9/11 – the day that changed the world --------------------------------------- UNITED STATES Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana Sarasota, Florida --------------------------------------- MAINE Portland MASSACHUSETTA Logan Airport, Boston CONNECTICUT Otis Air National Guard Bas NEW YORK NEW JERSEY World Trade Center, New York City Newark PENNSYLVANIA Shanksville OHIO WEST VIRGINIA KENTUCKY VIRGINIA Pentagon Washington D.C. Langley Air Force Base NORTH CAROLINA ATLANTIC OCEAN 100 miles 160Km --------------------------------------- AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11 Boston to Los Angeles 07:59: Takeoff 08:14: Hijacked 08:46: Crashes into North Tower of World Trade Center Passengers: 76 Crew: 11 Hijackers: 5 Boeing 767 --------------------------------------- UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 175 Boston to Los Angeles 08:15 takeoff 08:42-08:46 Hijacked 09:03 Crashes into South Tower of World Trade Center Passengers: 51 Crew: 9 Hijackers: 5 Boeing 767 ---------------------------------------- AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77 Washington to Los Angeles 08:20: Takeoff 08:51-08:54: Hijacked 09:37: Crashes into Pentagon Passengers: 53 Crew: 6 Hijackers: 5 Boeing 757 --------------------------------------- UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93 Newark to San Francisco 08:42: Takeoff 09:28: Hijacked 10:03: Crashes into field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania Passengers: 33 Crew: 7 Hijackers: 4 Boeing 757 --------------------------------------- 05:45, 9/11/2001: Hijack ringleader Mohammed Atta (right) and Abdul Aziz al-Omari pass through airport security at Portland, Maine, where they board shuttle flight to Boston’s Logan International Airport to connect to American Airlines Flight 11 --------------------------------------- 06:45-07:40: Atta, Omari and three other hijackers board Flight 11 --------------------------------------- 07:59: Flight 11 takes off --------------------------------------- 08:15: United Airlines Flight 175 departs – also from Logan airport, with five hijackers on board --------------------------------------- 08:19: Flight attendants alert ground personnel to hijacking of Flight 11 – FBI jumpstarts what will become its largest ever investigation --------------------------------------- 08:20: American Airlines Flight 77 departs from Washington Dulles International Airport – five hijackers on board --------------------------------------- 08:24: Trying to communicate with Flight 11 cabin, Atta mistakenly contacts air traffic control – “We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you’ll be okay” 08:37: After hearing Atta’s transmission, air traffic control contacts military to report hijacking – two F-15 fighter jets scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts 08:42: United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark International Airport, New Jersey, after 40-minute delay due to congested runways. Four hijackers on board 08:46: Flight 11 crashes into North Tower of World Trade Center – killing all 92 people on board and hundreds more in impact zone 08:50: President George W. Bush, visiting school in Sarasota, Florida, alerted that “small plane” has hit WTC 09:02: Evacuation of South Tower of World Trade Center ordered 09:03: Flight 175 crashes into South Tower – all 65 on board killed instantly along with unknown number of people in building 09:05: Bush reading to children when Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispers – “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack” 09:25: Otis fighters establish combat air patrol over Manhattan 09:30: Speaking on TV, Bush says U.S. has suffered “an apparent terrorist attack.” He is rushed to Air Force One 09:32: Flight 93 hijackers accidentally transmit message intended for passengers – “Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the Captain, please sit down, keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit” 09:36: Military alerted to unidentified aircraft few miles from White House – fighter jets scrambled from Langley Air Force Base 09:36: Vice President Dick Cheney evacuated to Cold War-era bunker beneath White House 09:37: Flight 77 crashes into Pentagon, killing all 64 aboard plus 125 civilian and military personnel 09:42: Federal Aviation Authority grounds all flights over, or bound for, continental U.S. 09:45: White House and U.S. Capitol evacuated 09:54: Air Force One departs Florida with no fixed destination as security services deem it too dangerous for Bush to return to Washington 09:57: Learning of attacks via calls to loved ones, Flight 93 passengers begin assault to retake plane 09:59: South Tower collapses 56 minutes after impact, killing around 600 rescue workers in building and surrounding area 10:03: Hijackers deliberately crash Flight 93 in field near Shanksville after passengers and crew storm cockpit. Intended target believed to be Capitol or White House 10:15: Damaged section of Pentagon’s outermost ring collapses 10:28: North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes, killing more than 1,600 people in and around building. Marriott Hotel, at base of twin towers, also destroyed 11:02: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for evacuation of over one million people from Lower Manhattan 11:45: Bush orders Air Force One to land at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where he makes first major TV response – “The resolve of our great nation is being tested” 12:50: Bush arrives at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, home of U.S. Strategic Command, to convene teleconferences with National Security advisers 14:48: Giuliani says death toll will be “more than any of us can bear” 17:20: 7 World Trade Center – 47-storey building adjacent to ruined towers – collapses 18:54: Bush returns to White House 20:30: President addresses nation, pledging to bring those responsible to justice – “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them” Final death toll is 2,977, excluding 19 hijackers --------------------------------------- Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Newscom Sources: 9/11 Commission Report, National September 11 Memorial and Museum © GRAPHIC NEWS