Perhaps this doesn’t belong in Great Debates, but I would like to see a thread that contains only facts about the wave of terrorist attacks, and links to the stories they came from. No opinions, no attacks, no tirades, no finger-pointing, no memoriams, no condolences - just pure information about the attacks (even rumors, if they’re coming from credible news sources). This would be helpful for those of us who would like to see the facts as reported without having to wade through discussions and debates surrounding the events.
A great starting place I found was, of course, the timeline provided by cnn.com (I abbreviate it here):
[ul][li]8:45 a.m.: A large plane, possibly a hijacked airliner, crashes into the south World Trade Center[/li]
[li]9:03 a.m.: A second plane, apparently a passenger jet, crashes into the north World Trade Center.[/li]
[li]9:17 a.m.: The FAA shuts down all New York City area airports.[/li]
[li]9:21 a.m.: New York City Port Authority orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area closed[/li]
[li]9:30 a.m.: Bush, speaking in Florida, says the country has suffered an “apparent terrorist attack.”[/li]
[li]9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports.[/li]
[li]9:43 a.m.: An aircraft crashes into the Pentagon.[/li]
[li]9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.[/li]
[li]9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.[/li]
[li]10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.[/li]
[li]10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.[/li]
[li]10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.[/li]
[li]10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates.[/li]
[li]10:22 a.m.: The State and Justice departments and the World Bank are evacuated.[/li]
[li]10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.[/li]
[li]10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.[/li]
[li]10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.[/li]
[li]10:54 a.m.: Israel evacuates all diplomatic missions.[/li]
[li]10:57 a.m.: New York state government offices are closed.[/li]
[li]11:02 a.m.: New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.[/li]
[li]11:16 a.m.: The CDC is preparing bioterrorism teams… in a precautionary move.[/li]
[li]11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft [flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles and flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington’s Dulles Airport to Los Angeles]… Flight 11 is believed to be one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.[/li]
[li]11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, has crashed in Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.[/li]
[li]11:59 a.m.: United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard.[/li]
[li]12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport… is evacuated.[/li]
[li]12:15 p.m.: The INS puts U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico on the highest state of alert.[/li]
[li]12:15 p.m: San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down.[/li]
[li]12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.[/li]
[li]1:04 p.m.: Bush says military is on high alert worldwide. He says, “Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.”[/li]
[li]1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.[/li]
[li]1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five battleships and two aircraft carriers will head to positions in the New York area and along the East Coast.[/ul][/li]
Let’s post the latest updates here as we find them from our fine news sources so we all can keep up to date on this tragedy. If you want to comment on any of the actions posted here, there are plenty of other GD and Pit and MPSIMS threads in which you may participate.
Mods, if this was an inappropriate thread or in an inappropriate forum, please move or close it at your discretion.
He makes this statement after landing at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. All but three members of the Air Force One press corps exit AF1, which proceeds under heavy escort to SAC Headquarters at Offut AFB in Nebraska.
As of 5:15 pm EDT, the President is en route to Washington, and the White House says he will address the nation this evening.
I’m not sure if that was an address or a toll, but I did just hear on the radio that at least seven other buildings around the World Trade Center towers have collapsed. I’m also hearing that rescue workers and firefighters cannot get within two blocks of the towers because of falling concrete from what remains of the structures.
One of the passengers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon (United flight #93) was Barbara Olsen, wife of Solicitor General Ted Olsen. She made two cell phone calls to him from the plane saying that at least two hijackers used box-cutter knives to stab attendants to gain access to the cockpit, then threaten passengers and herd them into the back of the plane. The plane alleged was circling over the Pentagon, as if waiting for something, and then crashed.
I heard/saw that the plane was under a normal route, making it just into Eastern Ohio before making a u-turn and heading East. It was on a direct path towards the White House until it veered sharply and crashed directly into the Pentagon.
Bush is supposed to address the nation at 8:30 PM Eastern.
On the Washington front (I live a few miles outside), the Metro is bypassing stations around the Pentagon and National airport. The Beltway (as of a few hours ago) was extremely crowded, backed up in excess of four hours. Union Station is, in essence, closed. Amtrak, as well as other major rail companies around here, have cancelled all service from there.
If you work in or otherwise have to commute to a federal building in any part of the country, expect delays. I rememeber the exact same thing happening after the Oklahoma City bombing (for the next several months, everyone who wanted to get into the Prince Kuhio building had to sign in). This is just standard procedure.
My father, who works at a naval base (non-military position; he hasn’t seen active duty in decades) didn’t go to work today, but I think he just didn’t feel like fighting through traffic and security (which can get really bad; one time it took me over three hours to get to a military base due to a bomb threat). The schools, thank goodness, are still open, but air traffic has been completely shut down and will probably remain that way for at least a few days.
For the most part, however, my part of the globe hasn’t been too drastically hit. Thus far, we’ve responded peacefully and should return to normal sooner rather than later. I know it’s cliche, but sometimes we really are lucky we live Hawaii.
Not seen on TV, not seen on the web, but heard from 2 IRL people: There was a 5th plane, not yet landed, and not yet identified. I heard this around 14:30 EDT, which, if consistant with the MO, would have kept it in the friendly skies for about 6 hours. Evidently, the location of the plane remained undisclosed.
Also: 20:30 EDT, Dubya delivers his official address to the nation. It lasts for all of 4 minutes.
I also heard the report of the 5th plane, after the falling of the 4th plane in pen.
I heard it was being escorted by f-16 but after that nothing. . .no further information.