Timeline of the September 11, 2001 attacks
Encyclopedia
September 11, 2001 attacks
timeline. All times are in New York Time (EDT or UTC –4).
Planning
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
timeline. All times are in New York Time (EDT or UTC –4).
Background History
- 1972: One World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
completed. - 1973: Two World Trade Center completed.
- c. 1988: Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama 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...
founds al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-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...
. - 1993: World Trade Center bombing.
- 1995: Operation Bojinka is discovered by ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
police on a laptop computer in an apartment after a fire. - 1996: The Taliban, a radical IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic movement, takes control of AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. - 1998: The 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
occur. - 1999: Indian Airlines Flight 814Indian Airlines Flight 814Indian Airlines Flight 814 commonly known as IC 814 was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India on Friday, December 24, 1999, when it was hijacked...
hijacked. One passenger dies while the others are released. - 2000: The USS ColeUSS Cole (DDG-67)The second USS Cole is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer homeported in NS Norfolk, Virginia. The Cole is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, during World War II...
is bombed in YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
.
PlanningPlanning of the September 11, 2001 attacksOn September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four airplanes and were targeting The World Trade Center in New York, The Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and the United States Capitol Building. Two planes hit the World Trade Center. One hit the Pentagon, however one plane never arrived at its...
- 1992 - Mohamed AttaMohamed AttaMohamed 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...
arrives in Germany. - 1994 - Planning on Operation Bojinka begins in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. - 1995 - Operation Bojinka foiled, Said BahajiSaid BahajiSaid Bahaji was an alleged member of the Hamburg cell that provided money to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.-History:He is a German citizen, and was born to a Moroccan father and a German mother in 1975. The family moved to Morocco when he was nine years old. He came to Hamburg in...
and Ramzi bin al-Shibh arrive in Germany. - 1996 - Marwan al-ShehhiMarwan al-ShehhiMarwan 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....
and Ziad JarrahZiad JarrahZiad Samir Jarrah was one of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93, crashing the plane into a field in a rural area near Shanksville—after a passenger uprising—as part of the coordinated attacks.After a wealthy and secular...
arrive in Germany. - 1997 - Zakariyah Essabar arrives in Germany.
- 1998 - Recruitment of terrorists in Germany starts.
- 1999 - Hamburg cellHamburg cellThe Hamburg cell was, according to U.S. and German intelligence agencies, a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, Germany that included students who eventually came to be key operatives in the 9/11 attacks...
is fully formed. - 2000 - 2000 al-Qaeda Summit2000 al-Qaeda SummitThe 2000 al-Qaeda Summit was a meeting of several high-level al-Qaeda members held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.The meeting was held in the hotel room of Yazid Sufaat, a former army captain and businessman, in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting lasted from January 5 to January 8, 2000...
in Malaysia, pilots head to the United States and train in flying schools. - 2001 - Remaining hijackers go to the United States, Zacarias MoussaouiZacarias MoussaouiZacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...
goes to the United States and is arrested, other cell members flee Germany. - 2001 - Financial Support.
September 11, 2001 timeline for the day of the attacks
All times are in local time (EDT or UTC - 4).- 7:59 AM: Mohamed AttaMohamed AttaMohamed 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...
boards AA Flight 11 which under his control will crash into the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
. - 8:18 AM: AA Flight 11 is taken over by Mohamed AttaMohamed AttaMohamed 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...
and other hijackers. - 8:46 AM: American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California...
crashes into the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
north tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. - 9:03 AM: United Airlines Flight 175United Airlines Flight 175United 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...
crashes into the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
south tower between the 77th and 85th floors. - 9:37 AM: 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...
crashes into The PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. - 9:59 AM: South Tower of World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
collapses. - 10:03 AM: 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...
crashes into a field in Shanksville, PennsylvaniaShanksville, PennsylvaniaShanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 245, as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is approximately 60 miles southeast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
. - 10:28 AM: North Tower of World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe 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...
collapses.
October
- October 1: Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
speaks to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly. - October 7: U.S. Attack on AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
commences.
Beyond October
- March 2002: The Tribute in LightTribute in LightThe Tribute in Light is an art installation of 88 searchlights placed next to the site of the World Trade Center to create two vertical columns of light in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually by The Municipal Art Society of New York...
project begins. - September 2002: First anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks are held throughout the world, particularly the USA.
External links
- "Complete 911 Timeline" - Provided by the Center for Cooperative Research.
- "White House whitewashers" (written 27 September 2001)
- "Attacks prompt widespread closings" (written 11 September 2001)
- Barter, Sheila, "How the World Trade Center fell". BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...