American Airlines Flight 11 was the first flight hijacked in the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was an American Airlines flight aboard a Boeing 767-223ER aircraft, registration number N334AA[2], which regularly flew from Logan International Airport in East Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport. On September 11, 2001, the aircraft on this route was hijacked, and was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 a.m. Out of all the planes hijacked that day Flight 11 contained the most passengers.
 Seconds after Flight 11 Impact. | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11 2001 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site | World Trade Center |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 767-223ER |
| Operator | American Airlines |
| Registration | N334AA[1] |
| Passengers | 81 (incl. 5 hijackers) |
| Crew | 11 |
| Fatalities | 92 + 1366 (Tower 1) |
| Survivors | 0 |
- "Flight 11" redirects here. For the Continental Airlines flight that was bombed in 1962, see Continental Airlines Flight 11.
Hijackers
Five hijackers were aboard the flight:
- Mohamed Atta al Sayed (Egyptian) - the ringleader and pilot, was in seat 9D.
- Waleed al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian) - sat in seat 2B
- Wail al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian) - sat next to Waleed, in seat 2A
- Abdulaziz al-Omari (Saudi Arabian) - sat in seat 9G, had earlier flown with Atta to Logan Airport from Portland, Maine
- Satam al-Suqami (Saudi Arabian) - had paid in cash that day, sat in seat 10B
Four of the hijackers were selected by CAPPS for extra screening of their checked bags for explosives. Mohamed Atta was selected when he checked in at Portland International Jetport, while Satam al-Suqami, Wail al-Shehri, and Waleed al-Shehri were selected in Boston. Since Waleed had checked no bags, CAPPS screening had no effect on him, while the others merely had their bags undergo extra screening. CAPPS selectees did not undergo any extra scrutiny at the passenger security checkpoint.[3]
The flight
The flight was regularly scheduled for takeoff at 7:45 a.m.[4] However, boarding was running behind schedule, and at 7:45 a.m., lead hijackers Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari were still boarding the plane. In the rush, Atta's bags were not loaded onto the plane in time.[5] Ultimately running 14 minutes late, the flight finally took off from Logan International Airport at 7:59 a.m. from runway 4R.[6] At 8:13:29 a.m., as the aircraft was passing through 26,000 feet over central Massachusetts, the pilot responded to a request from Boston Air Traffic Control Center to make a 20° turn to the right.[6] At 8:13:47, Boston Center then instructed the pilots to ascend to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The aircraft never responded to this request.[6] At 8:16 a.m., the aircraft levelled off at 29,000 feet.[6]
Hijacking
The 9/11 Commission estimates that the hijacking began at 8:14 a.m.[7] John Ogonowski (Pilot) and Thomas F. McGuinness Jr. (First Officer) were in control until the plane was hijacked. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft started to deviate from its scheduled path. Boston Air Control made multiple attempts at contacting Flight 11 but received no response.[7] At 8:21 a.m. the flight stopped transmitting its Mode-C transponder signal.[6]
At 8:24:38 a.m., Boston Center overheard Atta announcing "We have some planes, just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport". At 8:24:56, he announced "Nobody move. everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."[6] At 8:26 a.m., the plane made a 100-degree turn to the south heading toward New York City.[8] At 8:33:59, Atta announced "Nobody move please, we are going back to the airport, don't try to make any stupid moves." At 8:37 a.m., the aircraft began descending from 29,000 feet at 3,200 feet/minute, and a final turn towards Manhattan at 8:43 a.m.[6]
Phone calls
Flight attendants Madeline Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong supplied information on what happened. According to them, three people – two attendants (Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui) and a passenger – were stabbed or had their throats slashed by the hijackers. The passenger, Daniel Lewin, a notable Internet entrepreneur, had also previously served as an officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit of the Israeli military. A 2002 FAA memo referenced Lewin as possibly being killed by Satam al-Suqami after he attempted to stop the hijacking. Apparently, as Lewin, who sat in seat 9B made his move, al-Suqami, sitting immediately behind him in seat 10B attacked him from behind.
The first-class area had been sequestered by the surviving crew, and the rest of the passengers had been led to believe that a medical emergency was taking place in the first class area. The hijackers also used mace, pepper spray or some other aerosol spray-based irritant to discourage entry into the first class area and the cockpit. One passenger reported her eyes were burning and that she was having trouble breathing.
Crash
At 8:46:40 a.m.,[6] Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the northern facade of the North Tower (building 1) of the World Trade Center. The aircraft, which was travelling at approximately 470 miles per hour, impacted between the 94th and 98th floors with approximately 24,000 gallons of flammable jet fuel.[9] This was the first crash in the attacks of the day. All on board (11 crew, 76 passengers, and 5 hijackers) were killed. The crash was also witnessed by nearby pedestrians and drivers.
The first news and radio organizations reported an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center, CNN broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. CNN headlines first read 'World Trade Center Disaster.' Carol Lin, who was the first anchor to break the news of the attacks, said:
"Yeah. This just in. You're looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center." [2]
Later, Sean Murtagh, CNN vice-president of finance, in an on-air phone call, said from his office in the CNN New York bureau that a large passenger commercial jet hit the World Trade Center. Eventually, all other TV networks interrupted regular broadcasting with news of the crash. Initial news reports speculated the crash as a terrible accident until Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower 17 minutes later.
Jules Naudet, a French cameraman, and Pavel Hlava, a Czech immigrant, both filmed the crash of the plane into the building.[10]
Casualties
The damage caused by the impact destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone. All stairwells and elevator shafts that would have taken victims down to safety were destroyed, unlike the South Tower which (because it was hit at an angle and not towards the center) still had one functional stairwell after impact. 1366 people were at or above the floors of impact in the North Tower (1 WTC): according to the Commission Report hundreds were killed instantly by the impact [3], the rest were trapped and died later, either from jumping from the burning building or the eventual collapse.
Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st-105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any other employer. Many rescue workers (400 for the two towers together, most of them of the FDNY), died when the tower collapsed.
Notable plane passengers included:
- David Angell, American television producer (b. 1946)
- Berry Berenson, American actress and photographer (b. 1948)
- Carolyn Beug, music video producer (b. 1953)
- Charles Edward Jones, a military astronaut (b. 1952)
- Daniel Lewin, co-founder and CTO of Akamai (b. 1970)
Although the impact itself caused extensive structural damage, it was the long-lasting fire, starting with burning jet fuel, that is blamed for the structural failure of the North Tower. Many have speculated that this is why the hijackers chose to use this fully fueled transcontinental flight. The centralized-support design (in the center core and exterior walls, instead of throughout) of the towers also contributed to the collapse. In a later recording, Osama bin Laden seems to take credit for the attack and states that he did not expect the towers would collapse.
NORAD response
The Federal Aviation Administration's Boston Air Traffic Control Center was responsible for monitoring American Airlines Flight 11, as it departed from Logan. After repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, along with transmissions from the plane "we have some planes.", the air traffic controller knew this was a hijacking. He alerted his supervisor, who then began notifying the chain of command of the hijacking, and that the flight was heading into the New York Center's airspace. At 8:32 a.m., the FAA Command Center in Herndon, Virginia notified FAA headquarters.[7]
At 8:37:52 a.m., the Boston Control Center bypassed standard protocols and directly contacted NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York.[7] NEADS called on two F-15 fighter jets at Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts to scramble, intending to intercept Flight 11. The F-15 fighters took off from Otis at 8:46 a.m.[7] By this time, American Airlines Flight 11 had already crashed into the World Trade Center.
Because Flight 11's transponder was off, United States Air Force pilots did not know which direction to travel to meet the plane. NEADS spent the next several minutes watching their radar screens in anticipation of Flight 11 returning a radar contact. The nine minutes of advanced notification about the hijacking of Flight 11 was the most that NORAD received out of the four hijacked aircraft on 9/11.[11]
Miscellaneous
The flight route designation for future flights on the same route at the same takeoff time was changed to American Airlines Flight 25, now a Boeing 757 instead of a Boeing 767, to disassociate other planes from the one used in the attack and out of respect for those who had died. An American flag now flies on the jet bridge that Flight 11 departed from at Logan Airport.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of the animated TV series Family Guy, was booked on Flight 11, but due to a mix up, missed the plane. His travel agent told him the flight departed at 8:15 instead of 7:45, and he arrived just after the plane had boarded. [12]
Initial suspects were:
References
- ^ "FAA Registry (N334AA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "FAA Registry (N334AA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "The Aviation Security System and the 9/11 Attacks - Staff Statement No. 3" (PDF). 9/11 Commission.
- ^ 9/11 Investigation (PENTTBOM), FBI, national Press Release, September 2001
- ^ Dorman, Michael (April 17 2006). "Unraveling 9-11 was in the bags". Newsday (New York).
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h "Flight Path Study - American Airlines Flight 11" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
- ^ a b c d e "9/11 Commission Report (Chapter 1)". July 2004.
- ^ Flight 11 NTSB Report
- ^ "World Trade Center Building Performance Study". Federal Emergency Management Agency. May 2002.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Kean, Thomas H., Lee H. Hamilton. "The Story in the Sky". Without Precident. Alfred A. Knopf. pp. p. 263.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Seth MacFarlane biography