The Daily Hatch

 

On September 11, 2001 the junior trip for the Arkansas Baptist High School of Little Rock was at the White House on the front lawn ready to enter the White House at 9:37 am EST when the plane struck the Pentagon just a few miles away. Secret Service ran out of the White House and told all the students to immediately return to the bus. They returned quickly to the bus in a rush because they were told emphatically to leave. While leaving the bus carrying the Arkansas Baptist students went  near the Pentagon and they saw the smoke coming out of the building.

I was on my way in Little Rock to make a delivery to UPS plant next to the Little Rock Airport at 8:03 am CST when I heard on the radio about the second crash in the tower. This sent a cold chill up my spine since I realized that the first crash was not an accident but an attack on our country. Then I noticed  several minutes later that there were lots of planes landing at the Little Rock Airport.

When I returned to the factory, our plant manager Craig Carney was trying to get in touch with his daughter Michelle who was on the tour of the White House he thought. At this same time we were told by the news media that Flight 93 had been taken over by the terrorists and may be headed for the White House.

Finally Craig got a call from his daughter and she filled him in on all the events. Below is a timeline of those events of 9/11

On September 11, 2001, the world was shocked as thousands were killed in a horrifying series of terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Here is a breakdown of the events as they unfolded ten years ago.

7:59 a.m. (ET)

76 passengers, 11 crew members and five Al Qaeda hijackers take off on American Airlines Flight 11 (Boston to Los Angeles). The flight will be hi-jacked around 8:14 a.m. and re-routed toward Manhattan.

8:14 a.m.

51 passengers, nine crew members, and five hijackers take off on another Los Angeles-bound United Airlines plane, Flight 175 from Boston. This flight will be hi-jacked around 8:45 a.m. and re-routed toward Manhattan.

8:19 a.m.

Aboard Flight 11, flight attendants Betty Ong and Madeline Amy Sweeney alert ground personnel of the hi-jacking.

8:20 a.m.

American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Washington, D.C.

8:42 a.m.

United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark, N.J.

8:38 a.m.

Air traffic control notifies the military air defense command of a hijacking.

8:43 a.m.

The FAA notified military authorities of a second hijacking

8:46 a.m.

Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center’s North Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds more within the tower.

8:55 a.m.

Flight 77 begins turning east, away from its intended course.

9:03 a.m.

Flight 175 crashes into the WTC’s South Tower, killing everyone on board and hundreds more within the building.

9:37 a.m.

Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, killing the 59 people on board and 125 others in the building.

9:42 a.m.

The FAA grounds all flights over or headed toward the United States.

All international flights headed for the U.S. are redirected to Canada. Transport Canada follows and closes down its airspace. Transport Canada take in diverted U.S.-bound international flights, launching the agency’s “Operation Yellow Ribbon.”

During the procedure, 38 planes will be diverted to Gander, N.L.

9:59 a.m.

The WTC South Tower collapses, killing approximately 600 people.

10:03 a.m.

Flight 93 crashes into a field in Somerset County, near Shanksville, Pa., killing all 40 people on board.

10:15 a.m.

The Pentagon E Ring (the outermost ring of offices) collapses.

10:28 a.m.

The WTC North Tower collapses, killing approximately 1,400 people.

10:43 a.m.

NAV Canada orders a grounding of all flights over Canada.

11:02 a.m.

Lower Manhattan is evacuated.

12:30 p.m.

14 survivors discovered in the WTC North Tower, in stairwell B.

12:28 p.m.

Canadian airspace is closed.

2:54 p.m.

A Korean Air flight lands in Whitehorse – met by armed police – after accidentally signaling a hijacking.

5:20 p.m.

7 World Trade Center (across the street from the twin towers) collapses.