American Airlines Flight 11
Encyclopedia
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight
Transcontinental flight
In the United States the term Transcontinental flight is travelling by air coast-to-coast over the continental United States.-History:The first transcontinental flight across the United States was made by Calbraith Perry Rodgers to win the Hearst prize offered by publisher William Randolph Hearst...
from Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
, in Los Angeles, California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the aircraft flying this route—a Boeing 767-223ER
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
—was hijacked
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
by five al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorists and deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in New York City, as part of the September 11 attacks.
Fifteen minutes into the flight, the hijackers injured at least three people, forcibly breached the cockpit, and overpowered the captain and first officer. Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, an al-Qaeda member and trained pilot, took over the controls. Air-traffic controllers noticed the flight was in distress when the crew was no longer responding. They realized the flight had been hijacked when Mohammad Atta mistakenly transmitted his announcements for passengers to air traffic control. On board, flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
s Amy Sweeney
Madeline Amy Sweeney
Madeline Amy Sweeney , known as Amy Sweeney, was an American flight attendant on board American Airlines Flight 11 which was hijacked and flown deliberately into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks...
and Betty Ong
Betty Ong
Betty Ann Ong , born in San Francisco, was an American flight attendant onboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked and flown deliberately into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, as part of the September 11 attacks....
contacted American Airlines, and provided information about the hijackers and injuries to passengers and crew.
The aircraft crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
at 08:46 local time; the impact killed all 92 people aboard, including the hijackers, plus an unconfirmed number in the building's impact zone. Many in the streets witnessed the strike; the Naudet brothers and Pavel Hlava captured the impact on video. Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle is an early pioneer of net.art in the United States, known for his video streaming of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.-Education:...
had a webcam set up that captured the impact through a series of photographs. Before the hijacking was confirmed, news agencies began to report on the incident and speculated that the crash had been an accident. The impact and subsequent fire caused the North Tower to collapse, which resulted in hundreds of additional casualties. During the recovery effort
Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks
The rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks comprised the local, state and federal agency reaction to the September 11 attacks. The unprecedented events of that day elicited the largest response of local emergency and rescue personnel to assist in the evacuation of the two towers...
at the World Trade Center site
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
, workers recovered and identified dozens of remains from Flight 11 victims, but many body fragments could not be identified.
Flight
The American Airlines Flight 11 aircraft was a Boeing 767-223ERBoeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
delivered in 1987, registration number
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N334AA. The capacity of the aircraft was 158 passengers, but the September 11 flight carried 81 passengers and 11 crew members. This was a light load at 51 percent capacity, but higher than the average load factor
Load factor
Load factor may refer to:* Load factor , the ratio of the lift of an aircraft to its weight* Load factor , the ratio of the number of records to the number of addresses within a data structure...
for Flight 11 on Tuesday mornings of 39 percent in the months preceding September 11. The 11 crew members were Captain John Ogonowski
John Ogonowski
John A. Ogonowski was an American pilot and an agricultural activist. A resident of Dracut, Massachusetts, Ogonowski was a leading advocate on behalf of farming in Massachusetts, particularly in aiding immigrant farmers from Cambodia, whom he assisted as part of the New Entry Sustainable Farming...
, First Officer Thomas McGuinness, and flight attendants Barbara Arestegui, Jeffrey Collman, Sara Low, Karen Martin, Kathleen Nicosia, Betty Ong
Betty Ong
Betty Ann Ong , born in San Francisco, was an American flight attendant onboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked and flown deliberately into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, as part of the September 11 attacks....
, Jean Roger, Dianne Snyder, and Amy Sweeney
Madeline Amy Sweeney
Madeline Amy Sweeney , known as Amy Sweeney, was an American flight attendant on board American Airlines Flight 11 which was hijacked and flown deliberately into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks...
.
In all, 92 people on board were killed, including David Angell
David Angell
David Lawrence Angell was an American producer of sitcoms. Angell won multiple Emmy Awards as the creator and executive producer, along with Peter Casey and David Lee, of the comedy series Frasier...
(the creator and executive producer of the television sitcom Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
), his wife Lynn Angell, and actress Berry Berenson
Berry Berenson
Berinthia "Berry" Berenson Perkins was an American photographer, actress, and model. Perkins was also known as the wife of actor Anthony Perkins and died in the September 11 attacks as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11.-Early life and family:Berinthia Berenson was the younger daughter of...
. Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
had been scheduled to be on the flight but arrived at the airport late.
Boarding
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, the ringleader of the attacks, and a fellow hijacker, Abdulaziz al-Omari
Abdulaziz al-Omari
An airport security guard and Imam, Abdulaziz al-Omari was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks....
, arrived at Portland International Jetport
Portland International Jetport
Portland International Jetport is a public airport located two miles west of the central business district of Portland, in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. It is owned by the city of Portland...
at 05:41 Eastern Daylight Time on September 11, 2001. They boarded Colgan Air
Colgan Air
Colgan Air, Inc. is an American certificated regional airline subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air are located in Memphis, Tennessee....
Flight 5930, which was scheduled to depart at 06:00 from Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, and fly to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts. Both hijackers had first class
First class (aviation)
First class is a luxury travel class on some airliners that exceeds business class, premium economy, and economy class. On a passenger jetliner, first class refers to a limited number of seats or cabins located in the front of the aircraft which are notable for their comfort, service, and privacy...
tickets with a connecting flight to Los Angeles; Atta checked in two bags, Omari none. When they checked in, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System is a counter-terrorism system in place in the United States air travel industry...
(CAPPS) selected Atta for extra luggage scrutiny, but he boarded without incident. The flight from Portland departed on time and arrived in Boston at 06:45. Three other hijackers, Waleed al-Shehri
Waleed al-Shehri
Waleed Mohammed al-Shehri was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
, Wail al-Shehri
Wail al-Shehri
Wail Mohammed al-Shehri was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
, and Satam al-Suqami
Satam al-Suqami
A law student, Satam Muhammed Abdel Rahman al-Suqami was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks....
, arrived at Logan Airport at 06:45, having left their rental car in the airport parking facility. At 06:52, Marwan al-Shehhi
Marwan al-Shehhi
Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab al-Shehhi was the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, crashing the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
, the hijacker pilot of United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
, made a call from a pay phone in Logan Airport to Atta's cell phone.
Since they were not given boarding passes for Flight 11 in Portland, Atta and Omari checked in and went through security in Boston. In the rushed check-in after the flight from Portland, airline officials did not load Atta's bags on Flight 11. Suqami, Wail al-Shehri, and Waleed al-Shehri also checked in for the flight in Boston. Wail al-Shehri and Suqami each checked one bag; Waleed al-Shehri did not check any bags. CAPPS selected all three for a detailed luggage check. As the CAPPS' screening was only for luggage, the three hijackers did not undergo any extra scrutiny at the passenger security checkpoint.
By 07:40, all five hijackers were aboard the flight, scheduled to depart at 07:45. Mohamed Atta sat in business class
Business class
Business class is a travel class available on many commercial airlines and rail lines, known by brand names which vary by airline or rail company. In the airline industry, it was originally intended as an intermediate level of service between economy class and first class, but many airlines now...
seat 8D with Abdulaziz al-Omari in 8G and Suqami in 10B. Waleed al-Shehri and Wail al-Shehri sat in first class seats 2B and 2A. At 07:46, one minute behind schedule, the aircraft received clearance to push back from Gate B32, and was cleared to taxy to the runway at 07:50. The aircraft began its takeoff run from Logan International Airport at 07:59 from runway 4R.
Hijacking
| "Okay, my name is Betty Ong. I'm [Flight Attendant] Number 3 on Flight 11. Our Number 1 got stabbed. Our purser Purser The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain... is stabbed. Nobody knows who stabbed who and we can't even get up to business class right now because nobody can breathe. And we can't get to the cockpit, the door won't open." |
| Flight attendant Flight attendant Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar... Betty Ong to the American Airlines emergency line. |
The 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
estimated that the hijacking began at 08:14, when the pilots stopped responding to requests from the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center
Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center
Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center is located in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. The Boston ARTCC is one of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States....
(Boston ARTCC). It is believed that Waleed al-Shehri
Waleed al-Shehri
Waleed Mohammed al-Shehri was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
made the first move. At 08:13:29, as the aircraft was passing over central Massachusetts at 26000 feet (7,924.8 m), the pilots responded to a request from Boston ARTCC to make a 20-degree turn to the right. At 08:13:47, Boston ARTCC told the pilots to ascend to a cruising altitude of 35000 feet (10,668 m) but received no response. At 08:16, the aircraft leveled off at 29000 feet (8,839.2 m) and shortly thereafter deviated from its scheduled path. Boston ARTCC made multiple attempts to talk to Flight 11 without reply, and at 08:21, the flight stopped transmitting its Mode-C transponder
Transponder (aviation)
A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation...
signal.
According to flight attendants Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong, who contacted American Airlines during the hijacking, the hijackers had stabbed flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui and slashed the throat of passenger Daniel Lewin. Lewin, an Internet entrepreneur, had served as an officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
special operations unit of the Israeli military. Lewin was seated in 9B, and Suqami was directly behind him in 10B. The 9/11 Commission suggested that Suqami may have stabbed and killed Lewin after he attempted to stop the hijacking. Lewin was believed to be the first fatality in the 9-11 attacks. During a four-minute call to the American Airlines operations center, Ong provided information about lack of communication with the cockpit, lack of access to the cockpit, and passenger injuries. She provided the seat locations of the hijackers, which later helped investigators to determine their identities.
At 08:23:38, Atta tried to make an announcement to the passengers, but pressed the wrong button and sent the message to Boston ARTCC. Air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
s heard Atta announce, "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be O.K. We are returning to the airport." At 08:24:56, 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." As before, Atta thought he was speaking to only the passengers, but his voice was picked up and recorded by air traffic controllers. After the transmissions by Atta and the inability to contact the airliner, air traffic controllers at Boston ARTCC realized the flight had been hijacked. At 08:26, the plane turned south. At 08:32, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) Command Center in Herndon, Virginia
Herndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
, notified FAA headquarters.
At 08:33:59, Atta announced, "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves." At 08:37:08, the pilots of United Airlines Flight 175 verified Flight 11's location and heading to flight control. Boston ARTCC bypassed standard protocols and directly contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
(NORAD) Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York
Rome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
. NEADS called on two F-15 fighter jets at Otis Air Force Base
Otis Air National Guard Base
Otis Air National Guard Base is an Air National Guard installation located within the Massachusetts Military Reservation , a military training facility, located on the western portion of Cape Cod, in western Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States...
in Bourne, Massachusetts
Bourne, Massachusetts
Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,721 at the 2000 census.For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne , Buzzards Bay, Monument Beach, Pocasset, Sagamore, and Sagamore...
, to intercept. Officials at Otis spent a few minutes getting authorization for the fighters to take off. Atta completed the final turn towards Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at 08:43. The order to dispatch the fighters at Otis was given at 08:46, and the F-15s took off at 08:53. By that time, American Airlines Flight 11 had already crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Of the four hijacked aircraft on 9/11, the nine minutes of advance notification about the hijacking of Flight 11 was the most time that NORAD had to respond before the aircraft crashed into its target.
Crash
At 08:46:30, Mohamed Atta intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center. The aircraft, traveling at about 404 kn (492 mph; 791.8 km/h) and carrying about 10000 U.S.gal of jet fuel, hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower.Witnesses saw the plane flying at low altitude over Manhattan and thought the aircraft was in distress. Lieutenant William Walsh of the FDNY
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
(who appears in the documentary film 9/11
9/11 (film)
9/11 is a 2002 American documentary film about the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, in which two planes crashed into the buildings of the World Trade Center from the point of view of the New York City Fire Department...
) witnessed the aircraft: "We were under the impression – he looked like he was going down, but we didn't hear any mechanical difficulty. We couldn't figure out why an American Airlines plane would be so low in downtown Manhattan. We sort of expected him to veer off and go into the Hudson. But he just rose a little bit, his altitude, leveled off, and he was headed straight for the Trade Center. So just before he got to the Trade Center it seemed as though he gained power. We were just watching this airplane on target for the World Trade Center. All of a sudden, boom! He disappears into the Trade Center."
Jules Naudet, a French cameraman, and Pavel Hlava, a Czech immigrant, videotaped the crash. A webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
set up by Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle is an early pioneer of net.art in the United States, known for his video streaming of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.-Education:...
at an art exhibit in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to take images of Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
every four seconds also captured images of Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower. A WNYW newscamera left rolling on the ground also captured audio of the crash and video of the immediate aftermath.
News organizations at first reported an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center. CNN broke into a commercial at 08:49 with the headline that read "World Trade Center Disaster". Carol Lin
Carol Lin
Carol Lin is an American journalist who founded CarolLinReporting.com, a website which provides cancer patients, their families, and caregivers with answers they may not find on traditional networks...
, who was the first anchor to break the news of the attacks, said:
Later, in an on-air phone call from his office at the CNN New York bureau, CNN vice-president of finance Sean Murtagh reported that a large passenger commercial jet had hit the World Trade Center. Eventually, other television networks interrupted regular broadcasting with news of the crash. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was arriving at Emma E. Booker Elementary School
Emma E. Booker Elementary School
Emma E. Booker Elementary School is an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida which opened in the fall of 1989. It is named for Emma E. Booker, an African-American educator who founded the first black school in Sarasota County, Florida....
in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
. Initial news reports speculated that the crash had been an accident until United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
, another Los Angeles–bound Boeing 767
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
, crashed into the South Tower at about 09:03.
Aftermath
Collapse of the World Trade Center
The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks, in which terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, flying one into the North Tower and another into the South Tower...
. Although the impact itself caused extensive structural damage, the long-lasting fire ignited by jet fuel was blamed for the structural failure of the tower. In addition to the aircraft passengers and building occupants, hundreds of rescue workers also died when the tower collapsed. Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on floors 101–105 of the World Trade Center One, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any other employer.
Rescue workers at the World Trade Center site
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
began to discover body fragments from Flight 11 victims within days of the attack. Some workers found bodies strapped to airplane seats and discovered the body of a flight attendant with her hands bound, suggesting the hijackers might have used plastic handcuffs
PlastiCuffs
Plastic handcuffs are a form of physical restraint for the hands, using plastic straps. They function as handcuffs but are cheaper and easier to carry than metal handcuffs, and cannot be reused....
. Within a year, medical examiners had identified the remains of 33 victims who had been on board Flight 11. They identified two other Flight 11 victims, including the lead flight attendant Karen Martin, after body fragments were discovered near Ground Zero
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
in 2006. In April 2007, examiners using newer DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
technology identified another Flight 11 victim. The remains of two hijackers, potentially from Flight 11, were also identified and removed from Memorial Park in Manhattan. The remains of the other hijackers have not been identified and are buried with other unidentified remains at this park.
Suqami's passport survived the crash and landed in the street below. Soaked in jet fuel, it was picked up by a passerby who gave it to a New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
(NYPD) detective shortly before the South Tower collapsed. Investigators retrieved Mohamed Atta's luggage, which had not been loaded onto the flight. In it they found Omari's passport and driver's license, a videocassette for a Boeing 757 flight simulator, a folding knife, and pepper spray. In a recording found months later in Afghanistan, al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, took responsibility for the attack. The attack on the World Trade Center exceeded even bin Laden's expectations: he had expected only the floors above the plane strikes to collapse. The flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
s for Flight 11 and Flight 175 were never found.
After the attacks, the flight number
Flight number
A flight number, when combined with the name of the airline and the date, identifies a particular flight. This callsign should not be confused with the tail number of the aircraft, although both can be used as a call-sign as used in general aviation...
for flights on the same route with the same takeoff time was changed to American Airlines Flight 25. These flights now use a Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
instead of a Boeing 767. An American flag is flown on the jet bridge of gate B32 from which Flight 11 departed Logan Airport.
See also
- List of tenants in One World Trade Center
- List of tenants in Two World Trade Center
- American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
- United Airlines Flight 93United Airlines Flight 93United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
External links
- Victims of the American Airlines Flight 11
- Archive of American Airlines site explaining that all aircraft are accounted for, September 11, 2001
- Archive of American Airlines site with condolences for deceased, September 12, 2001