Timeline Tuesday 11 September 2001

Events on Tuesday 11 September 2001 16

• 2001 7 World Trade Center collapses A third tower falls that afternoon The 47-storey 7 World Trade Center, damaged by debris and burning uncontrolled for hours, collapsed late in the afternoon. It had been evacuated and no one was killed in its fall.
• 2001 9/11 attacks 2,977 killed in worst terrorist attack in history Al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger aircraft on September 11, 2001. Two were flown into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon, and one crashed in Pennsylvania. 2,977 people were killed.
• 2001 9/11 — the Fed provides liquidity Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Greenspan and the Fed act immediately to provide liquidity to a financial system in shock. The Fed cuts interest rates and coordinates with the Treasury and foreign central banks to prevent a financial panic. The New York Stock Exchange is closed for four trading days; when it reopens, Greenspan's actions have stabilised the banking system. He subsequently cuts rates aggressively through 2002-03 in response to the recession following the dot-com crash and 9/11 — cutting the federal funds rate to 1% by June 2003.
• 2001 American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston Bound for Los Angeles with 92 aboard Flight 11 took off from Logan International Airport in Boston, fifteen minutes behind schedule. Five hijackers were aboard the Boeing 767, which carried enough fuel for a transcontinental flight.
• 2001 American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington Dulles The Washington flight takes off Flight 77 left Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles carrying 64 people, five of them hijackers.
• 2001 Flight 11 is hijacked Controllers lose contact over Massachusetts Between roughly 8:14 and 8:19 the hijackers took control of Flight 11. Flight attendant Betty Ong reached American Airlines ground staff by phone and relayed what was happening aboard the aircraft.
• 2001 Flight 11 strikes the North Tower Impact between floors 93 and 99 Flight 11 was flown into the north face of 1 World Trade Center at roughly 466 miles per hour. The impact severed all three stairwells above the crash zone, trapping everyone on the floors above.
• 2001 Flight 175 strikes the South Tower The second impact, seen live on television Flight 175 struck 2 World Trade Center between floors 77 and 85 as news cameras were trained on the burning North Tower. The second impact made clear the first had not been an accident.
• 2001 Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon Impact on the building's west side Flight 77 was flown into the western face of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing all 64 aboard and 125 people inside the building. The section struck had recently been reinforced during renovation.
• 2001 Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania The aircraft goes down near Shanksville Flight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County at roughly 563 miles per hour, killing all 44 aboard. It was the only one of the four aircraft not to reach its intended target.
• 2001 The FAA grounds all departures A national ground stop is ordered The Federal Aviation Administration halted all takeoffs from US airports, then ordered every aircraft in American airspace to land at the nearest suitable airport. Roughly 4,500 aircraft were brought down within hours.
• 2001 The North Tower collapses The last of the towers falls The North Tower fell 102 minutes after being struck, the longest any of the towers stood. Its collapse sent a second vast dust cloud through lower Manhattan.
• 2001 The South Tower collapses Fifty-six minutes after impact The South Tower fell in roughly ten seconds, having burned for less than an hour. It collapsed first despite being struck second, because the impact was lower and had damaged more of the structure.
• 2001 The passenger revolt on Flight 93 Passengers vote to storm the cockpit Having learned of the other attacks through phone calls, passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 decided to retake the aircraft. The cockpit voice recorder captured their assault on the cockpit door.
• 2001 United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston The second Boston flight takes off Flight 175 left Logan for Los Angeles with 65 people aboard, including five hijackers. It was airborne roughly fifteen minutes after Flight 11.
• 2001 United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark Delayed on the runway for 42 minutes Flight 93 left Newark for San Francisco with 44 people aboard after a long taxi delay. The delay meant its passengers later learned of the earlier attacks by phone.