View source for Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks

{{Short description|List of events on 9/11/2001}}
{{further|Timeline of the September 11 attacks}}
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[[File:Final moments of Flight 175.jpg|thumb|The hijacked [[United Airlines Flight 175]] approaching the [[Two World Trade Center (1973-2001)|South Tower]] (left) as the [[One World Trade Center (1973-2001)|North Tower]] (right) burns next to it.]]
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2023}}

The [[September 11 attacks]] of 2001, in addition to being a unique act of terrorism, constituted a [[media event]] on a scale not seen since the advent of [[Satellite television|civilian global satellite links]]. Instant worldwide reaction and debate were made possible by [[24-hour news cycle|round-the-clock television news]] organizations and by the internet. As a result, most of the events were known by a large portion of the world's population as they occurred.

The attacks themselves lasted less than two hours; the [[American Airlines Flight 11|first hijacking]] commenced at approximately 8:14 am, and the [[United Airlines Flight 93|final hijacked plane]] crashed at 10:03 am. All times given are in [[Eastern Daylight Time]], ([[UTC−04:00]]).

==Major events==
[[File:Flight paths of hijacked planes-September 11 attacks.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Flight paths of the four planes used on September 11]]
'''7:59&nbsp;a.m.''': [[American Airlines Flight 11]], a [[Boeing 767]] with registration number N334AA, carrying 76 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from [[Logan International Airport]] in [[Boston]], bound for [[Los Angeles International Airport]]. Five hijackers are on board. Hijacker and ringleader [[Mohamed Atta]] was piloting the plane into the North Tower of the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].

'''8:14''': [[United Airlines Flight 175]], a Boeing 767, with registration number N612UA carrying 56 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 9 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot [[Marwan al-Shehhi]] was piloting the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

'''8:14''': Flight 11 is hijacked over central [[Massachusetts]], turning first northwest, then south heading straight to New York.

'''8:20''': [[American Airlines Flight 77]], a [[Boeing 757]] with registration number N644AA with 58 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 6 crew members, departs 10 minutes late from [[Washington Dulles International Airport]], for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot [[Hani Hanjour]] will pilot the plane into the West side of [[The Pentagon]].

'''8:42''': [[United Airlines Flight 93]], a Boeing 757 with registration number N591UA with 37 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 7 crew members, departs 42 minutes late from Newark International Airport (later [[Newark Liberty International Airport]]), bound for [[San Francisco International Airport]]. Four hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot is [[Ziad Jarrah]]. At this time, Flight 175 is being hijacked and Flight 11 is about to descend to New York and is 4 minutes away from crashing.

'''8:42'''–'''8:46''' (approx.): Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about {{convert|60|mi|km|-1}} northwest of [[New York City]], continuing southwest briefly before turning back to the northeast. At this time estimate, Flight 11 is about to descend over New York and is just minutes away from crashing.

'''8:46:40''': Flight 11 crashes into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], between floors 93 and 99. All passengers aboard are instantly killed with an unknown number inside the building. The aircraft enters the tower on impact.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org">[https://timeline.911memorial.org/#Timeline/2 September 11 Attack Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227162458/https://timeline.911memorial.org/#Timeline/2 |date=February 27, 2020 }}, 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Retrieved July 31, 2021.</ref>

'''8:50'''–'''8:54''' (approx.): Flight 77 is hijacked above southern [[Ohio]], turning to the southeast. The transponder is turned off by hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour.

'''9:03:00''': Flight 175 crashes into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85. All passengers and crew are killed together with an unknown number inside the building. Parts of the plane, including the starboard engine, leave the building from its east and north sides, falling to the ground six blocks away.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2004/06/17/1962517/timeline-for-united-airlines-flight-175|title=Timeline for United Airlines Flight 175|access-date=23 March 2023|website=NPR|date=June 17, 2004|archive-date=January 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131055909/https://www.npr.org/2004/06/17/1962517/timeline-for-united-airlines-flight-175|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''9:28''': Flight 93 is hijacked above northern [[Ohio]], turning to the southeast.

'''9:37:46''': Flight 77 crashes into the western side of [[The Pentagon]]. All 58 passengers and crew were killed aboard the aircraft, as well as an additional 125 (including emergency workers) on the ground. The crash starts a violent fire.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/>

'''9:45''': United States airspace is shut down by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]; all operating aircraft are ordered to land at the nearest airport, and international flights are not permitted into the airspace.

'''9:57''': The passengers aboard Flight 93 begin a revolt, planned by [[Todd Beamer]], [[Mark Bingham]], [[Tom Burnett (Flight 93 passenger)|Tom Burnett]], [[Jeremy Glick]], and others, moving against the hijackers in an attempt to take back the plane.

'''9:59:00''': The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. Impact speed of the plane is considered one of the likely factors of the shorter amount of time between impact and collapse than that of the North Tower.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/>

'''10:03:11''': Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers as a result of fighting in the cockpit {{convert|80|mi|km}} southeast of [[Pittsburgh]] in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania]]. Later reports indicate that passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes and were resisting the hijackers. The 9/11 Commission believed that Flight 93's target was either the [[United States Capitol]] building or the [[White House]] in Washington, D.C. but [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] claims that the United States Capitol was the main target.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/>

'''10:15''': All five stories of the Pentagon on the West side where American 77 crashed collapse due to the fire started by the crash.

'''10:28:25''': The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11. [[Marriott World Trade Center|The Marriott Hotel]], located at the base of the two towers, is also destroyed.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/><ref name="govinfo.library.unt.edu">{{Cite web |title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |url=https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch9.htm |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=govinfo.library.unt.edu |archive-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225065150/https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch9.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''5:20:33&nbsp;p.m.''': [[7 World Trade Center (1987–2001)|7 World Trade Center]], a 47-story building, collapses after fires started inside the building.

==Detailed timeline of events==

===5:00 a.m.===
'''5:01''': [[Ziad Jarrah]] in [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]] calls [[Marwan al-Shehhi]] in [[Boston]]; this call was most likely to confirm the hijackers were ready to carry out the attacks.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book |last=McMillan |first=Tom |date=2014 |title=Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXiFBAAAQBAJ&dq=Ziad+Jarrah+Marwan+Al+Shehhi+5:01+am+cell+phone+call&pg=PA64 |location=[[Lanham, Maryland]] |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1442232853 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911040828/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Flight_93/MXiFBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ziad+Jarrah+Marwan+Al+Shehhi+5%3A01+am+cell+phone+call&pg=PA64&printsec=frontcover%3Dfalse |url-status=live }}{{rp|64}}</ref>

===6:00 a.m.===
'''6:00''': [[Mohamed Atta]] and [[Abdulaziz al-Omari]] travel on [[Colgan Air]] Flight 5930 from [[Portland International Jetport]] in Maine to [[Boston Logan International Airport]] in Massachusetts from where they will board [[American Airlines Flight 11]].<ref name=BBCJuly04>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3919613.stm|title=Extract: 'We have some planes'|work=BBC News|access-date=5 September 2011|date=23 July 2004|archive-date=January 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125210104/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3919613.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''6:00''': Polls open for primaries for the [[2001 New York City mayoral election|New York City mayoral elections]], as well as other local offices.<ref name="timeline.911memorial.org"/>

'''6:31''': President [[George W. Bush]] goes for an early-morning jog around the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort in [[Longboat Key, Florida]], where he and his staff had spent the night.<ref name="'We're the Only Plane in the Sky'">{{cite news |last1=Graff |first1=Garrett M. |title='We're the Only Plane in the Sky' |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230/ |access-date=1 January 2021 |publisher=PoliticoMagazine |date=9 September 2016 |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101215501/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230 |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''6:45''': Atta and al-Omari arrive at Logan International Airport.<ref name=BBCJuly04/>

'''6:52''': Al-Shehhi calls Atta from another terminal at Logan to confirm that the plans for the attacks are set.<ref name=BBCJuly04/>

===7:00 a.m.===
'''7:04'''–'''7:40''': Jarrah and his hijacking team arrive at [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark International Airport]] (now Newark Liberty International Airport) and check in for [[United Airlines Flight 93]].

'''7:15''': [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]] and [[Majed Moqed]] arrive at [[Dulles International Airport|Washington Dulles International Airport]] and check-in for [[American Airlines Flight 77]].

'''7:18''': al-Mihdhar and Moqed arrive at the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport. Both set off alarms and are consequently given a more thorough search.

'''7:23'''–'''7:28''': Al-Shehhi and his hijacking team board Flight 175.

'''7:35'''–'''7:40''': Atta and his hijacking team board Flight 11.<ref>{{Cite web|title=9/11 Commission Report|url=https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2021|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508201312/https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''7:35''': [[Hani Hanjour]] arrives at the security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport. He passes through the checkpoint without suspicion or setting off any alarms.

'''7:39'''–'''7:48''': Jarrah and his hijacking team board Flight 93.

'''7:40''': Flight 11 is pushed back from Gate B32 at Logan International Airport.

'''7:50''': Hanjour and his four fellow hijackers board Flight 77.

'''7:58''': [[United Airlines Flight 175]] is pushed back from Gate C19 at Logan International Airport.

'''7:59''': Flight 11, a [[Boeing 767]] carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston. Its destination is [[Los Angeles International Airport]] (LAX) in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wfaa.com/news/remembering-history |title=Remembering the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 |work=WFAA Dallas-Fort Worth |access-date=June 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606170236/http://www.wfaa.com/news/remembering-history |archive-date=June 6, 2012 }}</ref>

===8:00 a.m.===

'''8:00''': President Bush has his daily intelligence briefing. The material is routine, mostly concerning the [[Al-Aqsa Intifada]] and other Israeli-Palestinian issues. He calls [[Condoleezza Rice]] about one item, but there is no mention in the report of Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda, nor are there any final warnings about the terrorist plot now actively in motion. The briefing lasts about twenty minutes, after which he says goodbye to the resort staff and departs in his motorcade. As the President's scheduled event is considered a garden variety trip to promote his [[No Child Left Behind Act|education agenda]], accompanied by low-level aides and reporters, Chief of Staff Andrew Card remarks to him "It should be an easy day."<ref name="'We're the Only Plane in the Sky'"/>

'''8:01''': [[United Airlines Flight 93]] is pushed back from Gate A17 at Newark International Airport.

'''8:09''': Flight 77 is pushed back from Gate D26 at Dulles International Airport.

'''8:13'''–'''8:20''':<ref>{{cite web|title=9/11 Commission Staff Report|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf|date=September 2005|access-date=December 22, 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=July 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712075041/http://www.archives.gov/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf|page=51}}</ref> Flight 11 is hijacked. [[Waleed al-Shehri|Waleed]] and [[Wail al-Shehri]] rise from seats 2A and 2B and stab flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui. Atta rises from seat 8D and approaches the cockpit. Passenger [[Daniel Lewin]] rises from seat 9B and tries to stop Atta but is fatally stabbed by hijacker [[Satam al-Suqami]], who sat in 10B. The hijackers also spray [[Mace (spray)|Mace]] in the first and business class cabins, forcing everyone in those sections to vacate to the back of the airplane. Flight attendant [[Madeline Amy Sweeney]] reports being shown a bomb by one of the hijackers.

'''8:13:35''': Flight 11 has its last routine communication with the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]'s (FAA's) [[Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center]]<ref name="wehaveplanes">{{cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |title=The 9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 1: 'We Have Some Planes' |date=August 2004 |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=June 23, 2012 |archive-date=May 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514052417/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> (hereinafter "Boston Center").

<blockquote>
'''Boston Center''': American 11, turn twenty degrees right.

'''American Airlines Flight 11''': Turning right, American 11.<ref name="rutgers">{{cite web|url=http://www.rutgerslawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/special/911/Full%20audio%20transcript.pdf|title=The Story of the FAA and NORAD Response to the September 11, 2001 Attacks (full audio transcript)|date=25 August 2011|publisher=Rutgers Law Review|access-date=October 14, 2019|archive-date=December 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219140822/http://www.rutgerslawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/special/911/Full%20audio%20transcript.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
</blockquote>

'''8:13:52''': Boston Center Sector 46 controller Pete Zalewski instructs Flight 11 to climb to 35,000 feet twice, but receives no reply. He informs the Athens Sector controller that the flight is "[[NORDO]]" (no radio). Boston Center continues to attempt to re-establish contact with the flight without success.<ref name="rutgers" />

'''8:14''': Flight 175, another fully fueled Boeing 767, carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members, also departs from Logan International Airport in Boston; its destination is also Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are aboard. One of them, most likely al-Shehhi, communicated with Mohamed Atta shortly before American Airlines Flight 11's takeoff.<ref name="wehaveplanes"/>

'''8:19''': [[Betty Ong]], a flight attendant on Flight 11, alerts an [[American Airlines]] reservations center in [[Cary, North Carolina]], to the hijacking via an [[airphone]]: "[I'm] number 3 in the back. The cockpit is not answering, somebody's stabbed in business class—and I think there's Mace—that we can't breathe—I don't know, I think we're getting hijacked." She then tells of the stabbings of two flight attendants.<ref name="wehaveplanes"/>

'''8:20''': Boston Center flight controllers decide that Flight 11 has probably been hijacked.

'''8:20''': Flight 77, a [[Boeing 757]] with 58 passengers and six crew members, departs from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are aboard.

'''8:21''': Flight 11's transponder signal is turned off, but the flight can still be tracked via primary radar by Boston Center; prior to the [[9/11 Commission]]'s report, news organizations reported this time as 8:13 or immediately thereafter.

'''8:24''': A radio transmission comes from Flight 11: "Eh..... We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport." It is believed that Atta mistakenly held a button directing his voice to radio rather than to the plane's cabin as he intended. A few seconds later, a second transmission is received, in which Atta says "Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."

'''8:26:30''': Flight 11 makes a 100-degree turn to the south, following the [[Hudson River]] toward New York City.<ref>[http://www.ntsb.gov/info/Flight_%20Path_%20Study_AA11.pdf NTSB Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622121654/http://www.ntsb.gov/info/Flight_%20Path_%20Study_AA11.pdf |date=June 22, 2011 }}, page. 3</ref>

'''8:29:24''': Boston Center alerts the neighboring [[Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center|Cleveland]] and New York [[ARTCC]]s regarding Flight 11. The flight's position is estimated to be {{convert|15|mi|km|spell=in}} southwest of [[Albany, New York|Albany]].<ref name="rutgers" /> The [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] (NORAD) is not yet alerted.

'''8:33''': Flight 175 reaches its assigned cruising altitude of 31,000 feet.

'''8:33:59''': A third transmission from Atta onboard Flight 11: "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."

'''8:34''': Boston Center traffic manager Dan Bueno notifies the tower controller at [[Otis Air National Guard Base]] at [[Cape Cod]] of the hijacking of Flight 11. The controller directs Bueno to contact [[Northeast Air Defense Sector]] (NEADS), the northeast sector of NORAD.<ref>{{cite book | last = Spencer | first = Lynn | title = Touching history: the untold story of the drama that unfolded in the skies over America on 9/11 | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 2008 | page = 22 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HlFXrXcq9X4C&pg=PA22 | isbn = 9781416559252}}</ref> The controller then notifies Otis Operations Center that a call from NEADS might be coming.<ref>{{cite book | last = Spencer | first = Lynn | title = Touching history: the untold story of the drama that unfolded in the skies over America on 9/11 | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 2008 | page = 27 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HlFXrXcq9X4C&pg=PA27 | isbn = 9781416559252}}</ref> Two F-15 pilots begin to suit up.<ref>{{cite news | first = Matt | last = Viser | title = Two pilots revisit their 9/11 | date = September 11, 2005 | url = https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/11/two_pilots_revisit_their_911/ | work = The Boston Globe | access-date = 2010-05-18 | archive-date = March 9, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160309073825/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/11/two_pilots_revisit_their_911/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

'''8:37''': Flight 175 confirms sighting of hijacked Flight 11 to flight controllers, {{convert|10|mi|km}} to its south.

'''8:37:30''': Flight 11 begins a rapid descent at 3,200 feet per minute, starting from an altitude of 29,000 feet. This descent continues until the moment of impact with the North Tower. Half a minute later, having descended one thousand feet, the flight makes a slight southward turn.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc01.pdf|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board Office of Research and Engineering|location=Washington, D.C.|date=February 19, 2002|title=Flight Path Study – American Airlines Flight 11|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009173847/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''8:37:52''': Boston Center control notifies NEADS of the hijacking of Flight 11, the first notification received by NORAD of a hijacking that morning. The controller requests military help to intercept the jetliner. As NEADS is running a training exercise at that point, it inquires as to the veracity of the request, with Boston Center responding that it is "not an exercise, not a test."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/08/norad200608|title=9/11 Live: The NORAD Tapes|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=October 17, 2006|access-date=September 28, 2021|archive-date=April 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405220810/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/08/norad200608|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Image:Manhattan from above Hudson River.jpg|thumb|The World Trade Center towers seen from the cockpit of an aircraft over the [[Hudson River]]. American Airlines Flight 11 was traveling in roughly the same direction the camera is facing before it crashed.]]<!--attribution required: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image:Manhattan from above Hudson River.jpg-->

'''8:41''': The FAA's New York Center requests information about Flight 11 over the radio. Flight 175 responds: "We heard a suspicious transmission on our departure out of Boston with someone, [it] sounded like someone keyed the mic and said: 'everyone stay in your seats'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc03.pdf|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board Office of Research and Engineering|location=Washington, D.C.|date=February 19, 2002|title=Flight Path Study – United Airlines Flight 175|access-date=June 3, 2008|archive-date=June 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617050241/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc03.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> New York Center acknowledges and says it will pass the information on.

'''8:41''': NEADS drives two fighter pilots at Otis Air National Guard Base to battle stations.

'''8:42''': Flight 93, a Boeing 757, takes off with 37 passengers and seven crew members from Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport), bound for San Francisco International Airport, following a 42-minute delay due to congested runways. Four hijackers are aboard. Its flight path initially takes it close to the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], which is within four minutes of being struck, before moving away westbound. All four planes are now in the air.

'''8:42'''–'''8:46''' (approx.): In the skies over northern New Jersey, Flight 175 is hijacked. Most likely, two of the "muscle hijackers", [[Fayez Banihammad]] and [[Mohand al-Shehri]], make the first moves, stabbing a flight attendant and then storming the cockpit, killing both pilots. [[Hamza al-Ghamdi]] and [[Ahmed al-Ghamdi]] then order remaining passengers and crew to the back of the plane, allowing their leader, Marwan al-Shehhi, to take control.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxrmbdD98Lw&t=657s | title=Inside 9/11: Zero Hour | website=[[YouTube]] | access-date=September 11, 2023 | archive-date=October 4, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004004552/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxrmbdD98Lw&t=657s | url-status=live }}</ref>

'''8:43:30''': While descending at 10,000 feet, Flight 11 makes a final turn, turning south-southwestward towards New York City, aiming for the World Trade Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc01.pdf|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board Office of Research and Engineering|location=Washington, D.C.|date=February 19, 2002|title=Flight Path Study – American Airlines Flight 11|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009173847/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''8:44'''–'''8:46''':{{efn|name=Time4}} Flight attendant Amy Sweeney, aboard Flight 11, reports by telephone to Michael Woodward at the American Airlines Flight Services Office in Boston, "Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent. We are all over the place." A minute later, Woodward asks her to "describe what she sees out the window". She responds, "I see the water. I see the buildings. I see buildings." After a short pause, she reports, "We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low." Seconds later she says, "Oh, my God, we are way too low." The call ends with a burst of very loud, sustained static.

[[File:Seconds after first plane.JPG|thumb| Seconds after [[American Airlines Flight 11]] impacted the North Tower]]

'''8:46''':{{efn|name=Time4|The exact time is disputed. The ''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'' states that Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46:40 a.m.,<ref name="WTC1">{{cite book |author=((9/11 Final Report of the National Commission)) |title=Collapse of WTC1 |year=2004 |url=https://9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |page=24 |access-date=November 8, 2016 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816164111/https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> NIST reports 8:46:30 a.m.,<ref>{{cite journal |last=National Institute of Standards and Technology |title=Final report on the collapse of the World Trade Center |journal=NIST |year=2005 |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |page=69 |access-date=September 11, 2023 |archive-date=July 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707002217/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and some other sources claim 8:46:26 a.m.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 26, 2002|title=102 Minutes: Last Words at the Trade Center; Fighting to Live as the Towers Die|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html|access-date=June 23, 2023|archive-date=September 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912025748/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}} '''Flight 11 crashes''' almost directly midway into the North Tower's central core at roughly {{convert|440|mph|km/h m/s kn}},<ref>{{cite journal |last=National Institute of Standards and Technology |title=Final report on the collapse of the World Trade Center |journal=NIST |year=2005 |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |page=70 |access-date=September 11, 2023 |archive-date=July 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707002217/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> striking the center of the north face between floors 93 and 99.<ref name="govtech.com">(2019) https://www.govtech.com/em/safety/timeline-of-how-the-tragic-events-unfolded-on-sept-11-2001.html. Retrieved September 10, 2019</ref> Hundreds are killed instantly, including everyone on the plane and untold others inside the North Tower. The impact gouges a plane-shaped hole spanning nearly the width of the skyscraper and triggers an explosion that can be seen and heard for miles. At least 166 windows are broken in the North Tower.<ref>{{cite journal |last=National Institute of Standards and Technology |title=Final report on the collapse of the World Trade Center |journal=NIST |year=2005 |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |page=73 |access-date=September 11, 2023 |archive-date=July 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707002217/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The blast also shatters windows in the adjacent South Tower as its western and northern facades are battered by debris.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Interview: The Inspiring Story of 9/11 Survivor Michelle Rosado|work=HuffPost|date=November 10, 2009|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/interview-the-inspiring-s_b_282804|access-date=January 4, 2024|archive-date=January 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104111234/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/interview-the-inspiring-s_b_282804|url-status=live}}</ref> Sweltering heat is felt by South Tower occupants across from the burning floors,<ref>{{cite news|date=May 26, 2002|title=Accounts From the South Tower|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/accounts-from-the-south-tower.html|access-date=January 4, 2024|archive-date=August 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814233011/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/accounts-from-the-south-tower.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the smoke, blowing southeast, seeps into the building through air vents.<ref>{{cite news|title=September 11 survivor: 'As I left the south tower I heard a plane roaring towards the World Trade Center — I thought it was the end and screamed out my mummy's name'|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/sept-11-survivor-i-thought-this-was-the-end-i-screamed-out-my-mummys-name-3379975|date=September 11, 2021|access-date=January 4, 2024|archive-date=May 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518220101/https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/sept-11-survivor-i-thought-this-was-the-end-i-screamed-out-my-mummys-name-3379975|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, Flight 11's explosion sends ignited [[jet fuel]] pouring down through various passages in the North Tower, causing fatal injuries nearly a hundred floors below when a fireball sweeps through the main lobby. Severed water pipes, collapsed walls, dislodged ceiling tiles and severed electrical wires are reported from the lobby to the 92nd floor.<ref>{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=NISTNCSTAR1-5A Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster ― Visual Evidence, Damage Estimates, And Timeline Analysis|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|page=166|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> All three stairwells from the roof to the ground (labeled A, B and C) are clustered together in the impact region, with just {{convert|70|ft|m|abbr=off}} of space between each one. The impact of the plane, given its size, instantly severs all three, rendering escape from the impact zone or above impossible. The 92nd floor, though technically the last floor below the impact zone, is also cut off from the rest of the tower due to the stairwells being blocked by debris from Flight 11's impacted 93rd through 99th floors immediately above and the elevators being destroyed or inoperable from the 50th floor upward. People in the North Tower below the impact zone, as well as in the South Tower, start to evacuate.

[[BBC]] correspondent [[Stephen Evans (journalist)|Stephen Evans]] was sitting in the foyer of the South Tower and described hearing a "huge bang like somebody dropped a skip full of rubbish" followed by "two or three similar huge explosions", as the South Tower shook.<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC reporter at centre of attack |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=September 11, 2001 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/sep/11/september112001.bbc |access-date=2017-07-28 |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729051817/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/sep/11/september112001.bbc |url-status=live }}</ref> French filmmaker [[Jules and Gédéon Naudet|Jules Naudet]] and Czech immigrant Pavel Hlava videotape the crash of Flight 11 with their video cameras from different locations. A camera belonging to local New York television station [[WNYW]] captures the sound of the approaching airplane and the crash. While the impact is not seen directly, it causes a brief interruption of the video signal. The camera begins recording an image of the North Tower on fire approximately 13 seconds after the initial impact.<ref>{{cite AV media |people= |date= |title=9/11 WTC Rare Video of First Plane Attack - WNYW TV |trans-title= |type= |language= |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVEmAWaKoYQ |access-date=25 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825072718/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVEmAWaKoYQ |archive-date=August 25, 2023 |format= |time= |location= |publisher=WNYW via YouTube |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Joseph W Pfeifer - NYPD Conducts Active Shooter Training Exercise (23265274449).jpg|thumb|Battalion Chief [[Joseph W. Pfeifer]], who made the first fire department radio message advising the FDNY Manhattan Fire Dispatch Office of the crash.]]
'''8:46:43''': Chief of the [[New York City Fire Department]]'s 1st Battalion, [[Joseph W. Pfeifer]], makes the first fire department radio message advising the FDNY Manhattan Fire Dispatch Office of the crash. Chief Pfeifer and personnel from other fire companies were several blocks north, on the corner of Church Street and Lispenard Street investigating an odor of gas in the street, and witnessed the attack, along with Jules Naudet, who was accompanying the firefighters at the time:

<blockquote>
'''Battalion 1 Chief (Chief Pfeifer)''': Battalion 1 to Manhattan.

'''Manhattan Dispatch''': Battalion 1, K [go ahead].

'''Battalion 1 Chief (Chief Pfeifer)''': We just had a plane crash into the upper floor of the World Trade Center. Transmit a 2nd Alarm and start re-located companies into the area.

'''Manhattan Dispatch''': [[10-4]] [message received], Battalion 1.
</blockquote>

'''8:46:48''': Two [[F-15]] fighter jets are ordered to scramble from Otis Air National Guard Base, intended to intercept Flight 11.

<blockquote>
'''Sergeant Jeremy W. Powell''': This is [[Eastern Air Defense Sector|HUNTRESS]] with an active air defense scramble for Panta 45, 46, time 12:46, authenticate delta x-ray. Scramble immediately, Panta 45, 46, heading 280, flight level 290, contact HUNTRESS on frequency 228.9, back-up 364.2. All parties acknowledge with initials.<ref>{{cite web |title=5. Miscellaneous – (e) Other – 5 K90 6 Partial Transcripts 3 Positions Flight Data, Supervisors Console, High AR |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7603283 |website=National Archives Catalog |series=File Unit: 5. Miscellaneous – (E) Other, 2001 – 2004 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=6 January 2025 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022132601/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7603283 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>''"[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/08/nyregion/911-tapes.html The 9/11 Tapes: The Story in the Air] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727005109/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/08/nyregion/911-tapes.html |date=July 27, 2023 }}"'' (7 September 2011). ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
* ''"[https://news.sky.com/story/new-9-11-tapes-audio-and-full-transcripts-10486091 New 9/11 Tapes: Audio And Full Transcripts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727003027/https://news.sky.com/story/new-9-11-tapes-audio-and-full-transcripts-10486091 |date=July 27, 2023 }}"'' (8 September 2011). Sky News. Retrieved 26 July 2023.</ref>
</blockquote>

Because Flight 11's [[Transponder (aviation)|transponder]] is off, the pilots do not know the location of their target. When Flight 11 crashed, its track disappeared from radar. NEADS spends the next several minutes watching their radar screens in anticipation of Flight 11 returning a radar contact. However, unknown to NEADS at the time, Flight 11 has already impacted the North Tower. NEADS will not become aware of the crash at the World Trade Center until 8:50 am.

'''8:48:08''': WNYW breaks into a [[Paramount Pictures]] movie trailer for ''[[Zoolander]]'' to make the first broadcast report of an incident at the World Trade Center, less than two minutes after Flight 11's crash. One of the station's camera crews, already out on location at [[City Hall Park]] that morning for New York's mayoral primary election, takes the first live pictures of black smoke coming from the North Tower.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Ev6YQd2jOp4 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120923042439/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev6YQd2jOp4 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev6YQd2jOp4|title=WNYW 9/11 8:48 – 8:57|last=ResidentPinto|date=11 November 2009|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> As these pictures are broadcast, the voice of reporter [[Dick Oliver]] is heard as he reports from the scene to anchor [[Jim Ryan (reporter)|Jim Ryan]], who was not in the studio at the time:
{{blockquote|Jim, just a few moments ago, something believed to be a plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. I just saw flames inside, you can see the smoke coming out of the tower; we have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom just a few moments ago. You can hear around me emergency vehicles heading towards the scene. Now this could have been an aircraft or it could have been something internal. It appears to be something coming from the outside, due to the nature of the opening on about the 100th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.}}

Three minutes later, Jim Ryan corrected the location of the first plane crash from the South Tower to the North Tower.

'''8:48:29''': The first radio report of the incident is heard on [[WCBS-AM]] through traffic reporter Tom Kaminski. WCBS' traffic reports are delivered every ten minutes "on the 8s", meaning that Kaminski's traffic report was to come within two minutes of the initial impact of [[American Airlines Flight 11|Flight 11]] (although there is no record of how much time actually passed). At the time Kaminski was in "Chopper 880", WCBS' helicopter that he reports from for morning and evening rush hour traffic reports. The following consists of WCBS anchor Pat Carroll crossing to Kaminski in the chopper before he files his report.

<blockquote>'''Pat Carroll''': WCBS news time, 8:48, it's traffic and weather together sponsored by [[Henry Miller's Theatre]]. Tom Kaminski, Chopper 880.

'''Tom Kaminski''': Alright uh, Pat, we are just currently getting a look at the World Trade Center, We have something that has happened here at the World Trade Center. We noticed flame and an awful lot of smoke from one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We are just coming up on this scene, this is easily three-quarters of the way up. We are… This is… Whatever has occurred has just occurred, uh, within minutes and, uh, we are trying to determine exactly what that is. But currently we have a lot of smoke at the top of the towers of the World Trade Center, we will keep you posted.
</blockquote>

'''8:49''': The first report of an incident at the World Trade Center crosses the [[Associated Press]] newswire.

'''8:49:03''': Local New York public radio station [[WNYC (AM)|WNYC]] host Mark Hilan broadcasts that station's first report of the incident.

[[Image:CNN Breaking News 911.jpg|thumb|CNN breaking the news of a plane crash at the World Trade Center]]

'''8:49:34''': The first network television and radio reports of an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center. [[CNN]] breaks into a [[Ditech]] commercial at 8:49. The CNN screen subtitle first reads "WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER". [[Carol Lin]], the first TV network anchor to break the news of the attacks, says:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/bn/date/2001-09-11/segment/01 |title=CNN - Transcripts |website=CNN |date=2001-09-11 |access-date=2020-05-13 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619115717/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/11/bn.01.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. [[CNN Center]] right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is, once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.}}

Just a minute later, [[Sean Murtagh]], CNN vice president of finance, in an on-air phone call, says from his office in the [[Time Warner Center|CNN New York bureau]] that a large passenger commercial jet was seen to hit the World Trade Center. The first email bulletins of breaking news from CNN and [[MSNBC]] report "fire at tower of World Trade Center". Both CNN and MSNBC's websites receive such heavy traffic that many of their [[web server]]s fail under the strain of the vast amounts of traffic. [[BBC News]] web servers remain operational, and their website shows a picture of the North Tower on fire. Minutes later, email news bulletins revise the reports of fire to a plane crash.

'''8:50''': NEADS is notified that a plane has struck the World Trade Center as its on-duty personnel continue to try to locate Flight 11 on radar.

'''8:50''': FDNY 1st Battalion chief Joseph Pfeifer is the first fire chief to enter the World Trade Center after the North Tower impact. He is joined by several FDNY companies on entry as he starts setting up command in the tower.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Pfeifer
 | first = Joseph
 | author-link = Joseph W. Pfeifer
 | title = Ordinary Heroes
 | publisher = [[Penguin Random House]]
 | location = New York
 | date = 2021
 | pages = 27–29
 | isbn = 9780593330258}}</ref>

'''8:50''': Local New York radio station [[WOR (AM)|WOR]] news anchor Ed Walsh makes that station's first on-air report of the incident.

'''8:50''': [[WCBS-TV]] in New York breaks away from the CBS network to cover the attack, with anchor [[Mike Pomeranz]] providing that station's first report.

'''8:50''': On [[CNBC]]'s ''[[Squawk Box]],'' host [[Mark Haines]] is interviewing a mutual fund portfolio manager, Bill Nygren of the Oakmark Select Fund, when he sees pictures of the burning North Tower. "Is that the World Trade Tower?" he asks. His on-air colleague [[Joe Kernen]] tells him that a plane had hit the tower.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkfkd0X9gPA CNBC begins reporting]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520160809/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkfkd0X9gPA |date=May 20, 2016 }} YouTube.</ref>  CNBC is the first NBC outlet to begin reporting on the disaster.

'''8:50''': Local New York cable television channel [[NY1]] anchor [[Pat Kiernan]] begins that channel's coverage of the incident.

'''8:50''': Local New York radio station [[WABC (AM)|WABC]] news anchor [[George Weber (radio personality)|George Weber]] broadcasts that station's first report of the incident.

'''8:50'''–'''8:54''' (approx.): As it nears the border of West Virginia and Ohio, Flight 77 is hijacked. But unlike the other hijackings in which they killed members of the flight crew, the pilots of Flight 77 are sent to the back of the aircraft with all the other passengers and crew while Hani Hanjour takes the controls.

'''8:50:07''': The traffic management units for Boston Center and New York Center state that they have both lost the primary target that they were tracking, referring to Flight 11. Roughly a minute later, New York Center passes on information supplied by [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|Kennedy Tower]] about a fire at the World Trade Center.<ref name="rutgers" /><ref>{{cite web |title=UAL 175 - (c) Transcripts - 4 AEA 1109 MEMO- -ZNY ARTCC PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT RE UAL175 1224-1330 UTC.pdf |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7598181 |website=National Archives Catalog |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=20 September 2023 |archive-date=March 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324064011/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7598181 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<blockquote>'''New York Center''': Kennedy Tower reports...you serious? Kennedy Tower reports that there was a fire at the World Trade Center. And that's, ah, that's the area where we lost the airplane.</blockquote>

'''8:50:47''': Local New York television station [[WNBC]] breaks away from the NBC network to begin its coverage of the attack, with anchor [[Jane Hanson]] providing that station's initial report.

'''8:51'''–'''10:28''':{{efn|There are reports that the jumping/falling commenced within two minutes of the impact, but the first confirmed victim was observed falling at 8:51 a.m.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suicidology-online.com/pdf/SOL-2013-4-117-121.pdf|title=Those who jumped from the Twin Towers on 9/11: Suicides or not?|work=Suicidology Online|date=December 8, 2013|access-date=December 22, 2023|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192257/http://www.suicidology-online.com/pdf/SOL-2013-4-117-121.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}} With Flight 11 leaving more than a thousand people still alive but trapped in the top 18 floors of the now-burning North Tower,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Galea |first1=Edwin R |last2=Hulse |first2=Lynn |last3=Day |first3=Rachel |last4=Siddiqui |first4=Asim |last5=Sharp |first5=Gary |date=2012 |title=The UK WTC 9/11 evacuation study: An overview of findings derived from first-hand interview data and computer modelling |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/fam.1070 |journal=Fire and Materials |volume=36 |issue=5–6 |pages=501–521 |doi=10.1002/fam.1070 |s2cid=110718132 |via=Wiley |access-date=September 11, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629193351/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/fam.1070 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> some 100–200 people plummet from the skyscraper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm|title=Desperation forced a horrific decision|work=USA Today|access-date=April 18, 2015|archive-date=September 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906201041/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the victims witnessed falling are left with no choice but to take their own lives by jumping to escape the heat, smoke, and flames,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suicidology-online.com/pdf/SOL-2013-4-117-121.pdf|title=Those who jumped from the Twin Towers on 9/11: Suicides or not?|work=Suicidology Online|date=December 8, 2013|access-date=December 22, 2023|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192257/http://www.suicidology-online.com/pdf/SOL-2013-4-117-121.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> although some of the falls are accidents caused by people losing their grip or balance.<ref name="NIST2005">{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=Final Reports from the NIST World Trade Center Disaster Investigation|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|page=149|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> No form of airborne evacuation is attempted as smoke is too dense for a successful landing on the roof of either tower.

'''8:51''': [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], the first [[terrestrial television]] network to break news of the attack, was airing ''[[Good Morning America]]'' in the eastern half of the country at the time. After returning from a commercial break, [[WABC-TV]] in New York breaks away from the ABC network, with anchor [[Steve Bartelstein]] beginning that station's own local coverage of the disaster, while on the network, ''GMA'' host [[Diane Sawyer]] makes this statement:

<blockquote>We want to tell you what we know, as we know it, but we just got a report in that there's been some sort of explosion at the World Trade Center in New York City. 
One report said, and we can't confirm any of this, that a plane may have hit one of the two towers of the World Trade Center, but again, you are seeing the live pictures here. We have no further details than that. We don't know anything about what they have concluded happened there this morning. But we're going to find out, and of course, make sure that everybody knows on the air.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/_K5rSpuXTgg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190917200544/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K5rSpuXTgg&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K5rSpuXTgg| title = Good Morning America 9-11-01 - ABC Network Live as Tragedy Occurred | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref></blockquote>
Coverage of the incident began on the rest of the ABC network a minute later.

'''8:51''': [[Matt Lauer]], co-host of [[NBC News]]' ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]'', interrupts an interview with author [[Richard Hack]] and says to the audience, "We wanna go live right now, and show you a picture of the World Trade Center, where I understand... Do we have it?" However, NBC did not immediately have the picture ready and went to a regularly scheduled commercial break. They return with a shot of the burning tower.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/89G749GrtBQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170214145057/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89G749GrtBQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|title=NBC News 9-11-2001 Live Coverage (Complete Today Show)|website = [[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89G749GrtBQ&t=6983s}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

'''8:51''': [[GloboNews]] anchor Leila Sterenberg makes the first Brazilian television report of the first plane crash.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=October 24, 2023|date=September 8, 2011|language=pt-br|title=Cobertura do 11/9 foi cheia de surpresa e comoção|url=https://g1.globo.com/globo-news/noticia/2011/09/cobertura-do-119-foi-cheia-de-surpresa-e-comocao.html|website=[[GloboNews]]|archive-date=October 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029055837/https://g1.globo.com/globo-news/noticia/2011/09/cobertura-do-119-foi-cheia-de-surpresa-e-comocao.html|url-status=live}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

'''8:51''': A flight controller at the FAA's New York Center notices that Flight 175 had changed its transponder code twice four minutes earlier; he tries to contact the flight. Another flight in the area, [[Delta Air Lines]] flight 1489, reports the sight of smoke coming from lower Manhattan to New York Center. This is the first word any pilots in flight receive of the incident.

'''8:51''': New York City's [[Amateur Radio Emergency Service]] net is activated, with ham operators in the area assisting with emergency communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyc-arecs.org/article-post-911.html|title=The Roll Radio Amateurs played on September 11, 2001|website=www.nyc-arecs.org|access-date=September 29, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025121503/http://www.nyc-arecs.org/article-post-911.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''8:51:34''': [[WINS-AM]] interrupts its 8:51 traffic report and anchor James Faherty relays word of the crash of Flight 11 to the listening audience, with the station having been notified by one of its employees who lives near the site.

'''8:52''': Lee Hanson receives a phone call from his son, Peter, a passenger on United 175, who says: "I think they've taken over the cockpit—an attendant has been stabbed—and someone else up front may have been killed. The plane is making strange moves. Call United Airlines—tell them it's Flight 175, Boston to LA." Also on board Flight 175, a flight attendant calls a United Airlines office in Chicago, reporting that the flight had been hijacked, both pilots had been killed, a flight attendant had been stabbed, and the hijackers were probably flying the plane.<ref name="chap1-p8">{{cite book |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |title=The 9/11 Commission Report |chapter=The Hijacking of United 175 section |date=July 2004 |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |page=8 |access-date=2010-10-24 |archive-date=May 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511160550/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_ch1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''8:52''': The F-15s at Otis Air National Guard Base are airborne. Still lacking an intercept vector to Flight 11 (and not aware that it has already crashed), they are sent to military controlled airspace off [[Long Island]] and ordered to remain in a holding pattern until between 9:09 and 9:13.

'''8:52''': Anchor [[Chris Jansing]] makes the first announcement on [[MSNBC]] of a plane crash into the World Trade Center.

'''8:52''': [[CBS]] interrupts ''[[The Early Show]]'' to report the news of the attack. [[Bryant Gumbel]] makes the announcement that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

'''8:52''': [[CBC Newsworld]] anchor [[Mark Kelley]] makes the first Canadian television report of the first plane crash.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/UIni8YFliqc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20191001055853/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIni8YFliqc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIni8YFliqc| title = CBC 9-11-2001 News Coverage BREAKING NEWS | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

'''8:52''': [[Sky News]] presenter [[Kay Burley]] breaks the news of the first plane crash to the UK.

'''8:52:50''': [[Fox News]] comes back from a commercial break to report the attack. [[E. D. Hill]] informs viewers that a plane crashed into the North Tower.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Fox News |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlfG0Q5i48 |title=FOX News 9/11/2001 Breaking News, 2 hours |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 6, 2025 |archive-date=January 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113160946/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anlfG0Q5i48 |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''8:53''': [[Network Ten]] news anchor [[Sandra Sully]] makes the first report of the incident over Australian television.

'''8:53:23''': Business presenter [[John Terrett]] puts out the first report of the disaster over [[BBC News 24]] in the UK.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-j33lW97Y&t=156s September 11th 2001 - BBC News 24 (1:52pm-3:56pm UK Time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310204748/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-j33lW97Y&t=156s |date=March 10, 2022 }}, at time 2'36"</ref>

'''8:54''': Flight 77 deviates from its assigned course, turning south over [[Ohio]] and then heads back east towards Washington DC.

'''8:54''': [[BBC World]] news anchor [[Nisha Pillai]] makes that channel's first report of the disaster. The channel does not start continuous coverage until 9:00.

'''8:54''': [[Rede Globo]] anchor [[Carlos Nascimento (journalist)|Carlos Nascimento]] makes the first Brazilian terrestrial television report of the first plane crash. Minutes after, the network resumes its regular programming (children's show ''Bambuluá'') until starting continuous coverage of the events at 8:57.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=October 24, 2023|date=September 21, 2023|first=Wesley|language=pt-br|last=Bischoff|title='Dragon Ball Z' e o 11 de setembro: o mistério que envolve o Plantão da Globo em um dia histórico|url=https://g1.globo.com/pop-arte/tv-e-series/noticia/2023/09/21/dragon-ball-z-e-o-11-de-setembro-o-misterio-que-envolve-o-plantao-da-globo-em-um-dia-historico.ghtml|website=[[G1 (website)|G1]]|archive-date=October 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029055835/https://g1.globo.com/pop-arte/tv-e-series/noticia/2023/09/21/dragon-ball-z-e-o-11-de-setembro-o-misterio-que-envolve-o-plantao-da-globo-em-um-dia-historico.ghtml|url-status=live}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

'''8:55''' (approx.): An announcement is made over the building-wide [[PA system]] by officials in the superficially damaged South Tower, "The building is secure, please return to your desks."<ref>"90th Floor Frozen, Even as Ground Zero Changes", ''The New York Times'', September 12, 2007. {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/nyregion/12about.html |title=90th Floor Frozen, Even as Ground Zero Changes |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 2007 |access-date=2015-04-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005403/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/nyregion/12about.html |archive-date=2016-03-05 |last1=Dwyer |first1=Jim }}</ref> The South Tower's occupants react in numerous ways, ranging from going back to their offices as suggested, ignoring it and evacuating anyway, or congregating in common areas such as the 78th floor [[sky lobby]].

'''8:55''': [[President George W. Bush]] arrives at [[Emma E. Booker Elementary School]] in [[Sarasota, Florida]], as part of a scheduled visit to promote education and is reading ''[[The Pet Goat]]'' when [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Andrew Card]], who is with Bush, informs him that a small twin-engine plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Before entering the classroom, the President speaks to [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Condoleezza Rice]], who is at the White House. She first tells him it was a twin-engine aircraft—and then a commercial aircraft—that had struck the World Trade Center, adding "that's all we know right now, Mr. President."<ref>[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/fullreport.pdf 9/11 Commission Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423032225/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/fullreport.pdf |date=April 23, 2016 }}, p. 35.</ref>

'''8:56''': Ten minutes after the North Tower of the World Trade Center was hit by Flight 11, the transponder on Flight 77 is turned off and even primary radar contact with the aircraft is lost. During radar blackout Flight 77 turns east, unnoticed by flight controllers. When primary radar information is restored at 9:05, controllers searching for Flight 77 to the west of its previous position are unable to find it.<ref>With its transponder off, it is possible, though more difficult, to track an aircraft by its primary radar returns. But unlike transponder data, primary radar returns do not show the aircraft's identity and altitude.</ref> Flight 77 travels undetected for 36 minutes on a course heading due east toward Washington, D.C.

'''8:57''': [[TV Azteca]] ''[[Hechos]]'' anchor Ramón Fregoso starts broadcasting the first report of the incident over Mexican television.

'''8:58''': Flight 175 makes a final turn toward New York City.

'''8:59''': Flight 175 passenger Brian Sweeney leaves a message via airphone to his wife Julie:

<blockquote>Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked. If things don't go well, and it's not looking good, I just want you to know I absolutely love you, I want you to do good, go have good times, same to my parents and everybody, and I just totally love you, and I'll see you when you get there. Bye, babe. I hope I call you.</blockquote>

===9:00 a.m.===
[[File:World Trade Center 9-11 P9110006.jpeg|thumb|The Twin Towers on fire.]]

'''9:00''': The first French television report of the disaster is broadcast over [[La Chaîne Info]] by anchor Marianne Kottenhoff.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLK5adAHphA |title=Le jour où LCI a annoncé les attentats du 11 septembre |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 6, 2025 |archive-date=October 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004004554/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLK5adAHphA |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:00''': The first Spanish television report of the disaster is broadcast over [[Antena 3 (Spanish TV channel)|Antena 3]] by news anchor [[Matías Prats Luque]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmm4Eo9_IpU |title=11-09-2001 Noticias A3 - Atentado Torres Gemelas en directo |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 1, 2024 |archive-date=January 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101154023/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmm4Eo9_IpU |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:00''': Lee Hanson receives a second call from his son Peter, aboard Flight 175, telling him that his plane is about to crash:

<blockquote>"It's getting bad, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They seem to have knives and [[Mace (spray)|Mace]]. They said they have a bomb. It's getting very bad on the plane. Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we are going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast. My God, my God."<ref name="chap1-p8" /></blockquote>

The call ends abruptly just as Lee hears a woman scream. Shortly afterward, he witnesses the second aircraft impact the South Tower on live TV.

'''9:01'''–'''9:02''': A manager from the FAA's New York Center tells the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in [[Herndon, Virginia]]:

<blockquote>'''New York Center''': We have several situations going on here. It's escalating big, big time. We need to get the military involved with us.

'''ATCSCC''': We're, we're involved with something else, we have other aircraft that may have a similar situation going on here.
</blockquote>

'''9:01''': FAA's New York Center contacts New York [[Terminal Control Center|terminal approach control]] and asks for help in locating Flight 175. The flight is now in Central New Jersey headed for lower Manhattan.

'''9:01''': News anchor [[Lynne White]] of local New York television station [[WPIX]] (channel 11) begins that station's report on the attack.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/HCgE60nfdxw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130828112039/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCgE60nfdxw&p=D11A9AC2792D95DA&client=mv-google&hl=en&guid=&gl=US Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCgE60nfdxw| title = WPIX (WB11) 9/11 9:01 - 9:11 | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

'''9:01''': The first Japanese television report of the disaster is made over [[NHK]] Television by news anchor Masaaki Horio.

'''9:02''': Evacuation of both World Trade Center towers is ordered by [[FDNY]] Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer, who was stationed in the lobby of the North Tower. Although it is uncertain whether the South Tower's deputy fire safety director receives this order, an announcement is made over the tower's PA system to "begin an orderly evacuation if conditions warranted".<ref>9/11 Commission Report, p. 289. {{cite web|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |title=The 9/11 Commission Report|access-date=2025-01-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019203222/https://9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-19 }}</ref>

'''9:02''': Air traffic controllers at New York Center watch Flight 175 as it descends rapidly to a very low altitude. During its descent, it barely avoids colliding with Tampa-bound Delta Airlines Flight 2315.<ref>https://youtube.com/watch?v=RwIYmBYbUh4?t=1178s</ref>

[[File:UA Flight 175 hits WTC south tower 9-11 edit.jpeg|thumb|The fireball erupting out of the South Tower from the impact of [[United Airlines Flight 175|Flight 175]]]]

'''9:03''':{{efn|name=Time5|Pavel Hlava's video, which was filmed with a camcorder that included a timestamp, fixes the moment of the second impact at 16 minutes and 29 seconds after the first impact. The first impact on Hlava's tape is timestamped at 8:46:28 and the second impact is timestamped at 9:02:57. The initiation of the collapse of the South Tower is timestamped at 9:58:57, fixing the collapse at exactly 56 minutes after the impact.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pavel Hlava (9/11 Tape) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o--_D3IKjE4 |website=YouTube |access-date=14 October 2024}}</ref>}} '''Flight 175 crashes''' at about {{convert|590|mph|km/h m/s knot|abbr=on}} into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85.<ref name="govtech.com"/><ref>Time as given in the [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html 9/11 Commission Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807204647/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html |date=August 7, 2010 }}, July 2004, pp. 8, 32. However, ''[http://wtc.nist.gov/NISTNCSTAR1CollapseofTowers.pdf Final Report of the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015015452/http://wtc.nist.gov/NISTNCSTAR1CollapseofTowers.pdf |date=October 15, 2013 }}'', published by the U.S. Commerce Department's [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] in September 2005, pp. 83–84, timed this event at 9:02:59 a.m., established from time stamps in four September 11 telecasts.</ref><ref name="ntsb-2002-02-07">{{cite web|url=http://www.911myths.com/images/c/c1/Radar_Data_Impact_Speed_Study--AA11%2C_UA175.pdf|title=Radar Data Impact Speed Study|author=National Transportation and Safety Board|date=February 7, 2002|publisher=NTSB|page=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219230238/http://911myths.com/images/c/c1/Radar_Data_Impact_Speed_Study--AA11%2C_UA175.pdf|archive-date=December 19, 2007|access-date=December 29, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2004-06-18 |title=Tracking the Flights Hijacked on 9/11 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-18-na-introflight18-story.html |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=August 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802024517/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-18-na-introflight18-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Rinaldi, Thomas (2016), https://books.google.com/books?id=y_wlCwAAQBAJ&dq=south+tower+9:03:02+am&pg=PT80 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918044018/https://books.google.com/books?id=y_wlCwAAQBAJ&dq=south+tower+9:03:02+am&pg=PT80 |date=September 18, 2023 }} Retrieved September 6, 2016</ref> The exploding jet fuel generates a massive fireball emerging from the southern, eastern and northern facades of the South Tower.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-12-mn-44916-story.html|title=2 Planes Hit Twin Towers at Exactly the Worst Spot|date=September 12, 2001|access-date=February 23, 2023|archive-date=November 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130113638/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-12-mn-44916-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> East face windows on the already-burning North Tower are smashed as the shockwave from the explosion hits them.<ref>{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=Final Reports from the NIST World Trade Center Disaster Investigation|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|63}} Parts of the plane, including the starboard engine, leave the South Tower from its east and north sides, falling to the ground six blocks away. All 65 people on board the aircraft die instantly on impact, and unknown hundreds in the building as well. The impact causes the tower to sway at a very low frequency,<ref>https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5NQgU-9G4</ref> described by at least one building occupant, [[Brian Clark (September 11 survivor)|Brian Clark]], as feeling like his floor, floor 84, moved laterally by between six and eight feet, or between 1.8 and 2.4 metres.<ref>https://youtube.com/watch?v=o9NjY_ZCrpM&t=1966s</ref> By this time, several media organizations, including [[Big Three television networks|the three major American broadcast television networks]] (which have interrupted their morning shows), are covering the immediate aftermath of the first plane crash, and so millions of viewers see the impact live. New York's [[WNYW]] is among the first to specifically report that a second plane has crashed into the complex (many other news agencies do not realize that a second plane has crashed until several minutes later):<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/jo-v9Nge6Zw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200424214119/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-v9Nge6Zw&pbj=prefetch&frags=pl&prefetch=1 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-v9Nge6Zw| title = FOX 4 Good Day - September 11 2001 | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/3PElRJEDMuE Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20191128133905/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PElRJEDMuE&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PElRJEDMuE| title = The first minutes of the reporting of the 9/11 attacks from WNYW/Fox 5 | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29FOB-medium-t.html|title=Online Video of 9/11|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 27, 2010|last1=Heffernan|first1=Virginia|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107143049/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29FOB-medium-t.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>'''[[Jim Ryan (reporter)|Jim Ryan]]''': As you look at the picture from our chopper now, arriving at the scene, uh, Jim Friedl in Hoboken, uh, said it appeared to bank sharply and smash directly, perhaps purposefully into... Oh, my goodness. There's another one. Oh, my goodness. There's another one!

'''Lyn Brown''': This seems to be on purpose.

'''Jim Ryan''': Oh, my goodness. Now you...

'''Kai Simonsen (WNYW helicopter reporter)''': Was that a plane?

'''Jim Ryan''': Now it's obvious. I think that there's a second plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. I think we have a terrorist act of proportions that we cannot begin to imagine at this juncture.

'''Kai Simonsen''': Oh, my God.

'''Jim Ryan''': My goodness, a second plane now has crashed into the other tower of the World Trade Center. [sigh] Obviously, suicide terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. What we have... what we have been fearing... ''[interrupted by unintelligible talkdown from Kai Simonsen]'' What we have been fearing for the longest time here apparently has come to pass. A disastrous terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Both towers, planes smashing into each one.</blockquote>

A massive evacuation begins in the South Tower below its impact zone. One of the stairwells in the South Tower remains unblocked from the top to the bottom of the tower because of the plane hitting at an offset from the vertical center line of the building, but it is filled with [[smoke]]. This leads many people to mistakenly go upwards towards the roof for a rooftop rescue that never comes. The [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] kept the two sets of heavy metal doors leading to the building's only roof exit tightly locked.<ref>Paltrow, Scott J., Kim, Queens Sook, ''Wall St. Journal'', Could Helicopters Have Saved People From the Top of the Trade Center?</ref> The impact severs communication with several television and radio broadcast towers at the WTC; WPIX's satellite feed freezes on a still image of the second impact which is all the station broadcasts until alternate transmitters are set up hours later. The affected television stations' [[terrestrial television|terrestrial signals]] go off the air, however, they continue to broadcast, with their signals still receivable through local cable TV systems in the area, and WCBS-TV having backup transmitter facilities atop the [[Empire State Building]].

Because of the North Tower's obstruction of the South Tower from certain camera angles, some are initially unaware that a second plane has struck the South Tower, and instead mistakenly believe that the second explosion has occurred in the North Tower. As instant replays of the second plane crash are shown, the anchors on the three major broadcast networks speculate on whether they are witnessing a terrorist attack or some sort of very rare accident. CNN changes its headline to read "Second plane crashes into World Trade Center." The crash occurred as CNN was taking a feed from WABC-TV, and anchor Steve Bartelstein first assumed that the explosion seen was caused when the fuselage of the first plane exploded.
[[File:Michael's Grandfather's 9-11-2001 Photo.jpg|thumb|The Twin Towers burning from the impact of two airplanes, specifically [[American Airlines Flight 11]] and [[United Airlines Flight 175]].]]
'''9:03:18''': The FAA's [[New York TRACON]] stops all departures from airports in its jurisdiction. Ground movements at those airports are not yet stopped.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMuJgfV65aA |title=Kennedy Tower ATC Recording from September 11, 2001 |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 6, 2025 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027213139/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMuJgfV65aA |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:03''': President Bush enters a classroom as part of his school visit.

'''9:03''': FAA's New York Center notifies NORAD (NEADS) of the hijacking of Flight 175, at the same time it crashes.

'''9:04''': [[Fox News]] anchor [[Jon Scott]] mentions [[Osama bin Laden]] as a possible suspect.

'''9:04''' (approximately): The FAA's Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center stops all departures from airports in its jurisdiction ([[New England]] and eastern [[New York State]]).

'''9:05''': After brief introductions to the Booker elementary students, President Bush is about to begin reading ''[[The Pet Goat]]'' with the students when [[White House Chief of Staff|Chief of Staff]] [[Andrew Card]] interrupts to whisper to the president, "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."<ref>[http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, "We Have Some Planes,"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511160550/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_ch1.htm |date=May 11, 2008 }} 1.3 National Crisis Management, The President and the Vice President.</ref> The president stated later that he decided to continue the lesson rather than alarm the students.

'''9:06''': The FAA begins imposing blanket [[temporary flight restriction]]s, with the first restriction banning takeoffs of all flights bound to or through the airspace of New York Center from airports in that Center and the three adjacent Centers—Boston, [[Cleveland]], and Washington. This is referred to as a First Tier groundstop and covers the Northeast from [[North Carolina]] north and as far west as eastern [[Michigan]].

'''9:06''': CNBC news anchor [[Alina Cho]] reports the evacuation of the [[New York Stock Exchange]].

'''9:08''': The FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through New York Center airspace. [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] reports later that the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]], the agency that runs the New York-area airports, asked the FAA for permission to close down the New York Center airspace.

[[File:George Bush Booker Elementary 911.jpg|thumb|alt=see caption| President George W. Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001, at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida]]

'''9:11''': The last [[Port Authority Trans-Hudson|PATH]] train leaves the World Trade Center. The station was vacant when the towers collapsed.

'''9:11''': [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] anchor [[Peter Jennings]] begins reporting on the disaster.

'''9:13''': The F-15 fighters from [[Otis Air National Guard Base]] leave military airspace near Long Island, bound for Manhattan.

'''9:14''': President Bush returns to an adjacent classroom commandeered by the [[U.S. Secret Service]]. The classroom contains a telephone, a television showing the news coverage, and several senior staff members. The president speaks to Vice President [[Dick Cheney]], [[Condoleezza Rice]], New York Governor [[George Pataki]], and FBI Director [[Robert Mueller]], and prepares brief remarks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/images/20010911-16_p7058-20a-515h.html|title=As Director of Communications Dan Bartlett points to news footage of the World Trade Center Towers burning, President George W. Bush gathers information about the attack at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla., Sept. 11, 2001. Also photographed are Director of White House Situation Room, National Security Council, Deborah Loewer (directly behind the President) and Senior Advisor Karl Rove (right). White House photo by Eric Draper|date=11 September 2001|access-date=September 16, 2017|archive-date=August 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823071550/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/images/20010911-16_p7058-20a-515h.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''9:15''': [[NBC News]] reports unconfirmed statements from employees at [[United Airlines]] that an American Airlines aircraft had been hijacked prior to its destruction.

'''9:17''': The FAA closes down all New York City-area airports.<ref name="Timeline: Sept. 11, 2001">[https://www.foxnews.com/story/timeline-sept-11-2001 Timeline: Sept. 11, 2001], ''FoxNews.com''</ref> The city had initially asked the FAA to close down the airports.

'''9:17:02''': [[CBS News]] correspondent Jim Stewart in Washington mentions that in the intelligence community, [[Osama bin Laden]] is a probable suspect.

'''9:18''': [[CNN]] makes reference to foul play for the first time, stating the [[FBI]] was investigating a report of plane hijacking. CNN changes headline to read "AP: Plane was hijacked before crashes".

'''9:19''': United 93 en-route to San Francisco is over Central Pennsylvania. United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger begins sending warning text messages to his flights: "Beware any cockpit intrusion—Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center." Because he was sending this warning to his 16 transcontinental flights, this takes several minutes.<ref name="aircraftmessages">{{cite web  |url=  http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf  |title=  The 9/11 Commissions Report, p. 11.  |access-date=  April 22, 2015  |archive-date=  October 9, 2022  |archive-url=  https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf  |url-status=  live  }}</ref> His message would not be received onboard United 93 for another 4 minutes.

'''9:21''': All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan are closed.<ref name="Timeline: Sept. 11, 2001"/> The [[George Washington Bridge]] is however kept open to allow vehicle traffic to evacuate from Manhattan, and the [[Brooklyn Bridge|Brooklyn]] and [[Manhattan Bridge]]s are kept open for pedestrian evacuation. In addition, [[New Jersey Transit]] continues its train service into [[New York Penn Station]] to allow more people to evacuate the island.

'''9:21''': [[Transport Canada]], Canada's transportation agency, activates its Situation Centre (SitCen) in [[Ottawa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cpac.ca/en/cpac-in-focus/timeline-9-11-and-canada/|title=CPAC – for the Record|access-date=August 20, 2020|archive-date=September 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930001717/https://www.cpac.ca/en/cpac-in-focus/timeline-9-11-and-canada/|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''9:23''': Ballinger's warning message is sent to both Flight 93 and 175, and is received in the cockpit of Flight 93 a minute later.<ref name="aircraftmessages"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://de.scribd.com/doc/16345086/T7-B18-United-AL-9-11-ACARS-Fdr-Entire-Contents-ACARS-Messages-569 | title=T7 B18 United AL 9-11 ACARS FDR - Entire Contents - ACARS Messages 569 &#124; PDF | access-date=August 5, 2022 | archive-date=August 5, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805221329/https://de.scribd.com/doc/16345086/T7-B18-United-AL-9-11-ACARS-Fdr-Entire-Contents-ACARS-Messages-569 | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:P200098 Photo of Firefighter Danny Suhr on 9-11-01.jpg|thumb|FDNY personnel with the body of Danny Suhr at the World Trade Center.]]

'''9:24-9:38''' (approximately): Three people either try to climb down or fall from a 79th floor window, 79-351, at the South Tower's east face close to the southeast corner.<ref>{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=Final Reports from the NIST World Trade Center Disaster Investigation|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|page=86|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Firefighter Danny Suhr is preparing to enter the South Tower when he is struck by a jumper. Suhr and the jumper are both killed instantly.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Dwyer |title=Vast Archive Yields New View of 9/11 |date=August 13, 2005 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/13records.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2010-05-29 |archive-date=November 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111130827/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/13records.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Besides these three individuals, nobody else is seen falling from the South Tower, an obvious dissimilarity from the situation in the North Tower, where more than 100 people fell to their deaths for nearly the entire time it burned.

'''9:24''': The FAA notifies NORAD (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 77. The FAA and NORAD establish an open line to discuss Flight 77, and shortly thereafter Flight 93.

'''9:25''': ABC News correspondent [[John J. Nance|John Nance]] mentions the possibility of the plane that hit the South Tower being a [[Boeing 767]], among other types of planes.

'''9:25''': The Otis-based F-15s establish an air patrol over Manhattan.

'''9:25''': A video teleconference begins to be set up in the [[White House Situation Room]], led by [[Richard A. Clarke]], a special assistant to the president, that eventually includes the [[CIA]], the FBI, the departments of [[Department of State|State]], [[United States Department of Justice|Justice]], and [[United States Department of Defense|Defense]], and the [[FAA]].

'''9:25''': The [[Associated Press]] informs CNN that the two plane crashes in the World Trade Center appeared to be an "act of terrorism".

'''9:26''': The FAA bans takeoffs of all civilian aircraft regardless of destination—a national groundstop.

'''9:26''': White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke indicates he gave the instruction to raise the worldwide force protection condition for U.S. military bases at around this time. This is likely the earliest instance this actual order was issued. Other evidence suggests the threat condition increase took place in steps, with the next step occurring sometime over the next hour. See link <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120103234945/http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a091401defconreduced</ref>

'''9:26''': Flight 93's pilot, Jason Dahl, replies to Ballinger's text message, "Ed, confirm latest mesg plz – Jason".<ref name="aircraftmessages"/>

'''9:26''': NBC News correspondent [[Andrea Mitchell]] reports to MSNBC anchor [[Lester Holt]] that a top U.S. government official informed her that one of the two planes that hit the Twin Towers was an American Airlines plane from Boston to Los Angeles that was hijacked.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uem8xyWeoDU&t=2169s|title = Imus Show 9-11-01 - Live on MSNBC as Tragedy Occurred|website = [[YouTube]]|access-date = September 29, 2021|archive-date = September 29, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210929190007/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uem8xyWeoDU&t=2169s|url-status = live}}</ref>

'''9:28:05''': Flight 93 suddenly begins to descend as hijackers storm the cockpit and take over the flight. The entry of the hijackers is overheard by flight controllers at [[Cleveland]]. The flight descends roughly 700 feet before the autopilot corrects the altitude.<ref>{{cite web |title=United Airlines Flight 93 N591UA (FDR animation) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEhECScG0OM#t=47m20s |website=YouTube |access-date=22 December 2023 |archive-date=December 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222100950/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEhECScG0OM#t=47m20s |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:29''': The FDNY's Citywide Tour Commander issues a total recall of the Department, ordering all off-duty firefighters in New York City to report to their fire stations.

[[File:U.S. President George W. Bush's remarks to parents and teachers at Emma E. Booker Elementary School (September 11, 2001).webm|thumb|start=00:26|President Bush addresses parents and teachers at Booker Elementary School on the day's attacks.]]
'''9:29''': President Bush makes his first public statements about the attacks, in front of an audience of about 200 teachers and students at the elementary school. He states that he will be going back to Washington. "Today, we've had a national tragedy," he starts. "Two airplanes… have crashed… into the World Trade Center… in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," and leads a moment of silence. No one in the President's traveling party has any information during this time that other aircraft were hijacked or missing.<ref>[http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm 9/11 Commission Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511160550/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_ch1.htm |date=May 11, 2008 }}, Sec. 1.3, National Crisis Management.</ref>

'''9:30''': [[Reuters]] reports that a plane was hijacked from Boston.

'''9:30''': In the North Tower, six men escape express elevator Car 69-A. The elevator, which had been designed to traverse much of the building to reach the upper floors more quickly, had gotten stuck at the 50th Floor when Flight 11 hit the tower. With no exit at this floor, window cleaner Jan Demczur used his squeegee to attempt to cut a hole in the Sheetrock lining the elevator shaft. When the squeegee’s blade broke off and fell down the elevator shaft, he and the other five people in the elevator alternately used the handle to scrape away at the lining, eventually cutting a hole large enough for them to escape into an adjacent bathroom.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Py-Lieberman |first2=Beth |title=How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-squeegee-handle-became-life-saving-tool-september-11-2001-180951515/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120133635/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-squeegee-handle-became-life-saving-tool-september-11-2001-180951515/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-09-09 |title=A stunning tale of escape traps its hero in replay |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0909/p01s02-ussc.html |access-date=2022-11-20 |issn=0882-7729 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120133633/https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0909/p01s02-ussc.html |url-status=live }}</ref> They are found by firefighters, who immediately escort them to a stairwell. All six safely leave the tower five minutes before it collapses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dwyer |first1=Jim |title=A Nation Challenged: Objects; Fighting for Life 50 Floors Up, With One Tool and Ingenuity |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/09/nyregion/nation-challenged-objects-fighting-for-life-50-floors-up-with-one-tool-ingenuity.html |access-date=19 October 2020 |agency=The New York Times |date=9 October 2001 |archive-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018220751/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/09/nyregion/nation-challenged-objects-fighting-for-life-50-floors-up-with-one-tool-ingenuity.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:31''': On [[C-SPAN]], [[Washington Journal]] host [[Steve Scully]] starts that channel's coverage of the morning's incidents.

'''9:32''': A radio transmission from Flight 93 is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland: "Ladies and gentlemen, here is the captain please sit down. Keep remaining{{sic}} sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit."

'''9:32''': Controllers at the [[Dulles International Airport|Dulles Terminal Radar Approach Control]] in [[Virginia]] observe "a primary radar target tracking eastbound at a high rate of speed", referring to Flight 77.

'''9:33'''–'''9:34''': A tower supervisor at [[Reagan National Airport]] tells Secret Service operations center at the [[White House]] that "an aircraft is coming at you and not talking with us," referring to Flight 77. The White House is about to be evacuated when the tower reports that Flight 77 has turned and is approaching Reagan National Airport.

'''9:34''': The FAA's Command Center relays information concerning Flight 93 to FAA headquarters.

'''9:35''': The President's motorcade departs from the elementary school, bound for [[Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport]] and [[Air Force One]].

'''9:35''': Flight 93 reverses direction over [[northeast Ohio]] and starts flying eastwards.

'''9:35''': Based on a report that Flight 77 had turned again and was circling back toward the District of Columbia, the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] orders the immediate evacuation of the Vice President from the White House.

'''9:36''': Cleveland advises the FAA Command Center that it is still tracking Flight 93 and inquires whether someone had requested the military to launch fighter aircraft to intercept the aircraft.

'''9:37''': Vice President Cheney enters a tunnel leading to the [[Presidential Emergency Operations Center]], located under the White House East Wing.

[[Image:The pentagon in flames (background) moments after a hijacked jetliner crashed into building at approximately 0930 010911-M-CI426-018.jpg|thumb|A [[Lincoln Town Car#Second generation (FN36/116; 1990–1997)|Lincoln Town Car]] taxicab was hit by a lightpole as American Airlines Flight 77 passed over Washington Boulevard and crashed into [[the Pentagon]].<ref>{{cite book| last = Bamford| first = James| title = A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of U.S. Intelligence Agencies| publisher = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]| date = 2004| isbn = 0-385-50672-4| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/pretextforwar91100bamf}}</ref>]]'''9:37''': '''Flight 77 crashes''' into the western side of the Pentagon at {{convert|530|mph|km/h m/s knot|abbr=on}} and its jet fuel starts a violent fire. The section of the Pentagon hit consists mainly of newly [[Pentagon Renovation Program|renovated]], unoccupied offices. All 64 people on board are killed, as are 125 Pentagon personnel.

'''9:39''': Another radio transmission is heard from [[Ziad Jarrah]] aboard Flight 93: "Uh, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. We have a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands, so please remain quiet."

'''9:39:12''': NBC News Pentagon correspondent [[Jim Miklaszewski]] reports that "it felt, just a few moments ago, like there was an explosion of some kind here at the Pentagon." NBC and MSNBC relay reports of the explosion but do not relay word of the crash of Flight 77 as they do not know the cause.

'''9:40''': Video teleconference in White House Situation Room begins with the physical security of the President, the White House, and federal agencies. They are not yet aware of the Pentagon crash.

'''9:40:49''': CNN's Breaking News bulletin reads "Reports of fire at Pentagon."

'''9:41''': Local Washington, DC television station [[WUSA (TV)|WUSA]] breaks away from the CBS network, with anchor [[Andrea Roane]] beginning that station's local coverage of the explosion at The Pentagon.

'''9:41:15''': The photograph ''[[The Falling Man]]'' is taken.

'''9:42''': ABC News broadcasts its first pictures from Washington, D.C. of heavy smoke, from a perspective on the other side of the [[Eisenhower Executive Office Building]], which is situated a block west of the White House. Peter Jennings confirms a fire at The Pentagon two minutes later.

'''9:42''': The main CBS network reports an explosion at the Pentagon.

'''9:42''': Senior FAA traffic manager [[Ben Sliney]] issues the execution order for [[SCATANA]] grounding all air traffic over the United States and diverting any incoming international traffic to alternate destinations.

'''9:43''': [[Fox News]] correspondent [[David Asman]] reports, "We – we are hearing – right now that another explosion that – has taken place. At the Pentagon."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26283109/explosion-at-the-pentagon.htm|title=Explosion at the Pentagon|website=FoxNews.com|date=September 11, 2001|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309062753/http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26283109/explosion-at-the-pentagon.htm|archive-date=March 9, 2016}}</ref>

'''9:43''': [[Abu Dhabi TV]] reports it received a call from the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], claiming responsibility for the World Trade Center attack, but this is soon denied by a senior officer of the group.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1537785.stm | work=BBC News | title=America's day of terror: Timeline | date=September 12, 2001 | access-date=September 11, 2012 | archive-date=July 25, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725001827/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1537785.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

'''9:43''': The White House and the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] are evacuated and closed.

'''9:45''': United States [[airspace]] is [[ATC Zero|shut down]]. No civilian aircraft are allowed to take off, and all aircraft in flight are ordered to land at the nearest airport as soon as possible. Nearly all international flights headed for the U.S. are redirected to [[Canada]], while some flights from South America are diverted to [[Mexico]]. Transport Canada orders a complete closedown of Canadian airspace, but the Mexican airspace did not shut down. The FAA announces that civilian flights are suspended until at least noon September 12, while Transport Canada gives similar orders; the FAA further ordered that diverted U.S.-bound international flights should be taken in, launching the agency's "[[Operation Yellow Ribbon]]", with [[CFB Goose Bay]] being the first Canadian air facility to receive airliners originally bound for the U.S. Other airports across Canada received varying numbers of airliners; [[Gander International Airport]] in [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador]] hosted 38 planes,{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} consisting of 6,122 passengers and 473 crew, the second largest number out of any Canadian airport other than [[Halifax Stanfield International Airport|Halifax]]. The groundings would eventually last until September 14. Military and medical flights as well as [[Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System|Con Air]] flights continue. This is the fourth time all commercial flights in the U.S. have been stopped, and the first time a suspension was unplanned. All previous suspensions were military-related ([[Operation Skyshield|Sky Shield I-III]]), from 1960 to 1962. Many newspapers (including ''[[The New York Times]]'') mistakenly print that this is the first time flights have been suspended. This was, however, the first time commercial flights in Canada were stopped. {{Further|Operation Yellow Ribbon}}

'''9:45''': CNN receives initial reports that, in addition to a fire at the Pentagon, there is also a fire at the [[National Mall]]. These reports on the National Mall, however, are later proven to be false.

'''9:46:''' A message is sent to Flight 93 from San Francisco, "PLZ CONFIRM ALL IS NML... THX"

'''9:46:36''': The [[ARD (broadcaster)|ARD]] news magazine ''[[Tagesthemen]]'', hosted by [[Ulrich Wickert]], broadcasts news of the attacks to Germany.

'''9:49''': The FAA Command Center at Herndon suggests that someone at FAA headquarters should decide whether to request military assistance with Flight 93. Ultimately, the FAA makes no request before it crashes.

'''9:50''' (approximately): The [[Associated Press]] reports that Flight 11 was apparently hijacked after departure from Boston's Logan Airport. Within an hour this is confirmed for both Flight 11 and Flight 175.

'''9:51''': Chief [[Orio Palmer]] of the FDNY's 7th Battalion reaches the 78th Floor Sky Lobby of the South Tower along with Fire Marshal [[Ronald Bucca]]. Palmer reports that there are two pockets of fire and numerous dead bodies.<ref name=TimesOfLondon>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article554868.ece| title=Voices of courage and terror resurrected by the 9/11 tapes: After four years, families of firefighters have forced release of radio messages| newspaper=[[The Times]]| author=Bone, James| date=August 13, 2005| access-date=December 26, 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629110653/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article554868.ece| archive-date=June 29, 2011}}</ref>

'''9:52''': The [[National Security Agency]] intercepts a phone call between a known associate of Osama bin Laden in [[Afghanistan]] and someone in the [[Republic of Georgia]], announcing that he had heard "good news", and that another target was still to be hit.<ref>Andrew Cockburn, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/chapters/0325-1st-cockb.html "Rumsfeld"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309062754/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/chapters/0325-1st-cockb.html |date=March 9, 2016 }}, ''New York Times'', March 25, 2007.</ref>

'''9:53''': CNN confirms a plane crash at the Pentagon.

'''9:55''': A CNN correspondent mentions Osama bin Laden as someone [[Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US|determined to strike the US]].

'''9:55''': Air Force One leaves [[Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport]].

'''9:57''': Passenger revolt begins on Flight 93.

'''9:57''': President Bush leaves Sarasota, Florida, on Air Force One. The plane reaches cruising altitude and circles for approximately 40 minutes while the destination of the plane is discussed.

'''9:59''':<ref>{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=Final Reports from the NIST World Trade Center Disaster Investigation|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|80}}<ref name="WTC2">{{cite book|author=((9/11 Final Report of the National Commission))|title=Collapse of WTC2|year=2004|url=https://9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|access-date=November 8, 2016|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816164111/https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|322}} '''The South Tower of the [[Collapse of the World Trade Center|World Trade Center collapses]]''', 56 minutes{{efn|NIST and the 9/11 Commission both state that the collapse began at 9:58:59 a.m., which is rounded to 9:59<ref>{{cite book|last=National Institute of Standards and Technology|title=Final Reports from the NIST World Trade Center Disaster Investigation|year=2005|url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|access-date=November 3, 2022|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|84}}<ref name="WTC2" />{{rp|322}}{{efn|name=Time4}} for simplicity. If the Commission’s claim that the South Tower was struck at 9:03:11 is to be believed, then the collapse began 55 minutes and 48 seconds after the crash, not 56 minutes.}} after the impact of Flight 175. Its destruction is viewed and heard by a vast television and radio audience. As the roar of the collapse goes silent, tremendous gray-white clouds of pulverized concrete and gypsum rush through the streets. Most observers think a new explosion or impact has produced smoke and debris that now obscures the South Tower, but once the wind clears the smoke, it becomes clear that the building is no longer standing. No one who is still inside the South Tower at the time of its collapse survives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/09/05/people-who-survived-collapse-twin-towers-september-11/5453485001/ |title=People who survived collapse twin towers September 11|website=www.usatoday.com |access-date=17 September 2022}} (subscription required)</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Fishman|first1=Steve|title=The Miracle Survivors|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/2003/n_9189/|website=www.nymag.com|date=September 5, 2003|access-date=June 28, 2020|archive-date=June 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615100529/https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/2003/n_9189/|url-status=live}}</ref> NY1 correspondent [[Kristen Shaughnessy]], on the scene of the disaster, reports on the collapse of the South Tower at the instant it begins,<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch/zxi2flUfRP8|title = 9/11 South Tower Demolition - Street Level from the South (NY1 958am)|website = [[YouTube]]|access-date = July 9, 2020|archive-date = February 11, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220211154928/https://www.youtube.com/watch/zxi2flUfRP8|url-status = live}}</ref> while ABC News correspondent [[Don Dahler]], who was home at the time of the incident and lived near the site, reports to anchor [[Peter Jennings]] on air that he has witnessed the tower collapse; Dahler's report is perhaps the first broadcast specific confirmation of a collapse as his report is filed seconds after the event.

{{Further|Collapse of the World Trade Center}}'''9:59''': As the South Tower collapses, [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Father]] [[Mychal Judge]], [[Franciscan|OFM]], [[chaplain]] to the FDNY, is struck by falling debris on the lobby level of the North Tower. He dies of blunt force trauma to the head.<ref>{{cite web|title = St. Peter's Parish: Death and Resurrection at Ground Zero –September 2003 Issue of St. Anthony Messenger Magazine Online|url = http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Sep2003/feature2.asp#F2|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030822163620/http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Sep2003/feature2.asp#F2|url-status=dead|archive-date = 2003-08-22|website = www.americancatholic.org|access-date = 2015-06-23}}</ref> He is found by Chief Pfeifer, Jules Naudet, and others from the North Tower Command Post who fled when they heard the South Tower collapse and took refuge in the nearby escalator as the debris cloud engulfed them.<ref>{{Citation|title = 9/11|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312318/|date = 10 Mar 2002|access-date = 2017-09-11|archive-date = July 30, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180730003503/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312318/|url-status = live}}</ref> As Judge's body is the first recovered and certified by the medical examiner's office, he will be designated "Victim 0001" of the September 11 attacks.

===10:00 a.m.===
'''10:00''': FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer (inside of the still standing North Tower) orders all FDNY personnel to evacuate, via radio.

<blockquote>'''Battalion 1 Chief (Chief Pfeifer)''': Command post, Tower 1, all units. Evacuate the building. Command post, to all units.<ref>Excerpt from {{Citation|title = 9/11|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312318/|date = 10 Mar 2002|access-date = 2015-06-23|archive-date = July 30, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180730003503/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312318/|url-status = live}}</ref></blockquote>

Due to many communication limitations, numerous firefighters within the tower do not receive this transmission. Some personnel who do not hear the order only leave the building after being told by other firefighters that an evacuation order has been given. Others never receive the order at all.<ref name=":0">[http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/pdf/mck_report/executive_summary.pdf Executive Summary] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415054951/http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/pdf/mck_report/executive_summary.pdf |date=April 15, 2016 }}, pp. 7–8</ref>

'''10:01''': The FAA Command Center advises FAA headquarters that an aircraft had seen Flight 93 "waving his wings," the hijackers' efforts to defeat the passengers' counterattack.

'''10:02''': Communicators with the Vice President in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center begin receiving reports from the Secret Service of an inbound aircraft—presumably hijacked—heading toward Washington. This is Flight 93.

'''10:02''': CNN announces that the [[Sears Tower]] in Chicago has been evacuated.

'''10:03''' (approximately): The [[National Military Command Center]] learns from the White House of Flight 93's hijacking.

'''10:03''': '''Flight 93 crashes''' at {{convert|583|mph|km/h m/s knot|abbr=on}} {{convert|80|mi|km}} southeast of [[Pittsburgh]] in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania]], concluding the attacks.<ref>The exact time is subject to some dispute—a report on [http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/publications/download/911pentagon.pdf seismographic data readings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030320000000/http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/publications/download/911pentagon.pdf |date=March 20, 2003 }} by Won-Young Kim and Gerald R. Baum puts the time of impact at 10:06:05. The 9/11 Commission argued "the seismic data on which [Kim and Baum based their] estimate are far too weak in [[signal-to-noise ratio]] and far too speculative in terms of signal source to be used as a means of contradicting the impact time [of 10:03] established by the very accurate combination of FDR, CVR, ATC, radar, and impact site data sets ([http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Notes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412190717/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm |date=April 12, 2016 }}, 1 "We Have Some Planes", note #168). [[Flight data recorder|Black box]] recordings, radar analysis, satellite data ([http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, "We Have Some Planes,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511160550/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_ch1.htm |date=May 11, 2008 }} 1.2 Improvising a Homeland Defense, United Airlines Flight 93) and at least one telephone call indicate 10:03:11.</ref> Later reports indicate that passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes [[Communication during the September 11, 2001 attacks|on cell phones]] and at least three were planning on resisting the hijackers; the resistance was confirmed by Flight 93's cockpit voice recording, on which the hijackers are heard making their decision to down the plane before the passengers succeed in breaching the cockpit door. The terrorists are believed to have been aiming for the White House or the U.S. Capitol Building, both of which had been evacuated and closed 18 minutes before Flight 93 went down.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-timeline|title=9/11 Timeline|access-date=February 2, 2024|archive-date=June 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625220742/https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-timeline|url-status=live}}</ref> The flight was still at least 10 minutes away from D.C. at the time of its crash, and probably closer to 20.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|title=9/11 Commission Report|access-date=February 2, 2024|page=62|archive-date=September 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930231851/https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''10:05''': [[Andrea Mitchell]], reporting for NBC from outside the Pentagon, reports that Osama bin Laden may have been involved in the attacks.

'''10:05''': CNN's headlines read: "SOUTH TOWER AT WTC COLLAPSES."

'''10:05''': The [[IDS Center]] in Minneapolis is evacuated.

'''10:07''': NBC reports for the first time that the South Tower of the World Trade Center has collapsed. Prior to this time they have said only that a section of the building has fallen away.

'''10:07''': NEADS, controlling the only set of fighters over Washington, first learns of the hijacking of Flight 93, 4 minutes after it actually crashed.

'''10:08''': Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon reports to FAA headquarters that Flight 93 may be down near [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]]; at 10:17 the Command Center concludes it is so.

'''10:10''': British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] makes his first comments on the attacks at a meeting of the [[Trades Union Congress]] in [[Brighton]], calling the attacks "the new evil in our world today".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-j33lW97Y&t=4742s |title=September 11th 2001 - BBC News 24 (1:52pm-3:56pm UK Time) : 9/11 : New York |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=January 6, 2025 |archive-date=December 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230073710/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-j33lW97Y&t=4742s |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''10:10''': National Military Command Center directs [[Force protection condition|Threat Condition Delta]] for U.S. military bases worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a091401defconreduced|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120103234945/http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a091401defconreduced|archive-date = January 3, 2012|title = Context of 'September 14, 2001: Defense Readiness Condition Reduced to Defcon 4'}}</ref>

'''10:10''': Part of the west side of the Pentagon collapses.

'''10:10''': NEADS emphatically tells fighter pilots over Washington, "Negative clearance to shoot." [i.e. they were not authorized to shoot.]

'''10:10'''–'''10:15''' (approximately): Vice President Cheney, unaware that Flight 93 has crashed, authorizes fighter aircraft to engage the inbound plane, reported to be {{convert|80|mi|km}} from Washington, based not on radar (from which it has disappeared) but speed and trajectory projections.

'''10:13''': Thousands are involved in an evacuation of the [[United Nations complex]] in New York.

'''10:13'''–'''10:22''': The 9/11 Commission's estimated arrival of Flight 93 over Washington had it not crashed in Pennsylvania.<ref>The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 44–45.</ref>

'''10:14'''–'''10:19''': A lieutenant colonel at the White House repeatedly relays to the [[NMCC]] that the Vice President has confirmed that fighters are cleared to engage inbound aircraft if they can verify that the aircraft was hijacked.

'''10:15''': CNN's headline reads, "EXPLOSION ON CAPITOL HILL."

'''10:15''': Five stories of part of the Pentagon collapse due to the fire.

'''10:18''': NBC reports that Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), has denied complicity in the attacks and is appalled by them.

'''10:20''': President Bush, aboard Air Force One, tells Vice President Cheney that he has authorized a shootdown of aircraft if necessary.<ref>The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 41.</ref>

'''10:23''': The Associated Press reports a car bomb has exploded outside the [[State Department]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] This and several other reports of terrorist acts in the capital are quickly found to be false.<ref>[http://www.ap.org/log/APNewsAlertsandFlashes.pdf A stunning 48 hours of news] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123074705/http://www.ap.org/log/APNewsAlertsandFlashes.pdf |date=January 23, 2012 }}, Associated Press. [https://web.archive.org/web/20020916203833/http://abcnews.go.com/onair/DailyNews/sept11_moments_4.html ABC News: "Post-Attack Tremors"], Sept. 16, 2002.</ref>

'''10:24''': Two men who were being evacuated through the underground shopping mall below the South Tower when it collapsed on them are able to climb up through thirty feet of debris to safety. 1010 WINS in New York City reports an explosion at the U.S. Supreme Court building. This is later revealed to be erroneous.<ref name=1010WINS-10am-11am>{{cite web|url=http://ak.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d0/dY/dF/dE/dC/YFEC_3.MP3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329113810/http://ak.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d0/dY/dF/dE/dC/YFEC_3.MP3|archive-date=2015-03-29|date=September 11, 2001|title=10:00 a.m. &ndash; 11:00 a.m.|work=1010 WINS|publisher=CBS|author=<!-- not stated --> |access-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>

'''10:28''':<ref name="govinfo.library.unt.edu"/><ref name="NCSTAR 1-9-ch1">{{cite journal |title=Structural Fire Response and Probable Collapse Sequence of World Trade Center Building 7 (Volume 1). Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1-9) |publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) |pages=1–8 |author1=McAllister, T. P. |author2=Gann, R. G. |author3=Averill, J. D. |author4=Gross, J. L. |author5=Grosshandler, W. L. |author6=Lawson, J. R. |author7=McGrattan, K. B. |author8=Pitts, W. M. |author9=Prasad, K. R. |author10=Sadek, F. H. |author11=Nelson, H. E. |journal=NIST |date=August 2008 |url=https://www.nist.gov/manuscript-publication-search.cfm?pub_id=909256 |access-date=2011-09-09 |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102180343/https://www.nist.gov/manuscript-publication-search.cfm?pub_id=909256 |url-status=live }}</ref> '''The North Tower of the World Trade Center [[Collapse of the World Trade Center|collapses]]'''. Due to the destruction of the gypsum-encased stairwells on the impact floors (most skyscraper stairwells are encased in reinforced concrete), no one who was above the 91st floor in the North Tower escapes the collapse. Unlike the South Tower's collapse, which killed everyone still inside the building, 16 individuals who were inside the collapsing North Tower survived and would later be rescued. [[Marriott World Trade Center|The Marriott Hotel]], located at the base of the two towers, is also destroyed. The second collapse is also viewed live on television and heard on radio. The North Tower collapses 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11—the building had continued burning even after the attacks ended with the crash of Flight 93. The cascade of debris from that collapse gouges out a portion of the south side of [[7 World Trade Center (1987–2001)|7 World Trade Center]] and sets the bottom of the building on fire. New York City's 1010 WINS reports the collapse live as it happens, broadcasting a live phone call with WINS news director Ben Mevorach, who witnessed the collapse from the Manhattan Bridge.<ref name="1010WINS-10am-11am" /> On NBC News, Katie Couric says: "The other tower of the World Trade Center has just collapsed."

Several long-distance videos of the collapse, such as CNN, were able to notice that, after the cloud of dust had partially cleared away, a portion of the building was still standing. It appeared to be the lower half of the northwest corner column of the North Tower, which, like a spire, grew larger and had more structure still standing near the bottom. The portion rose to a fairly good height considering the collapse around it, as it appeared to rise nearly forty stories off the ground. This piece remained standing for a few seconds after the initial collapse before it also came down. The debris cloud from the North Tower's collapse is also significantly larger and more far-reaching than that of the South Tower's, due to dust from that collapse being kicked up as the North Tower fell.

'''10:31''': NORAD first communicates the Vice President's shootdown authority to NEADS.

'''10:35''': Air Force One, carrying the President, turns for [[Barksdale Air Force Base]] in [[Bossier City, Louisiana]].

'''10:37''': Associated Press reports that officials at the [[Somerset County Airport]] confirm that a large plane has crashed in western Pennsylvania. CNN's [[Aaron Brown (journalist)|Aaron Brown]] passes along reports that a 747 is "down" in Pennsylvania. He stresses these reports are unconfirmed. He also, in the confusion, reports another plane heading for the Pentagon. [[The Mall of America]] in Bloomington, Minnesota, is evacuated and closed. New York City's 1010 WINS relays a report that the U.S. State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. has been attacked by a car bomb. This is later reported to be false.<ref name=1010WINS-10am-11am/>

'''10:39''': Another hijacked airliner is claimed to be headed for Washington, D.C. [[F-15]]s are scrambled and patrol the airspace above Washington, D.C. while other fighter jets sweep the airspace above New York City. They have orders, first issued by Vice President Cheney and later confirmed by President Bush, to shoot down any potentially dangerous planes that do not comply with orders given to them via radio. Eventually, the aircraft is revealed to be a [[medevac]] helicopter on its way to the Pentagon.

'''10:41''': NBC News confirms that a plane has "gone down" in Somerset County. The earlier unconfirmed statements about an incident at the State Department in Washington, D.C. are reported as false.

'''10:43''': CNN reports that a mass evacuation of Washington, D.C., and New York has been started. A few minutes later, New York mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] orders an evacuation of [[Lower Manhattan]].

'''10:49''': [[Fox News]] is the first of the United States news networks to implement a [[news ticker]] at the bottom of its screen for supplementary information about the attacks. CNN adds one at 11:11, and [[MSNBC]] adds one at approximately 2:00&nbsp;p.m. All three cable networks have used a news ticker continuously in the years since, and many local television stations have followed suit.

'''10:53''': New York City's [[2001_New_York_City_mayoral_election|mayoral primary election]]s are canceled.

'''10:53''': Defense Secretary [[Donald Rumsfeld]] orders the U.S. military placed at [[DEFCON 3]], for the first time since the [[Yom Kippur War]] in 1973.

===11:00 a.m.===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:HalifaxInternationalAirport911.jpg|thumb|right|Canadian airports from coast to coast were stacked up with international flights that were bound for the United States. This was the scene at [[Halifax Stanfield International Airport]].]] -->
'''11:00''': Transport Canada halts all aircraft departures until further notice, except for police, military, and humanitarian flights, as part of [[Operation Yellow Ribbon]]. The operation was well underway as international flights headed for the U.S. had already started to land at Canadian airports, beginning at [[CFB Goose Bay]]. Fourteen other airports follow, including [[Halifax Stanfield International Airport|Halifax]], [[Toronto Pearson International Airport|Lester B. Pearson]] in Toronto, [[Montréal-Dorval]], and [[Vancouver International Airport|Vancouver]].

'''11:05''': The FAA confirms that several planes have been hijacked in addition to American Airlines Flight 11.

'''11:08''': The pilot of [[Korean Air Flight 85]] includes the letters "HJK" a code for hijacked, in an airline text message.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-08-12-koreanair_x.htm|title=USAToday.com – Korean Air jet may have narrowly missed disaster|website=usatoday30.usatoday.com|access-date=2018-10-13|archive-date=October 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028160114/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-08-12-koreanair_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''11:16''': American Airlines confirms the loss of its two aircraft.

'''11:26''': [[United Airlines]] confirms the loss of Flight 93 and states that it is "deeply concerned" about Flight 175.<ref>CNN, [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/ September 11: Chronology of terror]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512102228/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/ |date=May 12, 2006 }}</ref>

'''11:53''': United Airlines confirms the loss of its two aircraft.

'''11:55''': The border between the U.S. and [[Mexico]] is on highest alert, but is not closed.

===12:00 p.m.===
'''12:00''': [[ARINC]] officials notify NORAD about the use of the hijack code on Flight 85.

'''12:01''': (approximately): Fourteen people, including twelve firefighters, who were in a section of a stairwell in the North Tower that held together during the collapse, climb the stairs to the top of the [[Ground Zero#World Trade Center|Ground Zero]] rubble field.

'''12:04''': [[Los Angeles International Airport]], the intended destination of Flights 11, 77 and 175, is shut down.

'''12:15''': [[San Francisco International Airport]], the intended destination of Flight 93, is shut down.

'''12:15''' (approximately): The airspace over the 48 contiguous United States is clear of all commercial and private flights.

'''12:30''' (approximately): [[U.S. Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Colin Powell]] boards a plane in [[Lima]], [[Peru]], for Washington, D.C.

'''12:39''': On CNN, Senator [[John McCain]] (R-AZ) characterizes the attack as an "act of war."

'''12:41''': Senator [[Orrin Hatch]] (R-UT) tells CNN, "Both the FBI and our intelligence community believe that this is Bin Laden's signature."

===1:00 p.m.===
{{Multiple image
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|caption1=President George W. Bush addressing reporters from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
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|caption2=President George W. Bush addressing reporters from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.}}
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|caption3=President George W. Bush addressing reporters from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
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'''1:00''' (approximately): At the Pentagon, fire crews are still fighting fires. The early response to the attack had been coordinated from the National Military Command Center, but that had to be evacuated when it began to fill with smoke.

'''1:00''' (approximately): Jets are scrambled from [[Elmendorf Air Force Base]] to shadow Flight 85.

'''1:04''': President Bush puts the U.S. military on high alert worldwide (known as ''[[Force Protection Condition|Force Protection Condition Delta]]''). Taped remarks from the President were aired from [[Barksdale Air Force Base]], stating that "freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward and freedom will be defended." He also said that the "United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." He then leaves for a [[U.S. Strategic Command]] bunker located at [[Offutt Air Force Base]] in [[Bellevue, Nebraska]].<ref>{{cite web
| publisher = Associated Retired Aviation Professionals
| url = http://www.twa800.com/news/abcnews-transcript-9-11-01.htm
| title = ABC News Special Report: America Under Attack
| access-date = 2006-09-11
| archive-date = June 15, 2006
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060615154430/http://twa800.com/news/abcnews-transcript-9-11-01.htm
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

'''1:24''': ATC instructs Flight 85 to change its transponder code to 7500, the universal signal for hijack, expecting that, if they had not been hijacked, the pilots would respond to that effect. Instead, they simply comply with the instruction, which ATC takes as confirmation that the flight has indeed been hijacked.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.alaskapublic.org/2011/09/12/second-controller-speaks-about-korean-airliner-incident-on-911/|title=Second Controller Speaks About Korean Airliner Incident on 9/11|last=Townsend |first=Lori |work=Alaska Public Media|access-date=2018-10-13|language=en-US|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225035929/https://www.alaskapublic.org/2011/09/12/second-controller-speaks-about-korean-airliner-incident-on-911/|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''1:27''': Mayor [[Anthony A. Williams]] of Washington, D.C., declares a state of emergency; the [[District of Columbia National Guard]] arrives on site.

===2:00 p.m.===

'''2:39''': At a press conference New York Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] is asked to estimate the number of casualties at the World Trade Center. He replies, "More than any of us can bear."

'''2:45''' (approximately) Alerted that a possible hijacked plane might strike a target in Alaska, Governor [[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]] orders the evacuation of potential targets.

'''2:50''': President Bush arrives at Offutt Air Force Base, [[Bellevue, Nebraska]], to convene a [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] teleconference via the U.S. STRATCOM bunker.

'''2:54''': Flight 85 lands safely in [[Whitehorse]]. On the tarmac, Flight 85 was greeted by armed [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] officers who, after interrogating the pilots, learned the whole ordeal was caused by a translation error.<ref>{{Citation|title=Attack on the U.S.A.: Canadian Service of Remembrance|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373693/|access-date=2018-10-13|archive-date=February 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211101314/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373693/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===3:00 p.m.===
'''3:00''' (approx.): Pasquale Buzzelli, who lost consciousness in a North Tower stairway during the collapse, awakens to find himself lying atop the debris with only a fractured foot.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Man at WTC Survives Fall: Did a man survive a multi-story fall from the World Trade Center, riding down on the explosion like a surfer?|url=http://www.snopes.com/rumors/survivor.asp|date=April 21, 2008|first=Barbara|last=Mikkelson|work=Snopes|quote=Pasquale Buzzelli. This 34-year-old Port Authority worker had begun the descent from his office on the 64th floor of the North Tower via Stairwell B and had reached what he believed was the 22nd floor when the building collapsed. (Genelle Guzman-McMillan, a clerk who was with him when the building went down, recalled they were on the 13th floor when everything came apart, so there still remains controversy as to where they were in the building at that critical moment, and thus how far they fell.) Buzzelli was knocked unconscious but came to a few hours later, was discovered atop a high pile of rubble by firemen, and rescued. His right foot was fractured and he had suffered a few scrapes and bruises, but was otherwise unharmed. Guzman-McMillan suffered a crushed right leg and was not pulled from the wreckage until a day after the disaster. Sixteen people in all survived the collapse of the North Tower.|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/9byu31dNQ3k Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160302162254/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9byu31dNQ3k Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9byu31dNQ3k|title="9/11 Surfer" Pasquale Buzzelli on Surviving the Collapse of the North Twin Tower|website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===4:00 p.m.===
{{Multiple image
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|caption1=Smoke plume emanating from the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] as seen from the [[ISS]]}}

'''4:00''': National news outlets report that high officials in the federal intelligence community are stating that Osama bin Laden is suspect number one.

'''4:25''': The [[New York Stock Exchange]], [[NASDAQ]], and the [[American Stock Exchange]] report that they will remain closed Wednesday, September 12.

'''4:36''': President Bush departs Offutt Air Force Base on Air Force One.

===5:00 p.m.===

'''5:20:27''': The east penthouse on top of [[7 World Trade Center (1987–2001)|7 World Trade Center]] crumbles apart.

'''5:20:33''': '''7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building, collapses'''. The building contained New York's emergency operations center, operated by the [[NYC Office of Emergency Management]], originally intended to respond to disasters such as the September 11 terrorist attacks. Due to the emergency personnel having more than enough time to evacuate the building since the collapse of the North Tower, there are no injuries or deaths as a result of the collapse.

===6:00 p.m.===
[[File:Air Force One comes in for a landing at Andrews AFB, Maryland, with the President onboard 010911-F-KJ321-002.jpg|thumb|[[Air Force One]] landing at [[Andrews Air Force Base]] in Maryland.]]
{{Multiple image
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|caption3=President George W. Bush disembarks from Air Force One after landing in Maryland, to board Marine One for the White House.
|image4=Marine One (H3-H Sea King) departs Andrews AFB, Maryland, enroute to the White House. On the ground Air Force security monitors the flight 010911-F-RG777-004.jpg
|caption4=Airmen watch Marine One depart Andrews Air Force Base for the White House with President George Bush aboard.
}}

'''6:00''': Explosions and tracer fire are reported in [[Kabul]], Afghanistan by CNN and the BBC (early hours of September 12 local time).<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Attacked; World Trade Center Destroyed |url=https://www.forbes.com/2001/09/11/0911twoplanes13.html |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=January 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126153631/https://www.forbes.com/2001/09/11/0911twoplanes13.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Afghan Northern Alliance|Northern Alliance]], involved in a civil war with the [[Taliban]] government, is later reported to have attacked Kabul's airport with helicopter gunships.

'''6:00''': The last of the aircraft headed for the U.S. lands in Canada at [[Vancouver International Airport]], since it was flying over the [[Pacific]].

'''6:54''': U.S. President George W. Bush arrives at the White House in Washington, D.C.

===7:00 p.m.===

'''7:00''': Efforts to locate survivors in the rubble that had been the twin towers continue. Fleets of ambulances are lined up to transport the injured to nearby hospitals, but they stand empty. "Ground Zero", as the site of the WTC collapse becomes known henceforth, is the exclusive domain of New York City's [[FDNY|Fire Department]] and [[NYPD|Police Department]], despite volunteer steel and construction workers who stand ready to move large quantities of debris quickly. Relatives and friends of victims or likely victims, many displaying enlarged photographs of the missing printed on home computer printers, have appeared around New York. The New York Armory at Lexington Avenue and 26th Street and Union Square Park at 14th Street and Broadway become centers of vigil.

'''7:24''': Members of Congress join on the steps of the [[United States Capitol]] and sing "[[God Bless America]]".<ref>{{Citation|last=suleske|title=Congress sings "God Bless America" – 2001.09.11|date=2009-05-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izb459vJ-8Q| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614210541/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izb459vJ-8Q| archive-date=2011-06-14 | url-status=dead|access-date=2017-09-22}}</ref>

'''7:30''': The U.S. government denies any responsibility for the reported explosions in [[Kabul]], capital of [[Afghanistan]].

'''7:30''': The [[Petronas Twin Towers]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]], capital of [[Malaysia]], are evacuated following reports of a bomb threat (8:30 am on September 12 local time).<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Bomb threat clears Malaysia's Petronas Towers - September 12, 2001 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/09/12/malaysia.petronas/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=CNN |archive-date=January 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126153040/https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/09/12/malaysia.petronas/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===8:00 p.m.===
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'''8:00''' (approx.): Port Authority Police Officer [[Will Jimeno]], who was in an underground corridor between the two towers, is found alive in the rubble, and eventually freed at approximately 11:00&nbsp;p.m.

'''8:30''': U.S. President George W. Bush addresses the country from the White House in Washington, D.C.<ref>[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010911-16.html Statement by the President in His Address to the Nation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422222836/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010911-16.html |date=April 22, 2016 }}, Sept. 11, 2001.</ref> Among his statements:

{{blockquote|Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.

Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
 
The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts...we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.}}

As Bush speaks, members of Congress tell CNN that during private briefings with senior administration officials, they were told that the administration had enough evidence that it was "confident" the attacks are the work of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network.

===9:00 p.m.===
'''9:00''': President Bush meets his full National Security Council, followed roughly half an hour later by a meeting with a smaller group of key advisers. Bush and his advisers have evidence that Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks. [[Director of Central Intelligence]] [[George Tenet]] says that al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan are essentially one and the same. Bush says, "Tell the Taliban we're finished with them."

===10:00 p.m.===
'''10:00''': There are reports (later proven incorrect) of many survivors buried in rubble in New York making cell phone calls. Only two more survivors will be pulled from the rubble on September 12 and neither of them had made cell phone calls.

===11:00 p.m.===
'''11:00''': After 13 hours, the NYPD, FDNY and PAPD finally dig out [[Will Jimeno]]. They learn that Port Authority police sergeant [[John McLoughlin (police officer)|John McLoughlin]] is also trapped. The NYPD, FDNY and PAPD will eventually dig him out at 8:00&nbsp;a.m. the next morning after he has been there for almost a day.

'''11:30''': Before retiring to bed, President Bush enters into his journal: "The [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] of the 21st century took place today...We think it's Osama bin Laden."<ref>{{cite news |last=Balz |first=Dan |author-link= Dan Balz|author2=Woodward, Bob  |date=January 2002 |title=America's Chaotic Road to War:Bush's Global Strategy Began to Take Shape in First Frantic Hours After Attack |newspaper= Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A43708-2002Jan26 |access-date= 2007-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427183753/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A43708-2002Jan26 |archive-date=2011-04-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

'''11:50''': Footage of Flight 11 impacting the North Tower is aired for the first time. On CNN, [[Wolf Blitzer]] interrupts a conversation with [[NYPD Commissioner]] [[Raymond Kelly]] to show Jules Naudet's footage of the impact.<ref>{{Citation|title=CNN 9-11-2001 News Coverage 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM|date=2014-07-22|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnufXbEQuzg&t=3015s| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604193944/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnufXbEQuzg| archive-date=2024-06-04 |access-date=2024-06-04}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Timeline for September following the September 11 attacks]]
* [[Timeline for October following the September 11 attacks]]
* [[Timeline beyond October following the September 11 attacks]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book
|last = Bernstein
|first = Richard B.
|year = 2003
|title = Out of the Blue: A Narrative of September 11, 2001
|publisher = Times Books
|isbn = 0-8050-7410-4
|url-access = registration
|url = https://archive.org/details/outofblue00rich
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Thompson
|first = Paul
|year = 2004
|title = The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11
|publisher = HarperCollins
|isbn = 0-06-078338-9
}}

==External links==
* "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2001/day_of_terror/timeline/ America's Day of Terror: Timeline]" – British Broadcasting Corporation
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110515001359/http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&startpos=2900 "Complete 911 Timeline" minute by minute] – Provided by the ''[[History Commons]]''.
* {{Internet Archive|sept_11_tv_archive|9/11 Television News Archive}} ([https://archive.org/details/911 Understanding 9/11 archive]).
* CNN: {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/ |date=* |title=''September 11: Chronology of terror'' }} (timeline published Sept. 12).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314015055/http://mikejwilson.com/911/ 911 Case Study: Pentagon Flight 77]: 3D Computer Simulation about [[The Pentagon]] impact.
* [http://www.ab9il.net/aviation/my-flight-9-11.html My 9/11 Flight]: Airline pilot's account of the SCATANA airspace shutdown on 9/11.
* [http://www.911survivor.com/ Pasquale Buzzelli, the "9/11 Surfer"] who survived North Tower collapse.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141031154404/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/911-anniversary/ 1010 WINS from 8:00 a.m. (September 11, 2001) to 8:00 a.m. (September 12, 2001)] 
* {{cite web|title=Timeline Flight 93: September 11, 2001|url=http://www.nps.gov/flni/learn/historyculture/upload/Timeline_flight_93.pdf|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913101051/http://www.nps.gov/flni/learn/historyculture/upload/Timeline_flight_93.pdf|archive-date=13 September 2015|location=www.nps.gov}}

{{September 11 attacks}}

[[Category:Timelines of the September 11 attacks|*]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]

[[pl:Przebieg zamachu na World Trade Center i Pentagon]]