The Last Two Hours of American Airlines Flight 11 and Flight 175

Portland Airport

Hijacker Muhammad Atta and his second hijacker partner Abdul Aziz Al Omari woke up in their hotel room at 4 am.  They had arrived at the hotel “Comfort Inn” in the city of Portland, about 150 kilometers from Boston, the day before to carry out the plan to hijack the American planes.  On the morning of September 11, 2001, at 5:45 a.m., Al-Qaeda hijackers Muhammad Atta and al-Omari crossed the metal detector gate at Portland Airport. Atta wore an outfit resembling that of pilots—a blue shirt and dark pants. During security checks, nothing unusual was found in their belongings.

At 6:00 AM, their flight, carrying eight passengers, departed from Portland’s small airport for Boston. Other hijackers were to join them in Boston. Their plane reached Boston International Airport at 6:45 AM. From there, they were to board American Airlines Flight 11, destined for Los Angeles.

According to the FBI, Atta and his associates had previously purchased small Swiss knives, which were typically allowed on planes at the time unless they raised suspicion among airport security.

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Boston Airport

At Boston Airport, Atta and Al-Omari waited near Gate 32 to board the plane. At this point, a weird incident occurred when a co-pilot from a flight that had just arrived from San Francisco, which was being transitioned into the ill-fated Flight 11, passed through the waiting area. Atta rushed to her and asked if she would be flying the plane to Los Angeles. She replied that her duty was only to bring the plane from San Francisco to Boston. Atta quickly turned back after hearing this.

To carry out the hijackings, Al-Qaeda members were divided into groups—three groups of five members and one group of four, with each group including a trained pilot. The trained pilots were Atta, Shehhi, Hani Hanjour, and Ziad Jarrah. Atta and Shehhi’s groups were assigned flights departing from Boston, while Jarrah and Hanjour’s groups targeted flights from Newark and Washington, D.C., respectively.

By the second week of September, the hijackers had booked rooms in hotels near Boston, Newark, and Washington, D.C. To avoid suspicion and mislead American security agencies the hijackers engaged in behaviors contrary to fundamentalist traditions. In Boston, Al-Omari and Al-Suqami paid for escort services from the Sweet Temptations agency. Another hijacker spent $100 on a prostitute twice in one day, while one more watched explicit videos, perhaps to avoid suspicion.

Flight 11

At 7:39 AM, Atta and Al-Omari boarded Flight 11 and took seats 8D and 8G in the business class. Before them, two other hijackers, Waleed and Wail Al-Shehri, brothers from Saudi Arabia, were seated in the first-class cabin at seats 2A and 2B, right in front of the cockpit door. The fifth hijacker, Satam Al-Suqami, took seat 10B in business class, located behind an Israeli-American businessman and former commando, Daniel Lewin.

There were 81 passengers on board Flight 11. As the plane was being prepared, Michael Woodward, the flight service manager, conducted final checks and briefly made eye contact with Mohamed Atta, who was seated at 8D. Woodward felt a chill run down his spine due to Atta’s intense stare. Over Atta’s strange gesture, he chose not to delay the flight further, because it was already late.

At 7:50 AM, Flight 11 was cleared for taxiing. Twenty minutes later, at 7:59 AM, the flight departed Boston for Los Angeles. For the first fifteen minutes, the pilots maintained routine communication with air traffic control.

At 8:14 AM, the air traffic controller instructed the flight to turn 20 degrees right and climb to 35,000 feet. The plane began ascending but leveled off at 29,000 feet. Shortly after, Flight 11 stopped responding to air traffic control.

Hijacking

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, the hijackers likely attacked flight attendants to gain access to the cockpit. Alternatively, they might have used a duplicate key to enter the cockpit directly. During this time, Lewin, seated in front of Al-Suqami, may have tried to resist the hijackers but was stabbed by Al-Suqami. The hijackers used pepper spray and threatened to have a bomb to maintain control over the passengers.

While the hijackers were taking over Flight 11, another flight, Flight 175, took off from Boston Airport at exactly 8:14 AM. Onboard this flight were five more Al-Qaeda hijackers, led by Marwan al-Shehhi, who was from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Flight 11 was now under the control of Mohamed Atta, a trained pilot. He changed the westbound flight’s course, turning it southeast towards New York. Air traffic controllers noticed the plane heading south and tried to give instructions to redirect it westward, but there was no response from the plane.

At 8:17 AM, the controller heard a scream from inside Flight 11, but they were unable to communicate with the pilots.

At 8:19 AM, flight attendant Betty Ong, seated at the rear of the plane, contacted the airline’s toll-free number. She reported, “I believe our plane is being hijacked. Two flight attendants have been stabbed, and we cannot access the cockpit.” She also reported that Lewin had been killed and that the hijackers were seated in business class.

At 8:21, the aircraft’s transponder, which provides location and altitude information to air traffic control, was turned off. This made it difficult for the controllers to track the plane in the air.

Hijacker Pilot’s Warning

At 8:24:38 AM, Boston Air Traffic Control received an unintended transmission from Mohamed Atta, in which he said:

“We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you’ll be okay. We are returning to the airport.”

At 8:25, another attendant, Amy Sweeney, seated ahead of Betty Ong, made a call to Boston Airport and informed flight manager Michael Woodward about the situation. Michael was the same person who had overseen the pre-flight arrangements for Flight 11 and had briefly made eye contact with the hijacker, Mohamed Atta. During the call, that moment replayed in Michael Woodward’s mind.

At 8:26, the aircraft entered New York’s airspace and began following the Hudson River below, which leads directly to New York City.

At 8:33:59, the hijackers sent another message, apparently intended for the passengers of Flight 11, but it was also recorded by air traffic control:
“Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don’t try to make any stupid moves.”

Flight 175, which had Al-Qaeda hijackers onboard but had not yet been hijacked, informed Boston air traffic control at 8:37 that they had spotted Flight 11. The pilots of Flight 175 were then instructed to stay away from Flight 11.

Flight 175

While Flight 11 was being taken over by the hijackers, another flight, Flight 175, took off from Boston Airport at exactly 8:14 AM. Onboard this flight were five more Al-Qaeda hijackers, led by Marwan al-Shehhi, who was from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Flight 11 was now under the control of Mohamed Atta, a trained pilot. He changed the westbound flight’s course, turning it southeast towards New York. Air traffic controllers noticed the plane heading south and tried to give instructions to redirect it westward, but there was no response from the plane.

At 8:17 AM, the controller heard a scream from inside Flight 11, but they were unable to communicate with the pilots.

At 8:44, Amy Sweeney told Michael, “Something is wrong. We are descending rapidly… we’re swaying back and forth.” Suddenly, Amy screamed in fear. Michael tried to calm her down and said, “Look out of the window and tell me where you are.” Amy replied, “We’re flying low. We see water and buildings.” She added, “We’re very, very low. We’re so low!”

Just before the call abruptly ended, Michael heard Amy’s final words: “Oh my God!—We’re so low!”

Last Words from Flight 11

Meanwhile, the other flight attendant, Betty, who had been in contact with the airline’s free call center for over 20 minutes, reported at 8:45, “Our plane is very low. Please pray for us.” Betty then screamed, “Oh God, oh God!” and then… silence.

At 8:46:25, Al-Qaeda hijackers flew Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the tallest building in the world at the time, striking it from the north side. The plane’s fuel ignited, creating a massive fireball, and the fire quickly spread throughout the tower.

Hijacking of Flight 175

Just after Flight 11 hit the North Tower, more Al-Qaeda hijackers, under the command of Marwan al-Shehhi, were heading toward the South Tower of the World Trade Center with Flight 175, which they had hijacked. They were only 15 minutes away.

Flight 175 carried five Al-Qaeda hijackers. Marwan al-Shehhi and Fayez Banihammad were from the United Arab Emirates, while Mohand al-Shehri and the brothers Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi were from Saudi Arabia.

The al-Ghamdi brothers stabbed and attacked several flight attendants with knives. They also used pepper spray in the cabin. The two pilots were killed by Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri, allowing Al-Qaeda’s trained pilot, Marwan al-Shehhi, to take control of the plane by force.

A passenger named Peter used the airplane’s phone to call his home, and his father answered. Peter said, “Dad, we’re on the plane, and it’s been hijacked.”

His father thought Peter was joking, as he often played pranks on his family.
“What are you talking about? Don’t scare everyone like this,” his father replied.
“No, it’s true,” Peter insisted.

The more Peter spoke, the clearer it became that he wasn’t joking.
“I think they’ve taken over the cockpit… A crew member has been stabbed… and someone else has just been killed. The plane is swaying dangerously. Call United Airlines… Tell them this is Flight 175, from Boston to LA…”

A Husband’s Last Loving Call to His Wife

Moments before the plane crashed into the tower, a passenger named Brian called his wife. When she couldn’t answer, Brian left a message for her on the voicemail, saying:

“Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I’m on an airplane that’s been hijacked. If things don’t go well, and it’s not looking good, I just want you to know I absolutely love you. I want you to do good, go have a good time. Same to my parents and everybody. And I just totally love you, and I’ll see you when you get there. ’Bye, babe. Hope I’ll call you.”

Final Moment

Flight 175 descended rapidly and flew at a high speed toward the southern twin section of the burning North Tower of the World Trade Center.

“No!” a New York air traffic controller screamed as he saw the aircraft’s trajectory on the radar screen and exclaimed, “The plane is not landing. It’s heading into the building!”

Inside the plane, Peter shouted his last words to his father before the crash: “Oh my God… Oh my God, oh my God.”

At 09:03:30, Al-Qaeda hijackers crashed Flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center between the 77th and 85th floors at an approximate speed of 550 miles per hour. Once again, a fiery explosion erupted, engulfing the tower in flames, and in mere seconds, dozens of lives were lost.

At 09:59, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, followed by the North Tower at 10:28.

The Americans realized that not just one but several planes had been hijacked and that they were under attack. In response, all aircraft in U.S. airspace were ordered to land immediately. Consequently, all flights in the U.S. promptly landed at nearby airports, except for two flights: Flight 93, which had taken off from New York a short while earlier, and Flight 77, which had departed from Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital. Both planes had been hijacked by Al-Qaeda.

 

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