A 9/11 Timeline

By Genevieve Roja, AlterNet. Posted August 21, 2002.

Sept. 11, 2001: 8:45 a.m.: A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 from Logan International Airport in Boston, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the WTC and explodes.

9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports -- the first time in U.S. history air traffic has been halted.

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77, departing Washington Dulles International Airport and bound for Los Angeles, crashes into the Pentagon.

10:10 a.m.: In Sommerset County, Pa., a hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashes.

Sept. 12, 2001: NATO members invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, declaring an attack against one to be an attack against all.

Sept. 13, 2001: Powell names Osama bin Laden a suspect in the 9/11 attacks.

-- Giuliani announces that 4,763 people are missing in New York.

-- Pentagon announces that 188 people are missing or dead in the Washington attack.

-- The Federal Aviation Administration reopens U.S. airports except Logan International in Boston and Reagan National in Washington, D.C.

-- Evangelical Christian leader, Rev. Jerry Falwell, says that "the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians" were to blame for the terrorist attacks. He also says that groups like the ACLU and People for the American Way "helped this happen" by angering God.

Sept. 14, 2001: The U.S. Treasury Department announces it is setting up a new agency to probe terrorist funds with the Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Center, which would include CIA and FBI investigators.

-- Europe observes three minutes of silence in a day of mourning. Some 200,000 people gather at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. In England, newspapers print U.S. flags for people to display.

-- Bush calls up 50,000 reservists for "homeland defense."

-- Congress approves $40 billion in emergency funding for increased public safety, anti-terrorism activities, disaster recovery efforts, and assistance for the victims of 9/11.

-- Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, votes to oppose military action against those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The Senate approved the resolution 98-0, while the House voted 420-1.

-- A Bush spokesperson calls Falwell's remarks Sept. 13 "inappropriate." Falwell issues a statement that his remarks were taken out of context and that he held only terrorists responsible for the attacks.

Sept. 15, 2001: Egyptian Adel Karas, 48, is shot to death in his import shop, the International Market, in San Gabriel, Calif.

-- In Mesa, Ariz., Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49-year-old Sikh, is shot to death outside his gas station. The man accused of killing him, Frank Roque, shot at a convenience store owned by a Lebanese man and at a house he had sold to a family from Afghanistan. He was quoted in police reports saying "all Arabs had to be shot."

-- In Dallas, Tex., Waqar Hasan, 46, is shot to death in his store, Mom's Grocery.

-- The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it has collected reports of more than 700 possible hate crimes across the U.S. since 9/11.

-- Bush names bin Laden the "prime suspect" and tells the military to ready themselves.

-- Pentagon activates "Operation Noble Eagle."

Sept. 16, 2001: Vice President Dick Cheney announces that as the terrorist attack unfolded Sept. 11, Bush had ordered the military to shoot down any other passenger jets believed to have been hijacked for use in the attack.

Sept. 17, 2001: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cancel their annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

-- Falwell apologizes for his remarks made Sept. 13.

Sept. 18, 2001: Anthrax-tainted letters dated Sept. 11 and postmarked Sept. 18 are sent to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw and the New York Post.

-- Attorney General John Ashcroft announces new rules allowing the INS to detain immigrants suspected of terrorism for a maximum of 48 hours before charging them.

-- The Defense Department reveals that after the first plane crashed into the WTC, two Air Force F-15 fighters were dispatched to New York from Otis Air National Guard base in Falmouth, Mass. At the time of the second crash, they were 71 miles away, about eight minutes' traveling time at the fighters' maximum speed.

Sept. 19, 2001: U.S. Defense Department orders the deployment of dozens of combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which border Afghanistan. The Pentagon dubs the campaign against terrorism, "Operation Infinite Justice."

Sept. 20, 2001: In a nationally televised joint session to Congress, Bush demands that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and shut down every terrorist camp in Afghanistan or face military attack. Bush announces the creation of an Office of Homeland Security and names Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to the post.

-- Amtrak says it plans to request $3 billion in emergency funding from the federal government to help it cope with the spike in passenger traffic following 9/11.

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