Twenty-five years ago, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes in a coordinated attack that killed 2,977 people and permanently changed US security and air travel.
How the Attacks Unfolded
The morning began with four flights departing from airports in the northeastern United States. Flight 11 left Boston at 7:59 a.m., Flight 175 departed Boston at 8:15, Flight 77 took off from Washington Dulles at 8:20 and Flight 93 left Newark at 8:42.
At 8:19 a.m., Flight 11 flight attendants Betty Ong and Madeline Amy Sweeney reported the hijacking. Five minutes later, a hijacker accidentally transmitted a message over air traffic control radio, providing controllers with an unmistakable indication that the aircraft had been seized.
The first strike came at 8:46 a.m., when Flight 11 hit the North Tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. The impact severed all three emergency stairwells serving the floors above the crash area, leaving many occupants trapped.
At 9:03 a.m., Flight 175 struck the South Tower. President George W. Bush, visiting Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, was informed moments later that a second plane had hit the second tower. The second impact made clear that the country was facing a coordinated attack.
The response expanded rapidly. The FAA imposed increasingly broad restrictions on aviation before ordering all civilian aircraft already in US airspace to land as soon as practical at 9:42 a.m. More than 4,000 aircraft were diverted or grounded that day.
At 9:37 a.m., Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon’s western side in Arlington, Virginia. The attack killed all 64 people aboard the aircraft and 125 people inside the Pentagon, bringing the death toll there to 184.
Meanwhile, passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 learned about the attacks through telephone calls. They attempted to reach the cockpit, and at approximately 10:03 a.m., the aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The 9/11 Commission determined the plane was likely headed toward a target in Washington, potentially the US Capitol or White House.
The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., only 56 minutes after being struck. The North Tower followed at 10:28 a.m., 102 minutes after Flight 11 hit it. Hundreds of firefighters and other emergency responders were among those killed, including 343 FDNY firefighters.
The Rest of the Day
The disaster continued beyond the collapse of the Twin Towers. At 11:02 a.m., New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani ordered an evacuation of lower Manhattan, while rescue operations continued at the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
At 5:20 p.m., 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building that had burned for hours, collapsed despite not being directly hit by an aircraft.
That evening, Bush addressed the nation from the White House, saying the attacks were intended to drive America into fear and retreat.
The events of Sept. 11 went on to reshape US security policy, foreign policy and aviation security, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
