At this point, reporters and people across the nation realized that these were not accidental plane crashes. Within minutes, both
buildings of the World Trade Center were engulfed in flames. In less than two hours
after the initial impacts, both towers collapsed, killing approximately 2750 people.
Discovery Education Techbook
© Discovery Communications, LLC
1
September 11, 2001
Turning Point in History
Twelve minutes before the first WTC tower collapsed, a third plane, American Airlines
Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon. This plane departed Washington Dulles
International Airport Airport Dulles bound for Los Angeles. The hijackers on this plane
stormed the cockpit and piloted the plane into the southwest corner of the Pentagon, the
location of the Department of Defense. The crash killed 189 in the Pentagon. This crash
caused the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent any plane, anywhere in the
country, from taking off, but a fourth plane involved in the attacks was already in the air.
The last plane was United Airlines Flight 93. This plane took off from Newark, New
Jersey. When the hijackers began their attack, the plane was running 25 minutes
behind. This delay meant that once the plane lifted off, the attacks on the WTC towers
had already occurred. The pilots of Flight 93 received a warning over the radio,
expressing concern because two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center.
Once the hijackers took control of the cockpit, passengers learned about the World
Trade Center attacks and quickly realized that their plane’s hijacking was not an isolated
incident.