One of the worst days in American history, the September 11th attacks will forever be remembered as a day terror hit the heart of the United States. In addition to it being a terrorist attack on an unprecedented scale, September 11 was also a global media event that was tracked every minute of the day. Starting around 5:00 AM Eastern Time, you can do an hour-by-hour playback of the September 11 attacks.
0:00-5:00 AM
There was little activity between midnight and 5:00 AM on September 11. The timeline of events really kicks off at 5:00 AM.
5:00 AM – 6:00 AM
- 5:01 AM: Ziad Jarrah calls Marwan al-Shehhi in Boston, confirming both terror cells are ready.
- 5:05 AM: Mohammad Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari travel from Portland, Maine to Boston.
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM
- President Bush goes for a jog in Florida.
- Atta and al-Omari arrive in Boston.
- After landing, Atta calls from inside Boston airport to confirm the other cells are ready.
7:00 – 8:00 AM
- During this hour, Flights 11, 93, and 175 are all preparing to take off and head toward their destinations.
8:00 – 8:37 AM
- 8:13: Flight 11, heading from Boston to Los Angeles, is hijacked. Multiple flight attendants and pilots are killed.
- 8:37: NORAD is informed of the hijacking.
8:38 AM – 8:47 AM
- Between 8:42 and 8:46 AM, flight 175 is hijacked. Both pilots are killed, and a flight attendant is stabbed. Marwan al-Shehhi, the leader of this cell, takes control of the aircraft.
- 8:46:30: Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at approximately 440 miles per hour. Everyone onboard the plane dies instantly, as well as multiple people inside the building.
- 8:46:43: 1st Battalion Chief of the NYC Fire Department, Joseph W. Pfeifer, informs FDNY command of the incident.
8:48 AM – 9:00 AM
- 8:48: News breaks on WNYW in New York that a plane has hit the building. Less than one minute later, CNN is live nationally.
- Between 8:50 and 8:54, Flight 175 was also reported to have changed its transponder code at 8:51. At 8:58, the flight made a final turn toward NYC.
- 8:54: Flight 77 deviates from its plan and heads back to Washington, DC.
- Chief of Staff Andy Card informs President Bush of the first plane hitting the building.
9:00 AM – 9:27 AM
- 9:02: FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer orders the evacuation of the North Tower.
- 9:02:59: Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower at 590 MPH between floors 77 and 85. Parts of the plane fall to the ground while everyone onboard dies instantly.
- 9:05: President Bush is famously informed that a second plane has hit the building.
- 9:08: The FAA grounds all flights going through New York City airspace.
- 9:25: American military bases around the world upgrade their force protection condition.
9:28 AM – 9:39 AM
- 9:28: Flight 93 begins a sudden descent as hijackers storm the cockpit. Approximately 7 minutes later, it turns around and heads toward the East Coast from Ohio.
- 9:29: FDNY recalls all firefighters, including off-duty, to report to their stations. At the same time, President Bush makes a brief public statement.
- 9:37: Vice President Dick Cheney is moved to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center underneath the White House.
- 9:37:46: Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon at 530 MPH. All 64 passengers are killed instantly, as are 125 Pentagon personnel.
- 9:39: NBC News correspondent Jim Miklaszweski reports an explosion at the Pentagon. One minute later, CNN reported a fire at the Pentagon. It would take another 16 minutes before CNN confirms the report.
9:40 – 10:00 AM
- 9:43: Both The White House and the Capitol are evacuated.
- 9:45: One of the most historic moments of the day as all US airspace is shut down. International flights are redirected to Canada, and domestic flights are ordered to land at the nearest airport.
- 9:59: The South Tower collapses approximately 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. No one inside the building survives.
10:00 – 10:09 AM
- 10:00: FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer orders all FDNY personnel to evacuate North Tower.
- 10:03:11: Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. This is the last of the hijacked flights, thereby concluding the attacks. It’s believed the White House or Capitol were the intended target.
- 10:05: CNN headline reads “SOUTH TOWER AT WTC COLLAPSES.”
10:10 – 10:28 AM
- 10:10: Threat Condition Delta ordered at all military bases worldwide, the highest readiness condition. At the same time, the west side of the Pentagon collapses.
- 10:10 – 10:15: President Bush is not communicating from Air Force One due to security. Vice President Cheney issues a “shoot down” order for fighter jets flying over the East Coast. President Bush confirms the command approximately five minutes later.
10:28 – 11:00 AM
- 10:28 AM: The North Tower collapsed, and everyone on the 91st floor and above could not escape before the building collapsed. Sixteen individuals would be rescued from the rubble.
- 10:41: NYC Mayor Rudy Guliani issues an evacuation order for lower Manhattan.
- 10:50:19: Five stories as part of the outer ring of the Pentagon collapsed.
- 10:53: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld orders the military to DEFCON 3, which means, among other things, that the Air Force can be mobilized in 15 minutes.
11:00 – 12:00 PM
- 11:16: American Airlines confirms the loss of two aircraft.
- 11:26: United Airlines confirms the loss of its two aircraft.
- 11:55: The US/Mexico border is at the highest state of alert.
12:00 – 1:00 PM
- 12:04: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of Flights 11, 77, and 175, is shut down.
- 12:15: San Francisco International Airport, the destination of Flight 93, is shut down.
- 12:15: Airspace over the 48 contiguous US is clear of commercial and private flights.
- 12:39: Arizona Senator John McCain calls the attack an “act of war.”
1:00 – 2:00 PM
- 1:04: President Bush confirms the order for Force Protection Condition Delta. Taped remarks are sent to the media networks, and the President promises to “hunt down and punish those responsible.”
- 1:24: Korean Flight 85, which had originally shown the transponder to “HJK” for the hijack, Air Traffic Control takes this step as confirmation of the hijacked flight.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
- 2:39: When asked about casualties, the New York Mayor says, “More than any of us can bear.”
- 2:50: President Bush arrives at Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska and begins teleconference with military command and control.
- 2:54: Flight 85 lands in Canada, where it is believed that the indication of hijacking was a translation error.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
- 3:00: At approximately 3 PM, Pasqualle Buzzelli is found awake in the North Tower stairwell with only a fractured foot.
4:00 – 5:00 PM
- 4:00: All national news outlets are pointing toward Osama Bin Laden as the intelligence community’s prime suspect.
- 4:25: The New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and American Stock Exchange confirm they will be closed on Wednesday, September 12.
- 4:36: President Bush leaves Offutt Air Force Base.
5:00 – 6:00 PM
- 5:20:33: 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building collapsed. However, building personnel and emergency responders had already evacuated, so no injuries or deaths were reported.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
- 6:00: The last aircraft headed for the U.S. lands at Vancouver International Airport in Canada.
- 6:54: President Bush arrives at the White House.
7:00 – 8:00 PM
- 7:00: First responders are working fast and furiously to locate any survivors in the rubble of both buildings.
- 7:24: Members of Congress stand on Capitol steps and sing “God Bless America.”
8:00 – 9:00 PM
- 8:00: Port Authority Officer Will Jimeno is found alive in the rubble and freed over the next three hours.
- 8:30: President Bush addresses the nation and promises to find those responsible.
9:00 – 10:00 PM
- President Bush meets with the full National Security Council and later a small group of key advisors. He is presented with evidence Osama Bin Laden is behind the attack. Bush tells CIA Director George Tenet to tell the Taliban harboring Al-Qaeda “…we’re finished with them.”
10:00 – 11:00 PM
- 10:00: Multiple erroneous reports indicate many survivors have been found in twin tower rubble. Only two more survivors would be found on September 12.
11:00 – 12:00 PM
- 11:00: Will Jimeno is finally dug out. Port Authority police sergeant John McLoughin is also trapped and work continues until 8 AM when he is freed.
- 11:30: President Bush enters his journal “The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today…we think it’s Osama Bin Laden”.
- 11:50: The first footage airs on CNN by Wolf Blitzer, showing Flight 11 impacting the North Tower.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Hamara/Shutterstock.com.
