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Sept. 11, 2001: A Timeline of Events

The World Trade Center on fire.
Hijackers in control of UA Flight 175 crashed the Boeing 767 between the 75th and 85th floors of the World Trade Center’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds more inside.

By    |   Friday, 10 September 2021 06:32 AM EDT

With the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania set for Saturday, Newsmax has selected a series of critical dates and times of the events leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of the attacks to contextualize one of the most infamous days in American history:

All Times Eastern

* Feb. 26, 1993: Islamic terrorists detonate a bomb-laden truck in the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people are killed and more than 1,000 injured.

* Aug. 7, 1998: More than 200 people are killed and another 4,000 injured in simultaneous bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya, perpetrated by al-Qaida.

* Aug. 20, 1998: U.S. launches cruise missile strikes against an al-Qaida training camp in Khost, Afghanistan, in response to the U.S. embassy bombings. It comes three days after President Bill Clinton testifies before a grand jury in the Monica Lewinsky investigation.

* Oct. 8, 1999: The U.S. State Department designates al-Qaida as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

* Oct. 15, 1999: The U.N. Security Council adopts a resolution demanding the Taliban in Afghanistan turn over Osama bin Laden for trial for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

* Oct. 12, 2000: Al-Qaida suicide bombers detonate an explosives-laden boat next to the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole while in port in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 and injuring 39.

* Aug. 6, 2001: President George W. Bush is alerted to the threat that "bin Laden Determined to Attack" in the President’s Daily Brief, which referred to the al-Qaida leader’s intention to "mount a terrorist attack."

* Sept. 9, 2001: Afghan Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud is assassinated by al-Qaida operatives posing as television journalists.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 people aboard departs Boston’s Logan International Airport en route to Los Angeles.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:14 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175 with 65 people aboard departs Boston’s Logan Airport en route to Los Angeles.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:19 a.m.: Flight attendant Betty Ong aboard AA Flight 11 informs ground personnel that cockpit personnel are unreachable, a passenger has been stabbed, and that the plane has been hijacked. American Airlines notifies the FBI.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:20 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 departs Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., with 64 people aboard en route to Los Angeles.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:24 a.m.: Hijacker Mohamed Atta aboard AA Flight 11 — believed to be trying to broadcast to passengers in the cabin — inadvertently informs air traffic controllers: "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you will be OK."

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:40 a.m.: North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) scrambles two F-15 fighter jets from Cape Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and surveil Flight 11. It takes them 13 minutes to get airborne.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:42 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 with 44 people aboard departs Newark International Airport en route to San Francisco. The flight has been delayed 42 minutes.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:46 a.m.: Hijackers led by Atta aboard AA Flight 11 crash the Boeing 676 between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all aboard and hundreds in the building.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:50 a.m.: President George W. Bush, who is visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, is informed by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card that a plane, believed to be a small civilian craft, has struck the World Trade Center.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:59 a.m.: UA Flight 175 passenger Brian David, a former U.S. Navy pilot, calls his mother Louise and informs her that he and other passengers are discussing storming the cockpit to retake control of the plane.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:02 a.m.: Port Authority officials order all occupants of both towers of the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings to evacuate via the public address system; an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people already have begun an evacuation.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:03 a.m.: Hijackers in control of UA Flight 175 crash the Boeing 767 between the 75th and 85th floors of the World Trade Center’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds more inside.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:05 a.m.: Card informs Bush that a second plane has hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, saying: “America is under attack.”

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:08 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration grounds all flights scheduled to depart for New York City or through the city’s airspace.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closes all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:24 a.m.: FAA notifies NORAD’s NEADS of the suspected hijacking of AA Flight 77 after some passengers and crew alert family members on the ground to their situation.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:30 a.m.: Fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia are scrambled.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:31 a.m.: Bush calls the events in New York City an “apparent terrorist attack on our country.”

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:37 a.m.: Hijackers in control of Flight 77 crash the Boeing 757 into the western face of the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., killing all 59 aboard and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the Defense Department.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:42 a.m.: The FAA orders all civilian flights in the air over the continental United States or bound for the country to land immediately. About 3,300 commercial flights and 1,200 private planes are landed over the next two-and-a-half hours in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:45 a.m.: The White House and U.S. Capitol are evacuated. Additional landmarks and buildings also are evacuated.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 9:59 a.m.: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after being struck.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 10:03 a.m.: UA Flight 93 crashes into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard the Boeing 757. After learning of events in New York and Washington through contacts with family and friends, the passengers and crew mounted an assault to retake the plane. The resulting struggle concludes with the airliner crashing upside down.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center’s North Tower collapses, one hour and 42 minutes after being struck by AA Flight 11.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 11 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for the evacuation of Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, including more than 1 million residents, workers, and tourists.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 1 p.m.: Bush declares U.S. military forces on high alert worldwide from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 2:51 p.m.: U.S. Navy missile destroyers dispatched to New York and Washington.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 5:20 p.m.: The 47-story World Trade Center collapses after being set afire hours earlier by burning debris from the disintegration of the Twin Towers. No additional casualties are reported since the building had previously been evacuated.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 6:58 p.m.: Bush returns to the White House.

* Sept. 11, 2001, 8:30 p.m.: In a nationally televised address, Bush calls the attacks "evil, despicable acts of terror" and declares the country "will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

* Sept. 12, 2001: Due to the attacks on the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invokes Article V of the NATO charter regarding common defense.

* Sept. 14, 2001: Congress passes Authorization of Use of Military Force Against Terrorists.

* Oct. 7, 2001: Operation Enduring Freedom commences with air and missile strikes against Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan.

* Oct. 8, 2001: Bush announces the creation of the Office of Homeland Security.

* Aug. 15, 2002: Pentagon employees begin to reoccupy the area of the building struck by AA Flight 77 after being reconstructed as part of “Project Phoenix.”

* Nov. 25, 2002: Bush signs the Homeland Security Act creating the United States Department of Homeland Security.

* May 2, 2011: Navy SEAL Team 6 kills Osama bin Laden during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

* Nov. 3, 2014: One World Trade Center officially opens on the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan of New York City.

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With the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania set for Saturday, Newsmax has selected a series of critical dates and times of the events leading up to, during the attacks, and in the aftermath to contextualize...
september 11, terrorist, attack
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2021-32-10
Friday, 10 September 2021 06:32 AM
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