This Date in Aviation History: September 11, 2001

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/11/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: Planelopnik, planelopnik history

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September 11, 2001 – Terrorists hijack four American airliners and use them to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth attack, targeting Washington, DC, is thwarted by passengers.

September 11, 2001 dawned bright and clear on the East Coast as America started the routine of a normal autumn day. Passengers boarding early morning flights in Boston, Washington, DC and Newark had no idea that they would become victims of a brazen, highly coordinated and murderous attack on the United States by a well-trained group of terrorists. Never before had airplanes been used as a weapon of terror on such a scale, and even though there had been !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that an attack on the US was possible, even probable, nobody was prepared for what transpired that day.

The attacks were carried out by teams of terrorists organized and funded by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! terror network. The hijackers entered the US in the months ahead of September 11, and some even took flying lessons at US flight schools. One member of the group already possessed a commercial pilot’s license. On the day of the attack, the terrorists boarded the planes in groups of 4 or 5. One member of each group was trained to fly the plane while the others provided the muscle to subdue the flight crew and handle the passengers. The 4 aircraft selected for the attack were all flying transcontinental routes that required large aircraft heavy with fuel. This combination was chosen to cause the greatest amount of damage to the intended targets.

The first airliner to be hijacked, American Airlines Flight 11 , was a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N334AA) scheduled to fly from Boston’s Logan Airport to Los Angeles. It departed at 7:59 a.m. (all times are given in Eastern Standard Time) with a crew of 11 and carried 76 passengers. There were 5 hijackers on the flight, including the overall leader of the operation, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . After the airliner reached cruising altitude, the attackers rose from their seats, stabbed two of the flight attendants, sprayed mace in the first class cabin and claimed they had a bomb. Then they herded the passengers to the rear of the plane. It’s not clear how they gained access to the cockpit, as the door should have been locked, but they may have gotten a key from one of the flight attendants. Upon gaining control of the aircraft, Atta turned off the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a device that allows controllers to identify and track the aircraft, and then turned the 767 towards New York City. At 8:46 a.m. the aircraft struck the North Tower of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Lower Manhattan, punching a gaping hole in the side of the building and erupting in a massive fireball that started a fuel-fed fire which soon engulfed the upper stories of the skyscraper. Initially, it was believed that a terrible accident had taken place. No one imagined that an aircraft would be flown deliberately into a building.

The second aircraft used in the attack was another Boeing 767 (N612UA), United Airlines Flight 175 . Also departing from Logan Airport in Boston and bound for Los Angeles, the airliner carried a crew of 9 and 51 passengers. Like American Flight 11, this plane also carried 5 hijackers and took off at 8:14 a.m., just as the hijacking of Flight 11 was beginning. Following a similar scenario as the other flight, the hijackers killed the pilots and took control of the aircraft, claimed to have a bomb on board the plane, and moved the passengers and remaining crew to the rear of the plane. Passengers on board the flight made contact with loved ones and airline authorities on the ground via cell phones and phones built into the seats. They provided information that would be crucial to the eventual understanding of the coordinated attack that was unfolding. At 8:52 a.m., the hijackers turned the aircraft toward New York City and flew the 767 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. with the same devastating effects as the first plane. One plane flying into a skyscraper could be an perceived as an accident. A second one, within minutes of the first, was unimaginable. Government officials and air traffic controllers were only just beginning to suspect that a coordinated attack was under way.

The third aircraft hijacked that day was American Airlines Flight 77 , a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N644AA) that was scheduled to fly from Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia to Los Angeles. It departed at 8:20 a.m. with a crew of 6 and 58 passengers. Once the airliner reached its cruising altitude, the 5 hijackers moved against the flight crew, and while there were no reports of stabbings on this flight, the hijackers were similarly armed with knives and box cutters. Again, they herded the passengers and crew to the rear of the plane. It is not clear if the pilots were killed, or how the hijackers came to be in control of the aircraft, but at 8:54 a.m. the transponder was turned off and primary radar contact with the aircraft was lost. The hijacker in control of the plane then turned south towards Washington, DC. At 9:29 a.m., air traffic controllers reestablished radar contact with the plane and learned that it was heading back towards northern Virginia at high speed. Five minutes later, the hijacker flying the plane made a final turn towards the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and advanced the throttles to full power. At 9:37 am the 757 smashed through the west side of the building at traveling at 530 mph. It took just eight-tenths of a second for the airliner to penetrate 310 feet through three of the Pentagon’s five rings.

The fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93 , was another Boeing 757 (N591UA). It was scheduled to depart from Newark International Airport at 8:00 a.m. for a flight to San Francisco. On board were 7 crew members and 33 passengers, but only 4 hijackers (the man suspected of being the fifth hijacker had been denied entry to the US a month before). Due to dense fog that morning, the flight did not take off until 8:42 a.m., just four minutes before the first 767 struck the World Trade Center. Even though the earlier hijackings had already taken place, it took some time for the FAA, controllers and airline officials to realize that they were facing a scenario of multiple, simultaneous hijackings, and no warnings were sent out to other aircraft departing at the same time. The hijacking of Flight 93 began at 9:28 a.m. over eastern Ohio, and passengers and crew were again moved to the rear of the plane. However, the delay in departure meant that passengers who contacted loved ones and officials on the ground learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. They realized that their aircraft was part of an organized attack on the United States. Huddled in the back of the plane, they started discussing what, if anything, they could do. They chose to fight back.

“Let’s roll”

The passengers on Flight 93 decided to make an assault on the front of the aircraft in an attempt to regain control of the airliner or, at the very least, stop the hijackers from hitting their target, which was later believed to be the US Capitol or the White House. One of the passengers who helped organize the attempt to retake the plane, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , was overheard saying, “Are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll.” Another passenger ended her phone call to a loved one saying, “Everyone’s running up to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.” At 9:57 a.m. the passengers’ assault on the terrorists began, and sounds of a struggle could be heard in the background over the open phone lines. The hijacker flying the plane, Ziad Jarrah, realized that the passengers were fighting the other hijackers in the first class cabin and initiated a series of violent maneuvers in an attempt to disrupt the assault, but muffled sounds of the battle were still captured on the cockpit voice recorder. When it became clear that the passengers would soon gain entry to the cockpit and that the terrorists’ mission to strike the nation’s capital would not succeed, Jarrah rolled the 757 onto its back and dove earthward, impacting the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. at a speed of 563 mph. Flight 93 was only 20 minutes from Washington, DC.

The Wall of Names at the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania.

Once the full scope of the attack was understood, officials implemented part of the plan called the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (SCATANA), “an emergency preparedness plan which prescribes the joint action to be taken by appropriate elements of the Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the interest of national security in order to effect control of air traffic and air navigation aids under emergency conditions.” The plan, devised to protect the nation in the event of a nuclear attack, limits the use of American airspace to military and other official flights. However, it was not fully implemented on September 11, as the DOD left the FAA in charge of the air traffic control system, and left radio navigational aids operating to assist the thousands of aircraft still in the air over the US to land safely or divert to alternate airports.

At 9:42 a.m., five minutes after Flight 77 struck the Pentagon, FAA National Operations Manager Ben Sliney made the unprecedented call to immediately land all aircraft already in flight over the US and to place a ground stop on all aircraft awaiting takeoff. Incoming international flights were ordered to turn back if they had enough fuel or to land at airports in Canada or Mexico. By approximately 12:15 pm, American airspace was completely cleared of commercial and civilian air traffic. To the north, Canada issued its own order to control its airspace, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (ESCAT), with the Canadian military taking control of the airspace over the country. Incoming airliners, and those diverted from the US, were directed to airports away from major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Canada ultimately took in 255 aircraft at 17 different airports across the country. Some airports were overwhelmed with aircraft, as a certain percentage of all the aircraft in North America must be in the air at any given time. There is simply not enough room to put all the aircraft on the ground at once and still maintain operations.

The airport at Gander, Newfoundland following September 11.

In all, 2,977 people were killed in the September 11 attacks (a number which does not include the 19 hijackers). Of that total, 246 were on board the four airliners hijacked that day. Civilian flights in the US resumed on September 13, but the inevitable changes to airline travel have made the flying experience much different than it was before 9/11. Cockpit doors were armored and secured. Airport security was federalized with the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. Passenger screening was greatly expanded, no-fly lists were created for those individuals who are on terrorist watch lists, and the non-flying public was barred from entering the gate area of airports. But beyond the physical changes to our airports and the procedural changes to how we fly, the heroism and courage displayed by the passengers on Flight 93 in the face of almost certain death has changed the way the world faces the threat of air terrorism. The actions of Todd Beamer and the rest of the passengers on September 11, 2001 have emboldened the rest of the flying public to stand against terrorism, and fight back in any way possible. It is unlikely that hijackers will find an airplane full of meek victims in the future.

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Photo credits : Flight 11 photo by Ken Fielding via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Flight 175 photo by Konstantin von Wedelstaedt via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Flight 77 photo by Sunil Gupta via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Flight 93 photo by MacMax via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . WTC photo by Michael Foran via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Pentagon photo by US Navy. Flight 93 Memorial photo ©Tim Shaffer. Gander photo author unknown. Sources : !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; Wikipedia (various).

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JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 12:50

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Somewhat interesting but scary fact...

Some of the terrorists involved actually learned to fly at the little municipal airport in my town. They lived in apartment complexes not even 10 minutes from where I live.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 12:55

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The Day The World Came To Town: 9/11 in Gander is a fascinating read for anyone interested.

Boxer_4 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 09/11/2016 at 12:57

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Venice, Fl? I remember I was in Venice briefly in July 2001. Something I think about this time every year.

fhrblig > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 09/11/2016 at 13:00

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Some of these bastards also apparently frequented a bar in Hollywood, Florida that is down the street from where my sister lives.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Boxer_4 09/11/2016 at 13:07

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You got it. I’ve been here about 15 years now.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 13:09

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My parents and several old family friends were in the air on the way to a trade show in Germany on 9/11. It was a tense many hours before we knew everyone was ok. It's amazing that now you would be able to fire up Flight Aware and see the location of their plane, but then it was almost impossible to get any information. I actually had to drive from the university to my house so I had access to a phone where I could make long distance calls.

sunnydaysam > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 13:21

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15 of the 19 hijacker terrorists were Saudis. can’t forget that.

Viggen > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 13:39

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The images of that day are permanently etched into our memories. And the next day. President Bush’s speeches. The opening stages of Operation Enduring Freedom.

TheHondaBro > sunnydaysam 09/11/2016 at 14:00

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They were Saudis and Egyptians.

Wheelerguy > Viggen 09/11/2016 at 14:29

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From there, all shit gets fucked.

Wheelerguy > ttyymmnn 09/11/2016 at 14:46

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I often jest about my villainous tendencies against Bernie Ecclestone and his cronies, but really, none of my carefully-set plans will pale in comparison to whoever cooked up 9/11. He had the vision, the resources, the network, the cunning, and the sheer evil to pull this off and get away with it all.

9/11 morbidly impresses me at times because such an attack plan would be laughed at today. It worked the way it did because no sane citizen thinks it’s possible, and even if one can make it work, stopping it was relatively easy.

But the even more vexing thing is that this mastermind knows how the public and the government will react—if he hadn’t steered the latter to that reaction already. At least the War On Drugs was a war on something tangible.