A Timeline of 9/11-- Part 4: Flight 77 Crashes Into the Pentagon and South Tower Collapses

Times are Eastern.

**  9:21 am:  The New York Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area.

**  9:24 The FAA notifies NEADS of the suspected  hijacking of Flight  77 after some passengers and crew aboard the aircraft are able to contact family members on the ground.

**  9:31:  Speaking from Florida, President Bush calls the events in New York City an "apparent terrorist attack on our country."

9:37:  Terrorists aboard Flight 77 crash the plane into the western facade of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 59 aboard the plane and 125 civilian and military personnel inside the building.

9:42:  For the first time in history, the FAA grounds  all flights over the continental United States.  Over the next two and a half hours, some 3,300 commercial flights and 1,200 private planes are guided to land in airports in Canada and the United States.

9:45:  Among escalating rumors of other attacks, the White House and U.S. Capitol building are evacuated along with numerous other high-profile buildings, landmarks and public spaces.

9:59:  The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

I conducted my regular class schedule for first period.  It ended at 8:45 am (9:45 Eastern) and that is when I learned about what was going on from another teacher.  I went back inside the room (we had to watch the halls during passing time) and tried to get reception on my 12-inch black and white TV, but couldn't, so turned on the radio.

Second period started at 8:50.  We listened to that radio and talked about what had happened the rest of the day in my next four classes.

A Timeline of 9/11-- Part 1: Flights 11 and 175

Every September 11 I stop my blogs to remember.

All times Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

On September 11, 2001, on a clear, sunny day, terrorists on board three hijacked  passenger planes carried out coordinated suicide missions against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C..  Everyone aboard the planes were killed and  nearly 3,000 people on the ground.

A fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania,  killing all aboard after the passengers tried to gain control of the plane themselves.

**  7:59 am:  American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767,  with 92 people aboard,   takes off from Boston's Logan International Airport, en route to Los Angeles.

**  8:14 am:  United Airlines Flight  175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people aboard, takes off from Boston; it also is headed for Los Angeles.

**   8:19:  Flight attendants  aboard Flight 11 alert ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked; American Airlines notifies the FBI.

During this time I was at home finishing up my coffee and getting ready to drive from Spring Grove to my teaching job in Round Lake, Illinois.  We are at an hour's difference in Central Time Zone.