reservation office in Cary, North Carolina is also cutoff. The office supervisor, Nydia Gonzalez, informs SOC manager Craig Marquis: "We, I think we might have lost her." NIST reports 8:46:30 a.m., and some other sources claim 8:46:26 a.m. Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane, banked to the left and travelling at roughly , strikes the center of the tower's north face between floors 93 and 99, and plows almost directly midway into the tower's central core. Hundreds are killed instantly, including everyone on the plane and untold 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. The blast also shatters windows in the adjacent South Tower as its western and northern facades are battered by debris. Sweltering heat is felt by South Tower occupants across from the burning floors, and the smoke, blowing southeast, seeps into the building through air vents. The collision generates 0.9 magnitude seismic waves as observed by Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. 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. All three stairwells from the roof to the ground (labeled A, B and C) are clustered together in the impact region, with just of space between each one. The impact of the plane, given its size, instantly severs all three, rendering escape from the impact zone or above impossible. 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 Flight 11's impacted 93rd through 99th floors immediately above and the elevators being destroyed or inoperable from the 50th floor upward. People in the North Tower below the impact zone, as well as in the South Tower, start to evacuate.
BBC correspondent Stephen Evans was sitting in the foyer of the South Tower and described hearing a "huge bang like somebody dropped a skip full of rubbish" followed by "two or three similar huge explosions", as the South Tower shook. French filmmaker Jules Naudet and Czech immigrant Pavel Hlava videotape the crash of Flight 11 with their video cameras from different locations. A camera belonging to local New York television station WNYW captures the sound of the approaching airplane and the crash. While the impact is not shown directly, it generates a weak electromagnetic pulse that causes the WNYW camera's video signal to drop out for a small fraction of a second. The camera's operator, David Stollak, picks it up off the ground and begins recording an image of the North Tower on fire approximately 13 seconds after the initial impact.
8:46: Flight 77 reaches its assigned cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
thumb|Battalion Chief [[Joseph W. Pfeifer, who made the first fire department radio message advising the FDNY Manhattan Fire Dispatch Office of the crash.]]
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:
<blockquote>
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 relocating companies into the area.
Manhattan Dispatch: 10-4 [message received], Battalion 1.
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8:46:48: Two F-15 fighter jets are ordered to scramble from Otis Air National Guard Base, intended to intercept Flight 11.
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>
Because Flight 11's transponder 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 8:50 am.
8:47: Flight 175's transponder code is changed twice in one minute. However, the New York Center controller handling the flight, David Bottiglia, does not initially notice because he is trying to locate Flight 11. 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:
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.
<blockquote>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.
</blockquote>
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 the station's first report of the incident.
thumb|CNN breaking the news of a plane crash at the World Trade Center
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:
Just a minute later, Sean Murtagh, CNN vice president of finance, in an on-air phone call, says from his office in the CNN New York bureau that a large passenger commercial jet was seen to hit the World Trade Center. The first email bulletins of breaking news from CNN and MSNBC report "fire at tower of World Trade Center". Both CNN and MSNBC's websites receive such heavy traffic that many of their web servers fail under the strain of the vast amounts of traffic. BBC News 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 (approx.) An American Airlines employee at LaGuardia Airport calls American Airlines headquarters to inform them that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
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.
8:50: Local New York radio station WOR news anchor Ed Walsh makes the 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 the 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. His on-air colleague Joe Kernen tells him that a plane had hit the tower. 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 the channel's coverage of the incident.
8:50: Local New York radio station WABC news anchor George Weber broadcasts the station's first report of the incident.
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.
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>
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 the station's initial report.
8:50:51: Flight 77 has its last routine communication with Indianapolis Center.
8:51–10:28: With Flight 11 leaving more than a thousand people still alive but trapped in the top 19 floors of the now-burning North Tower, some 100-200 people plummet from the skyscraper. 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, although some of the falls are accidents caused by people losing their grip or balance. No form of airborne evacuation is attempted as smoke is too dense for a successful landing on the roof of either tower.
8:51–8:54 (approx): As it nears the border of West Virginia and Ohio, Flight 77 is hijacked. Unlike the other flights, there are no reports of stabbings or bomb threats, and the pilots are forced to the back of the plane with the other passengers and crew.</blockquote>
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.
8:51: GloboNews anchor Leila Sterenberg makes the first Brazilian television report of the first plane crash.
8:51: Flight 175 deviates from its assigned altitude.
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.
8:51:46: Televisa news anchor Jorge Berry starts broadcasting the first report of the incident over Mexican television.
8:52–8:59: A passenger on Flight 175 attempts to call his wife four times but cannot get through.
8:52: Sky News presenter Kay Burley breaks the news of the first plane crash to the UK.
8:52:50: Fox News' Fox & Friends comes back from a commercial break to report the attack. E. D. Hill informs viewers that a plane crashed into the North Tower.
8:53: 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.
8:54: Flight 77 deviates from its assigned course by making a slight turn south.
8:55–9:02: Air traffic controllers at New York Center watch Flight 175 as it descends rapidly to a very low altitude. During its descent, it barely avoids colliding with Tampa-bound Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, Charlotte-bound US Airways Flight 542, St. Louis-bound TWA Flight 3, and LaGuardia-bound Midwest Express Flight 7.
8:55 (approx.): An announcement is made over the building-wide PA system by officials in the superficially damaged South Tower, "The building is secure, please return to your desks." The South Tower's occupants react in numerous ways, ranging from going back to their offices as suggested, ignoring it and evacuating anyway, or congregating in common areas such as the 78th floor sky lobby.
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 his senior advisor Karl Rove, 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."
8:55 (approx.): A supervisor at New York Center notifies the center's operations manager of Flight 175's hijacking.
8:58: The New York Center controller handling Flight 175, David Bottiglia, tells a colleague "we might have a hijack over here, two of them."
9:00: American Airlines executive vice president Gerard Arpey learns that contact with Flight 77 is lost. He orders all American Airlines aircraft in the Northeast that have not taken off yet to remain on the ground.
9:00: The first Spanish television report of the disaster is broadcast over Antena 3 by news anchor Matías Prats Luque.
9:00: Lee Hanson receives a second call from his son Peter, aboard Flight 175, telling him that his plane is about to crash:
<blockquote>"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."
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 FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer, who was stationed in the lobby of the North Tower. Although it is uncertain whether the South Tower's deputy fire safety director receives this order, an announcement is made over the tower's PA system to "begin an orderly evacuation if conditions warranted".
9:02: Indianapolis Center calls American Airlines and informs the airline that they do not know where Flight 77 is and that they cannot contact it.
thumb|The fireball erupting out of the South Tower from the impact of [[United Airlines Flight 175|Flight 175]]
9:03: Flight 175 crashes at about into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85. The exploding jet fuel generates a massive fireball emerging from the southern, eastern and northern facades of the South Tower. East face windows on the already-burning North Tower are smashed as the shockwave from the explosion hits them. Parts of the plane, including the starboard engine, leave the South Tower from its east and north sides, falling to the ground six blocks away. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory recorded 0.7 magnitude seismic waves being generated by the collision. All 65 people on board the aircraft die instantly on impact, and unknown hundreds in the building as well. The impact causes the tower to sway at a very low frequency, described by at least one building occupant, Brian Clark, as feeling like his floor, floor 84, moved laterally by between six and eight feet, or between 1.8 and 2.4 metres. By this time, several media organizations, are covering the immediate aftermath of the first plane crash, so viewers around the world are able to see the impact live. New York's WNYW is among the first to specifically report that a second plane has crashed into the complex (many other news agencies do not realize that a second plane has crashed until several minutes later):
<blockquote>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. [sigh] Obviously, suicide terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. What we have... what we have been fearing... [interrupted by unintelligible talkdown from Kai Simonsen] 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.</blockquote>
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. 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. This was also the assumption that Regis Philbin initially made during the day's airing of Live with Regis and Kelly, which began at 9:00 AM.
9:03: President Bush enters a classroom as part of his school visit.
9:03: A manager at Boston Center, Terry Biggio, calls the FAA's New England regional office in Burlington, Massachusetts, and tells them that the Flight 11 hijackers said "we have planes" in their earlier transmission. He emphasizes that the hijackers said "planes as in plural."
9:03:22: Boston Center manager Terry Biggio informs the New England regional office that a second plane has hit the World Trade Center. For several moments, the President is seen to vacantly stare out into space as he silently processes this information. The President states later that he decided to continue the lesson rather than alarm the students.
9:05: On an open line monitored by the Herndon Command Center, Boston Center manager Terry Biggio informs the New England regional office that the hijackers on Flight 11 said "we have planes."
9:05: New York Center declares "ATC Zero." This means that no aircraft is allowed to depart from, arrive at, or fly through its airspace until further notice.
9:09: After learning of the second plane crash at the World Trade Center, NEADS drives two fighter jets, who are on alert, at Langley Air Force Base to battle stations.
9:15: NBC News reports unconfirmed statements from employees at United Airlines that an American Airlines aircraft had been hijacked prior to its destruction.
9:15 (approx.) Boston Center manager Daniel Bueno calls the Herndon Command Center to have them instruct all the other FAA centers in the country issue cockpit security warnings to all airborne aircraft. The city had initially asked the FAA to do so.
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: CNN makes reference to foul play for the first time, stating the FBI was investigating a report of plane hijacking. CNN changes headline to read "AP: Plane was hijacked before crashes".
9:18: By this time, Indianapolis Center, Cleveland Center, and Washington Center are aware of the two World Trade Center crashes and that Flight 77 is missing.
9:19: United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger begins sending a warning text message via ACARS to his 16 transcontinental flights: "Beware any cockpit intrusion—Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center." This takes several minutes, and would not be received onboard United 93 for four more minutes.
9:20: The United Airlines dispatch manager believes that Flight 175 is the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Center.
9:21: The Herndon Command Center contacts Dulles TRACON and tells a supervisor there that the FAA has lost contact with Flight 77 and that they cannot find it. After the call, the supervisor advises the TRACON controllers that a commercial aircraft is missing and tells them to look for a primary target.
9:22: United Airlines initiates a lockout of Flight 175. A few moments later, the United Airlines systems operations control manager issues an advisory under United's Chief Operating Officer, Andy Studdert, to all United Airlines facilities. The advisory states that Flight 175 is involved in an accident in New York City.
9:22: After hearing about the attacks on the World Trade Center, Melody Homer has an ACARS message sent to her husband, LeRoy, who is Flight 93's copilot, asking if he's okay.
9:23: NEADS scrambles fighters from Langley Air Force Base to go after Flight 11 based on the (erroneous Ballinger is aware that Flight 175 has been hijacked, but he is unaware that it crashed. Firefighter Danny Suhr is preparing to enter the South Tower when he is struck by a jumper. Suhr and the jumper are both killed instantly. Besides these three individuals, nobody else is seen falling from the South Tower, an obvious dissimilarity from the situation in the North Tower, where more than 100 people fell to their deaths for nearly the entire time it burned.
9:24: The order to scramble fighters from Langley Air Force Base is processed and transmitted by NEADS.
9:26: Flight 93's pilot, Jason Dahl, replies to United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger's text message, "Ed, confirm latest mesg plz - Jason".
9:27: The NEADS watch floor reads "Three planes unaccounted for. American Airlines 11 may still be airborne but the flight that - United 175 to the World Trade Center. We're not sure who the other one is."</blockquote>Deena promptly calls 911 after the call.
9:27:25: Flight 93 has its last routine communication with the FAA's Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (hereinafter "Cleveland Center").
9:28:17: Flight 93 suddenly begins to descend as hijackers storm the cockpit and take over the flight. Flight controllers at Cleveland Center hear "unintelligible sounds of possible screaming or a struggle." The flight descends roughly 700 feet before the autopilot corrects the altitude. The hijackers also stab passenger Mark Rothenberg, take flight attendant Deborah Welsh captive in the cockpit, and move the remaining passengers and crew to the back of the plane.
9:29: Hanjour disables Flight 77's autopilot and takes manual control of the plane. Flight 77 is approximately 38 miles west of the Pentagon, flying at 7,000ft.
9:30: The fighters from Langley Air Force Base are airborne while NEADS technicians continue to try and locate Flight 11 on radar. They are found by firefighters, who immediately escort them to a stairwell. All six safely leave the tower five minutes before it collapses.
9:31: On C-SPAN, Washington Journal host Steve Scully starts the channel's coverage of the morning's incidents.
9:31:57: Flight 93's cockpit voice recorder begins recording the final 32 minutes of the flight. It picks up Jarrah trying to make the following announcement to the passengers: "Ladies and gentlemen, here is the captain please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit." Instead, his announcement is broadcast to Cleveland Center, which mistakenly believes it came from Flight 1989.
9:32 (approx): Controllers at the Dulles TRACON in Virginia observe "a primary radar target tracking eastbound at a high rate of speed", referring to Flight 77. They inform Reagan National Airport of this.
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.
9:35:09: Flight 93 reverses direction over northeast Ohio and starts flying eastwards.
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: Flight 93 passenger Jeremy Glick calls his wife, Lyzbeth, and stays connected until the end of the flight. He tells her the flight is hijacked by three dark-skinned men who look "Iranian", wearing red bandanas and wielding knives, and that the passengers have voted to "rush" the hijackers.]]9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon at 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. Prior to crashing, the plane knocks down 5 light poles with its wings (one of which damages its right engine causing smoke to billow from it), and the right engine struck a generator.
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:</blockquote>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."
9:40:52: A horn sounds in Flight 93's cockpit, indicating that the autopilot has been disengaged, and the hijackers fiddle with a green knob. "This green knob?" one hijacker asks. "Yes, that's the one." another hijacker responds.
9:43: Abu Dhabi TV reports it received a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claiming responsibility for the World Trade Center attack, but this is soon denied by a senior officer of the group.
9:43: The White House and the Capitol are evacuated and closed.
9:44: Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer tries to call his wife, Lisa, but is routed to GTE airphone operator Lisa Jefferson. When the plane turns sharply south, Beamer repeatedly exclaims "We're going down!" At the end of the call, he tells her that some passengers are planning to "jump" the hijacker with the bomb.
9:51: Chief Orio Palmer of the FDNY's 7th Battalion reaches the 78th Floor Sky Lobby of the South Tower along with Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca. Palmer reports that there are two pockets of fire and numerous dead bodies.
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, the former announcing that he had heard "good news", and that another target was still to be hit.
9:53: Flight 93 passenger Honor Elizabeth Wainio calls her stepmother.
9:53: CNN confirms a plane crash at the Pentagon.
9:54: Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett calls his wife, Deena, a final time, and they have the following conversation:<blockquote>Deena: Tom?
Tom: Hi. Anything new?
Deena: No.
Tom: Where are the kids?
Deena: They're fine. They're sitting at the table having breakfast. They're asking to talk to you.
Tom: Tell them I'll talk to them later.
Deena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked.
Tom: Oh…you shouldn't have worried them. How are they doing?
Deena: They're OK... Mary and Martha are with them.
Tom: Good. (a long quiet pause) We're waiting until we're over a rural area. We're going to take back the airplane.
Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don't draw attention to yourself!
Tom: Deena! If they're going to crash this plane into the ground, we're going to have do something!
Deena: What about the authorities?
Tom: We can't wait for the authorities. I don't know what they could do, anyway. It's up to us. I think we can do it.
Deena: What do you want me to do?
Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.
Deena: (after a long pause) I love you.
Tom: Don't worry, we're going to do something. The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes