5:43 a.m. - Hijackers Check in at Portland Airport; Atta Becomes Angry with Ticket Agent

6:00 a.m. - Two Hijackers Fly to Boston

6:20 a.m.-7:48 a.m.- Hijackers Arrive at Airports and Board Flights; Computer Screening Program Fails to Stop Them

6:30 a.m. - NORAD on Alert for Emergency Exercises

8:13 a.m. - Flight 11 Makes Its Last Communication with Air Traffic Control

8:14 a.m. - Flight 11 Is Hijacked, but Pilot Makes No Distress Call

8:19 a.m. - Flight 11 Attendant Ong Phones in Hijack Report, Officials Doubt Validity

Between 8:22 a.m. and 8:44 a.m. - Sweeney’s Call Reaches American Headquarters, but Managers Cover Up the News

8:24 a.m. - Boston Air Traffic Controllers Hear Flight 11 Hijacker Say, ‘We Have Some Planes,’ but Uncertain of Origin of Transmission

8:25 a.m. - Boston Center Starts Notifying Chain of Command

8:30 a.m. - US Military Holding ‘Practice Armageddon’ Nationwide Training Exercise

8:37 a.m. - Boston Flight Control Notifies NEADS, Against Normal Procedures; Timing Disputed

Between 8:42 a.m. and 8:46 a.m. - Hijackers Take Over Flight 175

8:43 a.m. - NORAD Notified that Flight 175 Has Been Hijacked

8:44 a.m. - Flight 11 Attendant Calm as End Approaches

Between 8:46 a.m. and 8:55 a.m. - Bush’s Motorcade Quickly Hears of Flight 11 Crash, but Bush Reportedly Still Unaware

8:46 a.m. - Fighters Ordered to Scramble to Flight 11 Nine Minutes after NORAD Notification

Shortly After 8:46 a.m. - New York Flight Control Notices Problems with Flight 175

Shortly After 8:46 a.m. Rumsfeld Learns of First WTC Attack

8:50 a.m. - FAA Establishes Phone Bridges, Including with the Military, Earlier than Claimed by 9/11 Commission

8:51 a.m.-8:53 a.m. - Flight Controller Declares Flight 175 Hijacked

8:51 a.m.-8:54 a.m. - Hijackers Take Over Flight 77

Between 8:55 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. - President Bush First Told About WTC Crash? Suggests Accident

8:56 a.m. - Flight 77 Transponder Signal Disappears; NORAD Not Informed

9:00 a.m. - 9/11-Styled Simulation Canceled

After 9:03 a.m. - Secret Service Wants Fighters Scrambled from Andrews; None Are Ready to Fly

After 9:03 a.m. - Wolfowitz Continues Routine Meeting, Rumsfeld Stays in Office

9:05 a.m. - Condoleezza Rice Tries to Assemble National Security Team, but Cannot Reach Key Officials

9:08 a.m.-9:13 a.m. - Fighters Put in Holding Pattern over Ocean instead of Defending New York City

9:09 a.m. and After - Numerous False Reports of Hijacked Aircraft Cause Confusion

9:10 a.m. - Cheney Apparently Goes to White House Bunker; Other Accounts Have Him Moving Locations Later

9:16 a.m. - Flight 93 Reported Hijacked before Hijacking Supposedly Occurs, According to Some Accounts; One Hijacker May Have Snuck into Cockpit Early

9:20 a.m. - Barbara Olson Said to Call from Flight 77, but Account Is Full of Contradictions

9:20 a.m. - FAA Sets Up Ineffectual Hijacking Teleconference

9:21 a.m. - Boston Air Traffic Control Center Mistakenly Tells NEADS Flight 11 Is Still Airborne

9:24 a.m. - By Some Accounts, FAA Notifies NORAD Flight 77 Is Hijacked and Washington-Bound; 9/11 Commission Claims This Never Happens

9:26 a.m. - Cheney Given Updates on Unidentified Flight 77 Heading toward Washington; Says ‘Orders Still Stand’

9:28 a.m. - Hijackers Take over Flight 93

9:29 a.m.-9:37 a.m. - Pentagon Command Center Begins High Level Conference Call

9:30 a.m. - Langley Fighters Take Off Toward Washington; They Could Reach City in Six Minutes but Take Half an Hour

9:32 a.m. - Flight 93 Hijacker Tells Passengers Bomb Is Onboard; Air Traffic Controller Overhears

9:34 a.m. - FAA Mentions in Passing to NORAD that Flight 77 Is Missing

9:36 a.m.-10:06 a.m. - Military Claims it is Tracking Flight 93 and Ready to Shoot it Down; 9/11 Commission Says Otherwise

9:37 a.m. - Langley Fighters Still Short of Washington; Where and Why Is Not Clear

9:38 a.m. - Rumsfeld Dashes toward Crash Site Seconds after Pentagon Is Hit

Between 9:38 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. - Rumsfeld Spends Brief Time at Pentagon Crash Scene and Helps Carry a Stretcher; Accounts Conflict over Details

Between 9:45 a.m. and 9:56 a.m. - Richard Clarke Initiates Continuity of Government Plan

9:45 a.m.-9:58 a.m. - Passenger Todd Beamer Describes Situation on Flight 93, Though Accounts Are Contradictory

9:45 a.m. - Senior FAA Manager, on His First Day on the Job, Orders All Planes Out of the Sky Nationwide

9:49 a.m. - FAA Headquarters Continues to Delay Decision on Contacting NORAD About Flight 93

9:57 a.m. - Passengers Begin Attempt to Regain Control of Flight 93

9:58 a.m. - Passenger Ed Felt Said to Describe Explosion and White Smoke from Bathroom Call

9:59 a.m. - Some Witnesses Hear Explosions as South Tower Collapses

Between 10:00 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. - President Bush and Vice President Cheney Said to Confer on Shootdown Orders; 9/11 Commission Later Doubts Their Account

10:03 a.m. - NMCC Learns of Flight 93 Hijacking, NORAD Still Not Told

Before 10:06 a.m. - Fighters Trailing Flight 93?

Before 10:06 a.m. - Flight 93 Breaks Up Prior to Crash?

10:06 a.m. - Flight 93 Crashes into Filled-in Mine in Pennsylvania Countryside

10:18 a.m.-10:20 a.m. - Cheney Calls Bush; Receives Shootdown Authorization, According to 9/11 Commission

10:28 a.m. - Some Witnesses Hear Explosions as North Tower Collapses

10:30 a.m. - Missing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Finally Enters NMCC

10:42 a.m. - Andrews Fighters Finally Take Off, but Without Missiles

11:45 a.m. - Air Force One Lands at Louisiana Air Force Base

3:15 p.m. - President Bush Meets with Top Officials via Video Conference Call

4:30 p.m. - WTC Building 7 Area Is Evacuated Due to Anticipated Collapse

6:54 p.m. - President Bush Returns to White House

8:30 p.m. - President Bush Gives Third Speech, Declares Bush Doctrine

11:30 p.m. - President Bush Sees 9/11 as New Pearl Harbor

Source: History Commons

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