September 11, 2001: Timeline of Terrorism

Updated June 27, 2019 | Infoplease Staff

(all times are eastern daylight time)

• An American Airlines Boeing 767 and a United Airlines Boeing 767, both en route from Boston to Los Angeles, were hijacked and flown only minutes apart into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Shortly afterward, an American Airlines Boeing 757, en route from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, operated by United and headed from Newark to San Francisco, crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. Both World Trade Center towers collapsed, and a section of the Pentagon was destroyed. All 266 people aboard the planes were killed; the total number of dead and missing was 3,038 (including the 19 hijackers). The names of the hijackers, Islamic radicals part of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, were released a few days after the attacks.
• 8:45 A.M.—American Airlines Flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles, with 92 people aboard, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 9:03 A.M.—United Airlines Flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles, with 65 people aboard, flies into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
• 9:40 A.M.—American Flight 77, Washington, DC, to Los Angeles, with 64 people aboard, crashes into the Pentagon.
• 9:48 A.M.—The U.S. Capitol and the West Wing of the White House are evacuated.
• 9:49 A.M.—The Federal Aviation Administration orders all aircraft grounded in the United States.
• 9:50 A.M.—South tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
• 9:58 A.M.—Emergency operator in Pennsylvania receives a call from a passenger on United Flight 93, Newark to San Francisco, with 45 people aboard, stating the plane was being hijacked.
• 10:00 A.M.—United Flight 93 crashes about 80 mi southeast of Pittsburgh. Passengers apparently attempted to overpower the hijackers, who were heading the plane toward Washington, DC.
• 10:29 A.M.—North tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
• 5:20 P.M.—Another World Trade Center building collapses.