NEWS SO FAR:
Timeline of Events (in EDT) :
---09.11.01----
0800 - AA flight 11 leaves Boston for LAX
0814 - UA flight 175 leaves Boston for LAX
0821 - AA flight 77 leaves Washington Dulles for LAX
0842 - UA flight 93 leaves Newark for SF
0848 - first crash @ WTC - North Tower
0906 - second crash @ WTC - South Tower
0921 - NYC Port Authority closes all
0943 - an airplane crashes into th helipad at Pentagon
0946 - FAA grounds flights nationally
1005 - south WTC collapses
1010 - "E Section" of Pentagon collapses
1010 - UA flight 93 crashes in PA
1013 - United Nations building evacuated
1024 - FAA reports all inbound flights are being diverted to Canada
1029 - north WTC collapses
1030 - buildings in Washington DC closed
1035 - crash in Pennsylvania is reported
1037 - fourth explosion at WTC reported
1116 - CNN reports Center for Disease Control preparing emergency response teams
1121 - American Airlines confirms two of their planes crashed - 156 lost
1130 - United Airlines confirms a plane crashed in PA
1159 - United Airlines confirms two of their planes crashed - 110 lost
1204 - LAX evacuated & shut down
1215 - SFO evacuated & shut down
1230 - 50 flights operating in U.S. airspace, reporting no problems
1304 - Bush speaks from Louisiana
1329 - state of emergency declared in Washington DC
1340 - 5 destroyers and 2 aircraft carriers deployed up the east coast from Norfolk, VA
USS George Washington and USS John F. Kennedy
1348 - Bush leaves Louisiana for undisclosed location
1720 - Building #7 at WTC collapses
1755 - Detonations in Kabul, Afghanistan ... reports of anti-aircraft fire
1805 - CNN reports of missles bombing the airport in Kabul ...
sources say possibility of cruise missles
1835 - CNN reports that bombing in Kabul is on-going civil war battle in Afghanistan
1840 - Air Force One lands in Washington DC
1845 - reports from inside the Pentagon - it WILL be open tomorrow for business as usual
Congress stands behind the President,
"This is indeed the most tragic hour in America's history." - Senator John Warner
2030 - President Bush makes simple speech,
re-itterating that the country will not tolerate terrorism
2100 - National Security Meeting at White House
2130 - NYC Port Authority says city will be open Wednesday above 14th Street
2200 - Bush declares NYC a disaster area. Approves FEMA relief.
2230 - 2-3 men arrested going towards George Washington Bridge
FBI questioning - rumors of explosions in van unfounded
2320 - Cell phone calls made from inside the rubble of the WTC
A few people reported rescued.
--- Today's News and Events 09.12.01 ---
0127 - CNN - To pull off the coordinated aerial attack on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon on Tuesday, the hijackers must have been extremely knowledgeable and
capable aviators, a flight expert said.
All four commercial jetliners seized in the air for the deadly assaults had just
started transcontinental flights, ensuring that they carried the maximum amount of
fuel.
One of the planes, United Airlines Flight 93, for example, could have carried as much
as 200,000 pounds of the highly explosive fuel, according to one source, a veteran
pilot.
By seizing four planes, diverting them from scheduled flight paths and managing to
crash two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and a third into the
Pentagon, they must have had plenty of skill and training.
"They know what they were doing," said the source, a pilot with a major carrier for
more than 30 years.
It was not known how the hijackers slipped through airport security checkpoints with
their weapons.
How soon after departure the hijackers took over the planes remains unclear. But a
handful of crew members and passengers managed to call authorities and loved ones on
the ground, informing them that the planes had been commandeered, in some cases with
deadly force, by assailants brandishing knives and who claimed to have bombs.
An open microphone on one of the flights recorded sounds of distress, according to
reports.
There are no indications that any of the airline crews activated a four-digit code
alerting ground controllers that a hijacking was in progress.
0330 - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities in Massachusetts have identified five Arab men
as suspects in Tuesday's attack on New York City and have seized a rental car
containing Arabic-language flight training manuals at Logan International Airport,
a source told the Boston Herald newspaper.
Two of the men were brothers whose passports were traced to the United Arab
Emirates, the unidentified source told the Herald. One of the men was a trained
pilot, the paper reported on its Web site on Wednesday.
The paper said investigators suspect the two brothers were aboard hijacked
United Airlines flight 175, which pilot union officials said was one of the
aircraft that crashed into the World Trade Center.
0430 - ASSOCIATED PRESS - US officials began piecing together a case linking Osama bin
Laden to the worst terrorist attack in US history today, aided by an intercept
of communications between his supporters and harrowing mobile phone calls from
victims aboard the jetliners before they
crashed.
US intelligence intercepted communications between bin Laden supporters discussing
the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, according to Utah Senator Orrin
Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
0530 - It's reported from CNN Television that more than 300 firefighters are missing
and presumed dead. One police source says that 85 officers are missing. Gas prices
should not be affected.
Emergency hotlines for individual businesses in the WTC and around the area will be
broadcast on CNN throughout the day. If you have friends or relatives, please use
these specific numbers (we will try to post as many here as we can).
Estimated death toll could easily climb into the thousands. Washington DC schools
remain closed.
Some streets around the White House remain closed. White House is on "high alert".
Bush's schedules is now on a hour-to-hour basis.
0545 - NEW YORK (CNN.com) -- The city that never sleeps struggled to wake up from its
unimaginable nightmare, one day after bearing the brunt of the deadliest terrorist
attack ever in the United States.
The wife of the nation's Solicitor General. The fire chief of New York. A young man
calling his mother, moments before his plane crashed.
The fatalities from the Tuesday calamity will reach well into the thousands, but
authorities cautioned that the final number will not be known for weeks, if then.
Whatever the ultimate death toll, it will be "more than any of us can bear," said New
York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, hours after the horrific attacks.
Victims jumped from the burning World Trade Center. Died in the inner ring of the
Pentagon. Made farewell calls from the air. And fell under avalanches of rubble as
they tried to rescue others.
10,000 -- Early number given by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran of the possible dead in the
World Trade Center. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 might have been in or near the center's
twin towers when they were hit by hijacked jetliners Tuesday morning. How many of them
escaped before the 110-story buildings collapsed soon after remained unknown.
800 -- High estimate for fatalities at the Pentagon, where fires raged for hours after a
commercial jet slammed into it.
300 -- Firefighters feared dead in New York, most engulfed by the collapsing hulks of the
twin towers of the World Trade Center, as they attempted to help victims out of the
burning buildings. The total could climb much higher.
266 -- Persons aboard four jetliners, transformed by hijackers into suicide bombs,
two aimed at the World Trade Center, one at the Pentagon, and one that crashed in rural
Pennsylvania, which appeared to have fallen short of a target near Washington, D.C. No
survivors expected.
85 -- New York City police officers thought to have died during early emergency efforts
in lower Manhattan.
7 -- Known dead at New York hospitals late Tuesday. The small number provided little
consolation to city authorities. Most of the dead never made it to hospitals.
In all, more than 1,400 are known or presumed dead, with thousands more unaccounted for
and feared dead. Some 1,400 injured were admitted to New York area hospitals, many in
critical condition with extensive burns.
"They're charred. Their skin is coming off. There's tremendous suffering," one emergency
doctor said.
There were sporadic reports of survivors in the rubble. But in general, the macabre
scene in lower Manhattan proved disheartening to rescue workers.
Sifting through the rubble, they saw thousands of body parts strewn about. A National
Guardsman collapsed in anguish, his head in his hands as he sat on the curb.
Said one man leaving the scene: "You don't want to know. You don't want to know the
things we stepped over. It was horrific."
The coordinated attack was over within an hour.
American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in
Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m. EDT. The Boeing 767 carried 81 passengers and 11 crew
members en route from Boston to Los Angeles.
About 15 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also en route from Boston to Los
Angeles, crashed into the south tower. Also a 767, it carried 56 passengers and nine crew
members.
Near Washington, American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon about 9:40 a.m.,
collapsing part of an outer wall and sparking fires still burning Wednesday morning. The
Boeing 757 was en route from Washington's Dulles Airport to Los Angeles with a crew of
six and 58 passengers.
A fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco,
slammed into a wooded area near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Police said there were no
survivors. There were 38 passengers and seven crew members.
The doomed airliners included prominent passengers, including Barbara Olson, a
conservator commentator and frequent guest on CNN.
Using a cell phone, Olson contacted her husband, U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, and
described the in-air crisis. Olson said his wife had booked a Monday flight but delayed
her trip to celebrate his birthday Tuesday.
In New York, among those feared dead when the twin towers collapsed included Fire Chief
Pete Ganci and Deputy Fire Commissioner William Feehan, longtime veterans of the
department.
"I don't know what to say. We lost people who had given over 40 years," said Thomas Von
Essen, the fire commissioner, fighting back tears. "We believe that many of them are
still gone. We'll keep looking."
Alice Hoglan, the mother of a passenger on one of the crashed planes, received a call
from her son Mathew Bingham in the air after his flight had been hijacked. He told
her that if he didn't see her again, he wanted her to know that he loved her.
0615 - New York City - St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, held a press conference
which was aired live on CNN. According to hospital spokesmen, 5 people have died at
St. Vincent's Hospital. 90 people were admitted to their hospital, and of those, 58
are firefighters, police, or paramedics.
No additional survivors were brought in during the night. Two crews of about a dozen
doctors were sent to the site to treat patients, from St. Vincent's. Administrative
staff, nurses, and physicians have been assisted with counselling due to this large
mental stress. A large number of nurses and physicians, many of who are married to
firefighters and police officers, worked throughout the night, not knowing the
whereabouts of family members.
It has been confirmed that one of the St. Vincent's ambulances was crushed in the
debris. The hospital itself has 2600 beds throughout the city. They transferred
patients to other sites around the city, discharged as necessary, and still have
available beds at the Greenwich Village site.
Of the five victims who died at St. Vincents' hospitals, two needed arrived with
massive blunt trauma and received CPR but expired, despite the medical teams' best
efforts. A firefighter came in with chest pain and major injuries, but he passed
away in the operating room. The fourth was an individual with severe burns, who
expired in surgical care. The fifth victim died at St. Vincent's Staten Island
Hospital site.
The hospital had over 800 people in line to donate blood, yesterday, but are still
in need and are asking people to continue donating at their local Red Cross or at the
New York Blood Center. They emphasized that they are no longer in need of clothing
donations and thanked the community for banding together. Neighborhood residents have
been making sandwiches and bringing food for medical workers, as well as victims.
Hospital spokemen are encouraging parents to talk with children about this horrible
tragedy. Teen-agers and younger children will need to talk to work through this; they
will most likely have many questions. Mental health hotlines are open and medical
workers encourage all New Yorkers to use them. "We need to understand our feelings
and talk about it," one St. Vincent's representative stated.
0720 - There is a void about 5-6 stories large in one of the towers. 5 firefighters and one
policeman have been rescued this morning. Reports are saying that ferries have been
packed with bodies to take across to New Jersey. Three cab drivers tore the seats
out of their cars to help carry bodies away from the site. Rescuers are optimistic
about finding more survivors in the void and underneath the rubble. - from CNN Live
0800 - About half of the Pentagon is open for business. The press office is open, as well as
several other offices and businesses. Due to structural damage, building usage is
limited. Secretary of State Colin Powell upset that Orin Hatch is speaking about
interception of possible warnings. Information about these "documents" will
"never" be spoken of, according to Powell.
0810 - Smoke possibly billowing from World Financial Center, near WTC site.
Updates as received.
0820 - Three confirmed Australians deceased. 6 firefighters, 1 police officer rescued. 2
police officers rescued last night. 2 others, one 50 year old male, are being rescued
right now. The police officer rescued this morning is badly burned, but not viewed as
life-threatening.
--- FLIGHT INFORMATION ---
-United Airlines-
Flight 175 ... Boeing 767 ... Boston to LAX
56 passengers, 7 flight attendants, 2 pilots
plane down - crashed into the South Tower of World Trade Center
Flight 93 ... Boeing 757 ... Newark to SF
38 passengers, 5 flight attendants, 2 pilots
plane down - Pennsylvania - 80 miles SE of Pittsburgh
Somerset County Airport
info from The Washington Post:
plane crashed in western Pennsylvania
north of the Somerset County Airport, near Jennerstown
aviation officials speculate that they may have tried
to steer plane to a Washington-area target but
"encountered strong resistance from the flight crew"
United Airlines total 110 victims
-American Airlines-
Flight 11 ... Boeing 767 ... Boston to Los Angeles
81 passengers, 9 flight attendants, 2 pilots
plane down - crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center
Flight 77 ... Boeing 757 ... Washington Dulles to Los Angeles
58 passengers, 4 flight attendants, 2 pilots
crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC
American Airlines total 156 victims
- CONFIRMED INFORMATION -
FLIGHT INFO :
all commercial flights have been accounted for, there are no missing planes
all planes were directed to land at nearest airports
international flights were directed to land outside of the U.S.
FAA has grounded all commercial flights until noon on September 12
VICTIM INFO :
Reports from multiple sources show that the hijackers forced the passengers to the back of
the plane while armed with knives and box cutters. The passengers and crew were then told
to call loved ones to tell them they were about to die.
Reports confirmed that cellphone calls have been received from inside the rubble.
Two phone calls were made from a cell by someone calling their father. The first
was to say the plane was hijacked, the second was to say it was going down and
that a stewardess was stabbed.
http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34223,00.html - Confirmed Passengers
300+ NYC firefighters are confirmed missing or deceased
Deputy Chief and Chief of NYC Fire Department are confirmed among the victims
85+ police officers missing in NYC
3 Australians deceased,
reports speculating that 100-800 people are missing or deceased at the Pentagon
1000 confirmed hospitalized : bodies continue to be discovered
Reports are comming in that people are alive in the basement of the WTC.
DAMAGE DONE :
Tower 1, Tower 2, Building #7, Solomon Building are all down
NYPD's main South Repeater was on the WTC (it's backup is working, but
the range is restricted). There are over 300 repeaters and pagers on
the WTC Building, in addition to cell phone and wireless internet systems.
All NYC TV stations are OFF the air, some stations remain on cable, but
if you don't have cable, you only get WCBS. Some stations are being
simulcast on other stations, but at this time, it's unknown how long this
will be in affect, as most transmitters were atop the WTC.
(thanks to wx for this info!)
http://mirror.pacific.net.au/wtc/usyd/ - Info on the WTC, general stats, why it collapsed, etc.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/graphics/attack_pentagon091101.htm - Info on
Pentagon attack
NEW YORK CITY INFO :
Giuliani has police out to make sure vendors don't take advantage of the
current situation. All non-essential personnel are asked to NOT enter the
city. People are asked to stay home unless absolutely 100% necessary to
attend work. Bridges are partially open, all going OUT of the city, no entry.
(thanks to ArthurQ for info!)
New York Port Authority says city will be open tomorrow above 14th Street
INVESTIGATION INFO :
09.11.01 - 1939 PDT - TWO MEN ARRESTED AT GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE - NO EXPLOSIVES
FBI is preparing to search Daytona Beach, and Hollywood, Florida, for a person
possibly related to this scenario.
Currently 28 agencies are involved in responding to help.
Pentagon has officially stated that they are NOT connected to the attacks in Afganistan.
NOTHING HAS HAPPENED AT CAMP DAVID.
Black boxes being searched for.
OTHER INFO :
Gas prices around the US are starting to go up in response to this.
People are being urged to not panic and purchase extra gas.
UN declaired Sept 11th as an international day of peace from now on.
- UNCONFIRMED INFORMATION -
possibility of 25,000+ people inside the WTC buildings at the time of the crashes
- EVACUATIONS AND CLOSURES -
All public and pariochial schools in NYC are closed Wednesday
Classes at NYU Cancelled
Tappen Zee Bridge is open in BOTH directions
All Philadelphia schools closed on Wednesday.
All Washington DC Metro schools closed Wednesday.
UN Building evacuated.
White House and Capitol evacuated.
US Embassies evacuated and guarded around the world.
International government buildings stepping up security around the world.
Israel evacuated all missions and sending aid to the U.S
Sears Tower in Chicago, Seattle Space Needle, other high profile buildings shut down.
Most Federal Buildings are undergoing evacuation and lockdown.
Kennedy Space Center has been closed.
NYSE & NASDAQ shut down. Trading halted til undetermined date..
EU and OTAN buidings in Belgium are open but only necessary personnel are being allowed in.
Areas of London evacuated, flights being diverted from central London area
Border closures:
Canada / United States
Mexico / United States
All airports have been shut down in the following countries:
United States
Canada
Mexico
Israel
Australia - open airports but no flights to/from U.S.
UK - some open, limited
more UK info : http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1539000/1539405.stm
- PHONE NUMBERS, LINKS, ETC. -
INVESTIGATION :
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THIS HORRIBLE CRIME
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI BUREAU OR http://www.ifccfbi.gov
If you have any of you shot footage pre-disaster of the WTC area,
or know of anyone that shot footage of the area before the crash,
the NYPD is looking for people with video of the area PRE-DISASTER.
They need to look at the people in the area of the World Trade Center
before and around the time of the disaster. To contact them, please
call 212 577 TIPS. Please only call this number if you can help with
their investigation.
VICTIM INFORMATION :
Phone lines around the East Coast are tied up,
please only call into the area in emergency situations,
to allow phone lines to be free for emergency use.
1 800 245 0999 is the American Airlines hotline - Please use only in emergencies!
1 800 932 8555 is the United Airlines hotline - Please use only in emergencies!
http://safe.millennium.berkeley.edu/ - FIND PEOPLE YOU KNOW / REPORT THAT YOU ARE OKAY
To check on family members, please call 1.877.RED.CROSS for information.
Please ONLY call to check on family in World Trade Center and Pentagon Disasters.
Australians who have relatives etc in the US on planes
1.300.555.135 & 1800 002 214 or http://www.dfat.gov.au
(one of the flights was a connector to Qantas)
0207 008 0000 - UK Emergency Hotline
German Exterior Affairs hotline
(for people in Germany with relatives/friends in NYC) - 01888174600
American ressortissant from France - crisis phone number : 0145558000
212 604 7285 - St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village NYC
please only call to locate loved ones
Missing Police Officers
212-677-8238
Missing Fire Fighters
212-447-2998
VOLUNTEERS :
doctors to volunteer at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village : 212.604.3850
nurses to volunteer at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village : 212.604.7484
Donors who wish to give blood are encouraged to call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE
or visit http://www.redcross.org
East coast Canada :
Including TORONTO, HALIFAX, MONTREAL, QUEBEC CITY, SAINT JOHN, FREDRICTON,
CHARELOTTETOWN, ST. JOHN'S and any other people on ALIANT TELECOM or BELL
COMMUNICATION, including BELL CANADA & BELL SOUTH are asked to NOT use
their phone lines for long distance services as they are currently being
used for emergency purposes. These cities are where the current Red Cross
800 access numbers are located. (reportedly)
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Links for more info:
ABC News site
NBC Coverage
CNN
CBS
News.com
Reuters
Air Disaster site (popup ads)
BBC news
Skynews coverage
Flight tracker
site
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