5:53AM - Hijackers Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari board a flight from Portland, ME to Boston. They are caught on video going through security.
6:50AM - Atta and Alomari arrive at Boston's Logan airport to board American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 headed to Los Angeles with 81 passengers aboard.
7:18-7:35AM - Hijackers Majed Moqed, Khalid Almihdhar, Hani Hanjour, Nawaf Alhazmi and Salem Alhazmi all have checkpoint problems at Dulles International Airport, but are still allowed to board American Airlines Flight 77 bound for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
7:59AM - Flight 11 takes off from Boston's Logan airport
8:01AM - United Flight 93 is delayed on the runway at Newark International Airport. Because the plane did not take off until 8:42AM, many believe this is the reason that Flight 93, a Boeing 757-222 to San Francisco is the only hijacked plane that did not succeed in its mission
8:13AM - Communication is lost with Flight 11. At 8:21 the flight's location is lost (the Transponder was turned off). Around this time Daniel Lewin, former member of Sayeret Matkal, an Israeli Counterterrorist unit, is killed by hijacker Satam Al Suqami. The plane is believed to have been hijacked
8:14AM - United Flight 175 takes off from Boston's Logan Airport (16 minutes late)
8:20AM - Flight 11 begins to veer sharply off course; Boston Flight control believes it is hijacked, but NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is not contacted for another 20 minutes
* Flight 77 departs Dulles 10 minutes later than its 8:10 scheduled time
8:21-8:23AM - Two Flight 11 flight attendants (Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong) call in to report a possible hijacking. They're in the cabin but are basing guess on the fact that no one is answering in the cockpit and that Lewin is dead in business class. Officials on the ground do not believe Ong. American Airlines officials cover up the news
8:24AM - Flight 11 turns 100 degrees south; Boston flight control radar picks it up and tracks it until it crashes into the WTC
* Boston flight controllers hear a hijacker (through the talkback button which has been activated) tell passengers "Just stay quiet and you will be OK. We are returning to the airport."
8:28AM- FAA Centers have a hijacking conference call after Boston calls FAA command center to say that they believe 11 has been hijacked and is moving into NYC airspace. NORAD still not contacted.
8:34AM - Boston Flight control tries to reach an Atlantic City, NJ airbase to assist Flight 11 but do no reach anyone (the 24-hour alert status was cut in 1998 due to budget constraints). Two F-16s which are only eight minutes from NYC are not contacted until after the second WTC crash and then are told to land, load up with missiles and go to Washington, DC where they don't arrive until almost 11AM.
8:35-8:36AM - Flight attendants Sweeney adn Ong continue to report on activities onboard the flight as well as the plane's maneuvers (including a rapid descent reported by Sweeney). The hijackers are identified as Middle Eastern.
8:37AM - Flight 175 is asked to look for Flight 11 which is 10 miles south of it; Flight 175 responds that they can in fact see it. They are not informed that Flight 11 is hijacked and are themselves hijacked a few minutes later.
* Boston Flight Control contacts NEADS (Northeast Air Defense Sector). NEADS is unable to locate hijacked planes on its radar screens. NORAD is finally contacted (though the time is disputed) They give the command to launch fighters to help Flight 11. NORAD and NEADS are in communication with one another and finally, two fighters told to get ready to scramble after Flight 11 (and then Flight 175)
8:41AM - Flight 175 is hijacked, seconds after telling ground control about Flight 11
8:42AM - Flight 93 from Newark takes off almost 40 minutes late destined for San Francisco, CA
8:43AM
8:45-8:46AM - Flight 11 flight attendants communicate until the very end -- Sweeney says she sees "water" and "buildings" as the plane flies really low. She then takes a long deep breath before calmly saying "Oh my God!" There is then a click and then silence. Ong, on the other hand continually repeats "Pary for us. Pray for us."
8:46AM - Flight 11 hits the North Tower of the World Trade Center,
Going at about 470 mph, the plane hits floors 93-98. No one above the crash line (the building is 110 stories) survives and approximately 1,360 perish. More than 4,000 survive.
* Bush not yet aware of attack, but CONPLAN (Interagency Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan), which joins seven Federal agencies in the face of a terrorist attack, is activated by other officials. The FBI leads the charge
* A United Flight Dispatcher decides Flight 175 has been hijacked.
8:48AM - NORAD's Colorado headquarters see WTC Footage on CNN, the first major network to show the crash footage
8:49AM- United Airlines Headquarters learns Flight 175 is missing; NORAD not informed
8:50AM - CIA Director George Tenet told of crash at WTC, suspects Osama bin Laden, saying to a senator he was having breakfast with, "This has bin Laden's fingerprints all over it."
* Last radio contact with Flight 77
* Flight 175 makes a complete turn around and starts heading north towards New York City; a flight attendant on plane reports "Oh my God. The crew has been killed, a flight attendant has been stabbed. We've been hijacked."
* Boston Flight Control tells NORAD that Flight 11 has hit WTC
8:52AM - Flight 175 passenger Peter Hanson details the stabbings of flight attendants to his father. He calls several times before the plane crashes
* The two F-15 Fighters dispatched to go after Flight 11 head for Flight 175 instead; they arrive in New York at about 9:11AM (or 9:25 says the 9/11 Commission), traveling below supersonic speeds of 600 mph. According to published reports afterwards, the fighters didn't know they were headed to Manhattan, nor did they know of the terrorist attack
8:54AM - Flight 77 veers off course over Southern Ohio, heading Southwest
8:55AM - New York Flight Control believes Flight 175 hijacked; NORAD not informed
because all regional managers are still in discussion about the hijacking of Flight 11
8:55-9:00AM - President Bush informed of WTC crash when he arrives at Booker Elementary School in Sarasota Florida. Bush reportedly first says, "What a horrible accident!"
8:56AM - Flight 77 disappears from Radar Screens
* Pentagon Emergency Center knows Flight 77 is hijacked; NORAD still not informed of this until 9:24AM or not at all, according to differing reports
8:58AM - Passenger Biran Sweeney calls his wife and leaves a message that the plane has been "hijacked." He also calls his mother saying in part, "We are going to try to do something about this." When he calls his dad he tells his dad that he thinks they intend to "fly into a building."
* American Airlines learns of Flight 77 problems, cancels all flights taking off from the Northeast, NORAD not notified
* Fire Department commanders advise Port Authority Police to evacuate Tower Two, a message which does not get to building personnel and visitors
9:00AM - A PA broadcast inside of WTC Tower Two (South Tower) says that the building is secure and it's okay to return to their offices. Yet, despite this, about two-thirds of the people in the building evacuate
9:03AM - Flight 175 Crashes into WTC South Tower
As the world watches in horror, Flight 175 hits the South Tower of the WTC, Tower Two. The plane hits floors 78-84 in the 110 story building. About 100 people died on the intial impact; 600 die from the second tower all together.
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