American Airlines Flight 11

American Airlines Flight 11

Seconds after Flight 11 Impact.
Summary
Date	September 11 2001
Cause	Hijacking
Site	World Trade Center
Origin	Logan International Airport
Destination	Los Angeles International Airport
Passengers	81 (incl. 5 hijackers)
Crew	11
Fatalities	1,458 (including 92 in Aircraft and 1366 in Tower 1)
Survivors	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-223ER
Operator	American Airlines
Tail number	N334AA

"Flight 11" redirects here. For the Continental Airlines flight that was bombed in 1962 see Continental Airlines Flight 11.

American Airlines Flight 11 was the first flight hijacked in the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was an American Airlines flight aboard a Boeing 767-223ER aircraft, registration number N334AA,^[1] which regularly flew from Logan International Airport in East Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport. On September 11, 2001, the aircraft on this route was hijacked, and was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 a.m. Out of all the planes hijacked that day, Flight 11 contained the most passengers (76 people, and 11 crew).

Hijackers

Five hijackers were aboard the flight:

• Mohamed Atta al Sayed (Egyptian) - the leader and pilot, was in seat 9D.
• Waleed al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian) - sat in seat 2B
• Wail al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian) - sat next to Waleed, in seat 2A
• Abdulaziz al-Omari (Saudi Arabian) - sat in seat 9G, had earlier flown with Atta to Logan Airport from Portland, Maine
• Satam al-Suqami (Saudi Arabian) - had paid in cash that day, sat in seat 10B. He also stabbed a passenger who tried to intervene the hijacking.

Four of the hijackers were selected by CAPPS for extra screening of their checked bags for explosives. Mohamed Atta was selected when he checked in at Portland International Jetport, while Satam al-Suqami, Wail al-Shehri, and Waleed al-Shehri were selected in Boston. Since Waleed had checked no bags, CAPPS screening had no effect on him, while the others merely had their bags undergo extra screening. CAPPS selectees did not undergo any extra scrutiny at the passenger security checkpoint.^[2]

The flight

AA 11 flight path from Boston to New York City

The flight was regularly scheduled for takeoff at 7:45 a.m.^[3] However, boarding was running behind schedule, and at 7:45 a.m., lead hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari were still boarding the plane. In the rush, Atta's bags were not loaded onto the plane in time.^[4] The aircraft departed from Gate 26,^[5] and after a 14 minute delay, the flight took off from Logan International Airport at 7:59 a.m. from runway 4R.^[6] At 8:13:29 a.m., as the aircraft was passing through 26,000 feet over central Massachusetts, the pilot responded to a request from Boston Air Traffic Control Center to make a 20° turn to the right.^[6] At 8:13:47, Boston Center then instructed the pilots to ascend to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The aircraft never responded to this request.^[6] At 8:16 a.m., the aircraft levelled off at 29,000 feet.^[6]

Hijacking

The 9/11 Commission estimates that the hijacking began at 8:14 a.m.^[7] John Ogonowski (captain) and Thomas McGuinness (first officer) were in control until the plane was hijacked. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft started to deviate from its scheduled path. Boston Air Control made multiple attempts at contacting Flight 11 but received no response.^[7] At 8:21 a.m. the flight stopped transmitting its Mode-C transponder signal.^[6]

At 8:24:38 a.m., the hijackers tried to make an announcement to the passengers, but pressed the wrong button and sent the message to the Boston Center.^[8] Air traffic controllers heard Atta announcing, "We have some planes, just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport". At 8:24:56, 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."^[6] At 8:26 a.m., approximately over Voorheesville, New York (apparently, the plane could clearly be seen from the Thatcher Park escarpment), the plane made a 100-degree turn to the south heading toward New York City.^[9] At 8:33:59, 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 to flight control's regarding on AA11's location and heading. At 8:37 a.m., the aircraft began descending from 29,000 feet at 3,200 feet/minute, and made a final turn towards Manhattan at 8:43 a.m.^[6]

Phone calls

Flight attendants Madeline Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong supplied information on what happened. According to them, three people – two attendants (Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui) and a passenger – were stabbed or had their throats slashed by the hijackers. The passenger, Daniel Lewin, a notable Internet entrepreneur, had also previously served as an officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit of the Israeli military. It is unknown if the hijackers targeted him specifically because he was Israeli or if by coincidence. A 2002 FAA memo referenced Lewin as possibly being killed by Satam al-Suqami after he attempted to stop the hijacking. Apparently, Lewin, seated in 9B, was attacked by al-Suqami, who was sitting immediately behind him in seat 10B. Betty Ong provided details to American Airlines' operations center. In a four minute call, she provided information regarding lack of communication with the cockpit, lack of access to the cockpit, and passenger injuries.^[10] She provided the seat locations of the hijackers, which helped to determine their identities.^[11]

Crash

A frame from Pavel Hlava's video, which shows Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Frame from Naudet video, seconds after impact.

At 8:46:40 a.m.,^[6] Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center. The aircraft, which was travelling at approximately 466 miles per hour, impacted between the 93rd and 99th floors with approximately 10,000 gallons of flammable jet fuel.^[12]

The speed of the plane is estmated at 466 mph at impact.^[12] This was the first crash in the attacks of the day. All on board (11 crew, 76 passengers, and 5 hijackers) were killed. The crash was also witnessed by nearby pedestrians and drivers.

The first news and radio organizations reported an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center, CNN broke into a commercial at 8:49 a.m. CNN headlines first read 'World Trade Center Disaster.' Carol Lin, who was the first anchor to break the news of the attacks, said:

Yeah. This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

^[12]

Later, Sean Murtagh, CNN vice-president of finance, in an on-air phone call, said from his office in the CNN New York bureau that a large passenger commercial jet hit the World Trade Center. Eventually, all other TV networks interrupted regular broadcasting with news of the crash. Initial news reports speculated the crash as a terrible accident until Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower 17 minutes later.

Jules Naudet, a French cameraman, and Pavel Hlava, a Czech immigrant, both filmed the crash of the plane into the building.^[13] A web cam set up by Wolfgang Staehle at an art exhibit in Brooklyn to take images of Lower Manhattan every four seconds, also captured images of American Airlines Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower.^[14]

Casualties

The damage caused by the impact destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone. All stairwells and elevator shafts that would have taken victims down to safety were destroyed, unlike the South Tower which (because it was hit at an angle and not towards the center) still had one functional stairwell after impact. 1366 people were at or above the floors of impact in the North Tower. According to the Commission Report, hundreds were killed instantly by the impact ^[15], the rest were trapped and died later, either from jumping from the burning building, the fire and smoke or the eventual collapse.

Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st-105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any other employer. Many rescue workers (400 for the two towers together, most of them of the FDNY), died when the tower collapsed.

Notable passengers included:

• David Angell, American television producer (b. 1946)
• Berry Berenson, American actress and photographer (b. 1948)
• Carolyn Beug, music video producer (b. 1953)
• Charles Edward Jones, a military astronaut (b. 1952)
• Daniel Lewin, co-founder and CTO of Akamai (b. 1970)

In addition, Seth MacFarlane, creator of the animated TV series Family Guy, was scheduled on Flight 11. However, due to a mix up, he missed the plane. His travel agent told him the flight departed at 8:15 instead of 7:45, and he arrived just after the plane had boarded. ^[16]

The passenger manifest for American Airlines Flight 11 indicates Mohammad Atta was not on the flight, who was reported to have been in seat 9D. The passenger identified in seat 9D on the manifest was Daniel M. Lewin according to a FOIA copy of the manifest made available by the Boston Globe two days after September 11th.^{[citation needed]}

Although the impact itself caused extensive structural damage, it was the long-lasting fire, starting with burning jet fuel, that is blamed for the structural failure of the North Tower. Many have speculated that this is why the hijackers chose to use this fully fueled transcontinental flight. The centralized-support design (in the center core and exterior walls, instead of throughout) of the towers was designed to withstand multiple jet impacts according to on site WTC construction manager, Frank A. Demartini. In a later recording, Osama bin Laden seems to take credit for the attack and states that he did not expect the towers would collapse.

Further information: Collapse of the World Trade Center

NORAD response

The Federal Aviation Administration's Boston Air Traffic Control Center was responsible for monitoring American Airlines Flight 11, as it departed from Logan. After repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, along with transmissions from the plane "we have some planes.", the air traffic controller knew this was a hijacking. He alerted his supervisor, who then began notifying the chain of command of the hijacking, and that the flight was heading into the New York Center's airspace. At 8:32 a.m., the FAA Command Center in Herndon, Virginia notified FAA headquarters.^[7]

At 8:37:52 a.m., the Boston Control Center bypassed standard protocols and directly contacted NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York.^[7] NEADS called on two F-15 fighter jets at Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts to scramble, intending to intercept Flight 11. The F-15 fighters took off from Otis at 8:46 a.m.^[7] By this time, American Airlines Flight 11 had already crashed into the World Trade Center.

Because Flight 11's transponder was off, United States Air Force pilots did not know which direction to travel to meet the plane. NEADS spent the next several minutes watching their radar screens in anticipation of Flight 11 returning a radar contact. The nine minutes of advanced notification about the hijacking of Flight 11 was the most that NORAD received out of the four hijacked aircraft on 9/11.^[17]

Current flight

The flight number for future flights on the same route at the same takeoff time was changed to American Airlines Flight 25, now a Boeing 757 instead of a Boeing 767. An American flag now flies on the jet bridge that Flight 11 departed from at Logan Airport.^[18]

References

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report
• 9-11 NTSB Report
• American Airlines Flight 11 manifest
• Picture of aircraft Pre 9/11
• September 11, 2001 archive of American Airlines site explaining that all aircraft are accounted for [2]
• September 12, 2001 archive of American Airlines site with condolences for deceased [3]

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