As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, ABC News compiled these reminders about what happened that day, as well as in the years since.
FAST FACTS
19 hijackers took over four planes.
Three sites hit: The South and North towers of the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, a field in Shanksville, PA
102 minutes: Total time of the major events at the World Trade Center– the time from the first crash into The North Tower, to the second crash into the South Tower, to the collapse of the South Tower, to the collapse of the North Tower.
As of 2021, the remains of 1,106 individuals killed that day in New York City have still yet to be identified, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
FLIGHT NUMBERS AND TARGETS
American Airlines Flight 11: Crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center
AA 11 was scheduled as a nonstop flight from Boston to Los Angeles before it was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center at 8:46am, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. The second plane hit shortly after.
United Airlines Flight 175: Crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center
UA 175 had been scheduled as a nonstop flight from Boston to Los Angeles before it was hijacked and crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03am, according to the 9/11 Commision Report. The first plane had hit the towers just under 20 minutes earlier.
American Airlines Flight 77: Crashed into Pentagon
AA 77 had been scheduled as a nonstop flight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. AA77 was hijacked just before 9am, according to the 9/11 commission report, and crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37am.
United Airlines Flight 93: Crashed in field in Shanksville, PA
UA 93 had been scheduled as a nonstop flight from Newark to San Francisco. The plane was “likely” hijacked at 9:28am, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, and passengers began to revolt at 9:57 am before it ultimately crashed at 10:03am.
9/11 MEMORIAL OFFICIAL TIMELINE
5:45 a.m. – Hijackers pass through security in Portland, Maine, and board a flight to Boston, where they connect to American Airlines Flight 11.
6:00 a.m. – Polling stations open, as September 11 was a primary election day in New York City.
7:59 a.m. – Flight 11 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles. Eleven crew members, 76 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:15 a.m. – Flight 175 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles. Nine crew members, 51 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:19 a.m. – Flight 11 crew members alert ground personnel that a hijacking is underway. Shortly before, one hijacker stabbed a passenger, Daniel Lewin, who was seated in front of him. Officials speculate that Lewin may have tried to stop the hijackers and was likely the first victim of the attacks.
8:20 a.m. – American Airlines Flight 77, en route to Los Angeles, takes off from Washington, D.C. Six crew members, 53 passengers, and five hijackers are on board.
8:24 a.m. – Attempting to communicate with passengers, a hijacker contacts air traffic control, unwittingly alerting controllers to the attacks.
8:37 a.m. – Boston air traffic control alerts the military. Air National Guard jets in Massachusetts are mobilized to follow Flight 11.
8:42 a.m. San Francisco-bound United Airlines Flight 93 takes off at Newark following a delay. Seven crew members, 33 passengers, and four hijackers are on board.
8:46 a.m. – Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower.
8:50 a.m. – President George W. Bush is alerted. His advisors assume this is a tragic accident.
8:55 a.m. – The South Tower is declared secure.
8:59 a.m. – Port Authority police order the evacuation of both towers. A minute later, the order is expanded to the entire World Trade Center complex.
9:00 a.m. – A flight attendant aboard Flight 175 alerts air traffic control that a hijacking is underway.
9:03 a.m. – Flight 175 crashes into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower.
9:05 a.m. – President Bush learns that a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. Twenty-five minutes later, he addresses Americans, saying that “terrorism against our nation will not stand.”
9:05 a.m. – Flight 77 passenger Barbara Olson calls her husband, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who alerts other federal officials of the hijacking.
9:36 a.m. – Secret Service agents evacuate Vice President Dick Cheney to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center beneath the White House.
9:37 a.m. – American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. The crash and fire kill 59 on the plane and 125 on the ground.
9:42 a.m. – The FAA grounds all flights.
9:45 a.m. – The White House and U.S. Capitol are evacuated.
9:59 a.m. – The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800 people in and around the building are killed.
10:03 a.m. – United Airlines Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew storm the cockpit. Forty people on board, excluding the hijackers, perish.
10:15 a.m. – The Pentagon’s outer ring collapses.
10:28 a.m. – The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 in and around the building are killed.
11:02 a.m. – New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani orders the evacuation of Lower Manhattan.
12:16 p.m. – The last flight still in the air above the continental United States lands.
12:30 p.m. – A group of 14 survivors emerge from a North Tower stairwell.
3:00 p.m. – A survivor, Pasquale Buzzelli, is rescued from the rubble of the North Tower.
5:20 p.m. – After burning for hours, 7 World Trade Center collapses. There are no casualties.
8:30 p.m. – President Bush addresses the nation from the White House, assuring Americans that a search is underway for “those who are behind these evil acts.”
10:30 p.m. – Rescuers locate and extract two PAPD officers injured but alive in debris of the World Trade Center.
DEATHS
THE DAY OF THE ATTACK: 2,977 total deaths occurred on the day of Sept. 11, 2001, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. They occurred in three locations: New York City, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Breakdown of each:
NEW YORK CITY:
2,753 KILLED AT THE SITE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
According to the NYC Medical Examiner’s office, 2,753 individuals were killed at the WTC on September 11th. As of 2021, the remains of 1,647 (60%) of those individuals have been identified, according to the office. The remains of 1,106 individuals (40%) remain unidentified.
Those killed at the WTC that day included, but are not limited to:
441 FIRST RESPONDERS.
Among the nearly 3,000 killed that day are 441 first responders who rushed to the site to save others, according to the 9/11 Memorial. They include, but are not limited to:
· 23 New York Police Department Officers, according to the NYPD
· 343 New York City Firefighters, according to the NYFD
· 37 Police Officers from the Port Authority of New Jersey, according to PANJ
92 PASSENGERS AND CREW MEMBERS ON AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11
All 11 crew members and 81 passengers, including 5 hijackers, on American Airlines Flight 11 were killed when it crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
65 PASSENGERS AND CREW MEMBERS ON UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 175
All 9 crew members and 56 passengers, including five hijackers, were killed on United Airlines Flight 175 when it crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, according to the commission report.
WASHINGTON D.C.:
184 KILLED AT PENTAGON
184 individuals were killed at the Pentagon, according to the memorial, including the 64 individuals on the plane that crashed into the building.
PENNSYLVANIA:
40 KILLED IN SHANKSVILLE CRASH
All 40 passengers and crew members, as well as four hijackers, were killed when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into the field in Shanksville, PA.
SINCE THE DAY OF THE ATTACKS, thousands of individuals– including first responders and survivors- have died from illness contracted from the terror sites. They include, but are not limited to:
2,833 FIRST RESPONDERS AND SURVIVORS WHO HAVE DIED DUE TO CANCER OR AERODIGESTIVES, ACCORDING TO THE CDC
At least 2,833 first responders and survivors have passed from illnesses related to the site, according to the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program– the majority of them first responders. According to the program, 1,167 first responders have died from Aerodigestives1 and 1,105 from cancer. An additional 302 survivors have died from aerodigestives, according to the program, and 305 from cancer.
241 NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICERS KILLED FROM ILLNESSES AS OF 2019
ABC News has previously reported that, as of 2019, 241 members of the NYPD died of 9/11-related illnesses — compared to the 23 killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. The most common killer has been cancer, but new research suggests that cardiovascular disease is markedly higher in responders who were first on the scene as well as those who spent protracted periods of time on the pile.
MORE THAN 250 NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT FIREMAN KILLED FROM ILLNESS AS OF 2021
More than 250 firefights have died since in the 20 years since 9/11, according to the latest snapshot of FDNY health released this week. Nearly 16,000 FDNY members were exposed to dust, particulates, noxious gases, chemicals and fibers while working for more than 10 months in the rescue and recovery effort, the report said.
IN THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
AT LEAST 6,783 U.S. MILITARY CASUALTIES HAVE OCCURRED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, ACCORDING TO THE DOD:
As of August 23rd, 4,431 U.S Military and Department of Defense personnel have been killed in Iraq since 2003, according to the Department of Defense. More than 30,000 have been injured.
As of August 23rd, 2,353 U.S. military service members have been killed in Afghanistan since October 2001, according to DOD. More than 20,000 were wounded.
More than 30,000 ACTIVE SERVICE MEMBERS AND U.S. VETERANS OF THE 9/11 WARS HAVE DIED BY SUICIDE
A study out of Brown University’s Watson Institute found that 30,117 active-duty service members have died by suicide. These high suicide rates– which outpace average Americans– are caused by multiple factors, the study found, some inherent to fighting in a war and others unique to America’s “war on terror” framework.
