On September 11, 2001—a clear, sunny, late summer day—al Qaeda terrorists aboard three hijacked passenger planes carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board the planes and nearly 3,000 people on the ground. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board, after passengers and crew attempted to wrest control from the hijackers. Below is a chronology of the events of 9/11 as they unfolded. All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States/The National Archives
This map was created by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, more popularly known as the 9/11 Commission, depicting the movements of the four planes hijacked by terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as well as the U.S. Air Force fighters that were scrambled to intercept them.
• 7:59 am – American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 92 people aboard, takes off from Boston’s Logan International Airport en route to Los Angeles.
• 8:14 am – United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people aboard, takes off from Boston; it is also headed to Los Angeles.
• 8:19 am – Flight attendants aboard Flight 11 alert ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked; American Airlines notifies the FBI.
• 8:20 am – American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. The Boeing 757 is headed to Los Angeles with 64 people aboard.
• 8:24 am – Hijacker Mohammed Atta makes the first of two accidental transmissions from Flight 11 to ground control (apparently in an attempt to communicate with the plane’s cabin).
• 8:40 am – Air traffic controllers at The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 11. In response, NEADS located at Cape Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and tail Flight 11; they are not yet in the air when Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower.
• 8:40 am – Air traffic controllers at The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) about the suspected hijacking of Flight 11. In response, NEADS scrambles two fighter planes located at Cape Cod’s Otis Air National Guard Base to locate and tail Flight 11; they are not yet in the air when Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower.
• 8:41 am – United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 44 people aboard, takes off from Newark International Airport en route to San Francisco. It had been scheduled to depart at 8:00 am, around the time of the other hijacked flights.
• 8:46 am – Mohammed Atta and the other hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11 crash the plane into floors 93-99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building.
Civilians bolt in the opposite direction as firefighters rush towards the Twin Towers of the New York City's World Trade Center after a plane hit the building on September 11, 2001.
Suicide hijackers flew planes into both towers of the World Trade Center, causing the towers' eventual collapse. The 9/11 attacks not only became the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history, they were also the deadliest incident ever for firefighters, as well as for law enforcement officers in the United States.
The New York City Fire Department lost 343 among their ranks on 9/11. Here, FDNY firefighters react after the collapse of the building.
A New York firefighter is seen alone amid the rubble of the World Trade Center following the attacks. "We had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble, FDNY Division Chief for Lower Manhattan Peter Hayden later told the 9/11 Commission. “But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try to rescue them.”
Members of the FDNY carry fellow firefighter, Al Fuentes, who was injured in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Captain Fuentes, who had been pinned under a vehicle on the west side highway, survived after his rescue.
A firefighter crouches in grief at the World Trade Center site on 9/11.
The rubble of the World Trade Center smolders on September 12, 2001 as firefighters continue recovery efforts.
A New York City fireman calls for 10 more rescue workers to make their way into the rubble of the World Trade Center September 14, 2001 days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
On September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush flew to New York City and visited the World Trade Center site. Here the president comforts New York City firefighter, Lt Lenard Phelan of Battalion 46, whose brother, Lt Kenneth Phelan of Battalion 32, was among the 300 members of the FDNY still unaccounted following the attacks. Kenneth Phelan was eventually identified among the firefighters killed.
An estimated 17,400 people had been at the World Trade Center on the day of the 9/11 attacks, and some 87 percent of them were safely evacuated thanks in large part to firefighters' heroic efforts.
1 / 10: Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images
• 8:47 am – Within seconds, NYPD and FDNY forces dispatch units to the World Trade Center, while Port Authority Police Department officers on site begin immediate evacuation of the North Tower.
• 8:50 am – White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card alerts President George W. Bush that a plane has hit the World Trade Center; the president is visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida at the time.
• 9:02 am – After initially instructing tenants of the WTC’s South Tower to remain in the building, Port Authority officials broadcast orders to evacuate both towers via the public address system; an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people are already in the process of evacuating.
• 9:03 am – Hijackers crash United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 75-85 of the WTC’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building
• 9:08 am – The FAA bans all takeoffs of flights going to New York City or through the airspace around the city.
• 9:21 am – The Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area.
• 9:24 am – The FAA notified NEADS of the suspected hijacking of Flight 77 after some passengers and crew aboard are able to alert family members on the ground.
• 9:31 am – Speaking from Florida, President Bush calls the events in New York City an “apparent terrorist attack on our country.”
• 9:37 am – Hijackers aboard Flight 77 crash the plane into the western façade of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the building.
In this handout provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, first responders on scene following an attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 in Arlington, Virginia. American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists who flew it in to the building killing 184 people.
A rescue helicopter uses Washington Boulevard outside the Pentagon to evacuate injured personnel after the terrorist attack on the building on September 11, 2001.
First responders pour water on the fire on scene following the attacks.
The Pentagon was heavily damaged after the hijacked commercial airliner crashed into the southwest corner of the building.
This FBI photo shows a closer look at the damage to the building.
Emergency workers and firefighters worked through the night searching for survivors.
Firefighters and soldiers unfurl a large American flag over the side of the Pentagon during rescue and recovery efforts.
U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visit the Pentagon to view the damage the day after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
A piece of debris from American Airlines Flight 77 that was collected by the FBI on scene following the attacks.
Another piece of debris from American Airlines Flight 77 that was collected by the FBI on scene following the attacks.
The 19 hijackers who took control of four commercial airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Circling the base of the Washington Memorial in Washington DC, American flags fly at half-mast in the week after the September 11th attacks.
1 / 12: Federal Bureau of Investigation via Getty Images
• 9:42 am – For the first time in history, the FAA grounds all flights over or bound for the continental United States. Over the next two-and-a-half hours, some 3,300 commercial flights and 1,200 private planes are guided to land at airports in Canada and the United States.
• 9:45 am – Amid escalating rumors of other attacks, the White House and U.S. Capitol building are evacuated (along with numerous other high-profile buildings, landmarks and public spaces).
• 9:59 am – The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
• 10:07 am – After passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and family and learn about the attacks in New York and Washington, they mount an attempt to retake the plane. In response, hijackers deliberately crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard.
Smoke rises behind investigators as they comb the crater left by the crash of United Airlines flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania September 12, 2001. Flight 93 is one of four planes that were hijacked as part of a deadly and destructive terrorist plot against the U.S. September 11.
A yellow crime scene tape lays discarded next to a cross draped with white cloth that was erected on a hill overlooking the once peaceful valley where United Flight 93 crashed, killing 38 passengers and seven crew members. This photo was taken on September 24, 2001 as charred trees and piles of dirt still remain as reminders of the fateful day. Power lines and paved roads were installed by the investigators in the rural setting.
This photograph released by the U.S. District Court shows the flight data recorder found at the scene where United Flight 93 crashed.
In the woods behind her home, about six miles from the crash site of United Flight 93, Melanie Hankinson of New Baltimore found several pieces of charred paper that she believes drifted through the air after the crash.
First Lady Laura Bush speaks at a memorial service for victims of United Flight 93 on September 17, 2001. Hundreds of family members of the victims from all over the country were present.
Amy Shumaker, of Hooversville, PA, holds her son Ryan Shumaker, 4, at the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 4, 2002. Shumaker said she was one of the first EMT's on the scene at the time of the crash.
On September 24, 2002, Congress passed the Flight 93 National Memorial Act. The Act created a new national park unit to commemorate the passengers and crew of Flight 93 which opened to the public in 2015. The Flight 93 National Memorial is pictured here on September 10, 2016 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
1 / 7: David Maxwell/Getty Images
• 10:28 am – The World Trade Center’s North Tower collapses, 102 minutes after being struck by Flight 11.
• 11 am – Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for the evacuation of Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, including more than 1 million residents, workers and tourists, as efforts continue throughout the afternoon to search for survivors at the WTC site.
• 1 pm – At Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, President Bush announces that U.S. military forces are on high alert worldwide.
• 2:51 pm – The U.S. Navy dispatches missile destroyers to New York and Washington, D.C.
• 5:20 pm – The 47-story Seven World Trade Center collapses after burning for hours; the building had been evacuated in the morning, and there are no casualties, though the collapse forces rescue workers to flee for their lives. It is the last of the Twin Towers to fall.
• 6:58 pm – President Bush returns to the White House after stops at military bases in Louisiana and Nebraska.
• 8:30 pm – President Bush addresses the nation, calling the attacks “evil, despicable acts of terror” and declaring that America, its friends and allies would “stand together to win the war against terrorism.”
The wreckage of the World Trade Center smoulders in this aerial view of Manhattan taken September 15, 2001.
A series of images showing the planes hitting the towers on September 11, 2001.
A rescue worker helps people evacuate the World Trade Center area after the collapse of the towers.
A piece of the outer frame of the building is all that is left standing in the ruined base of the World Trade Center.
A firefighter uses a thermal imaging device to look for signs of life during the morning of September 12, about 24 hours after the first airplane hit the World Trade Center.
MTA workers assist in rescue and recovery efforts at the site of the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
An aerial view of the remains of the Twin Towers and World Trade Center, eight days after they were destroyed by he terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The site soon became known as Ground Zero.
An NYPD patrol car, destroyed by falling debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center, sits amid the rubble at ground zero on the night of September 11, 2001.
An office space is destroyed and covered with debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center.
In the days after 9/11 families of missing people put up thousands of posters with photos and descriptions of their loved ones. Parks like Union Square became gathering points for people to come together, share stories and lend support.
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at the funeral for New York City Fire Department Chief Peter J. Ganci. Chief Ganci, a 33-year veteran of the New York City Fire department, and its highest ranking uniformed officer, was killed during the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Mourners at a funeral for one of the New York City firefighters killed on September 11, 2001.
Flyer asking for help in locating Matt Heard, a missing Morgan Stanley worker, surrounded by candles at a memorial for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
A statue becomes a shrine to fallen firefighters who died during the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings.
One of the two Tribute in Light columns at Ground Zero, memorials to the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
1 / 15: Reuters/CORBIS
• October 8, 2001: President George W. Bush announces the creation of The Office of Homeland Security to “develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks.”
• December 18, 2001, Congress approves naming September 11 “Patriot Day.”
• December 2001- June 2004: The Victims Compensation Fund provides over $7 billion in aid to people with 9/11-related illness and the families of the deceased or injured in exchange for not suing the airlines.
• September 11, 2002: The first “Tribute in Light” installation appears in lower Manhattan, beaming up light from where the Twin Towers once stood.
• November 25, 2002: President George Bush signs the Homeland Security Act creating the United States Department of Homeland Security.
• November 27, 2002: President George W. Bush signs congressional legislation authorizing federal funding for intelligence activities and the creation of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks. The bipartisan “9/11 Commission,” as it came to be known, is charged with investigating the events that led to the 9/11 attacks.
• April 28, 2003: The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announces the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition.
• January 14, 2004: Michael Arad’s design for a permanent 9/11 memorial, “Reflective Absence,” wins. It features two reflecting pools in the footprint of where the Twin Towers once rose.
This pair of women’s heels belonged to Fiduciary Trust employee Linda Raisch-Lopez, a survivor of the attacks on the World Trade Center. She began her evacuation from the 97th floor of the South Tower after seeing flames from the North Tower. She removed her shoes and carried them as she headed down the stairs, reaching the 67th floor when the South Tower was stuck by Flight 175. As she headed uptown to escape, she put her shoes back on, and they became bloody from her cut and blistered feet. She donated her shoes to the museum.
This American Airlines flight attendant wings lapel pin belonged to Karyn Ramsey, friend and colleague of 28-year-old Sara Elizabeth Low, who was working aboard Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Following the memorial service for Sara, Karyn pinned her own service wing on Sara’s father, Mike Low. Mike Low would refer to the lapel pin as “Karyn’s wings.” Watch this video to learn more.
This pager, recovered from Ground Zero, belonged to Andrea Lyn Haberman. Haberman was from Chicago and was in New York City on September 11, 2001 for a meeting at Carr Futures offices, located on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. It was Haberman’s first time visiting New York; she was only 25 years old when she was killed in the attacks.
On the morning of September 11, 55-year-old Robert Joseph Gschaar was working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower. At the time of the attack, he called his wife to let her know about the incident and reassured her that he would safely evacuate. Robert did not make it out of the tower alive. A year after the attacks his wallet and wedding ring were recovered.Inside his wallet was a $2 bill. Robert and his wife, Myrta, carried around $2 bills during there 11-year marriage to remind each other that they were two of a kind.
On September 11, FDNY Squad 18 responded to the attacks on the Twin Towers. Among this unit was David Halderman, who was a firefighter just like his father and brother. His helmet was found crushed on September 12, 2001 and given to his brother, Michael, who believes his death was due to the the collapse of the tower and a strike to the head. David Halderman’s body was not recovered until October 25, 2001.
This I.D. card belonged to Abraham J. Zelmanowitz, an Empire BlueCross BlueShield computer programmer. On the morning of the attacks, he was working on the 27th floor of the North Tower, along with a wheelchair-bound friend, Edward Beyea. Zelmanowitz decided to stay behind to remain by his friend’s side as the rest of the company began to evacuate. Coworkers who evacuated informed professional emergency responders that the two were awaiting assistance inside.FDNY Captain William Francis Burke, Jr. arrived at the scene on the 27th floor as the South Tower began to collapse. Burke, with the same bravery as Zelmanowitz, sacrificed his life to help others by telling his team to evacuate to safety while he stayed behind to try and help Zelmanowitz and Beyea. The three men would only make it as far down as the 21st floor, making phone calls to loved ones before their deaths.
This gold link bracelet belonged to Yvette Nicole Moreno. Bronx native Yvette Nicole Moreno was working as a receptionist at Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of the North Tower, after recently being promoted from a temporary position. After the North Tower was hit, she called her mother to let her know she was heading home. However, on her way out of the office she was struck by debris from the South Tower, dying at the young age of 24.
This baseball cap belonged to 22-year veteran of the Port Authority Police Department, James Francis Lynch. At the time of the attacks, James was off duty and recovering from surgery, but felt the need to respond. He had previously responded to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He died at the age of 47 that day, and his body was not recovered until December 7, 2001.
This police badge belonged to John William Perry, a New York Police Department officer with the 40th Precinct and a N.Y. State Guard first lieutenant. He was another off-duty officer who responded to the attacks. He had plans to retire from the police force to pursue a career as a full-time lawyer. He was 38 years old.
On March 30, 2002 a firefighter working at Ground Zero found a bible fused to a piece of metal. The bible was open to a page with fragments of legible text reading “an eye for an eye” and “resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Watch this video to learn more about the bible.
1 / 10: The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum
• July 22, 2004: The 9/11 Commission Report is released. It includes classified documents, airport security footage of the hijackers, and cockpit voice recordings from United Airlines Flight 93. The report claims all 19 hijackers were members of al Qaeda.
• October 17, 2006: A federal judge rejects New York City’s motion to dismiss lawsuits from first responders who are requesting health payments.
• January 2, 2011: The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 is signed into law by President Barack Obama. It renews and expands the Victim Compensation Fund.
• November 3, 2014: One World Trade Center officially opens on the site of the Twin Towers
• July 29, 2019: President Donald Trump signs $10 billion legislation authorizing support for the Victims Compensation Fund through 2092.
• August 30, 2019: A U.S. military court judge in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba sets a trial date of January 11, 2021 for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four men charged with plotting the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; the trial was later postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• July 31, 2022: Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key planner of the attacks and the leader of al Qaeda following bin Laden's death, is killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan.
After 9/11: The Future in One Word
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