American Airlines Flight 11:Timeline

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

in a template All the alleged 9/11 hijackers reportedly check in at the airports from where they board Flights 11, 175, 77, and 93. According to the 9/11 Commission, nine of the 19 hijackers are flagged by the CAPPS system before boarding Flights 11, 175, 77, and 93. In addition, Mohamed Atta was selected when he checked in at the airport in Portland, for his earlier connecting flight to Boston . All of the hijackers subsequently pass through security checkpoints before boarding their flights.

6:00 a.m.

6:45 a.m.

Hijacker’s Connecting Flight Arrives in Boston Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari’s Portland-Boston flight arrives on time at Boston’s Logan Airport. They cross a parking lot on their way to the departure terminal for Flight 11, and are observed asking for directions. The other three Flight 11 hijackers arrive at Logan in a rented car around this same time (see (6:45 a.m.) September 11, 2001).

6:45 a.m.-7:40 a.m.

Three Flight 11 Hijackers Selected for Additional Screening When They Pass through Airport Security

During this period, all five Flight 11 hijackers check in at Boston’s Logan Airport and board their plane, bound for Los Angeles. Ticket records will show that CAPPS selects three of the Flight 11 hijackers at Logan: Since Waleed Alshehri checks no bags his selection has no consequences; Wail Alshehri and Satam Al Suqami have their bags scanned for explosives, but are not stopped. All five hijackers would need to pass through a security checkpoint to reach the departure gate for their flight. Each would have been screened as they walked through a metal detector calibrated to detect items with at least the metal content of a small-caliber handgun. If they’d set this off, they would have been screened with a handheld metal detector. An X-ray machine would have screened their carry-on luggage. However, Logan Airport has no video surveillance of its security checkpoints (see 1991-2000), so there is no documentary evidence of exactly when they pass through them, or if alarms are triggered. According to the 9/11 Commission, none of the checkpoint supervisors later recall seeing any of the Flights 11 hijackers, or report anything suspicious having occurred. However, a WorldNetDaily article will claim that some Logan staff members recall seeing Mohamed Atta (see (6:50 a.m.-7:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). The Boston Globe will later comment, “aviation specialists have said it is unlikely that more rigorous attention to existing rules would have thwarted the 10 hijackers who boarded two jets at Logan on Sept. 11. At the time, the knives and box-cutters they were carrying were permitted.”

6:50 a.m.-7:40 a.m.

Mohamed Atta Observed at Logan Airport Running Late for Plane? According to an article on WorldNetDaily, alleged lead hijacker Mohamed Atta almost misses Flight 11 and has to rush to the departure gate at Boston’s Logan Airport. The article is based on the account of an unnamed American Airlines employee at Logan, and claims Atta is running late because his connecting flight from Portland was delayed (see (6:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001). However, the 9/11 Commission claims that this plane was “on time,” and says Atta is observed at Logan with Abdulaziz Alomari, asking for directions in a parking lot (see 6:45 a.m.). The employee says that at the baggage check-in, when asked security questions, Atta claims he does not speak English. A supervisor is called for, who just sends him towards the departure gate, as it is close to his plane’s take-off time. Atta rushes through the security checkpoint, then down to the gate, where he shows up perspiring. The employee comments, “The nitwit. You know, they’d been planning it for five years, and he’s running late for the flight.” An American Airlines spokeswoman will refuse to comment on this account, saying all American employees have been ordered not to speak to the press.

6:52 a.m.-6:55 a.m.

A three-minute call is made from a payphone at Logan Airport, in the gate area from where Flight 175 will later depart, to Mohamed Atta’s cell phone. The 9/11 Commission will report, “We presume Shehhi [i.e., Marwan Alshehhi] made the call, but we cannot be sure.” According to the commission, this is Atta and Alshehhi’s final conversation. According to other reports, though, they later speak again briefly by cellphone while waiting for their planes to take off (see (Before 7:59 a.m.) September 11, 2001).

7:00 a.m.

7:00 a.m.-7:45 a.m.

Computer Screening Program Selects Some Hijackers; Fails to Stop Them Sometime during this period, the hijackers pass through airport security checkpoints at the various airports. CAPPS selects three of the five Flight 11 hijackers. Since Waleed Alshehri checked no bags, his selection had no consequences. Wail Alshehri and Satam Al Suqami have their bags scanned for explosives, but are not stopped.

(7:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Gate Agent Asks If Atta’s Luggage Has Been Loaded onto Flight 11

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A gate agent at Logan Airport calls Donald Bennett , the crew chief for Flight 11, and asks him if the two suitcases of a passenger who has just boarded the plane have arrived from US Airways. Bennett replies that the suitcases, which belong to Mohamed Atta, have arrived, but Flight 11’s baggage compartment has already been locked for departure, so they will not be loaded.

American Airlines baggage expediter Philip Depasquale will later claim that bags from US Airways are always late, and so this problem is a common occurrence. The luggage is turned over to Depasquale to have it sent to Los Angeles on another flight. According to Salvatore Misuraca, a ramp service manager for American Airlines at Logan Airport, gate agents do not usually call about a bag unless the passenger that owns it has specifically asked about it, to ensure that their bags have been put on their flight. Atta’s luggage will remain at Logan Airport and be found after the attacks, revealing important clues .

7:40 a.m.

Flight 11 pushes back from the gate at Logan Airport. There are discrepancies over which gate it leaves from. Most early reports state that it pushes out from Gate 26 in Terminal B of the airport.However, one unnamed Logan Airport employee will say it leaves from Gate 32, also in Terminal B. The transcript of radio communications with the flight confirms it left from Gate 32, and the 9/11 Commission also later states this. The reason for the discrepancy in these reports is unclear.It will take off at 7:59 (see (7:59 a.m.) September 11, 2001).

Before 7:59 a.m.

Mohamed Atta on Flight 11 calls Marwan Alshehhi in Flight 175 as both planes sit on the runway. They presumably confirm the plot is on.

7:45 a.m.

Flight 11 is scheduled to depart at 7:45, but instead takes of 14 minutes later. Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari board Flight 11. Atta’s bags are not loaded onto the plane in time and are later found by investigators. Investigators later find airline uniforms and many other remarkable items. It is later reported that at least two other hijackers on Flight 11 use stolen uniforms and IDs to board the plane.

7:59 a.m.

Flight 11 takes off from Logan Airport, 14 minutes after its scheduled 7:45 departure time.

8am

Main article: Flight 11:8am-9am

References

Taken from historycommons.org Timeline.