Joeshua's Domain

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(I have added a new story below, its interesting stuff)

The day began like a typical Tuesday in Boston, Washington and Newark. From Boston’s Logan International Airport, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 left for the long haul to Los Angeles — within minutes of each other, around 8 a.m. ET.

At about the same time, United Flight 93 took off from Newark heading for San Francisco. And at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, American Flight 77 took off for Los Angeles.

In all, there were 266 people aboard the four jets. None of the flights was anywhere near full. None of the flights would come anywhere near its intended destination.

On each jet, a handful of terrorists — armed with knives or makeshift blades they smuggled aboard — got up from their seats just a little while after takeoff. In each case, they overwhelmed flight attendants and crew.

All four jets reversed course, heading toward New York and Washington.

Officials originally presumed the hijackers were trying to crash the jet into Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. But Attorney General John Ashcroft later told members of Congress that the plane was believed to have been headed toward Washington.

Looking back at the evidence, investigators surmised that the passengers had thwarted the terrorists’ plan, even though they knew it meant the deaths of all aboard.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a passenger on Flight 93, Tom Burnett, called his wife and indicated that he and other passengers were about to try to overpower the hijackers.

Burnett told his wife that somebody on the plane had been stabbed, said the Rev. Frank Colacicco, of St. Isidore’s Church in Danville, Calif. “We’re all gonna die, but three of us are going to do something,” Burnett told his wife, according to Colacicco. He added: “I love you, Honey,” before the call ended.

Another passenger, Jeremy Glick, made a similar cell phone call to his wife, The Washington Post reported. According to an account from his brother-in-law, Glick said three men — carrying a red box they said contained a bomb — forced the crew into the back of the plane and took over the cockpit.

Glick said he and other passengers were going to try to do something.

“He knew that stopping them was going to end all of their lives. But that was my brother-in-law. He was a take-charge guy,” Douglas Hurwitt told the Post.

An emergency dispatcher in Westmoreland County, Pa., received a cell phone call at 9:58 a.m. from a man who claimed that he was a passenger locked in the airplane’s bathroom, said dispatch supervisor Glenn Cramer.

“We are being hijacked. We are being hijacked!” Cramer quoted the man as saying. “He heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane, and we lost contact with him.”

In Washington, all federal employees except for essential personnel were sent home — an estimated quarter-million in all. The White House, the U.S. Capitol and other buildings were evacuated. Roads leading out of the nation’s capital were jammed.

Across the country, all commercial air service was shut down. Airports were emptied. Military jets patrolled the skies over the country’s major cities. Landmarks ranging from Chicago’s Sears Tower to Seattle’s Space Needle were evacuated.

Buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center were weakened by the shock of the twin towers’ collapse. At 5:25 p.m., a third, smaller tower of the trade center collapsed in dust and flames.

Although that tower had been evacuated of its everyday occupants, the complex was still swarming with search crews and investigators. Horrified emergency officials had to put the rescue effort on hold temporarily.

President Bush, who was in Florida when the attacks began, returned to Washington aboard Air Force One — taking a zigzag route designed to throw off potential attackers.

At 8:30 p.m., he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, vowing that those behind the attacks would be brought to justice.

“These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat,” he said, “but they have failed.”