Solved case · 2001
Also known as N334AA · Flight 11
Wtc05-orig-2001-09-11-09-13-05-Charles-MarshCredit: Charles MarshPublic domainSourceThe short answer
On September 11, 2001, five al-Qaeda hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 11, a Boston-to-Los Angeles flight, and crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all 92 people aboard and contributing to more than a thousand deaths in the tower.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Boston Logan International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on the morning of September 11, 2001. The Boeing 767-200ER, registration N334AA, departed at 07:59 with 81 passengers and 11 crew members. Approximately fifteen minutes after takeoff, five hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda—led, according to the 9/11 Commission, by Mohamed Atta—injured two flight attendants, killed passenger Daniel Lewin, and forced their way into the cockpit, attacking the pilots and taking control of the aircraft.
Air traffic controllers at Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center grew suspicious after the crew stopped responding to instructions around 08:14. At 08:24, Atta's voice was inadvertently transmitted to air traffic control instead of the passenger cabin, revealing the hijacking. Flight attendants Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney separately contacted American Airlines during the hijacking, relaying details including injuries to crew members Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui, the killing of Daniel Lewin, and the hijackers' seat numbers, which later assisted investigators in identifying the perpetrators.
At 08:46 local time, Atta flew the aircraft into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, striking between floors 93 and 99. All 92 people aboard were killed instantly, along with occupants of the tower's upper floors. The impact severed all three stairwells serving the top floors, trapping close to a thousand people above the crash zone. Some individuals on the upper floors jumped from the building to escape fire and smoke. The North Tower burned for 102 minutes before collapsing at 10:28, adding hundreds of additional deaths, including rescue workers.
Two F-15 fighter jets were dispatched from Otis Air National Guard Base after NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector was notified, but they took off only after Flight 11 had already struck the tower. Investigators later recovered luggage belonging to Atta that had not been loaded onto the flight, containing documents that helped identify all 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks. Al-Suqami's passport, which survived the crash, was also recovered at the scene.
In the aftermath, medical examiners identified the remains of 33 Flight 11 victims within a year, with additional identifications made in 2006 and 2007 using improved DNA technology. Aircraft debris, including a wing flap mechanism and the flight's onboard defibrillator, were discovered near the World Trade Center site in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden later claimed responsibility for the attacks in a recorded statement. The names of the 87 civilian victims of Flight 11 are inscribed at the National September 11 Memorial's North Pool.
American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston Logan International Airport at 07:59 for Los Angeles.
Hijackers breach the cockpit; flight attendants Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney contact American Airlines to report the hijacking and injuries aboard.
Mohamed Atta's voice is accidentally transmitted to air traffic control, revealing the hijacking.
Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 08:46, killing all 92 aboard.
United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower at 09:03, confirming the attacks were deliberate.
The North Tower collapses at 10:28 after burning for 102 minutes.
The first Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery is presented to Sweeney, Ong, and posthumously to Captain John Ogonowski.
Medical examiners identify the remains of two additional Flight 11 victims, including purser Karen Martin.
Examiners using newer DNA technology identify another Flight 11 victim.
A piece of a Boeing 767 wing flap mechanism is discovered wedged between two buildings near Park Place, close to where other landing gear parts were found.
The onboard defibrillator from Flight 11 is found during roadworks near Liberty Street.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Flight attendant who contacted American Airlines during the hijacking to relay information about the attack.[3]
Flight attendant aboard Flight 11, injured by hijackers during the hijacking.[3]
Passenger; actress killed in the crash.[3]
Flight attendant who contacted American Airlines during the hijacking to relay information about the attack.[3]
Passenger; Akamai Technologies co-founder killed by a hijacker early in the hijacking, believed to be the first fatality of the September 11 attacks.[3]
Passenger; television producer killed in the crash.[3]
Captain of Flight 11, killed during the hijacking.[3]
Purser aboard Flight 11, stabbed by hijackers during the hijacking; remains identified in 2006.[3]
Passenger killed in the crash.[3]
First Officer of Flight 11, killed during the hijacking.[3]
Identified by the 9/11 Commission as one of the five hijackers aboard Flight 11; killed in the attack.[3]
Identified as the ringleader of the September 11 attacks and hijacker-pilot who flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center's North Tower on 11 September 2001, killing all 92 aboard; died in the crash and was never prosecuted.[3]
Identified by the 9/11 Commission as one of the five hijackers aboard Flight 11; killed in the attack.[3]
Identified by the 9/11 Commission as one of the five hijackers aboard Flight 11; killed in the attack.[3]
Identified by the 9/11 Commission as one of the five hijackers aboard Flight 11; killed in the attack.[3]
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Bureau of ATF 1993 Explosives Incident ReportPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenWorld Trade Center, New York City · 1990s
On February 26, 1993, a truck bomb detonated in the parking garage beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring over a thousand in a failed attempt to topple both towers.
Credit: Mark StahlPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenWorld Trade Center, New York City · 2000s
On September 11, 2001, hijacked commercial aircraft were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
Credit: Jeremy KempPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenWorld Trade Center, South Tower · 2000s
On September 11, 2001, five al-Qaeda hijackers seized United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, killed both pilots, and deliberately crashed the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all 65 people aboard and contributing to the deaths of more than 600 others in the tower.
Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania · 2001
On September 11, 2001, four hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda took control of United Airlines Flight 93 en route from Newark to San Francisco, intending to crash it into a federal government building in Washington, D.C. After learning by phone of the day's other attacks, passengers and crew fought back, and the aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people aboard.
Credit: nrkbetaCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListenOslo and Utøya, Norway · 2011
On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo's government quarter, killing 8, then carried out a mass shooting at a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp on the island of Utøya, killing 69. He was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention, Norway's maximum sentence.
Credit: Oliver MarkCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenLiaquat National Bagh, Rawalpindi, Pakistan · 2007
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi following a shooting and suicide bombing after a political rally, an attack that also killed 23 other people. A UN inquiry found her security had been fatally insufficient and the crime scene mishandled; two police officers were later convicted, five Taliban-linked suspects were acquitted, and Pervez Musharraf was indicted but declared a fugitive before being separately sentenced in absentia on unrelated treason charges.
