9/11 Terrorist Attacks - The Timeline

1979- Soviet forces invade Afghanistan. The  national, communist government has been under threat of civil war and open rebellion after  taking extremely harsh measures against political opponents, religious figures, and intellectual  elites. The Khalq faction had been attempting to completely reform Afghanistan as quickly as  possible, discarding old Islamic traditions and angering powerful landowners with the  cancellation of farmer's debts.

However, it was the assault on traditional Islamic  values that triggered an open revolt, and the Soviets feared what might happen  if the pro-communist government collapsed. Osama Bin Laden, the son of wealthy  Saudi Arabian elites, heads for the country to fight against the Communist  invaders. He sees the war as a holy one, pitting faithful Muslims against the atheist  Communists.

Bin Laden proved adept at organizing various mujahideen groups and was instrumental  in resisting Soviet occupation forces. The United States and various partners funnel  money and weapons into Afghanistan via Pakistan. However, despite concern by various military  and political figures, there is little to no oversight of where financial and military aid  goes, with little thought given to what group might be left in power after the end of the  war, and how they might view the United States and its allies if they won.

While there has never  been evidence of direct aid to Bin Laden and his extremist fighters, accountability is so low  that it's impossible to rule the possibility out. And it seems the US looked favorably  upon the up-and-coming international pariah, with papers allegedly writing very positive  articles about him during this time. 1988- Bin Laden and other Afghan and Arab  leaders come to loggerheads over the role of Arabs within the resistance movement. 

Abdullah Azzam, head of Maktab al-Khidamat, later known as the Afghan Service Bureau, insists  that Arab volunteers be integrated into Afghan militias. Bin Laden disagrees, and wishes to keep  his Arab fighters separate from Afghan nationals. He also wishes to pursue a more military role. 

The split leads to the creation of al-Qaeda, with the goal of quote- lifting the word  of God, to make his religion victorious. Al Qaeda remains a secret for now, and  it's believed that it was officially formed after a meeting of senior leaders from the  Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Abdullah Azzam himself, and Bin Laden. It's agreed that the  group will pair Bin Laden's financial wealth with the skill and expertise of the  Egyptian Islamic Jihadists to continue a global jihad after the defeat of  the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

1989- The Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan,  prompting Bin Laden to return home to Saudi Arabia as a jihadist hero. He enjoys great  influence and fame, and continues working for his family's construction business while  leading opposition to the Saudi monarchy. Bin Laden attempts to use his al-Qaeda fighters to  overthrow the pro-Soviet Yemeni Socialist Party in South Yemen but is stopped by the Saudi  government.

He also tries to prevent Yemen from unifying by assassinating political leaders  in the YSP, but is once again stopped by Saudi leadership. This only deepens the wedge  between the Saudi monarchy and Bin Laden. Back in Afghanistan, Bin Laden's hope for a  unified Afghanistan is slowly disintegrating as internal fighting amongst various Afghan  factions heats up.

In March of that year, he leads 800 Arab fighters in the Battle of  Jalalabad, during which the Afghan interim government sought to overthrow the Soviet-backed  national government. Bin Laden's poor leadership however leads to the death of many of his own  men and failure to secure strategic objectives. 1990- Bin Laden finds an unlikely partner in  General Shahnawaz Tanai, a hardcore communist who wishes to overthrow the Afghan government led  by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whom Bin Laden disagrees with ideologically.

Bin Laden agrees to  fund the coup attempt by bribing many Afghan army officials, but the coup ultimately fails. Instead,  he turns to the Pakistani government and requests that they file a motion of no confidence against  Bhutto's government, to which they disagree. Later that year, Saddam Hussein invaded  Kuwait.

This is a direct risk to Saudi Arabia, as the nation is ill-prepared to defend itself  from Iraqi belligerence. Saddam Hussein is looking to rebuild his country economically  after a disastrous war with Iran, and Saudi Arabia is the next logical stepping stone to  that goal. With its abundant and developed oil fields and weak national military, the Saudi  monarchy feared that it was next in line.

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia meets with  US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, who offers direct US military assistance in  exchange for more influence in the region. King Fahd agrees, prompting Bin Laden to seek a  meeting of his own with the monarch along with the Saudi Defense Minister. Bin Laden requests  that the king reject American military aid, seeing it as an affront to Islamic religious and  cultural values.

Instead, he offers to defend Saudi Arabia with his Arab legion. King Fahd  presses Bin Laden, asking him how he would defend Saudi Arabia from Iraq's chemical and biological  arsenal. Bin Laden responds that they will use faith to defend themselves.

King Fahd instead  opts to take the Americans up on their offer. Bin Laden immediately voices opposition to the  pending arrival of American troops. He denounces the Saudi government and claims that the Quran  prohibits non-Muslims from setting foot on the Arabian penninsula.

Islam's holiest shrines, Mecca  and Medina, should be defended only by faithful Muslims, not foreign infidels. Bin Laden pressures  Saudi Islamic leaders to issue a fatwa a against the government's decision to allow US forces  to deploy on their soil, but they refuse. On the other side of the world, on 8th November  1990, FBI agents raid the home of El Sayyid Nosair in New Jersey.

He is directly linked to  al-Qaeda, and the raid reveals vast amounts of evidence detailing planning and preparation for  terrorist attacks against American targets. This was the first discovered terrorist plot  of al-Qaeda outside of the Arab world. 1991- Bin Laden's continued denouncement of  the Saudi government leads to him being placed on house arrest.

When this fails to deter  him, he is finally exiled from his home. At this point, Bin Laden is officially under US  surveillance, which utilizes local operatives, telephone intercepts, and collaborators  to monitor Bin Laden's movements. Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan under exile.

1992- Bin Laden relocates to Sudan, where he  starts up a variety of legal businesses including a tannery, two farms, and a road construction  company. The Sudanese government, in a show of Islamic solidarity, allows Muslims to immigrate  into the country without a visa. Thousands of former mujahideen take the opportunity,  opening the door for Bin Laden to move many of his forces to Sudan.

He even pays for 480 veteran  fighters to move from Afghanistan to Sudan after Saudi Arabia pressures Pakistan to remove the  mujahideen from its shared border with Pakistan. Bin Laden's economic investments in Sudan  earns him many further supporters within the Sudanese people. Bin Laden sinks large  amounts of money into infrastructure, agriculture, and various businesses, and  even works as an official agent in Sudan for the British firm Hunting Surveys.

Bin  Laden hires many of his old fighters to build roads in Sudan, and is generous  with the poor people of his new home. The United States government has  followed Bin Laden's move to Sudan but refused to allow intelligence  agents to act inside the country. This is a move that will come  to haunt the United States.

Later that year, on December 29th, a bomb explodes  in a hotel in Aden, Yemen, where US troops had recently been staying. The Americans were on  their way to a humanitarian mission in Somalia, and were no longer present when the bomb  detonated. Two Austrian tourists are killed, and two Yemeni Muslim militants caught in the  blast are arrested for the attack.

US intelligence will later allege that this is the first  terrorist attack directly sponsored by Bin Laden. 1993- On February 26th, a massive  explosion rocked the parking garage under the World Trade Center. The blast  came from a truck packed with explosives, and was meant to send a message as the buildings  were seen as a symbol of American greed and corruption.

The blast creates a massive crater  and kills six people, injuring up to a thousand. FBI investigators find a piece of  vehicle wreckage that is so damaged, it indicates it must have been either the source  of the explosion or very close to it. From the wreckage they pull a vehicle identification  number, which they trace to a rented van reported stolen the day before.

Islamic fundamentalist  Mohammad Salameh had rented the vehicle, and on March 4th he is arrested by FBI Swat  when he attempts to get his $400 deposit back. The ongoing investigation reveals direct links  to Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Three more suspects are arrested: Nidal Ayyad, Mahmoud Abouhalima, and  Ahmed Ajaj.

Investigators also discover a storage locker loaded with dangerous chemicals, and enough  cyanide gas to kills thousands of people. Plots to destroy various other landmarks, including the UN  building, the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, and the Federal Plaza in New York are also uncovered. The  leader of the attack, Ramzi Yousef, remains on the run, and plans to simultaneously bomb a dozen US  international flights are discovered and foiled.

1994- Following an intelligence trail  started from the 1993 investigation of the World Trade Center bombing, FBI  agents storm a warehouse in New York, catching several al-Qaeda connected terrorists as  they are assembling various bombs. Meanwhile, US intelligence believes that Bin Laden is financing  three terrorist training camps in North Sudan. Due to Bin Laden's continued opposition  to the Saudi monarchy and support for extremist movements, the government revokes Bin  Laden's Saudi citizenship and freezes his assets inside Saudi Arabia.

King Fahd also pressures  his family to cut off his $7 million-a-year stipend. The United States declares Sudan  an official sponsor of terrorism. As the Islamist political leader Hassan al-Turabi loses  influence though, support for Bin Laden in the country wavers and Sudan seeks closer ties with  the US- which it will refuse to grant until 2000.

1995 Ramzi Yousef, leader of the 1993 World Trade  Center bombing plot, is captured by US operatives in Pakistan. In Sudan, growing discomfort over Bin  Laden's extremism and a failed plot to assassinate the Egyptian president by an al-Qaeda backed  group leads to secret talks between the Sudanese and the Saudis. The Sudanese wish to expel Bin  Laden, but the Saudis refuse to accept him back.

At the same time, CIA officer Billy Waugh  tracks down Bin Laden inside of Sudan. He plans an operation to seize Bin Laden  and extradite him to the United States, but is not granted authorization- the  United States still lacks solid evidence linking Bin Laden to various terror  attacks, meaning he does not have a legal basis for prosecution. There is still no  indictment against Bin Laden in any country.

Bin Laden meanwhile is growing restless in  Sudan, fearing his life is in danger. He's already avoided one assassination attempt which  he believes was planned by either the Egyptians or the Saudis, likely financed by the CIA.  He has recently penned an open letter to King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, calling for a guerilla  campaign to remove US troops from Saudi soil.

As the Americans are there by invitation,  King Fahd naturally dismisses the letter. A bombing of a Saudi National Guard training  center in Riyadh leads to the deaths of five Americans and two Indian nationals. Bin Laden  denies involvement but praises the attack.

When the perpetrators are later discovered,  they admit to having been influenced by Bin Laden- though this confession was under heavy  coercion, it's not unrealistic to expect that the attack against the US-operated center was  not heavily influenced by Bin Laden's virulent anti-US propaganda. The men are executed  by beheading in Riyadh's main square. 1996- Under international pressure from both the  United States and Saudi Arabia, Sudan officially expels Bin Laden.

Sudan wishes to grow closer ties  to the United States, and hopes the move will open up diplomatic channels long blocked by a history  of hostilities. Bin Laden is allowed to choose his destination as long as the country is willing  to accept him, and he moves to Afghanistan. Bin Laden is forced to liquidate all of  his businesses and equipment in Sudan, losing between $20 million and $300 million  in total.

African intelligence sources will later claim that the expulsion gave Bin Laden  no choice but to turn to terrorism full-time, an assertion that western intelligence quickly  dismissed. Bin Laden arrives in Jalalabad with 300 Afghan Arabs, who join him as part of his  burgeoning terror network. In Afghanistan, Bin Laden forms close ties with the founder  of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

This relationship will be instrumental in  the growth of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. President Bill Clinton meanwhile signs a  secret order that will officially launch America's war against the al-Qaeda terror  network. There is still no solid evidence linking Bin Laden directly to al-Qaeda's  various terror attacks, but President Clinton's order authorizes the CIA to use any  means necessary to destroy his terror network.

Shortly after the CIA receives secret  authorization to pursue al-Qaeda and destroy it, on June 25th a large truck packed with explosives  parks next to Building #131 of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. The facility is being used  as living quarters for US and coalition partners assigned to Operation Southern Watch,  a no-fly zone operation instituted against Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from launching  further attacks against minority groups. Building #131 houses members of the US Air Force's  4404th Wing, pilots and support personnel from a deployed rescue and fighter squadron.

19  American airmen are killed and almost 500 coalition partners and civilians are wounded.  Initially, al-Qaeda was blamed for the attack, but later it'll be discovered that a  Saudi Shiite group was responsible, with funding from Iran. Iran will be ordered  to pay over $800 million in restitution to the victims by the United States in 2020.

However,  initial suspicion is that Bin Laden helped plot the attack, turning the heat up on the man  quickly becoming America's enemy number one. In order to bolster the legal case against Bin  Laden and authorize his capture or elimination, the United States assembles a grand jury in secret  to begin a formal criminal investigation against Bin Laden. That same month, Bin Laden issues a  Declaration of Jihad via a London-based newspaper, in which he outlines al-Qaeda's goals: drive  US and partner non-arab forces from the Arabian Penninsula, overthrow the Saudi monarchy, liberate  Muslim holy sites across arab lands, and support Islamic revolutionary efforts both at home and as  far abroad as the Philippines.

Bin Laden implores Saudi citizens to strike at the Americans  currently in the Persian Gulf. Interestingly, though, the fatwa against America is focused  on its military forces and political leaders, Bin Laden does not publicly advocate  for the targeting of American civilians. Three months later, Bin Laden is interviewed for  a British documentary.

He uses the opportunity to address the United States directly.  Bin Laden promises that if the United States and its Western allies do not  remove themselves from the Middle East, he will wage an Islamic holy war against  them. Bin Laden punctuates his threats by touting his success in the jihad against  Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan.

1997- CNN airs an interview with Bin Laden,  where he accuses the United States of turning Saudi Arabia into an American colony. President  George Bush Sr. had promised the Saudi monarchy that US forces would leave Saudi Arabia  once Iraq had been neutralized.

However, by choosing to leave Saddam in power, the United  States must act to contain his aggression against minority populations in Iraq. Saudi Arabia  continues to grant the United States permission to remain within its kingdom, prompting Bin  Laden to once again call for the removal of the monarchy whom he has seen as abdicating their  duty as Muslims and becoming American puppets. In July, rumors circulate that the United  States has financed a multinational mercenary force numbering as many as 1,000.

Its goal  is either the arrest or killing of Bin Laden, and witnesses claim to have seen 11  black Land Cruisers and 2 helicopters crossing into the Afghan city of Khost. These  allegations remain rumors and unsubstantiated. Meanwhile, Bin Laden is using his deepening  relationship with the Taliban government to expand al-Qaeda's footprint in Afghanistan. 

Cut off from much of his fortune, Bin Laden raises money from friendly sources who once  financed Afghanistan's efforts against the Soviet occupation. Pakistan's intelligence services  also help finance Bin Laden's growing network of training camps for mujahideen fighters,  many of which are immediately radicalized. To move personnel and equipment around, Bin  Laden takes over Ariana Afghan Airlines, a national Afghan airline.

He utilizes the  private airline to ferry Islamic militants, weapons, cash, and opium from the United  Arab Emirates to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ever the opportunist, Bin Laden reaches out  to international arms smuggler Viktor Bout, a former Soviet translator who quickly became  one of the biggest arms smugglers in the world. Bout helps Bin Laden operate his airline, which  the CIA describes as a “terrorist taxi service.

” 1998- Libya issues the first interpol arrest  warrant for Bin Laden, along with three of his associates. Libya is charging Bin  Laden in the death of Silvan Becker, a German intelligence agent working in  counter-terrorism, along with his wife while in Libya on March 10th, 1994. Soon  after, the secret grand jury appointed by the United States indicts Bin Laden on  charges of conspiracy to attack defense utilities in the United States.

The indictment  also names Bin Laden as the head of al-Qaeda, and alleges that he is a major financial  backer for islamic extremists worldwide. Bin Laden issues the first fatwa calling  for the killing of American civilians. It’s delivered via joint declaration  with the Islamic Group, Al Jihad, the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh,  and the Jamaat ul Ulema e Pakistan, who join together under the banner of the World  Islamic Front.

Bin Laden's proclamation calling for the killing of US civilians breaks from Sunni  tradition, forbidding the targeting of civilians. Acting off intelligence investigating the  growing presence of Islamic extremists in the Yugoslav war, a joint US-Albanian raid results  in the arrest of two men believed to be employed directly by Bin Laden. The CIA retrieves many  documents and computer gear.

Subsequently, US and Albanian forces conduct another raid two  weeks later, this time arresting two Egyptian nationals believed to be linked to Bin Laden. The  men are handed over to Egyptian counterterrorism officials. The Egyptian people were outraged  a year earlier during the Luxor massacre, when terrorists killed two armed guards  at the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and trapped 58 foreign tourists.

They then used  machetes to kill and mutilate the civilians before finally being caught. It's believed Bin  Laden helped influence or finance the attack. An Egyptian Jihad group sends  the United States a warning, claiming they will soon deliver a message  which quote- we hope they read with care, because we will write it, with God's  help, in a language they will understand.

President Bill Clinton's closest advisors convene  to meet with the president. They warn President Clinton that Bin Laden is actively seeking to  gain access to weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons, with American military and  civilian targets as the final goal. There is significant concern over the weak state of  Russian and Pakistani nuclear security- years later after the invasion of Afghanistan by  the United States, it'll be discovered that the Pakistani nuclear security service has been  deeply penetrated by terrorist sympathizers.

Explosions rock the American embassies in Kenya  and Tanzania. The attack in Kenya kills 213, 12 of which are Americans, while  injuring over 4500. The bomb in Tanzania kills 11 and injures 85, but  no Americans die.

Two weeks later, the United States launches a massive cruise  missile attack against al-Qaeda linked terrorist training camps in Afghanistan as retaliation.  The attack misses Bin Laden by a few hours. America also targets a pharmaceutical plant in  Khartoum, Sudan.

The US believes that the plant is being used to produce chemical weapons for  Bin Laden, but the claim remains unsubstantiated. Later, the US admitted that it had no hard  evidence Bin Laden was linked to the plant, though later financial documents would  show Bin Laden was engaged in business with the Military Industrial Corporation-  a company run by the Sudanese government. An Arabic newspaper claims that  Bin Laden has successfully acquired nuclear weapons from former Soviet  Central Asian republics.

However, the claims are completely unsubstantiated,  and Western intelligence is very skeptical. In November, Bin Laden is indicted by a federal  grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges  of murder of US nationals outside of the United States, conspiracy to murder US nationals  outside the United States, and attacks on a federal facility resulting in death. The United States presents the Taliban government with evidence ranging from testimony  from former al-Qaeda members and satellite phone records showing Bin Laden was in contact with  the perpetrators of the bombings.

However, the Taliban decides not to extradite  Bin Laden, citing that the US does not have enough evidence and further, that  a non-Muslim court cannot try Muslims. 1999- The US Attorney's office files the  most complete indictment to date against Bin Laden and 11 others. The indictment  specifically names al-Qaeda as a tool of Bin Laden's terror network, and charges it  with conspiracy to murder American citizens.

The CIA along with Pakistani military intelligence  assemble a team of 60 Pakistani commandos with the goal of infiltrating Afghanistan and  capturing or killing Bin Laden. However, the plan is aborted due to a coup d’eat  launched by the Pakistani military, which succeeds in ousting the president  and installing a military government. Meanwhile, the CIA finances various  groups inside of Afghanistan, charging them with killing or capturing Bin  Laden.

However, so far they have had no success, but the pressure has limited Bin Laden's ability  to freely travel within or outside of Afghanistan. 2000- A group of foreign fighters, hired by  the CIA, launches an RPG at a vehicle convoy housing Bin Laden. The RPG misses the vehicle  Bin Laden is riding in and he makes his escape.

There is serious concern amongst US intelligence  that Bin Laden is planning a major operation against the United States, but leads are proving  difficult to find or follow. Unbeknownst to US intelligence, al-Qaeda operatives have  already infiltrated the United States and begun preparing for the attack on the World  Trade Center, scheduled for September 11th, 2001. The attack aims to exploit huge  vulnerabilities in US airline security, and be launched in unison in order  to gain the element of surprise.

September 11th, 2001- 5:45 AM- Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz  al-Omari pass through the security checkpoint at Portland International Jetport in Maine.  The two board a commuter flight to Boston Logan International Airport, from which they  will board American Airlines Flight 11. Three other conspirators will join them in Boston  before boarding their flight.

Of the group, three of the men are flagged by the FAA's  computer passenger screening system, alerting airport screeners to conduct more  thorough checks. However, FAA procedures call for the men's luggage to be screened for  explosives, of which none are discovered. 7:30 AM (approximate)- Five hijackers who will  board American Airlines Flight 77 pass through the west security checkpoint at Washington  Dulles International Airport.

Three of the men, Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdar, and  Majed Moqed all set off metal detectors, but security officers are unable to find the  hidden knives the men are carrying. At the time, knives with blades shorter than 4 inches were  permissible on board American flights. All five of the hijackers of Flight 77 are also flagged  by the FAA's system for additional screening, but again, security personnel are only  tasked with screening for explosives.

The men's luggage is held until they are aboard the  aircraft, and no further screening is conducted. 7:59 AM – American Airlines Flight 11 takes  off from Boston Logan International Airport, loaded with 76 passengers, five  hijackers, and 11 crew members. All four planes hijacked are loaded with fuel  for a cross-continental trip to California 8:15 AM- Flight 175 departs Boston, headed for Los Angeles.

The flight  includes nine crew, 51 passengers, and five hijackers. The plane is loaded with  76,000 pounds of fuel and departs 14 minutes late. Simultaneously, aboard Flight 11,  the hijackers enact their plot, taking control of the aircraft and turning it  northwest, then changing course south directly towards New York City.

The men use pepper spray  and knives to subdue the crew and passengers. 8:19 AM- Aboard Flight 11, the first casualty of  the 9/11 attacks is a man by the name of Daniel M. Lewin.

He had served four years with the Israeli  army, and it's believed that he attempted to stop the hijacking. One of the hijackers however is  seated directly behind him and fatally stabs him. Flight attendant Betty Ann Ong aboard  Flight 11 contacts American Airlines via an inflight phone and alerts them  to the hijacking.

She informs ground personnel that she can't contact the  cockpit, later it will be presumed that both pilots were killed. Ong remains on the  phone with ground personnel for 25 minutes. 8:20 AM- American Airlines Flight 77, flying  from Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles takes off.

It’s carrying six crew  members, 53 passengers, and five hijackers (https://timeline. 911memorial. org/#Timeline/2/ImageEntry/529/null).

8:21 AM- Flight 11's hijackers turn off the  plane's transponders. American Airlines is already contacting its operations center in  Texas and making contact with federal officials. 8:24 AM- Aboard Flight 11, hijacker  Mohamed Atta accidentally presses the wrong button and instead of broadcasting a  message to the passengers aboard the plane, broadcasts directly to air traffic control  and nearby aircraft.

The message further alerts personnel on the ground to the ongoing  attack. Pilot of Flight 175, Victor J. Saracini, picks up the transmission and informs the FAA-  unaware that soon his plane too will be hijacked.

8:30 AM- World Trade Center staff, employees,  and visitors have begun to arrive in numbers. Hundreds of personnel are preparing for the  pending work day. The massive complex includes the famous Twin Towers, hubs of finance,  along with a hotel, four office buildings, a shopping mall, restaurants, a public  plaza, and major transportation hub.

The planned activities for the day include a Risk  Waters Group financial technology conference, a National Association for Business  Economics conference, an evening dance performance in the outdoor plaza, and a Peace  Corps information session scheduled for 6 pm. 8:32 AM – Flight attendant Madeline Amy Sweeney  aboard Flight 11 has been attempting to contact personnel on the ground unsuccessfully when  she finally makes contact with a friend, a manager at Boston Logan International Airport.  For the next 12 minutes, she relays key details on the hijacking to ground personnel,  including a description of the attackers.

8:37 AM- After picking up  Mohamed Atta's transmission, Boston's air traffic control contacts the US Air  Force's NorthEastern Air Defense Sector in Rome, New York. The Air Force quickly mobilizes Air  National Guard jets at Ottis Air Force Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and tasks them  with locating and then following Flight 11. 8:42 AM- Flight 93 experiences a major delay  and takes off much later than anticipated by the hijackers.

The flight is headed for San  Francisco, and was supposed to take off at the same time as the other planes in order to  prevent anyone from getting wind of the plot. The delay will directly lead to the failure of  Flight 93's hijackers. As it climbs into the sky, Flight 93 is carrying seven crew,  33 passengers, and four hijackers.

Simultaneously, Flight 175 is hijacked above  northwest New Jersey, 60 miles northwest of New York City. The plane turns southwest  briefly before turning back northeast. Flight 11 is already descending into New York.

8:46 AM- Flight 11 is piloted straight into  the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane hits the tower across floors 93 and 99,  instantly killing all aboard the aircraft along with hundreds inside of the tower. The impact  also severs all three emergency stairwells, trapping hundreds more above the impact  site.

Many of those people will have no choice but to jump to their deaths to avoid  the flames that begin to consume the tower. Lower Manhattan resident  Susanna Kopchains captures the aftermath of the crash on home video tape An emergency response is immediately launched,  though the responders believe this to be a freak accident and are unaware that it is  a planned attack, and a second plane will soon be arriving. Witnessing the crash from  14 blocks north of the World Trade Center, Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer directs  the New York City Fire Department to issue a second alarm.

Minutes later, while en  route to the scene, he orders a third alarm, mobilizing 23 engine and ladder companies, 12  chiefs, and 10 specialized units to all respond. The Port Authority Police Department  mobilizes, and calls on units from other posts to respond to the World Trade Center  to begin evacuation and rescue efforts. 8:50 AM- US President George W.

Bush is visiting  an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, when he's alerted that a plane has hit the North  Tower. He is assured that it was an accident 8:51 AM- Flight 77 is  hijacked above southern Ohio, turning southeast. The transponder is turned off.

8:55 AM- South Tower is declared  secure, and a public announcement by a Port Authority fire safety employee  reassures people that the building is safe and that anyone in the middle of evacuating  should return to their offices. The tragic announcement ensures that many more  victims will become trapped later. George Mironis, who is an office  manager for Dai Ichi Kangyo bank, takes a photo of the debris raining down  from above him and falling past his window on the 48th floor of the North Tower.

He then  evacuates successfully down the stairwell. On the 35th floor of the South Tower, Port  Authority employee David Bobbitt takes this photo of the World Trade Center Plaza as debris  from the North Tower rains down from above 8:59 AM- The Port Authority Police  Department orders the evacuation of both towers. A minute later they will order the evacuation of all civilians from the  entire World Trade Center complex.

In the north tower, evacuees are pouring  down the stairwells. Firefighters have cut open vending machines and are handing out water.  The injured are being brought down the stairs by volunteers and emergency personnel.

Many from  the upper floors are severely burned and won't survive their injuries. One survivor would  later recall passing firefighters climbing past him on the 40th floor, awestruck at  their determination to climb as high as the 80th floor to reach survivors. He  has no idea that many of those rescue workers were climbing to their deaths  when the building ultimately collapsed.

Survivors above the impact site are being  forced to make a horrible decision. They cannot be reached by emergency personnel as  the crashed plane has completely severed all stairwells to them. The burning jet fuel  and debris are reaching temperatures hot enough to melt the structure of the building  itself.

They are faced with the choice of burning to death or jumping out of one of the  windows. Many choose to jump, none survive. 9:00 AM- Aboard Flight 175, passengers  Garnet Ace Bailey, Peter Burton Hanson, and Brian David Sweeney have called  family members to let them know of the hijacking.

Brian David Sweeney leaves  the following voicemail for his wife. 9:02 AM- An evacuation message is broadcast  in the South Tower, though it does not make it seem as if the evacuation is mandatory.  Instead, occupants are told that if the situation warrants it, they should start an  orderly evacuation.

Many opt to, others don't. 9:03 AM- United Airlines Flight 175 is flown  into the World Trade Center by its hijackers (https://timeline. 911memorial.

org/#Timeline/2/ImageEntry/525/null).  The plane hits the tower through floors 77 through 85, instantly killing all  passengers and an unknown number of people inside the building. Thanks to various evacuation  prompts though, the casualties are less than those on the North Tower.

The impact severs all elevator  cables and two out of three stairwells. Once more, many are trapped above the impact site,  prompting more workers to jump to their deaths. It's estimated that as many as 200 people  choose to jump rather than face the raging fires.

An ABC Live news chopper captures the  moment of impact from Flight 175 as it strikes the South Tower. The live footage shocks  Americans and a live audience around the world, who up until this point believed that the  North Tower crash was a freak accident. 9:05 AM- President Bush is preparing to read a  book to the assembled elementary students when an aide informs him, quote- “A second plane hit  the second tower.

America is under attack. ” Later, the President would state that he chose to  continue reading the book to the students in order not to alarm them. After excusing himself  from the reading lesson, the president is moved to a nearby classroom, which is converted  into a temporary communications center.

9:08 AM- The FAA bans all takeoff nationwide for  any flight going to or through New York airspace. 9:09 AM- US Air Force F-15s, initially  dispatched to locate Flight 11 are finally informed that the plane has  crashed into the World Trade Center. The planes are released from their  holding pattern over Long Island.

9:13 AM- The F-15s leave Long Island  airspace and are headed for Manhattan, with orders to engage and destroy any  aircraft that might pose a threat to civilians below. Civilian traffic is warned  not to deviate from assigned flight paths. 9:17 AM- CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart is the first to name Osama Bin Laden  as a suspect in the attacks.

9:19 AM- United 93 is currently over  central Pennsylvania. United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger begins sending  warning text messages to all United flights, cautioning them about cockpit intrusions and  that two aircraft have already been hijacked and have collided with the World Trade Center.  However, as he is sending this message to 16 different flights, the message does not  reach United 93 for another four minutes.

9:24 AM- An occupant of the South Tower  either jumps or falls when attempting to climb down. They hit firefighter Danny Suhr, killing them both. Rescue personnel notice  that fewer people are jumping from the South Tower than the North Tower, likely due  to the early warning that they received.

9:25 AM- USAF F-15s establish an  air patrol pattern over Manhattan. 9:26 AM- The FAA grounds all  aircraft across the United States. At the same time, Flight 93's pilot, Jason Dahl, confirms receipt of the message  warning about the hijacked aircraft.

9:28 AM- Hijackers aboard Flight 93  storm the cockpit and overpower the pilots before killing them.  The struggle is overheard by flight controllers in Cleveland  as it's broadcast over the radio. 9:29 AM- President Bush makes  the first public statement on the attacks from the elementary  school he is currently visiting.

9:32 AM- Flight controllers at Dulles  International Airport make radar contact with Flight 77, observing that it is tracking  eastbound at a very high rate of speed. 9:33 AM- Reagan National Airport contacts the  Secret Service operations center at the White House and informs them that Flight 77 is heading  straight for them and not communicating with ground control. The Secret Service begins  to evacuate the White House when they are notified that the plane has changed directions and  is instead approaching Reagan National Airport.

9:35 AM- The President's motorcade heads for  Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, where Air Force One is waiting. Meanwhile, Flight 93 changes course from its  filed flight path and begins to fly eastwards. At the White House, news that flight 77 had once more changed course prompts the Secret  Service to evacuate the Vice-President.

9:36 AM- Cleveland advises the FAA Command Center  it is still tracking Flight 93 and inquires if the military has launched interceptor aircraft. Air  National Guard pilots Lt. General Marc Sasseville and Heather Penney have rushed to waiting F-16s  and taken off in pursuit of Flight 93.

Believing it too would be used to attack civilians on  the ground, the F-16s are in hot pursuit- but there has not been enough time to arm them.  Sasseville and Penney decide that if need be, they will physically crash their own F-16s  into the passenger jet and force it down. 9:37:46 AM- Flight 77 crashes into  the west side of the Pentagon at 530 mph (853 km/h).

The section of Pentagon impacted  has recently undergone renovation and is thus, largely empty. Only 125 personnel inside  the Pentagon are killed, along with all 64 aboard the aircraft. The crash is captured  by a security camera on a nearby checkpoint.

9:39 AM- Aboard Flight 93, hijacker  Ziad Jarrah presses the wrong button and accidentally transmits a warning to  the passengers to remain seated over radio. 9:40 AM- Associated Press photographer Richard  Drw captures an image that will soon become a ghoulish symbol of the terror attacks on the World  Trade Center. Photographing the upper floors of the North Tower, Drw captures 12 photos of a  man falling to his death, referred to only as 'The Falling Man.

' To date, attempts to positively  identify the anonymous victim have been fruitless. 9:42 AM- As the situation at the Pentagon  is becoming more widely understood, Senior FAA traffic manager Ben Sliney issues  the execution order for SCATANA- or Plan for the Security Control of Air Traffic and Air  Navigation Aids. This is a national preparedness plan meant to be issued only under case of dire  national emergency, grounding all air traffic in the United States and shutting off American air  space to any incoming aircraft.

It includes plans to be executed by the Department of Defense, the  FAA, and the Federal Communications Commission. September 11th would be the only time that this  plan has ever been implemented in its entirety, the other times being only partial  implementations under exercise conditions. 9:43 AM- The White House and Capital  building are both fully evacuated and closed.

9:45 AM- United States air space is shut  down. Civilian aircraft are barred from taking off and all civilian traffic is ordered  to immediately land at the nearest airport that can accommodate them. All incoming international  flights are diverted to either Canada or Mexico, with exceptions for aircraft dangerously low on  fuel.

Canada follows suit and accepts incoming international flights redirected from the  US, but shuts down its air space as well in order to help protect northern American cities and  potential targets. The US and Canadian Air Forces immediately begin to launch combat air patrols  in accordance with joint preparedness plans. 9:51 AM Chief Orio Palmer and Fire  Marshal Ronald Bucca reach the 78th floor of the South Tower.

They report  pockets of fire and scattered bodies, but no survivors. Both men will lose  their lives when the tower collapses. 9:52 AM The National Security Agency intercepts  a phone call between a known associate of Osama bin Laden and someone in the Republic of Georgia. 

The caller is located in Afghanistan and states that he's heard the good news, finishing with the  revelation that a fourth target would soon be hit. The NSA immediately contacts the US Air Force,  with suspicions that Flight 93 is also going to be used in an attack confirmed. With the World  Trade Center hit twice, and now the Pentagon, it's believed that Flight 93's target will be  either the Capitol building or the White House.

9:55 AM- Air Force One departs from  Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The plane circles for 40 minutes  as an ultimate destination is discussed. If an attempt on the President's life  is forthcoming, he is safest aboard the aircraft which is directly linked to all parts  of government and the Department of Defense.

9:57 AM- Passengers aboard Flight 93 have  been corralled to the rear of the plane by the hijackers. Prior to this, they have been  in contact with friends and family on the ground, learning of the attacks on the World  Trade Center and the Pentagon. The passengers and crew take a vote, and  decide that in order to spare more civilian deaths and foil the terrorist's  plans, they will fight the hijackers.

A struggle ensues, recorded on the cockpit voice recorder and later recovered  from the plane's black box. 9:59 AM- The South Tower collapses 56 minutes  after being impacted. The collapse is captured live and broadcast to audiences around the world,  with some fearing that yet another aircraft has struck the tower.

Nobody inside of the tower  survives the collapse, including dozens of rescue workers. There is confusion in the aftermath as  massive clouds of dust sweep over lower Manhattan, with many fearing an additional attack. Due  to the unique construction of the World Trade Center towers, the floors collapse in  on themselves in a pancake-like fashion, pulling the entire tower down the moment floors  underneath the impact site begin to buckle.

The steel supporting the impact site has been  weakened by fire fed by tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel. The softened  steel eventually collapses in on itself, causing 25 stories to fall 12 feet onto the  next floor below the impact zone. That floor inevitably collapses from the incredible strain,  leading to a rapid pancake effect where each floor below the next is trying to hold up the weight  of every floor above it coming down on top of it.

Victim 0001 of the September 11th  attacks will be Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscian Chaplain supporting the fire  department. He is struck by falling debris while in the lobby of the North Tower and dies  instantly of blunt force trauma to the head. 10:00 AM- FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer,  who is currently inside the North Tower, orders via radio the immediate evacuation  of all emergency personnel from the tower.

Various factors ensure that only a portion of the  emergency responders hear the order to evacuate. Some are told by others who've received the  radio call, while others never hear it at all. 10:01 AM- FAA Command Center advises  FAA headquarters that another aircraft has spotted Flight 93 waving its wings  dramatically.

Inside the hijacked aircraft, the passengers are launching a vicious  counterattack against the hijackers, and the desperate pilot is trying to subdue the  passengers as they make their way to the cockpit. 10:02 AM- The Presidential Emergency Operations  Center receives confirmation from the Secret Service of an inbound aircraft heading towards  Washington- this is Flight 93. The Vice President is informed that the only defense against the  hijacked plane is a pair of F-16s cruising on afterburner towards the rogue plane, and without  any armaments, the pilots have resolved themselves to crashing their fighters into the plane  to bring it down.

However, it's unknown if the F-16s will reach Flight 93 before it reaches  Washington and delivers another devastating blow. 10:03:11 AM- Flight 93 crashes into the  Pennsylvania countryside outside of Shanksville. Cockpit recording confirms that passengers had  successfully neutralized three of the hijackers, and were now attempting to break their way into  the cockpit.

The pilots decide to crash the plane before the passengers can take control,  failing in their jihad. The passengers of Flight 93 successfully end the September 11th  terror plot before it can claim more victims, just 18 minutes flight time from  the terrorist's intended targets. 10:07 AM- Due to poor communications,  the North Eastern Air Defense Sector, which has a pair of fighters loitering over  Washington, finally learns of the hijacking of Flight 93- four minutes after it's confirmed to  have crashed.

In the aftermath of 9/11, a focus on vastly improved communications and awareness will  fall on the US military in its duty to patrol and defend North American airspace. The terror attack  has shown a weakness in quickly responding to threats from within, as opposed to an expected  threat from outside of American airspace. 10:10 AM- The National Military Command  Center moves the entire US military into Threat Condition Delta.

All across the globe  US forces- most of which are still unaware of the attacks in the homeland- scramble in  preparation for immediate combat action against an unknown enemy. US diplomats scramble  to message various nations who might see the sudden move to a combat-ready posture as a  direct threat to their own national security. 10:13 AM- The United Nations complex is evacuated.

10:15 AM- Vice President Cheney, still  unaware Flight 93 has crashed, authorizes US fighters to engage any inbound aircraft  if they believed it to have been hijacked. 10:28 AM- In the same fashion as the South Tower,  the North Tower collapses. Unlike the South Tower, 16 personnel inside the building are later  rescued.

The collapse destroys the Marriot Hotel at the base of the two towers, and  causes 7 World Trade Center to begin to burn. 10:30 AM- US Air Force F-15s and F-16s  patrol the skies over Washington D. C.

and New York City. They have orders to  immediately shoot down any aircraft that do not comply with radio instructions. Later, a  radar contact feared to be a hijacked aircraft is revealed to be a medevac helicopter  on its way to the Pentagon impact site.

The September 11th attack would result in  the death of 2,977 victims, with up to 25,000 injured. In the years to come, the United States  would launch a campaign of retribution against the al-Qaeda network and Osama Bin Laden, who  surprised by the ferocity of the US response is forced into a life of hiding until his death  in a US raid on May 2nd, 2011. Al-Qaeda as a network would be systematically dismantled by  US and allied forces, in a clandestine war that would span from the deserts of Afghanistan  to western Europe, and the South China Sea.

Today, al-Qaeda is a shadow of its former self. It  has found temporary refuge inside an Afghanistan once more controlled by the Taliban, but  even there it's not safe- as evidenced by the elimination of its senior most leader,  Ayman al-Zawahiri, at the hands of the CIA. The organization is struggling to rebuild  financially after two decades of persecution by the United States, but is suffering from  not just a catastrophic loss of finances, but also of leadership given that most of its  veteran cadre have been systematically eliminated by Western forces.

Despite an end to the wars  in Afghanistan and Iraq, a vengeful United States continues to put pressure on al-Qaeda,  determined to drive the group into extinction. Now get the rest of the story with  What Happened Immediately After 9/11, or click this other video instead!