Twenty-five years after the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, Sept. 11 remains a day of remembrance of the lives lost, the families changed forever and the first responders and ordinary people who acted in extraordinary circumstances.
As we remember the huge toll of this day that shaped our country in so many ways, here's a look back at the timeline of events:
7:59 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston for Los Angeles.
8:14 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston for Los Angeles.
8:20 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington, D.C., for Los Angeles.
8:42 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark, New Jersey, for San Francisco after a delay.
8:46 a.m. — Hijacked Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 through 99 of the World Trade Center's North Tower in New York City.
8:50 a.m. — President George W. Bush, visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, is informed that a plane has struck the World Trade Center. Service
9:03 a.m. — Hijacked Flight 175 crashes into floors 77 through 85 of the World Trade Center's South Tower. The second impact makes clear that the United States is under a coordinated attack.
9:37 a.m. — Hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
9:42 a.m. — The Federal Aviation Administration orders all flights in U.S. airspace grounded.
9:45 a.m. — The White House and U.S. Capitol are evacuated amid fears of additional attacks.
9:57 a.m. — Passengers aboard Flight 93, having learned about the attacks in New York and Washington, begin an attempt to retake control of the aircraft from the hijackers.
9:59 a.m. — The World Trade Center's South Tower collapses, less than an hour after it was struck.
10:03 a.m. — Flight 93 crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew had fought back against the hijackers; the plane does not reach its intended target. All 40 passengers and crew members aboard are killed.
10:28 a.m. — The World Trade Center's North Tower collapses. The two towers have fallen less than two hours after the first plane struck.
12:15 p.m. — The airspace over the 48 contiguous states is cleared of commercial and private flights.
Within hours of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, millions of people across the world felt compelled to respond to the crisis. Volunteers and trained professionals from near and far rushed to help in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93 sites.
The attacks killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard the four hijacked aircraft. The victims included civilians, airline passengers and crew members, firefighters, police officers and other emergency responders. ■
