911 Essay
THE DAY
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 was a cloudless, bright late summer day in the eastern United States. It was a week after Labor Day, the traditional end of the summer travel and vacation season, and the beginning of American football season, school and thoughts of autumn.
The day was as routine as any in New York, New York and Washington, D.C. Before ordinary passenger jets became fiery menaces, people in the World Trade Center and Pentagon were working at personal computers, typing letters or reading e-mail, speaking on the phone or processing paperwork. None of the civilians seemed to know what was to happen.
At 5:30 a.m., several men flew on a commuter jet from Portland, Maine, to Logan International Airport in Boston. They boarded two Boeing 767s, American Airlines (AAL) Flight 11, and United Airlines (UAL) Flight 175. Both jets were supposed to arrive in Los Angeles.
According to investigations and eyewitnesses accounts later intercepted from the planes while in flight, these men carried small knives and box cutters, tools more often used for opening packages.
Other men, similarly armed, traveled to Newark International Airport to take UAL Flight 93 at 8:42 a.m. to San Francisco, and Washington Dulles Airport to board AAL Flight 77 for 8:20 a.m. departure to Los Angeles.
All of the jets were scheduled for transcontinental flights and carried an average of 20,000 gallons of aviation fuel. This was probably one of the major reasons they were selected, as the amount of fuel, plus impact into a building, added up to a lethal bomb.
TIMELINE
8:42 a.m. -- AAL Flight 11 hits 1 World Trade Center, also known as the north tower and distinctive for its huge television antenna.
9:03 a.m. a.m. -- UAL Flight 175 strikes 2 World World Trade Center (south tower).
9:25 a.m. -- The Federal Aviation Administration orders a shutdown of all airports nationwide.
9:40 a.m. --AAL Flight 77 crashes into the west face of the Pentagon.
10:05 a.m. -- WTC 2 collapses
Tuesday, 11 September 2001 was a cloudless, bright late summer day in the eastern United States. It was a week after Labor Day, the traditional end of the summer travel and vacation season, and the beginning of American football season, school and thoughts of autumn.
The day was as routine as any in New York, New York and Washington, D.C. Before ordinary passenger jets became fiery menaces, people in the World Trade Center and Pentagon were working at personal computers, typing letters or reading e-mail, speaking on the phone or processing paperwork. None of the civilians seemed to know what was to happen.
At 5:30 a.m., several men flew on a commuter jet from Portland, Maine, to Logan International Airport in Boston. They boarded two Boeing 767s, American Airlines (AAL) Flight 11, and United Airlines (UAL) Flight 175. Both jets were supposed to arrive in Los Angeles.
According to investigations and eyewitnesses accounts later intercepted from the planes while in flight, these men carried small knives and box cutters, tools more often used for opening packages.
Other men, similarly armed, traveled to Newark International Airport to take UAL Flight 93 at 8:42 a.m. to San Francisco, and Washington Dulles Airport to board AAL Flight 77 for 8:20 a.m. departure to Los Angeles.
All of the jets were scheduled for transcontinental flights and carried an average of 20,000 gallons of aviation fuel. This was probably one of the major reasons they were selected, as the amount of fuel, plus impact into a building, added up to a lethal bomb.
TIMELINE
8:42 a.m. -- AAL Flight 11 hits 1 World Trade Center, also known as the north tower and distinctive for its huge television antenna.
9:03 a.m. a.m. -- UAL Flight 175 strikes 2 World World Trade Center (south tower).
9:25 a.m. -- The Federal Aviation Administration orders a shutdown of all airports nationwide.
9:40 a.m. --AAL Flight 77 crashes into the west face of the Pentagon.
10:05 a.m. -- WTC 2 collapses