Threat in the Air

Threat in the Air. Flight 93 National Memorial. September 11, 2001 began with a clear, bright blue sky across the northeastern United States. The seven crew members assigned to Flight 93 prepared for the morning's nonstop trip from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California. Thirty-three passengers were traveling for ordinary reasons, while four others boarded with plans to hijack the aircraft. , , The terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda started to plan the attack in 1999. Despite years of careful planning, some circumstances remained beyond their control. While the first three hijacked planes departed on schedule, Flight 93 took off more than 25 minutes late due to heavy air traffic. , , Mayday! , Only four minutes after Flight 93 took off, hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. At 9:03 am, a second hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 175, hit the South Tower. , , Forty-six minutes into the flight, at 9:28 am, the terrorists aboard Flight 93 attacked the cockpit. Air traffic controllers in Cleveland, Ohio, heard the captain or first officer shout, "Mayday! Get out of here!" The hijackers seized control of the aircraft and turned it southeast, headed toward Washington, DC. , , At 9:37 am, a third hijacked aircraft, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Five minutes later, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered every aircraft over the nation to land at the nearest airport. In response to this unprecedented order, 4,500 aircraft landed safely without incident.