9/11 anniversary: timeline for the 11 September attacks

Today is the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. On Tuesday 11 September 2001, four commercial planes were hijacked planes and deliberately flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon – one of the planes crashed in Pennsylvania. Across the globe, people watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as a chilling series of events unfolded.

In a coordinated attack, nineteen members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, hijacked four domestic airplanes - all of which had taken off from airports on the east coast and were heading to California. Two of the hijacked planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were intentionally flown two of the planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center; American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon while a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – it is believed that passengers tackled the hijackers forcing the plane to go down.

The attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 people – it remains the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil.

Below is a timeline of how the 9/11 attacks took place:

Tuesday 11 September 2001, local time: ET

05:45 Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al-Omari pass through security at Portland International Jetport in Maine. Atta and al-Omari board a commuter flight to Boston Logan International Airport, where they connect to American Airlines Flight 11.

07:35 Passengers, including the five hijackers board Flight 11 at Gate B32, Logan International Airport, Boston.

07:59 American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Boston bound for Los Angeles. Eleven crew members, 76 passengers, and five hijackers named as Mohamed Atta, Abdulaziz al-Omari, Wail al-Shehri, Waleed al-Shehri and Satam al-Suqami are on board.

08:14 The terrorists attack and possibly kill the pilot, Captain John Ogonowski and First Officer Thomas McGuinness of Flight 11 and take control of the aircraft.

08:15 United Airlines Flight 175, headed from Boston to Los Angeles, takes off from Boston Logan International Airport, runway 9. Nine crew members, 51 passengers, and five hijackers (Marwan al-Shehhi, Fayez Banihammad, Mohand al-Shehri, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi) are on board.

08:20 American Airlines Flight 77, flying to Los Angeles, takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport. Six crew members, 53 passengers, and five hijackers (Hani Hanjour, Khalid al-Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Salem al-Hazmi) are on board.

08:21 Flight 11’s transponder is switched off.

08:24 Boston Air Traffic Control suspect Flight 11 has been hijacked.

08:37 Boston Air Traffic Control alerts Otis Air National Guard (ANG) base to request military help.

08:42 United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport, New Jersey bound for San Francisco. Seven crew members, 33 passengers, and four hijackers (Ziad Jarrah, Ahmed al-Haznawi, Ahmed al-Nami and Saeed al-Ghamdi) are on board.

08:46 American Airlines Flight 11 is deliberately flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center, causing extensive damage to floors 93-99 and trapping all of those above the 91st floor. The 76 passengers and 11 crew members on board and hundreds inside the building are killed instantly.

08:50 U.S. president George W. Bush, who is reading to school children on a visit to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida is told about the hijackings and the World Trade Center attack.

09:03 United Airlines Flight 175 flies full throttle into the south tower of the World Trade Center, entering floors 77 to 85.

09:12 It emerges that American Airlines Flight 77 has been hijacked.

09:37 American Airlines Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon.

09:42 All domestic flights within the United States are grounded by the FAA.

09:59 The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses from top to bottom. It had been ablaze for 56 minutes. Over 800 workers, firemen and police inside are killed.

10:03 After passengers had stormed the cockpit to tackle the four hijackers, United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a field near Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 33 passengers and seven crew members on board.

10:28 The north tower of the World Trade Center collapses. Over 1,600 are killed.

12:16 U.S. airspace is finally closed after the last airborne plane lands.

17:20 World Trade Centre Building 7 collapses, without casualties.