9/11 Timeline of Events

The following is a timeline of events on 11 September 2001. All times are local New York times.

0735 Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari board American Airlines Flight 11.

0759 American Airlines Flight 11 takes off slightly late, just as a conference opens in the Windows on the World bar at the top of the World Trade Center in New York.

0814 Flight 11 fails to heed air traffic controller's instruction to climb to 35,000 feet. At the same time United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Boston Logan for Los Angeles. There are five hijackers on board.

0819 Two flight attendants on Flight 11 tell controllers they think they have been hijacked.

0821 American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 64 people on board, takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles. There are five hijackers on board.

0824 "We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport," so says a radio transmission from Flight 11.

It is thought Mohammad Atta mistakenly held a button directing his voice to radio rather than to the plane's cabin as he intended. "Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."

0834 A third transmission from Flight 11: "Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."

0841 United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 44 people on board, takes off from Newark International Airport for San Francisco.

0846 American Flight 11 crashes into the upper north tower of the World Trade Center. French filmmaker Jules Naudet captures the crash one of only two people to videotape it.

0848 The first news reports of an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center.

0903 United Flight 175 crashes into south tower. At the same time US President George Bush enters a classroom as part of a school visit in Florida.

0908 FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through its New York Center airspace.

0913 F-15 fighters from Otis Air National Guard Base leave military airspace near Long Island, bound for Manhattan.

0921 All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan are closed.

0923 Flight 93 receives warning message text from United Airlines flight dispatcher: 'Beware any cockpit intrusion- Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center.'

0925 The Associated Press informs CNN that the two plane crashes in the World Trade Center appeared to be an 'act of terrorism' (terrorist attack).

0926 The take-offs of all civilian aircraft are banned regardless of destination. All military bases in the United States are ordered to increase threat conditions to Delta status.

0928 Hijackers storm the cockpit on Flight 93 and take over the flight. The entry of the hijackers is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland.

0931 US President George Bush, in Florida, calls crashes an 'apparent terrorist attack'.

0932 A radio transmission from Flight 93 is overheard by flight controllers at Cleveland: 'Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board.'

0935 Flight 93 reverses direction over Ohio and starts flying eastwards.

0937 Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon (1:27) and starts a violent fire. The section of the Pentagon hit consists mainly of newly renovated, unoccupied offices. All 64 people on board are killed, as are 125 Pentagon personnel.

0939 First reports begin to emerge of an explosion at the Pentagon.

0942At 9:42 am, all flights in US airspace are grounded. Three minutes later the White House and Congress are evacuated.

0957 Passenger revolt begins on Flight 93.

0959 The South Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse, killing hundreds of workers who hadn't got out, as well as first responders who'd gone in.

1003 United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers 129km southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

1010 Part of the west side of the Pentagon collapses.

1028 The North Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse - killing about 1,400 people within seconds.

The disaster is caught by major television networks and broadcast live around to stunned viewers the world.

1035 Air Force One, carrying the president, turns for Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana.

1049 Fox News Channel is the first US news network to implement a news ticker at the bottom of its screen for extra information about the attacks. CNN adds one at 11.11am, and MSNBC adds one at approximately 2pm.

All three cable networks have used a news ticker continuously in the years since.

1100 NewYork Mayor Rudolph Giuliani orders evacuation of lower Manhattan.

1215 San Francisco International Airport, the intended destination of Flight 93, is shut down.

1304 Bush puts the US military on high alert worldwide (known as Force Protection Condition Delta). Taped remarks from the President were aired from Barksdale Air Force Base, stating that 'freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward and freedom will be defended'.

He also said that the 'United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.' He then leaves for a US Strategic Command bunker located at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska.

1439 At a press conference New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is asked to estimate the number of casualties at the World Trade Center. He says at least 10,000 have died.

1720 7 World Trade Center, also known as the Salomon Bros. Building, a 47-storey building that had sustained damage from falling debris and widespread fires, collapses.

1800 Explosions and tracer fire are reported in Kabul, Afghanistan, by CNN and the BBC. The Northern Alliance, involved in a civil war with the Taliban government, is later reported to have attacked Kabul's airport with helicopter gunships.

1924 Members of Congress join on the steps of the US Capitol and sing God Bless America.

2030 Bush addresses the nation at 8:30 pm, declaring what he calls "the war against terrorism."