An American Airlines Boeing 767 (Flight 11) left Boston’s Logan Airport at 7:59 EDT heading for Los Angeles. Mohamed Atta (who had flown to Boston from Portland, Maineearly on 9/11 and whose suitcase, containing a video on flying airplanes, a fuel consumption calculator and a copy of the Koran was later found [this draft government report is in PDF format] at Logan Airport) was on board. So were four other hijackers.
When Atta and his compatriots took control of Flight 11, they diverted the plane south toward New York City. It struck the North Tower between the 95th and 103rd floors at 8:46:40 EDT. (The video links in this paragraph depict what Jules Naudet filmed [move the cursor ahead, to 21:04, to see his interview with Charlie Rose] as the first attack took place.) All 92 people onboard died, including nine flight attendants and both pilots.Air traffic controllers could hear part of the conversation in the cockpit after the hijackers took control of the plane. (A quick-thinking member of the flight crew had managed to activate that system.) At 8:28 EDT, one of the attackers said:
Don’t do anything foolish. You are not going to get hurt. We have more planes. We have other planes.
One of those “other planes” was already on its suicide-murder mission.
he idea of a center for world trade, to be located at the tip of Manhattan Island, began to seriously take shape when John F. Kennedy was America’s president. It was a time of dreams: to put a man on the moon; to achieve lasting world peace; to create a central place where worldwide commerce could be conducted.
Minoru Yamasaki, a Japanese-American with humble beginnings whose architectural firm was in metropolitan Detroit, created the center's design. Leslie Robertson was its chief structural engineer.
To support such a massive structure, one-quarter mile high, engineers had to dig to bedrock - 70 feet below the surface. Designers used innovative techniques (referred to as “a bathtub”) to keep the waters of the Hudson River out.
It took nearly ten years to complete the twin towers and the trade center complex. From the South Tower’s observation deck, one could look north to midtown Manhattan, east to the Brooklyn Bridge, and south to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
Photographs from the U.S. national archives, and a movie produced by the Port Authorityof New York and New Jersey, document the birth of the twin towers - once the tallest structures in the world:
- When the towers were built, rotting pier timbers and debris floating on the Hudson River (from illegally dumped industrial waste) were clearly visible.
- In 1973, Manhattan had a new skyline from the East River perspective.
- People traveling to the city on the Staten Island Ferry in May of 1973 had anawesome view of the new twin towers.
- An old neighbor (the historic Trinity Church on Lower Broadway at the foot of Wall Street) welcomed a new one in the spring of 1973.
Both neighbors, and everything else in the surrounding area, were threatened on the morning of September 11 as two planes, flying at about 500 miles an hour, approached the World Trade Center.
merican Airlines Boeing 767 (Flight 11) left Boston’s Logan Airport at 7:59 EDT heading for Los Angeles. Mohamed Atta (who had flown to Boston from Portland, Maineearly on 9/11 and whose suitcase, containing a video on flying airplanes, a fuel consumption calculator and a copy of the Koran was later found [this draft government report is in PDF format] at Logan Airport) was on board. So were four other hijackers.When Atta and his compatriots took control of Flight 11, they diverted the plane south toward New York City. It struck the North Tower between the 95th and 103rd floors at 8:46:40 EDT. (The video links in this paragraph depict what Jules Naudet filmed [move the cursor ahead, to 21:04, to see his interview with Charlie Rose] as the first attack took place.) All 92 people onboard died, including nine flight attendants and both pilots.
Air traffic controllers could hear part of the conversation in the cockpit after the hijackers took control of the plane. (A quick-thinking member of the flight crew had managed to activate that system.) At 8:28 EDT, one of the attackers said:
Don’t do anything foolish. You are not going to get hurt. We have more planes. We have other planes.
One of those “other planes” was already on its suicide-murder mission.
can Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757, left Washington’s Dulles Airport at 08:20 EDT. Sixty-four people were going to Los Angeles, including four flight attendants and two pilots.
After the hijackers took control, they turned off the cockpit’s transponder which caused the plane to drop off radar. Air Force jets were scrambled but arrived too late.Eyewitnesses on the ground saw the plane approach Washington from the southwest. When it was just outside the city, the plane made a 270-degree turn and headed straight for the Pentagon (headquarters of America's Department of Defense). It crashed into thebuilding, causing a five-story section to collapse.
Everyone on the plane, plus 190 people in the Pentagon, died. Reporters, trying their best to get on top of the story, initially had it was a third hijacked plane which had caused the massive Pentagon fire.
Author and TV commentator Barbara Olson, wife of U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, called her husband twice during the ordeal. She reported the hijackers were armed with knife-like weapons and asked her husband, "What should I tell the pilot to do?"
The pilot, of course, was no longer in control of the plane.
At 08:42 EDT, a Boeing 757 took off from Newark, New Jersey with 44 people onboard,including two pilots and five flight attendants. United Airlines Flight 93 was en route to San Francisco when hijackers, likely armed with knife-like instruments and a box they said was a bomb (as reported by Mark Bingham), took control of the plane.
Using his cell phone, passenger Jeremy Glick called his wife to say he and some other passengers had voted to tackle the hijackers. Thomas Burnett told his wife, "I know we’re all going to die...There’s three of us who are going to do something about it." And Todd Beamer, in his now-famous statement, said, "Let’s roll."
Flight 93's voice recordings help to reconstruct what happened. Forty-six minutes after takeoff, at 9:28 EDT, the hijackers attacked while the plane was at 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio. The aircraft "suddenly dropped 700 feet."
The 9-11 Commission Report notes (scroll down 30%) that Cleveland Center received a message from the flight crew:
Eleven seconds into the descent, the FAA's air traffic control center in Cleveland received the first of two radio transmissions from the aircraft. During the first broadcast, the captain or first officer could be heard declaring "Mayday" amid the sounds of a physical struggle in the cockpit. The second radio transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated that the fight was continuing. The captain or first officer could be heard shouting: "Hey get out of here-get out of here-get out of here."
At 9:32, one of the attackers spoke to the passengers:
"Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit." The flight data recorder (also recovered) indicates that Jarrah [the hijacker flying the plane] then instructed the plane's autopilot to turn the aircraft around and head east.
The plane, investigators believe, was now on a path to Washington, D.C.
Using GTE airphones, passengers on board began calling friends, family, colleagues and other people on the ground. They learned of the successful attacks on the World Trade Center and advised they were going to fight back:Five calls described the intent of passengers and surviving crew members to revolt against the hijackers. According to one call, they voted on whether to rush the terrorists in an attempt to retake the plane. They decided, and acted.
The passengers took action, beginning at 9:57:
Several passengers had terminated phone calls with loved ones in order to join the revolt. One of the callers ended her message as follows: "Everyone's running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."
Recovered data from the plane reveals what happened next:
The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of the passenger assault muffled by the intervening cockpit door. Some family members who listened to the recording report that they can hear the voice of a loved one among the din. We cannot identify whose voices can be heard. But the assault was sustained.
Realizing passengers were fighting back, the hijacker flying the plane reacted:
In response, Jarrah immediately began to roll the airplane to the left and right, attempting to knock the passengers off balance. At 9:58:57, Jarrah told another hijacker in the cockpit to block the door. Jarrah continued to roll the airplane sharply left and right, but the assault continued. At 9:59:52, Jarrah changed tactics and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault. The recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts, and breaking glasses and plates. At 10:00:03, Jarrah stabilized the airplane.
Recognizing Flight 93's passengers had thwarted their original objective - of slamming into a Washington building - the attackers talked about crashing the plane:
Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" A hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." The sounds of fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose of the aircraft up and down. At 10:00:26, a passenger in the background said, "In the cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled, "Roll it!" Jarrah stopped the violent maneuvers at about 10:01:00 and said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" He then asked another hijacker in the cock-pit, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" to which the other replied, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down."
The heroes of Flight 93 were making significant progress:
The passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:23, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them. The airplane headed down; the control wheel was turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting "Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest." With the sounds of the passenger counterattack continuing, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C.
The actions of Flight 93's passengers averted another strike on a Washington, D.C. target - most likely the Capitol. Instead, at 10:03:11 EDT the plane crashed (leaving more than one debris field) in Shanksville, Pennsylvania - about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Four planes, originally scheduled to depart American cities within 12 minutes of each other, had caused the worst attack on U.S. soil since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. According to the official 9-11 Commission Report, the plot had beenmasterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.The American intelligence "system was blinking red," but, apparently, few people had noticed.
As the passengers of Flight 93 wrested control of the plane from the hijackers, the South Tower of the World Trade Center was in its final moments of life.
Five minutes before Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, the South Tower, (which was hit by the second plane) collapsed at 10:05 EDT. Hundreds of rescue workers, plus people trying to escape, were crushed to death.
Twenty-four minutes later, the North Tower also collapsed. A cloud of volcanic-like ashrushed through the streets of lower Manhattan as people fled for their lives. It was too late, however, for rescuers and people inside the building. They, like so many others in the South Tower, died on September 11.
Some people survived. They survived because of miracles or heroes. Heroes like Rick Rescorla who made sure nearly all of Morgan Stanley’s 2700 employees left the South Tower even while building announcements advised people to stay put.
Rescorla, then in charge of security at Morgan Stanley, was never one to follow advice he didn’t trust. He knew what danger was - he had faced it in Vietnam. Because of him, thousands of people were not victims - as he was - of the terrorist plot.
The WTC complex was damaged. At 5:20 p.m. EDT, Number 7 World Trade Center (a 47-story building) also collapsed. At the time, although it was not well-publicized, officialsfeared that the Hudson River could flood the entire area if the WTC foundations caved in.
But what, exactly, caused the towers to fall?
September 11 was not the first time terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. On 26 February 1993, six people died, more than a thousand were injured and 50,000 trade center workers were evacuated when a bomb in excess of 1,000 pounds exploded on thesecond level of the parking basement. The home-made device had been driven into the building in a stolen Ryder truck. The explosion’s epicenter was under the northeast corner of the Vista Hotel. (The same hotel, on 9/11, was owned by Marriott.)
The attack plan in 1993, as authorities later learned, was to topple one tower so it fell on the other, spewing forth cyanide gas and killing tens of thousands of Americans. At the time, and later, few people realized the scope of what the terrorists had set in motion. It is now believed that September 11's events began to take shape soon after the 1993 bomb failed to produce the hoped-for catastrophic results. If true, the well-coordinated attack on the United States was eight years in the making.
Two years after the bombing, but before Ramzi Yousef was arrested for his role in the failed attempt to topple the twin towers, he and his fellow terrorists plotted another spectacular disaster. Using a liquid explosive designed to pass through airport security, the terrorists planned to blow up eleven commercial American aircraft in one day. That plot was foiled when Yousef started a fire in Manilla.
When he fled the scene of the fire, Yousef left his computer behind. It contained what authorities needed to arrest him. Soon after, he was apprehended in Pakistan and extradited to the United States. He, and five other conspirators, were tried and convicted for their role in the bombing. Each received a prison sentence of 240 years.
In its Winter 1995/1996 edition, The National Interest published an article (by Laurie Mylroie) about several highly debatable issues. One of those issues was the possibility of future terrorist actions against the United States (and its interests).
The article’s main concern (that uncoordinated communication between U.S. law enforcement agencies “may have created a niche for terrorism within America’s borders”) raised a point still hotly debated today.
On 7 August 1998, Al-Qaeda terrorists bombed the U.S. Embassy Compounds in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The coordinated attacks took place about four minutes apart. At least 212 people died and thousands more were injured.
In Nairobi, many of the victims were working in nearby buildings when the bomb exploded at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time. The American Embassy, located in a congested part of town, was gutted as the blast ripped through each floor and pulverized nearby vehicles.
The FBI, in the largest overseas deployment of agents in FBI history, conducted more than 1,000 interviews. As a result of that massive investigation, 22 people were charged with bombing the embassies. In May of 2001, four individuals were convicted even as a primary defendant - Osama Bin Laden - remained a fugitive. Those convicted men weresentenced to life in prison in October of 2001.
In August of 1997, about one year before the embassy bombings, Kenyan police and FBI agents found a very disturbing letter on the computer hard drive of longtime Bin Laden aide, Wadih El Hage. (He was one of the four convicted for bombing the embassies.) Near its end (scroll down about 80%) the letter states:
As you know, the decision to declare war on America was taken...
Government officials understandably observe that they receive so many warnings it is frequently impossible for them to determine which are real. But on 12 October 2000, another terrorist attack killed more Americans - this time aboard the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67).
Eleven months before the events of September 11, the USS Cole, an American guided missile destroyer, was on its way to Bahrain. It planned to make a port visit where the headquarters of America's Fifth Fleet is located.
Needing fuel on 12 October 2000, the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer made a scheduled refueling stop at the Port of Aden in Yemen. As it "was mooring to a harbor refueling island," a "small boat exploded alongside" the ship, causing a 40-by-40-foot holeamidship on the port side.
The Cole's crew immediately responded with significant damage control. Among other things, they wrapped and plugged the hull at the point where a propeller shaft had penetrated the destroyer's hull. U.S. Marines were sent in to set up special checkpointsaround the Port of Aden.
Seventeen sailors died and 39 were injured. Navy divers found some of the missing men in the destroyer's flooded compartments.
The U.S. Navy's pictures of the USS Cole - in its injured state and as it was transported back to America aboard the Norwegian heavy transport Blue Marlin - are on-line:
The United States, with the help of its allies, responded to the September 11 terrorist attack with military force. On 7 October 2001, American and British forces directed a "measured, broad and sustained attack" on suspected terrorist cells in then-Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The so-called "war against terror" continues.
Every day one hears reports of military successes and failures. Where is bin Laden? Is he dead? Hiding somewhere? The broadcasts sound the same, one week seamlessly blending into the next. But the real story of America's response comes from her people. From the children. The teenagers. From the folks in the cities and in the heartlands. What is their response to these shattering events?
The U.S. Library of Congress has acquired many original works reflecting America's response to the attacks. Profiled here are creations from a broad spectrum of people - children and adults, amateurs and professional artists. All have generously given their productions to the national archives.
A "primary source" is the best place to get first-hand information. A person who experiences an event, and gives an account of it, is a source of primary information. Maps, photographs, drawings, videotapes, diaries, letters, manuscripts and other similar items can be primary sources.
Someone who interprets primary sources - like a scholar, for example - is creating a secondary source. (See Yale University's web site for a good understanding of the differences between primary and secondary sources.)
It is our policy to link to primary source material whenever possible. That is the reason most of our links are to worldwide national archives, museums, universities, military and government sites as well as other institutions like historical societies and libraries. It is our aim to provide a virtual trip to reliable places where primary sources are maintained. We frequently link to scholarly sources as well. All links serve as footnotes to our stories.
Where helpful, we link to scholarly narratives that explain the subject, or issue, in more detail. Scholarly-narrative links - when we use them - usually appear near the end of our stories, when the reader is more prepared to explore them.
Each recommended link, embedded in the story, takes you directly to the source of the footnoted information. If you would like to visit the main page of the linked site, or to further explore its content, eliminate everything in the URL after the ".edu, .gov, .org," etc., and then press "enter." That will take you to the main site where you can then search for whatever additional information you may need.
We have thoroughly researched appropriate links. Wherever possible, people who really know the subject matter have reviewed the stories for accuracy. Our main objective is to help our visitors find their way to some of the best on-line information regarding the profiled subjects - and to have fun at the same time. We hope you have enjoyed your visit.
In addition to the embedded links, we recommend that you explore the following web sites if you are seeking further information:
Eleven months before the events of September 11, the USS Cole, an American guided missile destroyer, was on its way to Bahrain. It planned to make a port visit where the headquarters of America's Fifth Fleet is located.
Needing fuel on 12 October 2000, the Arleigh-Burke class destroyer made a scheduled refueling stop at the Port of Aden in Yemen. As it "was mooring to a harbor refueling island," a "small boat exploded alongside" the ship, causing a 40-by-40-foot holeamidship on the port side.
The Cole's crew immediately responded with significant damage control. Among other things, they wrapped and plugged the hull at the point where a propeller shaft had penetrated the destroyer's hull. U.S. Marines were sent in to set up special checkpointsaround the Port of Aden.
Seventeen sailors died and 39 were injured. Navy divers found some of the missing men in the destroyer's flooded compartments.
The U.S. Navy's pictures of the USS Cole - in its injured state and as it was transported back to America aboard the Norwegian heavy transport Blue Marlin - are on-line:
- A patrol boat, with sailors and marines on board, provided security before the Colewas towed to sea and hoisted on board the Blue Marlin;
- The two ships crossed the Atlantic (you need an MPG player for this video link) and, in December of 2000, returned to America. They arrived at Pier 4 of the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi where the Cole was slated for repairs.
The United States, with the help of its allies, responded to the September 11 terrorist attack with military force. On 7 October 2001, American and British forces directed a "measured, broad and sustained attack" on suspected terrorist cells in then-Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The so-called "war against terror" continues.
Every day one hears reports of military successes and failures. Where is bin Laden? Is he dead? Hiding somewhere? The broadcasts sound the same, one week seamlessly blending into the next. But the real story of America's response comes from her people. From the children. The teenagers. From the folks in the cities and in the heartlands. What is their response to these shattering events?
The U.S. Library of Congress has acquired many original works reflecting America's response to the attacks. Profiled here are creations from a broad spectrum of people - children and adults, amateurs and professional artists. All have generously given their productions to the national archives.
- The Twin Towers - "I Can't Take It!" - by Hannah Beach, third-grade student from Knoxville, TN
- The Twin Towers - "No, No" - by Meagan Yoakley, third-grade student from Knoxville, TN
- "It's OK" - Eddie Hamilton, third-grade student from Knoxville, TN
- "New Vocabulary as of September 12, 2001." - Liz Johnson
- "Flower Towers." - Jen Kim
- "We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Programming to Bring You Reality." - Ann Telnaes
- "How My Life Has Changed." - Hilary North
- "Nothing Feels Safe Anymore." - Daniel DiGia
- "Can't Stop Watching TV." - Marie Blanchard
- "WTC 010911 9:15 AM." - S. Torre
- "Engine Company 54 Lost 15 Men." - Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt
- "After the Screaming." - Marc Yankus
- "Fear, Fate and Faith." - Scip Barnhart
- "In Memory." - Brian Niemann
On the anniversary date of the September 11 attacks, the world remembers what happened on that day in 2001. One of the stories, donated to the Library of Congress, helps to put all those memories in perspective.
Letters From a Broken Apple, an illustrated story about New York on September 11, helps all of us remember our own thoughts and responses to the tragic events of that day:- At the beginning of such a tragedy, no one really knows what to write.
- Maybe we start with the sirens.
- Or maybe we start with the rescuers.
- The only planes in the air are military - the F16s.
- What has happened? It is beyond belief.
- Friends and family frantically call each other: "Are you okay?"
- Two friends have not checked in. Are they okay?
- America shakes in her "collective skin."
- Heroes steer people clear of collapsing walls and throat-clogging ash.
- In fact, heroes are the first thing we notice.
A "primary source" is the best place to get first-hand information. A person who experiences an event, and gives an account of it, is a source of primary information. Maps, photographs, drawings, videotapes, diaries, letters, manuscripts and other similar items can be primary sources.
Someone who interprets primary sources - like a scholar, for example - is creating a secondary source. (See Yale University's web site for a good understanding of the differences between primary and secondary sources.)
It is our policy to link to primary source material whenever possible. That is the reason most of our links are to worldwide national archives, museums, universities, military and government sites as well as other institutions like historical societies and libraries. It is our aim to provide a virtual trip to reliable places where primary sources are maintained. We frequently link to scholarly sources as well. All links serve as footnotes to our stories.
Where helpful, we link to scholarly narratives that explain the subject, or issue, in more detail. Scholarly-narrative links - when we use them - usually appear near the end of our stories, when the reader is more prepared to explore them.
Each recommended link, embedded in the story, takes you directly to the source of the footnoted information. If you would like to visit the main page of the linked site, or to further explore its content, eliminate everything in the URL after the ".edu, .gov, .org," etc., and then press "enter." That will take you to the main site where you can then search for whatever additional information you may need.
We have thoroughly researched appropriate links. Wherever possible, people who really know the subject matter have reviewed the stories for accuracy. Our main objective is to help our visitors find their way to some of the best on-line information regarding the profiled subjects - and to have fun at the same time. We hope you have enjoyed your visit.
In addition to the embedded links, we recommend that you explore the following web sites if you are seeking further information:
- The BBC has an incredible source of information regarding the attack.
- The Library of Congress has also assembled extensive materials about the events of September 11 and their aftermath.
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