Part 4 of 4
EXCERPT BEGINS
9:41 a.m. From Flight 93, Marion Birtton calls a friend. She tells him two people have been killed and the plane has been turned around. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01]
9:42 a.m. From Flight 93 Mark Bingham calls his mother and says, "I'm on a flight from Newark to San Francisco and there are three guys who have taken over the plane and they say they have a bomb." [9:42, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01] In an alternate version, he says, "I'm in the air, I'm calling you on the Airphone. I'm calling you from the plane. We've been taken over. There are three men that say they have a bomb." ["Just before dawn in San Francisco," Toronto Sun, 9/16/01, 9:42, Boston Globe, 11/23/01]
9:43 a.m. Bush's motorcade arrives at Sarasota's airport and pulls up close to Air Force One. He learns a plane has hit the Pentagon as the motorcade gets near the airport. Bush immediately boards the plane. [Washington Times, 10/8/02, Telegraph, 12/16/01] Security then does an extra-thorough search of all the baggage for the other passengers, delaying takeoff until 9:55. [St. Petersburg Times, 9/8/02 (]
(After 9:44 a.m.) According to F-16 pilot Honey's account, at some point after the F-16s had set up a defensive perimeter over Washington, the lead pilot receives a garbled message about Flight 93 that isn't heard by the other two pilots. "The message seemed to convey that the White House was an important asset to protect." Honey says he is later told the message is, "Something like, 'Be aware of where it is, and it could be a target.''' The other pilot, codenamed Lou, says the unnamed lead pilot tells him, "I think the Secret Service told me this." [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 76] Both Lou and Honey state they are never given orders to shoot down any plane that day. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 222] How could these pilots not be sure of their instructions to protect the White House? Wouldn't the order have been confirmed and shared with the two other pilots? What happened to the dramatic "I want you to protect the White House at all costs" order supposedly given to all the pilots (see (After 9:56 a.m.))? Why aren't any of them actually ordered to fly toward this mysterious target?
9:45 a.m. Tom Burnett calls his wife Deena for the third time. She tells him about the crash into the Pentagon. Tom speaks about the bomb he'd mentioned earlier, saying, "I don't think they have one. I think they're just telling us that." He says the hijackers are talking about crashing the plane into the ground. "We have to do something." He says that he and others are making a plan. "A group of us." [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 111] So there would have been at least 19 minutes advance warning that a passenger takeover was likely, if the contents of these phone calls were being passed on to the right authorities. Even by his second call, the FBI was listening in. [Toronto Sun, 9/16/01]
9:45 a.m. After having some trouble with his phone, passenger Todd Beamer is able to speak to Verizon phone representative Lisa Jefferson, with the FBI listening in. He talks for about 15 minutes. Beamer says he has been herded to the back of the plane along with nine other passengers and five flight attendants. A hijacker who says he has a bomb strapped to his body is guarding them. 27 passengers are being guarded by a hijacker in first class, which is separated by a curtain. One hijacker has gone into the cockpit. One passenger is dead (that leaves one passenger unaccounted for - presumably the man who made a call from the bathroom). The two pilots are apparently dead. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/16/01, Newsweek, 9/22/01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01] (A conflicting version [Boston Globe, 11/23/01] states that 27 were in the back, and that he saw four hijackers) Is Burnett's first class section group in contact with Todd Beamer's coach section group in the back of the plane or are there two independent plans to take over the plane?
(9:45 a.m.) The White House begins a general evacuation. This is 21 minutes after the FAA warned a hijacked plane appeared to be headed toward Washington (see 9:24 a.m.) and about 40 minutes after Vice President Cheney has been evacuated from the White House (see (After 9:03 a.m.)). [9:43, New York Times, 9/12/01, 9:45, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 9:45, Washington Post, 1/27/02, 9:45, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 9:45, CNN, 9/12/01, 9:48, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 9:48, AP, 8/19/02] Initially the evacuation is orderly, but soon the Secret Service agents are yelling that everyone should run. [ABC, 9/11/02]
(9:45 a.m.) Ben Sliney, FAA's National Operations Manager, orders the entire nationwide air traffic system shut down. All flights at US airports are stopped. 3,949 flights are still in the air at the time. Sliney makes the decision without consulting FAA head Jane Garvey, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, or other bosses, but they quickly approve. [USA Today, 8/13/02, USA Today, 8/13/02 (] [9:40, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 9:40, CNN, 9/12/01, 9:40, New York Times, 9/12/01, 9:45, AP, 8/12/02, 9:45, AP, 8/19/02, 9:45, Newsday, 9/10/02, 9:45, USA Today, 8/13/02, 9:49, Washington Post, 9/12/01] 75 percent of the planes land within one hour of the order. [USA Today, 8/12/02 (C)] The Washington Post has reported that it was Mineta who told Monte Belger at the FAA: "Monte, bring all the planes down," even adding, "[Expletive] pilot discretion." [Washington Post, 1/27/02] However, it is later reported by a different Post reporter that Mineta didn't even know of the order until 15 minutes later. This reporter "says FAA officials had begged him to maintain the fiction." [Slate, 4/2/02]
(9:46 a.m.) According to the Flight 93 voice recording, around this time one hijacker in the cockpit says to another, "Let the guys in now." A vague instruction is given to bring the pilot back in. It's not clear if this is a reference to an original pilot or a hijacker pilot. Investigators aren't sure if the original pilots were killed or allowed to live. ["About midway", through a 31-minute recording that starts at 9:31, Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 208] Also by this time, "everyone" in the United Airlines crisis center "now knew that a flight attendant on board had called the mechanics desk to report that one hijacker had a bomb strapped on and another was holding a knife on the crew." [Wall Street Journal, 10/15/01] Perhaps the pilots were being kept alive, in case the hijackers faced a problem they couldn't handle? The presence of two hijackers in the cockpit talking to each other suggests that there were in fact four hijackers, and one was in the cockpit from before the hijacking began, since passengers only saw three, and two are known to have been guarding the passengers.
(9:47 a.m.) On Flight 93, Jeremy Glick is still on the phone with his wife Lyz. He tells her that the passengers are taking a vote if they should try to take over the plane or not. [About the same time as a different phone call, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01] He later says that all the men on the plane have voted to attack the hijackers. [No time marker, Toronto Sun, 9/16/01] When asked about weapons, he says they don't have guns, just knives. This appears to contradict an earlier mention of guns, but this may be the true account since no other calls mention guns, and the voice recorder doesn't record any gunshots. His wife Lyz got the impression from him that the hijacker standing nearby claiming to hold the bomb would be easy to overwhelm. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 153-154] If the authorities hadn't learned they shouldn't shoot down the plane from Tom Burnett's call two minutes earlier, they should have learned it from this one.
9:48 a.m. The Capitol building in Washington begins evacuation, 24 minutes after the FAA has warned a hijacked plane appeared to be headed toward Washington (see 9:24 a.m.). [AP, 8/19/02] Senator Tom Daschle, majority leader of the Senate, later states, "Some capitol policemen broke into the room and said, we're under attack. I've got to take you out right away." Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, third in line of succession to the presidency behind Vice President Cheney, is in the Capitol building with other congresspeople. Only after this time are Hastert and others in the line of succession moved to secure locations. Some point after this, Hastert and other leaders are flown by helicopter to secret bunkers. [ABC News, 9/11/02] It is later reported that the target for Flight 93 was the Capitol building, so had that flight not been delayed 40 minutes before takeoff, it is possible most senators and congresspeople would have been killed.
9:49 a.m. The FAA orders the Pittsburgh control tower evacuated. Shortly before, Cleveland flight controllers called Pittsburgh flight control and said a plane was heading toward Pittsburgh and refusing to communicate. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/23/01 (]
(9:49 a.m.) Three F-16s scrambled from Langley 129 miles away at 9:30 reach the Pentagon. The planes, armed with heat-seeking, Sidewinder missiles, are authorized to knock down civilian aircraft. According to NORAD, they were flying at 650 mph. The official maximum speed for F-16s is 1500 mph. [9:49, CNN, 9/17/01, 9:49, NORAD, 9/18/01, 9:56: "15 minutes after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon," New York Times, 9/15/01, "just before 10:00," CBS, 9/14/01] Using NORAD's official arrival time of 9:49, the journey takes 19 minutes, or a speed of only about 410 mph! Using the New York Times arrival time of 9:56, the journey takes 26 minutes, or a speed of only about 300 mph!
9:50 a.m. Sandra Bradshaw calls her husband from Flight 93. She says, ''Have you heard what's going on? My flight has been hijacked. My flight has been hijacked with three guys with knives." [Boston Globe, 11/23/01] She tells him that they are in the rear galley filling pitchers with hot water to use against the hijackers. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01]
(After 9:50 a.m.) Shortly after the Langley fighters arrive over Washington, three F-16s from Andrews also arrive. The first is probably piloted by Major Billy Hutchison. F-16s flown by Lt. Col. Marc H. (Sass) Sasseville and codename Lucky arrive shortly thereafter. Only Sasseville's plane has ammunition. Supposedly, these three fighters remain ignorant that three Langley F-16s are flying over Washington at the same time, at a higher altitude. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9/9/02]
9:53 a.m. The NSA reportedly intercepts a phone call from one of bin Laden's operatives in Afghanistan to a phone number in the Republic of Georgia. The caller says he has "heard good news" and that another target is still to come (presumably, Flight 93). Tenet tells Rumsfeld about the intercept two hours later. [CBS, 9/4/02] How could someone in Afghanistan know so quickly that Flight 93 had been delayed 40 minutes before takeoff, was still in the air, and was controlled by hijackers? Do the hijackers call from the plane?
9:53 a.m. The hijackers in the cockpit of Flight 93 grow concerned that the passengers might retaliate. One urges that the plane's fire ax be held up to the door's peephole to scare the passengers. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 209-210]
9:54 a.m. Tom Burnett calls his wife Deena for the fourth and last time. In early reports of this call, he says, "I know we're all going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it." [No time marker, Toronto Sun, 9/16/01, no time marker, Boston Globe, 11/23/01] However, in a later and much more complete account, he sounds much more upbeat. "It's up to us. I think we can do it." "Don't worry, we're going to do something." He specifically mentions they plan to regain control of the airplane over a rural area. [9:54, "again Deena noted the time," Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 118] Could the early reports of fatalism have been deliberate misinformation to make it appear that the passengers had no chance of success?
(9:56 a.m.) Bush departs from the Saratoga, Florida, airport on Air Force One. [9:54, Dallas Morning News, 8/28/02, 9:55, New York Times, 9/16/01 (, 9:55, Daily Mail, 9/8/02,9:55, Washington Post, 1/27/02, 9:55, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 9:55, AP, 9/12/01, 9:55, ABC News, 9/11/02, 9:57, CBS, 9/11/02 (, 9:57, New York Times, 9/12/01, 9:57, CNN, 9/12/01, 9:57, Telegraph, 12/16/01] Amazingly, his plane takes off without any fighters protecting it. "The object seemed to be simply to get the President airborne and out of the way," says an administration official. [Telegraph, 12/16/01] There are still 3,520 planes in the air over the US. [USA Today, 8/13/02 (] About half of the planes in the region of Florida where Bush is are still in the air. [St. Petersburg Times, 9/7/02] With so many reports of hijacked planes, how is being in the sky unescorted any safer than being on the ground?
(After 9:56 a.m.) After flying off in Air Force One, Bush talks to Vice President Cheney on the phone. Cheney recommends that Bush authorize the military to shoot down any plane under control of the hijackers. "I said, 'You bet,'" Bush later recalls. "We had a little discussion, but not much." ["After Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon," Newsday, 9/23/01, time unknown, USA Today, 9/16/01, "Once airborne, Bush spoke again to Cheney," Washington Post, 1/27/02, after Bush is airborne, CBS, 9/11/02] Flight 93 is still in the air, and fighters are given orders to intercept it and possibly shoot it down. [ABC News, 9/11/02] If this decision was so easy to make, why wasn't it given earlier? Bush was available to make this decision at any time after leaving the Booker Elementary classroom around 9:16. Why hasn't he okayed the shooting down of any aircraft during that time, when it's been known there is a hijacked plane (Flight 77) headed toward Washington since at least 9:24?
(After 9:56 a.m.) At some point after the F-16s are in the air, someone from the Secret Service gets on the radio and tells the pilots, "I want you to protect the White House at all costs." [New York Times, 10/16/01] This must have occurred after Bush gave his okay to shoot down planes just after 9:55 (see also (After 9:44 a.m.)).
(9:56 - 10:40 a.m.) Air Force One takes off and quickly gains altitude. One passenger later says, "It was like a rocket. For a good 10 minutes, the plane was going almost straight up." [CBS, 9/11/02 (] Once the plane reaches cruising altitude, it flies in circles. Journalists on board sense this, because the television reception for a local station generally remains good. "Apparently Bush, Cheney and the Secret Service argue over the safety of Bush coming back to Washington. [Salon, 9/12/01, Telegraph, 12/16/01]
(After 9:56 - 10:06 a.m.) Inside his White House bunker, a military aide asks Vice President Cheney, "There is a plane 80 miles out. There is a fighter in the area. Should we engage?" Cheney immediately answers "Yes." [Washington Post, 1/27/02] An F-16 fighter near Washington heads in pursuit of Flight 93. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01] However, a different explanation says, "The closest fighters are two F-16 pilots on a training mission from Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit." These are ordered after Flight 93, even though but they supposedly aren't armed with any weapons. It is claimed they are supposed to crash into Flight 93 if they cannot persuade it to land. [ABC News, 8/30/02, ABC News, 9/11/02] However, Washington is much closer to Flight 93's position than Detroit by this time, and there are already "dozens" of fighters flying over Washington by this time so why send those? In either case, as the fighter (or fighters) gets nearer to Flight 93, Cheney is asked twice more to confirm if the fighter should engage, and he responds yes both times. [Washington Post, 1/27/02] Montague Winfield, in charge of the Pentagon's command center, later says, "At some point, the closure time [between the fighter and Flight 93] came and went, and nothing happened, so you can imagine everything was very tense at the NMCC." [ABC, 9/15/02] Yet Major Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air National Guard, had previously claimed that no military planes were sent after Flight 93. [Seattle Times, 9/16/01] And the pilots flying over Washington that have spoken say that all of them didn't even learn about Flight 93 or any plane crashing in Pennsylvania until they returned to base in the afternoon. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 222] There is a lot of evidence that fighters were sent after Flight 93, including the Vice President's claim. Is someone lying, or were the planes coming from somewhere else?
9:57 a.m. One of the hijackers in the cockpit asks if anything is going on, apparently meaning outside the cockpit. "Fighting," the other one says. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 210] An analysis of the flight recorder suggests that the passenger struggle actually started in the front of the plane (where Bingham and Burnett were sitting) about a minute before a struggle in the back of the plane (where Beamer was sitting). [Observer, 12/2/01] Officials later theorize that the Flight 93 passengers did actually reach the cockpit using a food cart as a battering ram and a shield. They claim that digital enhancement of the cockpit voice recorder reveals the sound of plates and glassware crashing around 9:57. [Newsweek, 11/25/01]
(9:57 a.m. and After) "In the cockpit! In the cockpit!" is heard. Hijackers are reportedly heard telling each other to hold the door. In English, someone outside shouts, "Let's get them." The hijackers are also praying "Allah o akbar" (God is great). One of the hijackers suggests shutting off the oxygen supply to the cabin (which apparently wouldn't have had an effect since the plane was already below 10,000 feet). A hijacker says, "Should we finish?" Another one says, "Not yet." The sounds of the passengers get clearer, and in unaccented English "Give it to me!" is heard. "I'm injured," someone says in English. Then something like "roll it up" and "lift it up" is heard. Passengers' relatives believe this sequence proves that the passengers did take control of the plane. [MSNBC, 7/30/02, Telegraph, 8/6/02, Newsweek, 11/25/01, Observer, 12/2/01, Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 270-271]
9:58 a.m. Todd Beamer ends his long phone call saying that they plan "to jump" the hijacker in the back who has the bomb. In the background, the phone operator already could hear an "awful commotion" of people shouting, and women screaming, "Oh my God," and "God help us." He lets go of the phone but leaves it connected. His famous last words are said to nearby passengers: "Are you ready guys? Let's roll" (alternate version: "You ready? Okay. Let's roll"). [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 204, Newsweek, 9/22/01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01]
9:58 a.m. CeeCee Lyles says to her husband, "Aah, it feels like the plane's going down." Her husband Lorne says, "What's that?" She replies, "I think they're going to do it. They're forcing their way into the cockpit (an alternate version says, "They're getting ready to force their way into the cockpit"). A little later she screams, then says, "They're doing it! They're doing it! They're doing it!" Her husband hears more screaming in the background, then he hears a "whooshing sound, a sound like wind," then more screaming, and then the call breaks off. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 180, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01]
9:58 a.m. Sandy Bradshaw tells her husband, "Everyone's running to first class. I've got to go. Bye." She had been speaking with him since 9:50. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01, Boston Globe, 11/23/01]
9:58 a.m. A man calls 911 from a bathroom on the plane, crying, "We're being hijacked, we're being hijacked!" [Toronto Sun, 9/16/01], then reports that "he heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane and we lost contact with him." [ABC News, 9/11/01, AP, 9/12/01] One minute after the call began, the line goes dead. [Pittsburgh Channel, 12/6/01] Investigators believe this was Edward Felt, the only passenger not accounted for on phone calls. He was sitting in first class, so he probably was in the bathroom near the front of the plane. At one point he appears to have peeked out the bathroom door. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 193-194, 196] The mentions of smoke and explosions on the recording of his call are now denied. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 264] The person who took Felt's call is not allowed to speak to the media. [Mirror, 9/13/02] If that's true, why is this important fact only denied now, when the FBI got a copy of the recording on 9/11, and let the media report the smoke and explosion story for months?
9:59 a.m. The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses. It was hit by Flight 175 at 9:02. [9:50, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 9:59, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 9:59, AP, 8/19/02, 9:59, ABC News, 9/11/02, 9:59 (based on seismic data), New York Times, 9/12/01, 10:05, CNN, 9/12/01, 10:05, New York Times, 9/12/01 , 9:59:39, US Army authorized seismic study, 9:59:04, seismic records]
(Before 10:00 a.m.) Defense officials initially say, "There were no military planes in the skies over Washington until 15 to 20 minutes after the Pentagon was hit" - 9:53 to 9:58. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/14/01] But several sources later report that fighters were above Washington within "minutes" or "moments" of the Pentagon explosion. [Denver Post, 9/11/01, Telegraph, 9/16/01, ABC News, 9/11/02] ABC News later reports that by 10:00, "Dozens of fighters are buzzing in the sky. F-16s scrambled at Andrews Air Force Base in nearby Maryland" (the exact time is not given, but the account is placed between 9:45 and 10:00 in a later ABC News chronology of 9/11). [ABC News, 9/11/02] Another account says the first two F-16s from Andrews that are armed with missiles arrive ten minutes after the three F-16s from Andrews arrived at 9:49 (see (9:49 a.m.)). [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9/9/02] In contradiction to this, a few days after 9/11, the New York Times reports, "In the White House Situation Room and at the Pentagon, the response seemed agonizingly slow. One military official recalls hearing 'words to the effect of, "Where are the planes?"' The Pentagon insists it had air cover over its own building by 10 a.m., 15 minutes after the building was hit. But witnesses, including a reporter for The New York Times who was headed toward the building, did not see any until closer to 11." [New York Times, 9/16/01 (]
10:00 a.m. There are reports on television of a fire at the State Department. At 10:20 a.m. and apparently again at 10:33 a.m. it is reported this was caused by a car bomb. [Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/01, Telegraph, 12/16/01] Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage sees this on television, goes outside the building to see if it true, finds out it isn't, and calls his colleagues to inform them that the reports are false. [ABC, 9/15/02 (]
(10:00 a.m.) Elizabeth Wainio says to her stepmother, "Mom, they're rushing the cockpit. I've got to go. Bye," then hangs up. This may have been a delayed reaction to events, since her stepmother says that in their ten-minute call Elizabeth was in a trance-like state, appeared to have resigned herself to death, was breathing in a strange manner, and even said she felt she was leaving her body. ["Shortly after 10:00," MSNBC, 7/30/02, "sometime shortly before 10," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01]

(10:00 a.m.) Bill Wright is flying a small plane when a flight controller asks him to look around outside his window. He sees Flight 93 three miles away - close enough to see the United Airlines colors. Flight control asks him the plane's altitude, then commands him to get away from the plane and land immediately. Wright sees the plane rock back and forth three or four times before he flies from the area. He speculates that the hijackers were trying to throw off the attacking passengers. [Time unknown, Pittsburgh Channel, 9/19/01]
(Between 10:00-10:06 a.m.) During this time, there apparently are no calls from Flight 93. Several cell phones left on record only silence. For instance, Todd Beamer doesn't hang up, but nothing more is heard after he puts down the phone, suggesting things are quiet in the back of the plane. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 218] The only exception is Richard Makely, who is listening to the Jeremy Glick open phone line after Glick went to attack the hijackers. A reporter summarizes Makely explaining that, "The silence last[s] two minutes, then there [is] screaming. More silence, followed by more screams. Finally, there [is] a mechanical sound, followed by nothing." [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/17/01] The second silence lasts between 60 and 90 seconds. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 219] Near the end of the cockpit voice recording, loud wind sounds can be heard. [CNN, 4/19/02, Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 270-271] "Sources claim the last thing heard on the cockpit voice recorder is the sound of wind - suggesting the plane had been holed." [Mirror, 9/13/02] Is there a hole that depressurizes the cabin and lets in the wind? If the passengers had taken over the plane, there was at least one passenger, Don Greene, who was a professional pilot, who'd learned to fly at age 14, as well as Andrew Garcia, a former flight controller. [Newsweek, 9/22/01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01, Telegraph, 8/6/02] So what happened here???
10:01 a.m. The FAA orders F-16 fighters to scramble from Toledo, Ohio. Although the base has no fighters on standby alert status, it manages to put fighters in the air 16 minutes later, a "phenomenal" response time - but still 10 minutes after the last hijacked plane has crashed. [Toledo Blade, 12/9/01] One interesting aspect is that NORAD has explained that it didn't scramble fighters from bases nearer to the hijacked planes because they only used bases in the NORAD defensive network (a mere seven bases in the entire US). Yet this Toledo base wasn't part of that network, so why weren't planes in this base and other bases scrambled an hour or more earlier? Could it be that they were scrambled earlier, and that it was one of these F-16s that tailed Flight 93?
10:02 a.m. The Sears Tower in Chicago begins evacuation. Other prominent tall buildings and landmarks begin evacuating about an hour later. [Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/01]
10:03 a.m. According to the US government, Flight 93 crashes at 10:03. [NORAD, 9/18/01] The cockpit voice recording was recorded on a 30 minute reel, which means that as new tape was recorded the old tape was being erased. The government has let relatives listen to this tape, which begins at 9:31 and runs for 31 minutes. [CNN, 4/19/02, Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 206-207] So it sounds like the recording ends a minute before the official crash time. However, a seismic study authorized by the US Army to determine when the plane crashed concludes the crash happens at 10:06:05. [US Army authorized seismic study] The discrepancy is so puzzling, the Philadelphia Daily News has an article on the issue, called "Three-Minute Discrepancy in Tape." It notes that leading seismologists agree that Flight 93 crashed last Sept. 11 at 10:06:05 a.m., give or take a couple of seconds, and government officials won't explain why they say the plane crashed at 10:03. [Philadelphia Daily News, 9/16/02] What happened to the vital last three or four minutes of this tape? Was the tape doctored, or was the timing of the whole tape moved forward?
(Before 10:06 a.m.) CBS television reports at some point before the crash that two F-16 fighters are tailing Flight 93. [Independent, 8/13/02] Shortly after 9/11, a flight controller in New Hampshire ignores a ban on controllers speaking to the media, and it is reported he claims "that an F-16 fighter closely pursued Flight 93... the F-16 made 360-degree turns to remain close to the commercial jet, the employee said. 'He must've seen the whole thing,' the employee said of the F-16 pilot's view of Flight 93's crash." [AP, 9/13/01, Nashua Telegraph, 9/13/01]
(Before 10:06 a.m.) In the tiny town of Boswell, about 10 miles north and slightly to the west of Flight 93's crash site, Rodney Peterson and Brandon Leventry notice a passenger jet lumbering through the sky at about 2,000 feet. They realize such a big plane flying so low in that area is odd. They see the plane dip its wings sharply to the left then to the right. The wings level off and the plane keeps flying south, continuing to slowly descend. Five minutes later they hear news that the plane has crashed. Other witnesses also later describe the plane flying east-southeast, low and wobbly. [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 205-206, New York Times, 9/14/01] "Officials initially say that it looks like the plane was headed south when it hit the ground." [Cleveland Newschannel 5, 9/11/01] Note the fact that they heard news the plane had crashed only five minutes later supports that the plane crashed at 10:06, not the official time of 10:03. The rocking wings could have been the hijackers trying to throw off the attack of the passengers, or it could be a passenger pilot trying to gain control of the plane. In either case, its interesting that the plane appeared to stop rocking.
(Before 10:06 a.m.) Numerous eyewitnesses see and hear Flight 93 just before its crash:
1) Terry Butler, at Stoystown: He sees the plane come out of the clouds, low to the ground. "It was moving like you wouldn't believe. Next thing I knew it makes a heck of a sharp, right-hand turn." It banks to the right and appears to be trying to climb to clear one of the ridges, but it continues to turn to the right and then veers behind a ridge. About a second later it crashes. [St. Petersburg Times, 9/12/01]
2) Ernie Stuhl, the mayor of Shanksville: "I know of two people -- I will not mention names -- that heard a missile. They both live very close, within a couple of hundred yards... This one fellow's served in Vietnam and he says he's heard them, and he heard one that day." He adds that based on what he has learned, F-16s were "very, very close." [Philadelphia Daily News, 11/15/01]
Accounts of the plane making strange noises:
3) Laura Temyer of Hooversville: "I didn't see the plane but I heard the plane's engine. Then I heard a loud thump that echoed off the hills and then I heard the plane's engine. I heard two more loud thumps and didn't hear the plane's engine anymore after that." (She insists that people she knows in state law enforcement have privately told her the plane was shot down, and that decompression sucked objects from the aircraft, explaining why there was a wide debris field.) [Philadelphia Daily News, 11/15/01]
4) Charles Sturtz, a half mile from the crash site: The plane is heading southeast and has its engines running. No smoke can be seen. "It was really roaring, you know. Like it was trying to go someplace, I guess." [WPXI Channel 11, 9/13/01]
5) Michael Merringer, two miles from the crash site: "I heard the engine gun two different times and then I heard a loud bang..." [AP, 9/12/01]
6) Tim Lensbouer, 300 yards away: "I heard it for 10 or 15 seconds and it sounded like it was going full bore." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/12/01]
Accounts of the plane flying upside down:
7) Rob Kimmel, several miles from the crash site: He sees it fly overhead, banking hard to the right. It is 200 feet or less off the ground as it crests a hill to the southeast. "I saw the top of the plane, not the bottom." [Among the Heroes, by Jere Longman, 8/02, p. 210-211]
8) Eric Peterson of Lambertsville: He sees a plane flying overhead unusually low. The plane seemed to be turning end-over-end as it dropped out of sight behind a tree line. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/12/01]
9) Bob Blair of Stoystown: He sees the plane spiraling and flying upside down before crashing. Its not much higher than the treetops. [Daily American, 9/12/01]
Accounts of a sudden plunge and more strange sounds:
10) An unnamed witness says he hears two loud bangs before watching the plane take a downward turn of nearly 90 degrees. [Cleveland Newschannel 5, 9/11/01]
11) Another unnamed witness sees the plane overhead. It makes a high-pitched, screeching sound. The plane then makes a sharp, 90-degree downward turn and crashes. [Cleveland Newschannel 5, 9/11/01]
12) Tom Fritz, about a quarter-mile from the crash site: He hears a sound that "wasn't quite right" and looks up in the sky. "It dropped all of a sudden, like a stone," going "so fast that you couldn't even make out what color it was." [St. Petersburg Times, 9/12/01]
13) Terry Butler, a few miles north of Lambertsville: "It dropped out of the clouds." The plane rose slightly, trying to gain altitude, then "it just went flip to the right and then straight down." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/12/01]
14) Lee Purbaugh, 300 yards away: "There was an incredibly loud rumbling sound and there it was, right there, right above my head – maybe 50 feet up.... I saw it rock from side to side then, suddenly, it dipped and dived, nose first, with a huge explosion, into the ground. I knew immediately that no one could possibly have survived." [Independent, 8/13/02]
Upside down and a sudden plunge:
15) Linda Shepley: She hears a loud bang and sees the plane bank to the side. [ABC News, 9/11/01] She sees the plane wobbling right and left, at a low altitude of roughly 2,500 feet, when suddenly the right wing dips straight down, and the plane plunges into the earth. She says she has an unobstructed view of Flight 93's final two minutes. [Philadelphia Daily News, 11/15/01]
16) Kelly Leverknight in Stony Creek Township of Shanksville: "There was no smoke, it just went straight down. I saw the belly of the plane." It sounds like it is flying low, and it's heading east. [Daily American, 9/12/01, St. Petersburg Times, 9/12/01]
17) Tim Thornsberg, working in a nearby strip mine: "It came in low over the trees and started wobbling. Then it just rolled over and was flying upside down for a few seconds ... and then it kind of stalled and did a nose dive over the trees." [WPXI Channel 11, 9/13/01]
What sense can be made of all these different accounts? Some say it was flying a couple thousand feet up and suddenly plunged down, some say it was flying extremely low. Turns, climbs, strange noises, flipping, etc.... While many of these accounts conflict, virtually all support a missile strike, because of the common theme of noises and a plane struggling to rise and stay in the air. The plunge doesn't seem to be a deliberate thrust of the plane toward the ground, but instead the result of engine failure. Other passenger planes hit by missiles continued to fly for several minutes before crashing. For instance, a Korean Airline 747 was hit by two Russian missiles in 1983, yet continued to fly for two more minutes. [KAL Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript] Is that what happened here?
(Before 10:06 a.m.) Flight 93 apparently starts to break up before it crashes, because debris is found very far away from the crash site. [Philadelphia Daily News, 11/15/01] The plane is generally obliterated upon landing, except for one half-ton piece of engine found over a mile away. [Independent, 8/13/02] One story calls what happened to this engine "intriguing," because "the heat-seeking, air-to-air Sidewinder missiles aboard an F-16 would likely target one of the Boeing 757's two large engines." [Philadelphia Daily News, 11/15/01] Smaller debris fields are also found two, three, and eight miles away from the main crash site. [CBS, 5/23/02] Eight miles away, local media quote residents speaking of a second plane in the area and burning debris falling from the sky. [Reuters, 9/13/01] Residents outside Shanksville reported "discovering clothing, books, papers and what appeared to be human remains. Some residents said they collected bags-full of items to be turned over to investigators. Others reported what appeared to be crash debris floating in Indian Lake, nearly six miles from the immediate crash scene. Workers at Indian Lake Marina said that they saw a cloud of confetti-like debris descend on the lake and nearby farms minutes after hearing the explosion...." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/13/01] Moments after the crash, Carol Delasko initially thinks someone had blown up a boat on Indian Lake: "It just looked like confetti raining down all over the air above the lake." [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 9/14/01] Investigators say that far-off wreckage "probably was spread by the cloud created when the plane crashed and dispersed by a 10 mph southeasterly wind." [Delaware News Journal, 9/16/01] But much of the wreckage is found sooner than that wind could have carried it, and not always southeast.
10:06 a.m. Flight 93 crashes just north of the Somerset County Airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, 124 miles or 15 minutes from Washington DC. [10:00, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 10:03, NORAD, 9/18/01, 10:06, Guardian, 10/17/01, 10:06, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01, 10:06, MSNBC, 9/3/02, 10:06, Mirror, 9/13/02, 10:06, USA Today, 8/13/02, 10:07, AP, 8/19/02, 10:10, CNN, 9/12/01, 10:10, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 10:10, New York Times, 9/12/01, 10:10, Boston Globe, 11/23/01, 10:06:05, US Army authorized seismic study] Little information about the crash has been made public.
(Before and After 10:06 a.m.) "At least half a dozen named individuals ... have reported seeing a second plane flying low and in erratic patterns, not much above treetop level, over the crash site within minutes of the United flight crashing. They describe the plane as a small, white jet with rear engines and no discernible markings." [Independent, 8/13/02]
1) Lee Purbaugh: "I didn't get a good look but it was white and it circled the area about twice and then it flew off over the horizon." [Mirror, 9/13/02]
2) Susan Mcelwain: Less than a minute before the Flight 93 crash rocked the countryside, she sees a small white jet with rear engines and no discernible markings swoop low over her minivan near an intersection and disappear over a hilltop, nearly clipping the tops of trees lining the ridge. [Bergen Record, 9/14/01] She later adds, "There's no way I imagined this plane - it was so low it was virtually on top of me. It was white with no markings but it was definitely military, it just had that look. It had two rear engines, a big fin on the back like a spoiler on the back of a car and with two upright fins at the side. I haven't found one like it on the internet. It definitely wasn't one of those executive jets. The FBI came and talked to me and said there was no plane around.... But I saw it and it was there before the crash and it was 40 feet above my head. They did not want my story - nobody here did." [Mirror, 9/13/02]
3 and 4) Dennis Decker and Rick Chaney, Decker speaking: "As soon as we looked up [after hearing the Flight 93 crash], we saw a midsized jet flying low and fast. It appeared to make a loop or part of a circle, and then it turned fast and headed out." Decker and Chaney described the plane as a Learjet type, with engines mounted near the tail and painted white with no identifying markings. "It was a jet plane, and it had to be flying real close when that 757 went down. If I was the FBI, I'd find out who was driving that plane." [Bergen Record, 9/14/01]
5) Jim Brandt sees a small plane with no markings stay about one or two minutes over the crash site before leaving. [Pittsburgh Channel, 9/12/01]
6) Tom Spinelli: "I saw the white plane. It was flying around all over the place like it was looking for something. I saw it before and after the crash." [Mirror, 9/13/02]
The FBI later says this was a Fairchild Falcon 20 business jet, directed after the crash to fly from 37,000 feet to 5,000 feet and obtain the coordinates for the crash site to help rescuers. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/16/01, Pittsburgh Channel, 9/15/01] Was the unmarked jet some kind of reconnaissance plane? The FBI also says there was a C-130 military cargo aircraft flying at 24,000 feet about 17 miles away, but that plane wasn't armed and had no role in the crash. [Pittsburgh Channel, 9/15/01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/16/01] Note that this is the same C-130 that flies very close to Flight 77 right as that planes crashes into the Pentagon (see 9:38 a.m.).
(After 10:06 a.m.) Just after Flight 93 crashes, "Up above, a fighter jet streak[s] by." [ABC, 9/15/02]
(After 10:06 a.m.) At some point after Flight 93 crashes, NORAD diverts "unarmed Michigan Air National Guard fighter jets that happened to be flying a training mission in northern Michigan since the time of the first attack." [AP, 8/30/02] Why weren't they diverted an hour or more earlier?
(10:08 a.m.) Bush is told of the crash of Flight 93 a few minutes later. Because of Cheney's earlier order, he asks, "Did we shoot it down or did it crash?" Several hours later, he is assured it crashed. [Washington Post, 1/27/02]
10:08 a.m. Armed agents deploy around the White House. [CNN, 9/12/01]
10:10 a.m. All US military forces are ordered to Defcon Three (or Defcon Delta), "The highest alert for the nuclear arsenal in 30 years." [ABC News, 9/11/02] Supposedly Rumsfeld makes the order, but its hard to see how he could have done this since he was assisting the wounded in the Pentagon explosion until 10:30 (see 10:30 a.m.). [ABC News, 9/11/02, CNN, 9/4/02] Another account says Defcon Delta doesn't happen until about noon. [Telegraph, 12/16/01]
10:12 a.m. CNN reports an explosion at Capitol Hill. CNN determines this is untrue 12 minutes later. [Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/01]
10:13 a.m. Federal buildings in Washington begin evacuation. The UN building evacuates first; others follow later. [CNN, 9/12/01, New York Times, 9/12/01]
10:15 a.m. The section of the Pentagon reportedly hit by the crash of Flight 77 collapses. [10:10, CNN, 9/12/01, 10:10, New York Times, 9/12/01, recorded live on WDCC-TV at 10:15, Television Archive, WDCC 10:00] A few minutes prior to its collapse, firefighters saw warning signs and sounded a general evacuation tone. No firefighters were injured. [NFPA Journal, 11/1/01]
(10:24 a.m.) Jane Garvey, head of the FAA, orders the diversion of all international flights to the U.S. Most flights are diverted to Canada. [10:41, Time, 9/14/01, 10:24, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 10:24, CNN, 9/12/01, 10:24, New York Times, 9/12/01]
10:28 a.m. The World Trade Center's north tower collapses. It was hit by Flight 11 at 8:46. [10:28, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 10:28, CNN, 9/12/01, 10:28, New York Times, 9/12/01, 10:28, AP, 8/19/02, 10:28 (based on seismic data), New York Times, 9/12/01, 10:29, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 10:28:31, seismic records] The death toll could have been much worse - an estimated 15,000 people made it out of the WTC to safety. [St. Petersburg Times, 9/8/02]
10:30 a.m. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld finally enters the Pentagon's National Military Command Center (NMCC), where the military's response to the 9/11 attacks is being coordinated. [CNN, 9/4/02] Rumsfeld was supposedly in the Pentagon meeting with Representative Cox (R) about missile defense and terrorism until the Pentagon explosion. [AP, 9/16/01, Rep. Cox Statement, 9/11/01] He then went outside to help the wounded of the attack until this time (see (9:38 a.m.)). Brigadier General Montague Winfield later says, "For 30 minutes we couldn't find him. And just as we began to worry, he walked into the door of the National Military Command Center." [ABC News, 9/11/02] Shouldn't Rumsfeld have reported to the NMCC long before? For nearly an hour, apparently no one knew if he was killed in the Pentagon explosion or not.
10:31 a.m. "The FAA [allows] military, and law enforcement flights to resume (and some flights that the FAA can't reveal that were already airborne)." All civilian, military and law enforcement flights were ordered to land as soon as reasonably possible about one hour earlier (see (9:26 a.m.)). [Time, 9/14/01]
10:32 a.m. Cheney calls Bush and tells him of a threat to Air Force One. He is told it would take between 40 minutes and 90 minutes to get a protective fighter escort up to Air Force One. His plane turns toward Louisiana soon after. [Washington Post, 1/27/02] Many doubt the existence of this threat. For instance, Representative Martin Meehan (D) says, "I don't buy the notion Air Force One was a target. That's just PR, that's just spin." [Washington Times, 10/8/02] A later account calls the threat "completely untrue," and says Cheney probably made the story up. A well-informed, anonymous Washington official says, "It did two things for [Cheney]. It reinforced his argument that the President should stay out of town, and it gave George W an excellent reason for doing so." [Telegraph, 12/16/01] Why wouldn't Air Force One already have a fighter escort, and why would it take so long for new planes to arrive? Does Cheney also delay a fighter escort? Why does he apparently lie to keep Bush away?
(10:35 a.m.) Air Force One turns toward Louisiana. It has been decided Bush cannot go directly to Washington. [About 10:30, CBS, 9/11/02 (, about 10:42, Washington Post, 1/27/02]
(10:42 a.m.) Roughly around this time, the FAA tells the White House that it still cannot account for three planes in addition to the four that have crashed. It takes the FAA another hour and a half to account for the three other aircraft. [Time, 9/14/01] Vice President Cheney later says, "That's what we started working off of, that list of six, and we could account for two of them in New York. The third one we didn't know what had happened to. It turned out it had hit the Pentagon, but the first reports on the Pentagon attack suggested a helicopter and then later a private jet." [Los Angeles Times, 9/17/01] Amongst false rumors during the day are reports of a bomb aboard a United Airlines jet that just landed in Rockford, Illinois. "Another plane disappears from radar and might have crashed in Kentucky. The reports are so serious that [FAA head Jane] Garvey notifies the White House that there has been another crash. Only later does she learn the reports are erroneous." [USA Today, 8/13/02 (] Could the crash in Kentucky refer to Flight 77, which did disappear from the radar screen over Kentucky? Its exact path back to Washington has never been known precisely but only estimated.
(10:55 a.m.) Colonel Mark Tillman, pilot of Air Force One, is told there is a threat to Bush's plane. Tillman has an armed guard placed at his cockpit door while the Secret Service double-checks the identity of everyone on board. Then traffic controllers warn that a suspect airliner is dead ahead. Says Tillman, "Coming out of Sarasota there was one call that said there was an airliner off our nose that they did not have contact with." Tillman takes evasive action, pulling his plane high above normal traffic. [CBS, 9/11/02 (] Reporters on board notice the rise in elevation. [10:55 according to a reporter who writes it in her notebook, Dallas Morning News, 8/28/02, "just before 11:00," Salon, 9/12/01] The report is apparently a false alarm. The alarm shows the folly of having Bush get in Air Force One at this time without a fighter escort.
(Between 10:55 - 11:30 a.m.) No fighters escort Bush's Air Force One until somewhere in this time period. At 10:32, Cheney said it would take until about 11:10 to 12:00 to get a fighter escort to Air Force One. [Washington Post, 1/27/02] According to one account, around 10:00 Air Force One "is joined by an escort of F-16 fighters from a base near Jacksonville, Florida," but this is contradicted by Cheney's comment reported a month later. [Telegraph, 12/16/01] Another account says, "At 10:41, ... Air Force One headed toward Jacksonville to meet jets scrambled to give the presidential jet its own air cover." [New York Times, 9/16/01 (] But apparently when Air Force One takes evasive action around 10:55 there is still no fighter escort (see 10:55 a.m.). NORAD commander Major General Larry Arnold later says, "We scrambled available airplanes from Tyndall [near Tallahassee, not Jacksonville, Florida] and then from Ellington in Houston, Texas," but he doesn't say when. [Code One Magazine, 1/02] In another account, two F-16s eventually arrive, piloted by Shane Brotherton and Randy Roberts, from the Texas Air National Guard, not from any Florida base. [CBS, 9/11/02] By 11:30 there are six fighters protecting Air Force One. [Sarasota Magazine, 9/19/01] Given that two of the seven bases said to have fighters on alert on 9/11 are in Florida, Homestead Air Station, 185 miles from Sarasota, and Tyndall Air Station, 235 miles from Sarasota, not to mention the Jacksonville base, why don't fighters escort Air Force One from takeoff, or a few minutes later?
(11:00 a.m.) Evacuations are ordered at the tallest skyscrapers in several cities, and major tourist attractions are closed, including Walt Disney World, Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Seattle's Space Needle, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. [Times Union, 9/11/01]
(11:00 a.m.) FAA's command center is told that all the flights over the United States are accounted for and complying with controllers. Every commercial flight in US airspace - about a quarter of the planes still in the air - is within 40 miles of its destination. Others are still over the oceans, and many are heading toward Canada. [USA Today, 8/13/02 (] There are 923 planes still in the air over the US. [USA Today, 8/13/02 (]
11:08 a.m. A message sent from Korean Air Flight 85 is misinterpreted to indicate a possible hijacking. At 1:24 p.m. the pilots accidentally issue a hijacking alert as the plane nears Alaska on its way to Anchorage, Alaska. Two fighters tail the plane, and it is told it will be shot down unless it avoids populated areas. Strategic sites are evacuated across Alaska. The plane eventually lands safely in Whitehorse, Canada, at 2:54 p.m. [USA Today, 8/12/02 (]
11:30 a.m. General Wesley Clark, former supreme commander of NATO, says on television, "This is clearly a coordinated effort. It hasn't been announced that its over.... Only one group has this kind of ability and that is Osama bin Laden's." [Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/01]
11:45 a.m. Air Force One lands at Barksdale Air Force base near Shreveport, Louisiana. "The official reason for landing at Barksdale was that Bush felt it necessary to make a further statement, but it isn't unreasonable to assume that - as there was no agreement as to what the President's movements should be - it was felt he might as well be on the ground as in the air." [Salon, 9/12/01, New York Times, 9/16/01 (, Telegraph, 12/16/01, CBS, 9/11/02] If this is true, then having him take off without any fighter escort makes even less sense.
(12:00 Noon) Bush arrives at the Barksdale Air Force base headquarters in a Humvee escorted by armed outriders. Reporters and others are not allowed to say where they are. [Telegraph, 12/16/01] Compare this level of security to the complete lack of any security measures to protect Bush earlier in the day when it is learned that a second plane has hit the WTC.
(12:00 Noon) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), a member of both the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, says he has just been "briefed by the highest levels of the FBI and of the intelligence community." He says, "They've come to the conclusion that this looks like the signature of Osama bin Laden, and that he may be the one behind this." [Salon, 9/12/01] At 12:05, CIA Director Tenet tells Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld that a message from a bin Laden agent celebrating the attacks was intercepted two hours earlier (see (9:53 a.m.)). Rumsfeld writes in his notes that the lead is "vague," that it "might not mean something," and that there is "no good basis for hanging hat." More evidence suggesting an al-Qaeda link comes several hours later (see (2:40 p.m.)). [CBS, 9/4/02]
12:15 p.m. The US closes some border crossings with Canada and Mexico. [MSNBC, 9/22/01]
12:16 p.m. US airspace is clear except for military and emergency flights. Only a few transoceanic flights were still landing in Canada. [USA Today, 8/12/02 (C)] At 12:30, the FAA reports about 50 flights still flying in US airspace, but none are reporting problems. [CNN, 9/12/01, New York Times, 9/12/01]
12:36 p.m. Bush gives a short speech that is taped and played by the networks at 1:04 p.m. ["Just after 12:30," Salon, 9/12/01, 12:36, Washington Times, 10/8/02] In a speech at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, President Bush announces that security measures are being taken and says: "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." [MSNBC, 9/22/01, CNN, 9/12/01, New York Times, 9/12/01] He also states, "Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward. And freedom will be defended." [ABC News, 9/11/02]
(12:58 p.m.) Bush spends most of his time at Barksdale Air Force base arguing on the phone with Cheney and others over where he should go next. "A few minutes before 1 p.m.," he agrees to fly to Nebraska. As earlier (see 10:32 a.m.), there are rumors of a "credible terrorist threat" to Air Force One. [Telegraph, 12/16/01]
(1:02 p.m.) New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani orders an evacuation of Manhattan south of Canal Street. [1:02 PM, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 11:00 AM, AP, 8/19/02]
1:04 p.m. President Bush puts the US military on high alert worldwide. [CNN, 9/12/01, AP, 8/19/02]
1:27 p.m. A state of emergency is declared in Washington. [CNN, 9/12/01, New York Times, 9/12/01]
(1:30 p.m.) President Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base for Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base, home to the US Strategic Command. [1:15, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 1:31, Salon, 9/12/01, 1:44, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 1:48, CNN, 9/12/01] He travels with Chief of Staff Andrew Card, senior advisor Karl Rove, communications staffers Dan Bartlett, Ari Fleischer and Gordon Johndroe, and a reduced number of reporters. [Salon, 9/12/01]
1:44 p.m. The Navy dispatches aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers to New York and Washington. Around the country, fighters, airborne radar, and refueling planes scramble. The North American Aerospace Defense Command go to its highest alert. [MSNBC, 9/22/01, CNN, 9/12/01]
(2:00 p.m.) F-15 fighter pilot Major Daniel Nash returns to base around this time, after chasing Flight 175 and patrolling the skies over New York City. He says that when he got out of the plane, "he was told that a military F-16 had shot down a fourth airliner in Pennsylvania, a report that turned out to be incorrect." [About 1:30, Cape Cod Times, 8/21/02, about 2:30, Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02] How do we know it was incorrect? Isn't it interesting that the fighter pilots active that day thought it was correct?
(2:40 p.m.) By this time, the CIA determines from airplane passenger manifests that three of the hijackers were suspected al-Qaeda operatives. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld begins planning an attack against bin Laden. In his notes composed at this time (which are leaked almost one year later), he writes he wants the "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at same time. Not only UBL. [Usama bin Laden] Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not." [CBS, 9/4/02]
(2:50 p.m.) Air Force One lands at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. Bush stays on the plane for about 10 minutes before entering United States Strategic Command at 3:06. [Salon, 9/12/01] Bush is taken into an underground bunker designed to withstand a nuclear blast. There, he uses an advanced strategic command and communications center to teleconference directly with Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Rice, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, and members of the National Security Council. The meeting ends at 4:15. [Telegraph, 12/16/01, Washington Times, 10/8/02] [2:50, Daily Mail, 9/8/02, 2:50, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 2:50, Salon, 9/12/01, 3:07, AP, 8/19/02] Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, CIA Director Tenet, and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta also participate in the teleconference. [ABC News, 9/11/02]
4:00 p.m. CNN reports that US officials say there are "good indications" that Saudi militant bin Laden, suspected of coordinating the bombings of two US embassies in 1998, is involved in the attacks, based on "new and specific" information developed since the attacks. [CNN, 9/12/01]
4:10 p.m. Building 7 of the WTC complex is reported on fire. [CNN, 9/12/01]
(4:33 p.m.) President Bush leaves Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for Washington. [4:30, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 4:30, CNN, 9/12/01, 4:36, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 4:36, Washington Times, 10/8/02]
5:20 p.m. Building 7 of the WTC complex, a 47-story tower, collapses from ancillary damage. No one is killed. [5:20, MSNBC, 9/22/01, 5:20, CNN, 9/12/01, 5:25, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 5:25, AP, 8/19/02]
(6:54 p.m.) Bush arrives back at the White House, after exiting Air Force One at 6:42 and flying across Washington in a helicopter. [ABC News, 9/11/02] [6:34, Salon, 9/12/01, 6:54, Washington Times, 10/8/02, 6:54, CNN, 9/12/01, 6:54, Telegraph, 12/16/01, 7:00, AP, 8/19/02]
(7:00 p.m.) Secretary of State Powell returns to Washington from Lima, Peru. Ten hours after the attacks began, he is finally able to speak to Bush for the first time when they both arrive at the White House at about the same time. Powell later says of his flight, "And the worst part of it, is that because of the communications problems that existed during that day, I couldn't talk to anybody in Washington." [ABC News, 9/11/02] The Telegraph later theorizes, "Why so long? In the weeks before September 11 Washington was full of rumors that Powell was out of favor and had been quietly relegated to the sidelines..." [Telegraph, 12/16/01]

Bush addresses the nation. [White House]
8:30 p.m. Bush addresses the nation on live TV. [CNN, 9/12/01] In what will later be called the Bush Doctrine, he states,"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." [Washington Post, 1/27/02]
9:00 p.m. Bush meets with his full National Security Council, followed roughly half an hour later by a meeting with a smaller group of key advisers. Bush and his advisors have already decided bin Laden is behind the attacks. CIA Director Tenet says that al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan are essentially one and the same. Bush says, tell the Taliban we're finished with them. [Washington Post, 1/27/02]

(11:30 p.m.) Before going to sleep, Bush writes in his diary, The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today. ... We think it's Osama bin Laden." [Washington Post, 1/27/02]

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