9/11 Timeline ‑ Videos, World Trade Center Attacks | HISTORY

On September 11, 2001—a clear, sunny, late summer day—al Qaeda terrorists aboard three hijacked passenger planes carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board the planes and nearly 3,000 people on the ground. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board, after passengers and crew attempted to wrest control from the hijackers.

Below is a chronology of the events of 9/11 as they unfolded. All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

• 7:59 am – American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 92 people aboard, takes off from Boston’s Logan International Airport en route to Los Angeles.

• 8:14 am – United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people aboard, takes off from Boston; it is also headed to Los Angeles.

• 8:19 am – Flight attendants aboard Flight 11 alert ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked; American Airlines notifies the FBI.

• 8:20 am – American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. The Boeing 757 is headed to Los Angeles with 64 people aboard.

• 8:24 am – Hijacker Mohammed Atta makes the first of two accidental transmissions from Flight 11 to ground control (apparently in an attempt to communicate with the plane’s cabin).

• 8:40 am – Air traffic controllers at The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 11. In response, NEADS located at Cape Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and tail Flight 11; they are not yet in the air when Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower.

• 8:40 am – Air traffic controllers at The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 11. In response, NEADS scrambles two fighter planes located at Cape Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and tail Flight 11; they are not yet in the air when Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower.

• 8:41 am – United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 44 people aboard, takes off from Newark International Airport en route to San Francisco. It had been scheduled to depart at 8:00 am, around the time of the other hijacked flights.

• 8:46 am – Mohammed Atta and the other hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11 crash the plane into floors 93-99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building.

Remembering 9/11: The Pentagon Attack

President George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and others look back on the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Remembering 9/11: The Photo Archive

A photographer documents the efforts of Ground Zero workers in the days after September 11th. Part of the Emmy Award winning web series, Remembering 9/11.

Remembering 9/11: The Ground Zero Cross

Out of the rubble of the World Trade Center rose a symbol of hope for many in the days after 9/11. Part of the Emmy Award winning web series, Remembering 9/11.

Photos: The World Trade Center

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — Civilians bolt in the opposite direction as firefighters rush towards the Twin Towers of the New York City's World Trade Center after a plane hit the building on September 11, 2001.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — Suicide hijackers flew planes into both towers of the World Trade Center, causing the towers' eventual collapse. The 9/11 attacks not only became the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history, they were also the deadliest incident ever for firefighters, as well as for law enforcement officers in the United States.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — The New York City Fire Department lost 343 among their ranks on 9/11. Here, FDNY firefighters react after the collapse of the building.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — A New York firefighter is seen alone amid the rubble of the World Trade Center following the attacks. "We had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble, FDNY Division Chief for Lower Manhattan Peter Hayden later told the 9/11 Commission. “But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try to rescue them.”

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — Members of the FDNY carry fellow firefighter, Al Fuentes, who was injured in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Captain Fuentes, who had been pinned under a vehicle on the west side highway, survived after his rescue.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — A firefighter crouches in grief at the World Trade Center site on 9/11.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — The rubble of the World Trade Center smolders on September 12, 2001 as firefighters continue recovery efforts.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — A New York City fireman calls for 10 more rescue workers to make their way into the rubble of the World Trade Center September 14, 2001 days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — On September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush flew to New York City and visited the World Trade Center site. Here the president comforts New York City firefighter, Lt Lenard Phelan of Battalion 46, whose brother, Lt Kenneth Phelan of Battalion 32, was among the 300 members of the FDNY still unaccounted following the attacks. Kenneth Phelan was eventually identified among the firefighters killed.

Photos: FDNY Firefighters during the 9/11 attacks — An estimated 17,400 people had been at the World Trade Center on the day of the 9/11 attacks, and some 87 percent of them were safely evacuated thanks in large part to firefighters' heroic efforts.

1 / 10: Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images

• 8:47 am – Within seconds, NYPD and FDNY forces dispatch units to the World Trade Center, while Port Authority Police Department officers on site begin immediate evacuation of the North Tower.

• 8:50 am – White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card alerts President George W. Bush that a plane has hit the World Trade Center; the president is visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida at the time.

• 9:02 am – After initially instructing tenants of the WTC’s South Tower to remain in the building, Port Authority officials broadcast orders to evacuate both towers via the public address system; an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people are already in the process of evacuating.

• 9:03 am – Hijackers crash United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 75-85 of the WTC’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building

• 9:08 am – The FAA bans all takeoffs of flights going to New York City or through the airspace around the city.

• 9:21 am – The Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area.

• 9:24 am – The FAA notified NEADS of the suspected hijacking of Flight 77 after some passengers and crew aboard are able to alert family members on the ground.

• 9:31 am – Speaking from Florida, President Bush calls the events in New York City an “apparent terrorist attack on our country.”

• 9:37 am – Hijackers aboard Flight 77 crash the plane into the western façade of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the building.

Photos: The Pentagon

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — In this handout provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, first responders on scene following an attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 in Arlington, Virginia. American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists who flew it in to the building killing 184 people.

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — First responders pour water on the fire on scene following the attacks.

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — This FBI photo shows a closer look at the damage to the building.

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — Emergency workers and firefighters worked through the night searching for survivors.

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — A piece of debris from American Airlines Flight 77 that was collected by the FBI on scene following the attacks.

9/11 Attacks on the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) — Another piece of debris from American Airlines Flight 77 that was collected by the FBI on scene following the attacks.

1 / 6: Federal Bureau of Investigation via Getty Images

• 9:42 am – For the first time in history, the FAA grounds all flights over or bound for the continental United States. Over the next two-and-a-half hours, some 3,300 commercial flights and 1,200 private planes are guided to land at airports in Canada and the United States.

• 9:45 am – Amid escalating rumors of other attacks, the White House and U.S. Capitol building are evacuated (along with numerous other high-profile buildings, landmarks and public spaces).

• 9:59 am – The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

• 10:07 am – After passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and family and learn about the attacks in New York and Washington, they mount an attempt to retake the plane. In response, hijackers deliberately crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard.

Photos: Flight 93

9/11 Attacks: Flight 93 photos (September 11, 2001) — Smoke rises behind investigators as they comb the crater left by the crash of United Airlines flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania September 12, 2001. Flight 93 is one of four planes that were hijacked as part of a deadly and destructive terrorist plot against the U.S. September 11.

9/11 Attacks: Flight 93 photos (September 11, 2001) — A yellow crime scene tape lays discarded next to a cross draped with white cloth that was erected on a hill overlooking the once peaceful valley where United Flight 93 crashed, killing 38 passengers and seven crew members. This photo was taken on September 24, 2001 as charred trees and piles of dirt still remain as reminders of the fateful day. Power lines and paved roads were installed by the investigators in the rural setting.

9/11 Attacks: Flight 93 photos (September 11, 2001), evidence — This photograph released by the U.S. District Court shows the flight data recorder found at the scene where United Flight 93 crashed.

9/11 Attacks: Flight 93 memorial photos (September 11, 2001) — Amy Shumaker, of Hooversville, PA, holds her son Ryan Shumaker, 4, at the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 4, 2002. Shumaker said she was one of the first EMT's on the scene at the time of the crash.

9/11 Attacks: Flight 93 memorial photos (September 11, 2001) — On September 24, 2002, Congress passed the Flight 93 National Memorial Act. The Act created a new national park unit to commemorate the passengers and crew of Flight 93 which opened to the public in 2015. The Flight 93 National Memorial is pictured here on September 10, 2016 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

1 / 5: David Maxwell/Getty Images

• 10:28 am – The World Trade Center’s North Tower collapses, 102 minutes after being struck by Flight 11.

• 11 am – Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for the evacuation of Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, including more than 1 million residents, workers and tourists, as efforts continue throughout the afternoon to search for survivors at the WTC site.

• 1 pm – At Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, President Bush announces that U.S. military forces are on high alert worldwide.

• 2:51 pm – The U.S. Navy dispatches missile destroyers to New York and Washington, D.C.

• 5:20 pm – The 47-story Seven World Trade Center collapses after burning for hours; the building had been evacuated in the morning, and there are no casualties, though the collapse forces rescue workers to flee for their lives. It is the last of the Twin Towers to fall.

• 6:58 pm – President Bush returns to the White House after stops at military bases in Louisiana and Nebraska.

9/11: How Air Traffic Controllers Managed the Crisis in the Skies

Here’s how the profession’s most chaotic—and harrowing—day unfolded.

On 9/11, Some Evacuated the Pentagon—But Kept Going Back Inside

'We pledge to never leave a fallen comrade behind,' says one of the survivors.

How United Flight 93 Passengers Fought Back on 9/11

The cockpit voice recorder captured the sound of passengers attempting to break through the door.

• July 22, 2004: The 9/11 Commission Report is released. It includes classified documents, airport security footage of the hijackers, and cockpit voice recordings from United Airlines Flight 93. The report claims all 19 hijackers were members of al Qaeda.

• October 17, 2006: A federal judge rejects New York City’s motion to dismiss lawsuits from first responders who are requesting health payments.

• January 2, 2011: The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 is signed into law by President Barack Obama. It renews and expands the Victim Compensation Fund.

• May 2, 2011: Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Navy Seals.

• September 11, 2011: The World Trade Center Memorial opens to the public on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

• May 10, 2014: The unidentified remains of people killed in New York City on 9/11 are returned to the World Trade Center Site.

• May 15, 2014: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is dedicated in lower Manhattan.

• November 3, 2014: One World Trade Center officially opens on the site of the Twin Towers

• July 29, 2019: President Donald Trump signs $10 billion legislation authorizing support for the Victims Compensation Fund through 2092.

• August 30, 2019: A U.S. military court judge in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba sets a trial date of January 11, 2021 for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four men charged with plotting the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; the trial was later postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• July 31, 2022: Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key planner of the attacks and the leader of al Qaeda following bin Laden's death, is killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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