Ten years after Sept. 11, we still remember every second of that tragic day. Here is a brief timeline on the nightmare that changed New York.
5:45 am — Hijackers Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari board a shuttle flight from a Maine airport to Boston.
7:59 am — American Airlines flight 11, a Boeing 767, takes off from Boston with 76 passengers and 11 crew members on board. It is en route to Los Angeles.
8:14 am — American 11 is hijacked and rerouted towards Manhattan. At the same time, United Airlines flight 175, a Boeing 767, takes off from Boston bound for Los Angeles, with 51 passengers and 9 crew members on board.
8:19 am — The crew aboard American Flight 11 alerts ground personnel about the hijacking and report that several flight attendants have been stabbed.
8:20 am — American Airlines flight 77, a Boeing 757, takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles, with 53 passengers, and six crew members on board.
8:37 am — Air traffic controller Peter Zalewski warns the Northeast Air Defense Sector of the American 11 hijacking; Air National Guard pilots are scrambled.
8:42 am — United Airlines flight 93, a Boeing 757, takes off from Newark bound for to San Fransisco, after a long delay.
8:45 am — United 175 is hijacked and rerouted towards Manhattan.
8:46 am — American 11 crashes into the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 466 mph.
8:47 am — Mayor Giuliani is informed of the flight 11 crash while having breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel.
8:50 am — White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card informs President Bush during a book reading in an elementary school in Florida that a plane has hit the World Trade Center.
8:54 am — Flight 77 is hijacked and rerouted towards Washington, DC.
8:55 am — A public address system in the South Tower of the World Trade Center announces, “Building 2 is secure. There is no need to evacuate Building 2. If you are in the midst of evacuation, you may use the re-entry doors and the elevators to return to your office. Repeat. Building 2 is secure.”
9:03 am — Flight 175 crashes World Trade Center’s South Tower.
9:05 am — Card informs Bush that a second plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
9:14 am — Bush is moved to an adjacent holding room at the elementary school. He speaks to then-Gov. Pataki and FBI Director Robert Mueller from there.
9:20 am — Guiliani arrives at an emergency command post on West street.
9:30 am — Tower 7 across the street from the World Trade Center is evacuated after Secret Service warns of additional hijacked planes believed to be heading for New York.
9:37 am — Flight 77 crashes in the Pentagon’s western facade, killing 125 military and civilian personnel.
9:42 am — The FAA grounds all flights in the continental United States.
9:45 am — The White House and U.S. Capitol are evacuated.
9:55 am — Air Force One takes off from Florida, and heads towards Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana.
9:57 am — Six passengers on United flight 93 learn about the attacks on the Twin Towers. It is believed that the passengers fought back against the hijackers.
9:59 am — The South Tower collapses.
10 am — After the South Tower collapses, Giuliani and other officials evacuate, going through the basement into a neighboring building on Church Street.
10:03 am — United flight 93 is deliberately crashed by hijackers into a field in Pennslyvania.
10:28 am — The North Tower collapses.
10:57 am — Pataki closes all state government offices.
11:02 am — Giuliani calls for evacuation of Lower Manhattan. Giuliani addresses the city via NY1.
12:16 pm — The last commercial flight above the continental United States is grounded.
1:30 pm — Air Force One heads for Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
3:06 pm — Bush is taken to an underground bunker at the base and strategizes with the cabinet.
5:20 pm — Building 7 collapses.
7 pm — Bush arrives in Washington DC.
8:30 pm — Bush addresses the nation.
— Alfred Ng
