Zero Hour (2004–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Last Hour of Flight 11 - full transcript
NARRATOR: On the evening
of September the 11th, 2001,
the FBI were called in
to Logan Airport in Boston
to examine two check-in bags.
The bags had missed their flight,
an American Airlines Boeing
767 bound for Los Angeles.
The owner of the luggage was Mohammed Atta,
a ringleader in that day's terrible events.
Inside one of his bags,
the FBI made an extraordinary discovery.
Along with flight training videos
and a small copy of the Koran,
they found a five-page
document, handwritten in Arabic.
It was a kind of hijackers' manual.
And contained a
justification for the attack,
written by those who orchestrated it.
MAN: Purify your soul
from all unclean things.
Completely forget
something called this world.
Afterwards begins the happy life.
(SIRENS WAILING)
NARRATOR: Among the hijackers' victims
on that bright, warm September morning
were the passengers and crew
on American Airlines Flight 11,
the first of the four
planes to crash that day.
This film is the most
detailed reconstruction yet,
of the last hour of Flight 11.
From 7.46 a.m., when
Atta boarded the plane,
to 8.46, when the Boeing 767
struck the North Tower of the
World Trade Center in New York.
A startling new picture
emerges of precisely how
the crew relayed valuable information
about their attackers to the outside world.
It was the first act in a long war.
(CLOCK TICKING)
With just a few passengers still to board,
Flight 11 is 13 minutes away from takeoff.
Betty Ong is one of the most
experienced of the cabin crew.
She wasn't scheduled to work today,
but she's flying so that
she can join her sister
on a vacation in Hawaii.
Right down this way, please.
Hi.
-How are you this morning? -Pretty good.
NARRATOR: Amy Sweeney
has two young children
and is married to Michael,
a Massachusetts police officer.
MICHAEL SWEENEY: Amy, she liked flying
'cause it gave her the opportunity to
to do what she liked
and be flexible with her
time to spend with her family.
Once we had kids, we made a decision
that she would only
work part-time and spend
the majority of time
with the kids and family.
Hydraulics.
-Set. -Windows, doors...
NARRATOR: First Officer
Tom McGuinness is 42 years old,
and married with two children.
He's a former Air Force pilot.
Cabin signs.
On.
NARRATOR: Captain John Ogonowski is 52
and married with three daughters.
Four star checklist complete.
PEGGY OGONOWSKI: He loved flying.
He absolutely loved it.
He was a very experienced pilot.
He had 23 years with American Airlines
and seven years in the Air Force.
And he was just a man who was
very, very skilled
in anything with mechanics.
He just had a knack for it.
I'll call you when I know something.
I love you.
NARRATOR: This morning,
25 year old Patricia Massari
and her husband, Louis,
have just discovered that they
may be expecting their first child.
She commutes from their
small apartment in Queens
to her office
at an insurance company based on
the 98th floor of the World Trade Center.
Louis had wanted
Patricia to take the day off.
But she's determined to go into the office.
Although I didn't really
want her to go to work,
I kind of wanted her to stay home
so we can, kind of, like,
tell the news to everybody, or
confirm it totally, through a
doctor, whatever we had to do.
This morning she particularly left early
because she knew that she had
things that she was behind in at work
to keep her mind calmer throughout the day.
That's what she wanted to
do, get to work a little earlier.
NARRATOR: On her way to work,
Patricia collects another pregnancy test,
just to be sure.
She plans to call Louis from her
office as soon as she gets the result.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Boston Air Traffic Control Center
manages some of the busiest
air traffic control lanes in the world.
But the job's a little easier
when the weather and visibility
are as good as they are today.
North-west 453, speed
Mach 8-zero or greater.
NARRATOR: In 12 minutes,
Flight 11 will take off into the
Boston controllers airspace.
Down this aisle, second seat
on the left. Have a good flight.
NARRATOR: The last passengers
are now boarding Flight 11.
Karen Martin, the flight's purser,
and Bobbi Arestegui,
will share duties in the first class cabin.
Among the passengers is Daniel Lewin,
a brilliant and wealthy software designer.
He grew up in America,
but moved to Israel with
his family when he was 14.
By his early 20's,
he'd become a captain in Israel's
elite counter-terrorism force.
Champagne or orange juice, sir?
Champagne.
There you go.
NARRATOR: He is seated directly
in front of one of the hijackers,
Satam Al Suqami.
AIR HOSTESS: ...straight
across here on the left-hand side.
Good morning.
NARRATOR: One of the
last passengers to board
is Mohammed Atta.
MAN: When you ride the airplane,
and before you enter it,
you make a prayer and supplications.
As the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"An action for the sake of God
"is better than all of
what is in this world."
When you step inside the plane
and sit in your seat,
be busy with the constant
remembrance of God.
God said, 'Oh ye faithful,
'when you find the enemy,
'beast it first and
remember God constantly,
'so that you may be successful.'
NARRATOR: With the arrival of Atta
and Abdulaziz Alomari,
all five hijackers are now in position.
In the front passenger row of the aircraft,
are the brothers, Waleed and Wail Al Shari.
Waleed has a clear
view of the cockpit door.
NIR MAMAN: This was a
military mission that they were on.
They had done their homework.
They'd gathered enough intelligence.
They had done enough test flights.
Everything that they did
was specifically tailored
to accommodate their objectives.
Seating arrangements are crucial.
We had the Al Shari brothers
sitting at the very front
row left to the primary aisle.
You had Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari
sitting to the right of the aisle
at a peak point.
And then you had Al Sakami,
sitting again to the left of the aisle,
further back.
NARRATOR: At Fresh Pond
subway station in Queens,
Patricia Massari catches the
M train to downtown Manhattan.
Her journey will take her through
the suburban sprawl of Queens
and then underground
towards New York's financial hub
around Wall Street.
American 11, cleared to
push and start. Tail north.
MAN: When the aircraft moves,
even slightly,
say the supplication of travel.
Because you are traveling to almighty God.
So be attentive on this journey.
AIR HOSTESS: May we have your attention
as we review the safety
features of the 767 aircraft.
To fasten seatbelts, insert
the metal clip into the buckle.
NARRATOR: It's likely that flight
attendants have some kind of contact
with one or more of the hijackers.
But all five would have
been trained to blend in,
to play by the rules,
and do nothing to arouse suspicion.
Two over wing exits.
MAN: Do not seem confused
or show signs of nervous tension.
Be happy,
optimistic,
calm.
Because you are heading
for a deed that God loves
and will accept.
If the cabin pressure changes,
an oxygen mask will appear
from the panel above you.
Pull the mask towards you
and place the mask
over your nose and mouth.
MAN: Smile in the face
of hardship, young man,
for you are headed toward eternal paradise.
Please take the time to
review the safety features card
located in your seat pocket.
MAN: God is with his faithful servants.
He will protect them and
make their tasks easier
and give them success and victory.
Say this supplication.
"Oh Lord,
"block their vision from in front of them
"so that they may not see."
NARRATOR: While Flight 11 is
waiting for clearance to take off,
Mohammed Atta makes one last phone call.
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
It's not known what he says
in a call that lasts just under a minute.
But it is known that he
calls Marwan Al-Shehhi,
the hijack leader on board
United Airlines Flight 175,
which is taxiing just a
few hundred meters away.
United 175 is also bound for Los Angeles,
but will crash into the South
Tower of the World Trade Center.
Atta and Al-Shehhi became close friends
during the planning of the attacks
and may be saying goodbye to one another.
But they may also be confirming
that the assault on the Twin Towers
is on.
CAPTAIN: Apron American
11 ready to taxi for Runway 25.
NARRATOR: What could
drive Atta and the other hijackers
to plan and execute such
a cold-blooded attack?
And what could possibly justify it?
The answer to both
questions lies not in Islam,
but in a set of ancient beliefs
practiced by only a tiny
sect of radical Muslims.
You have another sub sect,
another, if you like, a
a faction who call themselves Salafists.
It is the Islam of our ancestors.
Now, within Salafism, only a minority
say that the way to implement it
is by force, by violence.
These are the jihadists.
NARRATOR: Jihadists see
themselves as holy warriors,
and they view any act of
indiscriminate murder as justified,
so long as God's name is invoked.
They would have possibly crashed
no matter who was on the plane.
They were... They were on that mission,
and the hijackers represent an aberration.
An aberration within Islam
and its extremist interpretation
of a Salafist doctrine.
And they unfortunately were manipulated
and harnessed, trained to be weapons.
MNEIMNEH: If all the passengers
on the plane were devout Muslims,
it did not matter at all.
Muslims do not matter.
What matters is their ideology,
their conception of what is right.
And right, in this case, is
basically what is dictated to them.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: American 11 heavy.
Winds one zero, zero at ten knots.
Clear for takeoff runway zero nine.
- Roger tower.
- American 11 cleared for takeoff runway zero nine.
(CLOCK TICKING)
MAN: Then the aircraft takes off.
This is the moment that
both groups come together.
So remember God as he said,
"Oh Lord, pour your patience upon us
"and make our feet steadfast.
"And give us victory over the infidels."
Pray for yourself and all your brothers,
that they may be victorious
and hit their targets.
Ask God to grant you
martyrdom facing the enemy.
Not running away from it.
And for him to grant you patience
and the feeling that
anything happens to you,
it's for him.
NARRATOR: Patricia Massari
arrives at Fulton Street subway station
in downtown Manhattan.
It's a five-minute walk from here to
her office at the World Trade Center.
She gets off at Fulton
Street and then walks
up on the street level and
then walks to the building itself
and then goes up to the 98th floor.
She loved the company. She
loved the people she was with.
She makes friends with anybody, so
it was just like, it
was her life, you know.
She would always tell me the stories
and I'd find it interesting when
she would get home from work,
when she would tell me
how her day was at work.
NARRATOR: Patricia
grabs her regular breakfast.
Probably a bagel and black coffee.
Thanks. See you tomorrow.
As Flight 11 climbs to cruising altitude,
preparations for the attack begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has now
switched off the seatbelt signs.
However, we do advise
that when you are not...
NARRATOR: The weapons smuggled
on board by the terrorists include knives,
possibly small domestic
tools with retractable blades
known as box cutters.
Following standard procedures,
the flight attendants
would close curtain dividers
between the three classes of cabin,
possibly obscuring any line of sight
between Atta and the Al Sharis.
With the attack just minutes away,
Atta may be directing
the hijackers to get ready,
physically and psychologically,
to pass beyond the point of no return.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC)
MAN: You must make your knife sharp
and must not discomfort
your animal during slaughter.
Remember the words of almighty God.
"You were looking to the
battle before you engaged in it.
"And now you see it
"with your own two eyes."
NARRATOR: At least one of the
terrorists may have other weapons,
including something that looks like a bomb,
a black box with yellow
and red colored wires.
Is the bomb real?
Or is it a hoax, designed to
ward off a potential counterattack
by the passengers and crew?
(CLOCK TICKING)
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: ...01
maintain Mach eight zero or greater.
CAPTAIN: Boston Center, good morning.
American 11 with you,
passing through one nine
zero for two three zero.
American 11 heavy. Boston Center.
Roger. Climb and maintain
flight level two eight zero.
CAPTAIN: Flight level two
eight zero. American 11.
NARRATOR: As Flight 11 continues to climb,
the pilots would still be
wearing their seat harnesses
in a noisy cockpit.
OGONOWSKI: I think
people need to understand that
sitting in the cockpit,
you're sitting forward,
you're strapped in, you're low.
You're at a complete disadvantage
to anyone coming up behind you.
Especially people coming up behind you,
extremely determined
to do you harm.
CAPTAIN: American 11 heavy. Climb,
maintain flight level two niner zero.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Flight level two nine zero. American 11.
MAN: The confrontation begins.
Strike like champions who do
not want to go back to this world.
Shout "Allahu Akbar"
because this strikes fear in
the hearts of the non-believers.
BOTH: Allahu Akbar!
-(WOMAN SCREAMING) -Allahu Akbar!
MAN: God said, 'Strike above their neck.
"Strike at all their extremities."
FedEx 3258, contact Boston Center 125.57.
FEDEX PILOT: 125.57, thank you. FedEx.
Good day. American
11, turn 20 degrees right.
CAPTAIN: 20 right. American 11.
(DOOR BANGING OPEN)
What the hell's going on... (STRUGGLING)
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
(GROANING)
NARRATOR: The pilots
are either killed instantly
or removed from effective
control of the plane.
(GROANING)
At some point during the assault,
flight attendant Amy
Sweeney reports being shown
the apparent bomb by one of the hijackers.
And mace or mustard gas
is sprayed into the
forward passenger cabins.
Shortly afterwards though,
all five hijackers barricade
themselves inside the cockpit.
No one else on the plane will
see or hear from them again.
(PASSENGERS COUGHING)
Passengers in first and business class
are evacuated back to
economy by the flight attendants.
(COUGHING CONTINUES)
(CLOCK TICKING)
American 11 heavy, now climb.
Maintain flight level three five zero.
American 11, climb.
Maintain flight three five zero.
American 11, Boston.
NARRATOR: Losing radio contact
with an aircraft is a rare event
and is usually the result
of equipment failures.
But a cause for concern.
Echo Romeo 7 Mike Lima, how do you hear?
Mike Lima has you loud and clear.
American 11, Boston.
NARRATOR: On Flight 11,
Karen Martin and Bobbi Arestegui
are being treated for their injuries
in or near the first class galley.
They are likely to have
been the first victims
of 9/11.
I think that the flight
attendants were attacked first,
no questions about it.
The hijackers decided to take action.
They were gonna implement speed
surprise and violence of action right away.
They were gonna make
their point as to who they are
and why they're there and
so no one can mess with them.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately for
the passengers and crew of Flight 11,
Daniel Lewin had been stabbed by
the hijacker seated directly behind him.
Lewin was the best equipped of anyone
on the plane to try and repel the assault.
But the ex-Israeli commando
is now severely injured,
with a wound to the throat.
MAMAN: The passenger, Daniel Lewin,
I think, was attacked
for one of two reasons.
Al Sakami was sitting right behind him
and it just could have been that
Daniel Lewin was right in reach and
in range of any one of the terrorists
that were...
Decided to use him as an
example for the other passengers.
Or Daniel Lewin decided to
take action and intervene.
NARRATOR: Soon after
Boston air traffic control
loses radio contact with Flight 11,
its transponder is switched off.
Flight 11 is no longer
transmitting information
about its identity or altitude.
All that remains is a radar signature
showing the aircraft's location.
American 11.
Uh, the American on the frequency.
How do you hear me?
NARRATOR: The loss of
transponder data is serious,
but the controller would
know from the radar
that the plane still
appears to be in flight.
MAN: If everything goes well,
every one of you should pat the
other on the shoulder in confidence.
Remind your brothers that
this act is for almighty God.
Or they should sing
songs to boost their morale,
as the pious first generations
did in the throes of battle.
-Allahu Akbar. OTHERS: Allahu Akbar.
(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
NARRATOR: With the
auto pilot now switched off,
the aircraft is in the complete control
of Atta and the other four hijackers.
A mystery remains about when exactly
the hijackers start to pilot the aircraft.
One alternative scenario,
is that they force at least one of the
crew to guide them nearer to New York
without revealing their true intentions.
OGONOWSKI: If I had to
speculate, I would guess
that the cockpit crew
were in charge of the aircraft,
at least to lower New York,
to the beginning of Hudson River.
It sounded as though the hijackers
were able to take control of the aircraft
somewhere over the Hudson River,
somewhere where they could
see the Towers in the distance.
Because, of course, their skills
could not have been that great
in spite them going
through flight training.
NARRATOR: Patricia Massari
arrives at the World Trade Center plaza.
When she reaches her office
high up in the North Tower,
she plans to carry out
the second pregnancy test.
After that, she hopes she can
catch up with a heavy workload.
FEMALE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
American 456, resume normal speed.
American 11, if you hear Boston
Center, ident please, or acknowledge.
(CLOCK TICKING)
American 11, American one one, Boston.
NARRATOR: The flight attendants
now organize themselves into teams
to deal with the emergency on board
and to get as much information out
to the ground as they possibly can.
9D and 9G...
They gather details from
paperwork and from each other
about who exactly the attackers were.
American 11, if you hear Boston Center,
re-contact Boston Center on 127.82.
That's American 127.82.
NARRATOR: After all that's happened,
the flight attendants make repeated
attempts to contact the cockpit.
Excuse me, what the hell is going on here?
It's just a medical emergency, sir.
But the mace in the forward
cabin makes it difficult to breathe.
And all intercom calls to
the cockpit go unanswered.
(PHONE RINGING)
Betty Ong attempts her
first call to the ground.
She dials American Airlines'
main reservations number.
Initially, she'll be plagued by
what seems to be a poor connection
and a series of misunderstandings.
I'm number three in the back,
the cockpit's not answering.
Somebody's stabbed in business and...
NARRATOR: Betty
mistakenly identifies Flight 12,
the return journey from
Los Angeles to Boston.
Amy Sweeney will later
make the same initial mistake,
suggesting the attendants are
frantically busy sharing information.
The assault is over so quickly,
that no one is absolutely sure
what has happened inside the cockpit.
MAN: What seat are you in?
WOMAN: Ma'am, what seat are you in?
We're some... Well...
I'm sitting in the back.
Somebody's coming back from business.
If you can hold on a second.
NARRATOR: Throughout
her calls to the ground,
Betty is interrupted by other attendants,
who seem to be acting as a relay team,
sending constant updates
from further forward.
Amy Sweeney makes one more
attempt to contact the cockpit.
(PHONE RINGING)
Ten minutes after storming the plane,
the hijackers decide it's
time to talk to the passengers.
But the wrong switch is keyed,
and their announcement
is broadcast to the ground.
American 11, Boston.
United 175. Boston Center. Roger.
(BUZZING AND STATIC)
Is that American 11 trying to call?
NARRATOR: Initially, the
controllers don't hear the phrase,
"We have some planes."
And who's trying to call me here?
American 11, are you trying to call?
NARRATOR: They immediately
ask for a playback of audio tape.
We gotta make some calls.
I'm on it.
NARRATOR: Boston Controllers
notify their chain of command
that they believe Flight
11 has been hijacked.
There are no reports of anyone on the plane
hearing the hijacker's transmission.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Amy Sweeney heads towards
one of the back seat's air phones.
These require credit cards
and it's possible that she borrows
a card from a nearby passenger.
There is no record of a charge
to Amy's or Betty's credit card accounts.
(WHISPERING) The
passengers are in 10B, 9D and 9G.
OPERATOR: Hello, American
Airlines Flight Services, Logan Airport.
It's Amy Sweeney.
So, I was just in my office, working.
I had heard one of the ladies
who was working in the office
say very loudly,
"What, what? A flight
attendant has been stabbed?"
(DIAL TONE)
OPERATOR: Hello, American
Airlines Flight Services, Logan.
It's Amy Sweeney.
Listen and listen very carefully.
I'm on Flight 11.
The airplane has been hijacked.
I have seat numbers...
At that point, I took the phone
and said, "Amy, this is Michael Woodward,
"What's going on?"
Michael, this plane is being hijacked.
WOODWARD: After she told me
that the aircraft had been hijacked,
she started to give me information.
I have seat numbers
for three of the hijackers.
WOODWARD: She'd given me the
seat numbers that they were seated in.
9D, 9G and 10B.
WOODWARD: And as I was
writing down the seat numbers,
my colleagues pulled up that information.
In the computer system, they
could pull up who's sitting in that seat.
And up came Mohammed Atta's reservation.
PILOT: The weather today...
NARRATOR: By now, United
Airlines flight 175 is airborne.
The five hijackers on board
have yet to make their move.
(INAUDIBLE)
NARRATOR: On Flight 11, Betty
Ong reveals that despite the risks,
cabin crew members have
made at least one attempt
to gain physical entry to the cockpit.
FEMALE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Can anybody get up to the cockpit?
NARRATOR: Betty and Amy
Sweeney now work closely together
to report the details of
the hijack to the ground.
She's just coming.
WOODWARD: Amy and Betty were trying to
relay information, so as I
was talking to her she would
ask Betty, "Did you see
this?" Or, you know...
So they were kind of working in
tandem to get the information out.
NARRATOR: It's now clear that while the
hijackers are in control of the cockpit,
the flight attendants are in full
control of the passenger cabins.
OGONOWSKI: I think the thing that
you might have been most impressed with
was their calmness.
That they were relaying information
as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.
I know as a crew member
for American Airlines
that they were following
procedures to ensure a safe landing
and,
the safety of all the passengers on board.
It's just a medical
emergency, ma'am, and...
NARRATOR: Until September the 11th, 2001,
cabin crews were trained
in the event of a hijacking
to maintain calm among the passengers.
...so everything's going to be just fine.
The flight attendants use a cover story,
that this is all just a medical emergency.
It's possible that the passengers
evacuated from first and business,
who witnessed the attack,
go along with this in order to
prevent the spread of panic.
I don't know...
Amy Sweeney tells Michael Woodward
that the cabin crew's
efforts seem to be working.
Wait, wait, wait.
WOODWARD: What she
did say, though, was that
everybody in the coach cabin was very calm.
They had no idea,
the folks in coach, that the aircraft
was being hijacked by these people.
All right.
In the background, there wasn't screaming.
There wasn't... It was very calm.
Calm meaning, there wasn't a commotion.
There wasn't noise. I mean
obviously, she was concerned.
(CLOCK TICKING)
(HIJACKERS SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
NARRATOR: Until now,
Flight 11 has been drifting
on a northwesterly path.
But the hijackers now execute
a dangerously sharp, 100 degree left turn.
(PASSENGERS SCREAMING)
The plane is now heading south,
erratically following the
course of the Hudson River
which leads straight to New York City.
(CLOCK TICKING)
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
What the hell was that?
NARRATOR: The transmission is picked
up not just by air traffic controllers,
but by United 175,
which will be hijacked in six minutes.
(STREET NOISE)
Having done a second pregnancy test,
Patricia Massari calls her husband
with the news that it's positive.
-She's excited... -Hi.
...but also a little nervous.
Yeah, I did the...
MASSARI: She always called when I was home
on my day off to let me
know that she was at work. So,
you know, around 8:40,
the first words out of her
mouth was her usual self,
which I kind of felt better about.
She was questioning me
what are we gonna do about this
'cause she wanted to
make sure that this was real
'cause she didn't believe it.
It was just overwhelming,
you know, to her and overwhelming to me.
(CLOCK TICKING)
We're making another sharp turn,
all the way onto our side.
NARRATOR: Flight 11 has made
another dangerous course change,
possibly as a result of the
hijackers' inexperience as pilots.
Boston air traffic
controllers radio United 175
to ask if they see Flight 11.
Do you have traffic?
Look at your 12 to one o'clock at about
10 miles southbound to see if you can
see an American 767 up there, please.
I see him.
Affirmative. We have him.
He's at about 20, 29, 28,000.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
United 175, turn five,
turn 30 degrees to the right,
I want to keep you away from his traffic.
NARRATOR: Boston controllers
now break official protocol
and try to make direct
calls to the military.
NARRATOR: It will be another nine
minutes before fighters are scrambled.
(RUMBLING)
On this cloudless morning,
the Twin Towers will
now be clearly in sight.
Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney
both report to the ground
that the aircraft is being
thrown around violently.
The hijackers execute yet
another terrifying maneuver,
a steep and barely controlled dive.
(PASSENGERS SCREAMING)
Michael, we're making a rapid descent.
She was now starting to get scared.
For flight attendants to
use those terms, "rapid"
it means it's quick, it's fast
and something is going on.
They're used to,
you know,
tons of turbulence and, you know,
bumpy flights and all of that but
she was really, really
nervous at this point.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: United
256 activity, two ninety, ninety-two.
NARRATOR: Flight 11 has
just passed into the airspace
of New York traffic controllers.
United 175
now reports the mysterious radio
transmission it picked up earlier.
PILOT: New York United 175 heavy.
United 175, go ahead.
PILOT: We figured we'd
wait to go to your center.
We heard a suspicious transmission
on a departure out of Boston.
Someone keyed the mike and
said, "Everyone stay in your seats."
Okay, I'll pass that along.
Cut out.
Kingston 93, light.
United 175 just came on my frequency,
and he said he heard a suspicious
transmission when they were leaving BOS.
"Everybody stay in your seats."
That's what he heard as
a suspicious transmission.
Just to let you know.
NARRATOR: This is the last
voice transmission from United 175.
The controller's attention, however,
is firmly fixed on the hijacked Flight 11.
MAN: Center, where do you
place them in relation to 583 now?
He's off about nine
o'clock at about 20 miles.
Looks like he's heading southbound,
but there's no transponder.
No nothing and no one's talking to 'em.
(BEEP)
(BEEP)
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: In Manhattan,
the rush hour is reaching its peak.
Over a million commuter cars are heading
over the bridges and through the tunnels
into an island just 13 miles long.
MAN: If you see the enemy as strong,
remember the groups that had
formed the coalition to fight the Prophet.
They were 10,000.
But remember how God gave
victory to his faithful servants.
Yes, they're sitting in 2A
and 2B.
Yes.
Yes. They are.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Is there a doctor on board...
NARRATOR: A nearby aircraft receives
a coded Emergency Locator Transmission
or ELT from United 175,
which has just been hijacked.
PILOT: Center US Air 583.
US Air 583, go ahead.
I just picked up an ELT on 121.5.
It was brief but it went off.
Okay. They said it's confirmed,
believe it or not, as a "thing."
We're not sure yet.
So we're trying to get
another aircraft right now
to see what its altitude is.
NARRATOR: The controller follows procedures
by using the word,
"thing" instead of hijack.
And now directs other aircraft away
from the flight paths of American 11
and United 175.
Can you turn that Delta
2433 a little bit to the right?
They've got that Eagle flight in the air,
and the guy at 310 that they
want to take a look at this American,
see what his altitude is.
Can you put him on a 290 heading and
stop the Delta 1489 beneath him?
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: Flight 11 is now
heading south over Manhattan itself.
The aircraft's air speed has
increased dramatically since the dive.
MAN: When the zero hour approaches,
wholeheartedly welcome death,
for the sake of God.
Always be remembering God.
Either end your life while
praying, seconds before the target,
or make your last words,
"There is no God but God,
"Mohammed is his messenger."
Afterwards,
we will all meet in the highest heaven.
Inshallah.
What's happening?
All of a sudden she said,
you know, "What's going
on? What's happening?"
And I don't know if she was
talking to Betty or if she was just
verbalizing it.
The airplane is all over the place.
WOODWARD: I asked her,
"Can you look out the window?"
This was right near the
end of our conversation.
She said, "I see water.
"I see... I see we're flying
low, We're flying way too low.
"I see buildings. I see lots of buildings."
I see the water.
I see the buildings.
I see buildings.
We're low.
We're far too low.
(WHISPERS) Oh, my God!
(CHUCKLES)
So, what do we do now?
- I don't know. I guess...
- (SOUND OF LOUD ENGINE)
(ALARM BEEPING)
(SHOUTING IN ARABIC)
(ALL SOUND STOPS)
(BEEPING)
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
What's going on, Betty?
Betty, talk to me.
Betty, are you there?
Betty? I think we might have lost her.
NARRATOR: The crash of Flight 11
started a chain of events that
still dominates today's world.
In the convulsions that followed,
the calm and resourceful
actions of Flight 11's crew
have not been recognized.
But, in a very real sense,
it was they who began the fight back
against a new and appalling terror.
What my wife and Betty Ong and
the rest of the crew did that day is...
Is unbelievable. When they
talk about heroes that day
there were also heroes in the air
and those heroes were flight attendants.
I hope people realize that
flight attendants are just not
someone that throws a
crappy meal in your lap,
because it goes well, well beyond that.
Dealing with the personal loss,
I, I just don't even know
how to describe that.
John and I were married
for almost 18 years.
And we have three children.
A home life together.
And all of a sudden, the world
has just completely changed.
You know, we're still
lucky enough to be here and
enjoy life and
if anything, want to
reach out and grab it even more
and try to take hold of that piece of it
that John's never going
to be entitled to have.
You know, I don't feel
that's fair for my wife.
For all the people that day.
You know, you're supposed to die old,
you know, and be married.
And for me, it was... We
were supposed to have a child.
And, um, in a heartbeat, things can change.
And it did for me personally, and
I know one day I will see her again
and that's the only comforting thing.
of September the 11th, 2001,
the FBI were called in
to Logan Airport in Boston
to examine two check-in bags.
The bags had missed their flight,
an American Airlines Boeing
767 bound for Los Angeles.
The owner of the luggage was Mohammed Atta,
a ringleader in that day's terrible events.
Inside one of his bags,
the FBI made an extraordinary discovery.
Along with flight training videos
and a small copy of the Koran,
they found a five-page
document, handwritten in Arabic.
It was a kind of hijackers' manual.
And contained a
justification for the attack,
written by those who orchestrated it.
MAN: Purify your soul
from all unclean things.
Completely forget
something called this world.
Afterwards begins the happy life.
(SIRENS WAILING)
NARRATOR: Among the hijackers' victims
on that bright, warm September morning
were the passengers and crew
on American Airlines Flight 11,
the first of the four
planes to crash that day.
This film is the most
detailed reconstruction yet,
of the last hour of Flight 11.
From 7.46 a.m., when
Atta boarded the plane,
to 8.46, when the Boeing 767
struck the North Tower of the
World Trade Center in New York.
A startling new picture
emerges of precisely how
the crew relayed valuable information
about their attackers to the outside world.
It was the first act in a long war.
(CLOCK TICKING)
With just a few passengers still to board,
Flight 11 is 13 minutes away from takeoff.
Betty Ong is one of the most
experienced of the cabin crew.
She wasn't scheduled to work today,
but she's flying so that
she can join her sister
on a vacation in Hawaii.
Right down this way, please.
Hi.
-How are you this morning? -Pretty good.
NARRATOR: Amy Sweeney
has two young children
and is married to Michael,
a Massachusetts police officer.
MICHAEL SWEENEY: Amy, she liked flying
'cause it gave her the opportunity to
to do what she liked
and be flexible with her
time to spend with her family.
Once we had kids, we made a decision
that she would only
work part-time and spend
the majority of time
with the kids and family.
Hydraulics.
-Set. -Windows, doors...
NARRATOR: First Officer
Tom McGuinness is 42 years old,
and married with two children.
He's a former Air Force pilot.
Cabin signs.
On.
NARRATOR: Captain John Ogonowski is 52
and married with three daughters.
Four star checklist complete.
PEGGY OGONOWSKI: He loved flying.
He absolutely loved it.
He was a very experienced pilot.
He had 23 years with American Airlines
and seven years in the Air Force.
And he was just a man who was
very, very skilled
in anything with mechanics.
He just had a knack for it.
I'll call you when I know something.
I love you.
NARRATOR: This morning,
25 year old Patricia Massari
and her husband, Louis,
have just discovered that they
may be expecting their first child.
She commutes from their
small apartment in Queens
to her office
at an insurance company based on
the 98th floor of the World Trade Center.
Louis had wanted
Patricia to take the day off.
But she's determined to go into the office.
Although I didn't really
want her to go to work,
I kind of wanted her to stay home
so we can, kind of, like,
tell the news to everybody, or
confirm it totally, through a
doctor, whatever we had to do.
This morning she particularly left early
because she knew that she had
things that she was behind in at work
to keep her mind calmer throughout the day.
That's what she wanted to
do, get to work a little earlier.
NARRATOR: On her way to work,
Patricia collects another pregnancy test,
just to be sure.
She plans to call Louis from her
office as soon as she gets the result.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Boston Air Traffic Control Center
manages some of the busiest
air traffic control lanes in the world.
But the job's a little easier
when the weather and visibility
are as good as they are today.
North-west 453, speed
Mach 8-zero or greater.
NARRATOR: In 12 minutes,
Flight 11 will take off into the
Boston controllers airspace.
Down this aisle, second seat
on the left. Have a good flight.
NARRATOR: The last passengers
are now boarding Flight 11.
Karen Martin, the flight's purser,
and Bobbi Arestegui,
will share duties in the first class cabin.
Among the passengers is Daniel Lewin,
a brilliant and wealthy software designer.
He grew up in America,
but moved to Israel with
his family when he was 14.
By his early 20's,
he'd become a captain in Israel's
elite counter-terrorism force.
Champagne or orange juice, sir?
Champagne.
There you go.
NARRATOR: He is seated directly
in front of one of the hijackers,
Satam Al Suqami.
AIR HOSTESS: ...straight
across here on the left-hand side.
Good morning.
NARRATOR: One of the
last passengers to board
is Mohammed Atta.
MAN: When you ride the airplane,
and before you enter it,
you make a prayer and supplications.
As the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"An action for the sake of God
"is better than all of
what is in this world."
When you step inside the plane
and sit in your seat,
be busy with the constant
remembrance of God.
God said, 'Oh ye faithful,
'when you find the enemy,
'beast it first and
remember God constantly,
'so that you may be successful.'
NARRATOR: With the arrival of Atta
and Abdulaziz Alomari,
all five hijackers are now in position.
In the front passenger row of the aircraft,
are the brothers, Waleed and Wail Al Shari.
Waleed has a clear
view of the cockpit door.
NIR MAMAN: This was a
military mission that they were on.
They had done their homework.
They'd gathered enough intelligence.
They had done enough test flights.
Everything that they did
was specifically tailored
to accommodate their objectives.
Seating arrangements are crucial.
We had the Al Shari brothers
sitting at the very front
row left to the primary aisle.
You had Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari
sitting to the right of the aisle
at a peak point.
And then you had Al Sakami,
sitting again to the left of the aisle,
further back.
NARRATOR: At Fresh Pond
subway station in Queens,
Patricia Massari catches the
M train to downtown Manhattan.
Her journey will take her through
the suburban sprawl of Queens
and then underground
towards New York's financial hub
around Wall Street.
American 11, cleared to
push and start. Tail north.
MAN: When the aircraft moves,
even slightly,
say the supplication of travel.
Because you are traveling to almighty God.
So be attentive on this journey.
AIR HOSTESS: May we have your attention
as we review the safety
features of the 767 aircraft.
To fasten seatbelts, insert
the metal clip into the buckle.
NARRATOR: It's likely that flight
attendants have some kind of contact
with one or more of the hijackers.
But all five would have
been trained to blend in,
to play by the rules,
and do nothing to arouse suspicion.
Two over wing exits.
MAN: Do not seem confused
or show signs of nervous tension.
Be happy,
optimistic,
calm.
Because you are heading
for a deed that God loves
and will accept.
If the cabin pressure changes,
an oxygen mask will appear
from the panel above you.
Pull the mask towards you
and place the mask
over your nose and mouth.
MAN: Smile in the face
of hardship, young man,
for you are headed toward eternal paradise.
Please take the time to
review the safety features card
located in your seat pocket.
MAN: God is with his faithful servants.
He will protect them and
make their tasks easier
and give them success and victory.
Say this supplication.
"Oh Lord,
"block their vision from in front of them
"so that they may not see."
NARRATOR: While Flight 11 is
waiting for clearance to take off,
Mohammed Atta makes one last phone call.
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
It's not known what he says
in a call that lasts just under a minute.
But it is known that he
calls Marwan Al-Shehhi,
the hijack leader on board
United Airlines Flight 175,
which is taxiing just a
few hundred meters away.
United 175 is also bound for Los Angeles,
but will crash into the South
Tower of the World Trade Center.
Atta and Al-Shehhi became close friends
during the planning of the attacks
and may be saying goodbye to one another.
But they may also be confirming
that the assault on the Twin Towers
is on.
CAPTAIN: Apron American
11 ready to taxi for Runway 25.
NARRATOR: What could
drive Atta and the other hijackers
to plan and execute such
a cold-blooded attack?
And what could possibly justify it?
The answer to both
questions lies not in Islam,
but in a set of ancient beliefs
practiced by only a tiny
sect of radical Muslims.
You have another sub sect,
another, if you like, a
a faction who call themselves Salafists.
It is the Islam of our ancestors.
Now, within Salafism, only a minority
say that the way to implement it
is by force, by violence.
These are the jihadists.
NARRATOR: Jihadists see
themselves as holy warriors,
and they view any act of
indiscriminate murder as justified,
so long as God's name is invoked.
They would have possibly crashed
no matter who was on the plane.
They were... They were on that mission,
and the hijackers represent an aberration.
An aberration within Islam
and its extremist interpretation
of a Salafist doctrine.
And they unfortunately were manipulated
and harnessed, trained to be weapons.
MNEIMNEH: If all the passengers
on the plane were devout Muslims,
it did not matter at all.
Muslims do not matter.
What matters is their ideology,
their conception of what is right.
And right, in this case, is
basically what is dictated to them.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: American 11 heavy.
Winds one zero, zero at ten knots.
Clear for takeoff runway zero nine.
- Roger tower.
- American 11 cleared for takeoff runway zero nine.
(CLOCK TICKING)
MAN: Then the aircraft takes off.
This is the moment that
both groups come together.
So remember God as he said,
"Oh Lord, pour your patience upon us
"and make our feet steadfast.
"And give us victory over the infidels."
Pray for yourself and all your brothers,
that they may be victorious
and hit their targets.
Ask God to grant you
martyrdom facing the enemy.
Not running away from it.
And for him to grant you patience
and the feeling that
anything happens to you,
it's for him.
NARRATOR: Patricia Massari
arrives at Fulton Street subway station
in downtown Manhattan.
It's a five-minute walk from here to
her office at the World Trade Center.
She gets off at Fulton
Street and then walks
up on the street level and
then walks to the building itself
and then goes up to the 98th floor.
She loved the company. She
loved the people she was with.
She makes friends with anybody, so
it was just like, it
was her life, you know.
She would always tell me the stories
and I'd find it interesting when
she would get home from work,
when she would tell me
how her day was at work.
NARRATOR: Patricia
grabs her regular breakfast.
Probably a bagel and black coffee.
Thanks. See you tomorrow.
As Flight 11 climbs to cruising altitude,
preparations for the attack begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has now
switched off the seatbelt signs.
However, we do advise
that when you are not...
NARRATOR: The weapons smuggled
on board by the terrorists include knives,
possibly small domestic
tools with retractable blades
known as box cutters.
Following standard procedures,
the flight attendants
would close curtain dividers
between the three classes of cabin,
possibly obscuring any line of sight
between Atta and the Al Sharis.
With the attack just minutes away,
Atta may be directing
the hijackers to get ready,
physically and psychologically,
to pass beyond the point of no return.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC)
MAN: You must make your knife sharp
and must not discomfort
your animal during slaughter.
Remember the words of almighty God.
"You were looking to the
battle before you engaged in it.
"And now you see it
"with your own two eyes."
NARRATOR: At least one of the
terrorists may have other weapons,
including something that looks like a bomb,
a black box with yellow
and red colored wires.
Is the bomb real?
Or is it a hoax, designed to
ward off a potential counterattack
by the passengers and crew?
(CLOCK TICKING)
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: ...01
maintain Mach eight zero or greater.
CAPTAIN: Boston Center, good morning.
American 11 with you,
passing through one nine
zero for two three zero.
American 11 heavy. Boston Center.
Roger. Climb and maintain
flight level two eight zero.
CAPTAIN: Flight level two
eight zero. American 11.
NARRATOR: As Flight 11 continues to climb,
the pilots would still be
wearing their seat harnesses
in a noisy cockpit.
OGONOWSKI: I think
people need to understand that
sitting in the cockpit,
you're sitting forward,
you're strapped in, you're low.
You're at a complete disadvantage
to anyone coming up behind you.
Especially people coming up behind you,
extremely determined
to do you harm.
CAPTAIN: American 11 heavy. Climb,
maintain flight level two niner zero.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Flight level two nine zero. American 11.
MAN: The confrontation begins.
Strike like champions who do
not want to go back to this world.
Shout "Allahu Akbar"
because this strikes fear in
the hearts of the non-believers.
BOTH: Allahu Akbar!
-(WOMAN SCREAMING) -Allahu Akbar!
MAN: God said, 'Strike above their neck.
"Strike at all their extremities."
FedEx 3258, contact Boston Center 125.57.
FEDEX PILOT: 125.57, thank you. FedEx.
Good day. American
11, turn 20 degrees right.
CAPTAIN: 20 right. American 11.
(DOOR BANGING OPEN)
What the hell's going on... (STRUGGLING)
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
(GROANING)
NARRATOR: The pilots
are either killed instantly
or removed from effective
control of the plane.
(GROANING)
At some point during the assault,
flight attendant Amy
Sweeney reports being shown
the apparent bomb by one of the hijackers.
And mace or mustard gas
is sprayed into the
forward passenger cabins.
Shortly afterwards though,
all five hijackers barricade
themselves inside the cockpit.
No one else on the plane will
see or hear from them again.
(PASSENGERS COUGHING)
Passengers in first and business class
are evacuated back to
economy by the flight attendants.
(COUGHING CONTINUES)
(CLOCK TICKING)
American 11 heavy, now climb.
Maintain flight level three five zero.
American 11, climb.
Maintain flight three five zero.
American 11, Boston.
NARRATOR: Losing radio contact
with an aircraft is a rare event
and is usually the result
of equipment failures.
But a cause for concern.
Echo Romeo 7 Mike Lima, how do you hear?
Mike Lima has you loud and clear.
American 11, Boston.
NARRATOR: On Flight 11,
Karen Martin and Bobbi Arestegui
are being treated for their injuries
in or near the first class galley.
They are likely to have
been the first victims
of 9/11.
I think that the flight
attendants were attacked first,
no questions about it.
The hijackers decided to take action.
They were gonna implement speed
surprise and violence of action right away.
They were gonna make
their point as to who they are
and why they're there and
so no one can mess with them.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately for
the passengers and crew of Flight 11,
Daniel Lewin had been stabbed by
the hijacker seated directly behind him.
Lewin was the best equipped of anyone
on the plane to try and repel the assault.
But the ex-Israeli commando
is now severely injured,
with a wound to the throat.
MAMAN: The passenger, Daniel Lewin,
I think, was attacked
for one of two reasons.
Al Sakami was sitting right behind him
and it just could have been that
Daniel Lewin was right in reach and
in range of any one of the terrorists
that were...
Decided to use him as an
example for the other passengers.
Or Daniel Lewin decided to
take action and intervene.
NARRATOR: Soon after
Boston air traffic control
loses radio contact with Flight 11,
its transponder is switched off.
Flight 11 is no longer
transmitting information
about its identity or altitude.
All that remains is a radar signature
showing the aircraft's location.
American 11.
Uh, the American on the frequency.
How do you hear me?
NARRATOR: The loss of
transponder data is serious,
but the controller would
know from the radar
that the plane still
appears to be in flight.
MAN: If everything goes well,
every one of you should pat the
other on the shoulder in confidence.
Remind your brothers that
this act is for almighty God.
Or they should sing
songs to boost their morale,
as the pious first generations
did in the throes of battle.
-Allahu Akbar. OTHERS: Allahu Akbar.
(SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
NARRATOR: With the
auto pilot now switched off,
the aircraft is in the complete control
of Atta and the other four hijackers.
A mystery remains about when exactly
the hijackers start to pilot the aircraft.
One alternative scenario,
is that they force at least one of the
crew to guide them nearer to New York
without revealing their true intentions.
OGONOWSKI: If I had to
speculate, I would guess
that the cockpit crew
were in charge of the aircraft,
at least to lower New York,
to the beginning of Hudson River.
It sounded as though the hijackers
were able to take control of the aircraft
somewhere over the Hudson River,
somewhere where they could
see the Towers in the distance.
Because, of course, their skills
could not have been that great
in spite them going
through flight training.
NARRATOR: Patricia Massari
arrives at the World Trade Center plaza.
When she reaches her office
high up in the North Tower,
she plans to carry out
the second pregnancy test.
After that, she hopes she can
catch up with a heavy workload.
FEMALE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
American 456, resume normal speed.
American 11, if you hear Boston
Center, ident please, or acknowledge.
(CLOCK TICKING)
American 11, American one one, Boston.
NARRATOR: The flight attendants
now organize themselves into teams
to deal with the emergency on board
and to get as much information out
to the ground as they possibly can.
9D and 9G...
They gather details from
paperwork and from each other
about who exactly the attackers were.
American 11, if you hear Boston Center,
re-contact Boston Center on 127.82.
That's American 127.82.
NARRATOR: After all that's happened,
the flight attendants make repeated
attempts to contact the cockpit.
Excuse me, what the hell is going on here?
It's just a medical emergency, sir.
But the mace in the forward
cabin makes it difficult to breathe.
And all intercom calls to
the cockpit go unanswered.
(PHONE RINGING)
Betty Ong attempts her
first call to the ground.
She dials American Airlines'
main reservations number.
Initially, she'll be plagued by
what seems to be a poor connection
and a series of misunderstandings.
I'm number three in the back,
the cockpit's not answering.
Somebody's stabbed in business and...
NARRATOR: Betty
mistakenly identifies Flight 12,
the return journey from
Los Angeles to Boston.
Amy Sweeney will later
make the same initial mistake,
suggesting the attendants are
frantically busy sharing information.
The assault is over so quickly,
that no one is absolutely sure
what has happened inside the cockpit.
MAN: What seat are you in?
WOMAN: Ma'am, what seat are you in?
We're some... Well...
I'm sitting in the back.
Somebody's coming back from business.
If you can hold on a second.
NARRATOR: Throughout
her calls to the ground,
Betty is interrupted by other attendants,
who seem to be acting as a relay team,
sending constant updates
from further forward.
Amy Sweeney makes one more
attempt to contact the cockpit.
(PHONE RINGING)
Ten minutes after storming the plane,
the hijackers decide it's
time to talk to the passengers.
But the wrong switch is keyed,
and their announcement
is broadcast to the ground.
American 11, Boston.
United 175. Boston Center. Roger.
(BUZZING AND STATIC)
Is that American 11 trying to call?
NARRATOR: Initially, the
controllers don't hear the phrase,
"We have some planes."
And who's trying to call me here?
American 11, are you trying to call?
NARRATOR: They immediately
ask for a playback of audio tape.
We gotta make some calls.
I'm on it.
NARRATOR: Boston Controllers
notify their chain of command
that they believe Flight
11 has been hijacked.
There are no reports of anyone on the plane
hearing the hijacker's transmission.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Amy Sweeney heads towards
one of the back seat's air phones.
These require credit cards
and it's possible that she borrows
a card from a nearby passenger.
There is no record of a charge
to Amy's or Betty's credit card accounts.
(WHISPERING) The
passengers are in 10B, 9D and 9G.
OPERATOR: Hello, American
Airlines Flight Services, Logan Airport.
It's Amy Sweeney.
So, I was just in my office, working.
I had heard one of the ladies
who was working in the office
say very loudly,
"What, what? A flight
attendant has been stabbed?"
(DIAL TONE)
OPERATOR: Hello, American
Airlines Flight Services, Logan.
It's Amy Sweeney.
Listen and listen very carefully.
I'm on Flight 11.
The airplane has been hijacked.
I have seat numbers...
At that point, I took the phone
and said, "Amy, this is Michael Woodward,
"What's going on?"
Michael, this plane is being hijacked.
WOODWARD: After she told me
that the aircraft had been hijacked,
she started to give me information.
I have seat numbers
for three of the hijackers.
WOODWARD: She'd given me the
seat numbers that they were seated in.
9D, 9G and 10B.
WOODWARD: And as I was
writing down the seat numbers,
my colleagues pulled up that information.
In the computer system, they
could pull up who's sitting in that seat.
And up came Mohammed Atta's reservation.
PILOT: The weather today...
NARRATOR: By now, United
Airlines flight 175 is airborne.
The five hijackers on board
have yet to make their move.
(INAUDIBLE)
NARRATOR: On Flight 11, Betty
Ong reveals that despite the risks,
cabin crew members have
made at least one attempt
to gain physical entry to the cockpit.
FEMALE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Can anybody get up to the cockpit?
NARRATOR: Betty and Amy
Sweeney now work closely together
to report the details of
the hijack to the ground.
She's just coming.
WOODWARD: Amy and Betty were trying to
relay information, so as I
was talking to her she would
ask Betty, "Did you see
this?" Or, you know...
So they were kind of working in
tandem to get the information out.
NARRATOR: It's now clear that while the
hijackers are in control of the cockpit,
the flight attendants are in full
control of the passenger cabins.
OGONOWSKI: I think the thing that
you might have been most impressed with
was their calmness.
That they were relaying information
as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.
I know as a crew member
for American Airlines
that they were following
procedures to ensure a safe landing
and,
the safety of all the passengers on board.
It's just a medical
emergency, ma'am, and...
NARRATOR: Until September the 11th, 2001,
cabin crews were trained
in the event of a hijacking
to maintain calm among the passengers.
...so everything's going to be just fine.
The flight attendants use a cover story,
that this is all just a medical emergency.
It's possible that the passengers
evacuated from first and business,
who witnessed the attack,
go along with this in order to
prevent the spread of panic.
I don't know...
Amy Sweeney tells Michael Woodward
that the cabin crew's
efforts seem to be working.
Wait, wait, wait.
WOODWARD: What she
did say, though, was that
everybody in the coach cabin was very calm.
They had no idea,
the folks in coach, that the aircraft
was being hijacked by these people.
All right.
In the background, there wasn't screaming.
There wasn't... It was very calm.
Calm meaning, there wasn't a commotion.
There wasn't noise. I mean
obviously, she was concerned.
(CLOCK TICKING)
(HIJACKERS SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
NARRATOR: Until now,
Flight 11 has been drifting
on a northwesterly path.
But the hijackers now execute
a dangerously sharp, 100 degree left turn.
(PASSENGERS SCREAMING)
The plane is now heading south,
erratically following the
course of the Hudson River
which leads straight to New York City.
(CLOCK TICKING)
(TALKING IN ARABIC)
What the hell was that?
NARRATOR: The transmission is picked
up not just by air traffic controllers,
but by United 175,
which will be hijacked in six minutes.
(STREET NOISE)
Having done a second pregnancy test,
Patricia Massari calls her husband
with the news that it's positive.
-She's excited... -Hi.
...but also a little nervous.
Yeah, I did the...
MASSARI: She always called when I was home
on my day off to let me
know that she was at work. So,
you know, around 8:40,
the first words out of her
mouth was her usual self,
which I kind of felt better about.
She was questioning me
what are we gonna do about this
'cause she wanted to
make sure that this was real
'cause she didn't believe it.
It was just overwhelming,
you know, to her and overwhelming to me.
(CLOCK TICKING)
We're making another sharp turn,
all the way onto our side.
NARRATOR: Flight 11 has made
another dangerous course change,
possibly as a result of the
hijackers' inexperience as pilots.
Boston air traffic
controllers radio United 175
to ask if they see Flight 11.
Do you have traffic?
Look at your 12 to one o'clock at about
10 miles southbound to see if you can
see an American 767 up there, please.
I see him.
Affirmative. We have him.
He's at about 20, 29, 28,000.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
United 175, turn five,
turn 30 degrees to the right,
I want to keep you away from his traffic.
NARRATOR: Boston controllers
now break official protocol
and try to make direct
calls to the military.
NARRATOR: It will be another nine
minutes before fighters are scrambled.
(RUMBLING)
On this cloudless morning,
the Twin Towers will
now be clearly in sight.
Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney
both report to the ground
that the aircraft is being
thrown around violently.
The hijackers execute yet
another terrifying maneuver,
a steep and barely controlled dive.
(PASSENGERS SCREAMING)
Michael, we're making a rapid descent.
She was now starting to get scared.
For flight attendants to
use those terms, "rapid"
it means it's quick, it's fast
and something is going on.
They're used to,
you know,
tons of turbulence and, you know,
bumpy flights and all of that but
she was really, really
nervous at this point.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: United
256 activity, two ninety, ninety-two.
NARRATOR: Flight 11 has
just passed into the airspace
of New York traffic controllers.
United 175
now reports the mysterious radio
transmission it picked up earlier.
PILOT: New York United 175 heavy.
United 175, go ahead.
PILOT: We figured we'd
wait to go to your center.
We heard a suspicious transmission
on a departure out of Boston.
Someone keyed the mike and
said, "Everyone stay in your seats."
Okay, I'll pass that along.
Cut out.
Kingston 93, light.
United 175 just came on my frequency,
and he said he heard a suspicious
transmission when they were leaving BOS.
"Everybody stay in your seats."
That's what he heard as
a suspicious transmission.
Just to let you know.
NARRATOR: This is the last
voice transmission from United 175.
The controller's attention, however,
is firmly fixed on the hijacked Flight 11.
MAN: Center, where do you
place them in relation to 583 now?
He's off about nine
o'clock at about 20 miles.
Looks like he's heading southbound,
but there's no transponder.
No nothing and no one's talking to 'em.
(BEEP)
(BEEP)
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: In Manhattan,
the rush hour is reaching its peak.
Over a million commuter cars are heading
over the bridges and through the tunnels
into an island just 13 miles long.
MAN: If you see the enemy as strong,
remember the groups that had
formed the coalition to fight the Prophet.
They were 10,000.
But remember how God gave
victory to his faithful servants.
Yes, they're sitting in 2A
and 2B.
Yes.
Yes. They are.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
Is there a doctor on board...
NARRATOR: A nearby aircraft receives
a coded Emergency Locator Transmission
or ELT from United 175,
which has just been hijacked.
PILOT: Center US Air 583.
US Air 583, go ahead.
I just picked up an ELT on 121.5.
It was brief but it went off.
Okay. They said it's confirmed,
believe it or not, as a "thing."
We're not sure yet.
So we're trying to get
another aircraft right now
to see what its altitude is.
NARRATOR: The controller follows procedures
by using the word,
"thing" instead of hijack.
And now directs other aircraft away
from the flight paths of American 11
and United 175.
Can you turn that Delta
2433 a little bit to the right?
They've got that Eagle flight in the air,
and the guy at 310 that they
want to take a look at this American,
see what his altitude is.
Can you put him on a 290 heading and
stop the Delta 1489 beneath him?
(CLOCK TICKING)
NARRATOR: Flight 11 is now
heading south over Manhattan itself.
The aircraft's air speed has
increased dramatically since the dive.
MAN: When the zero hour approaches,
wholeheartedly welcome death,
for the sake of God.
Always be remembering God.
Either end your life while
praying, seconds before the target,
or make your last words,
"There is no God but God,
"Mohammed is his messenger."
Afterwards,
we will all meet in the highest heaven.
Inshallah.
What's happening?
All of a sudden she said,
you know, "What's going
on? What's happening?"
And I don't know if she was
talking to Betty or if she was just
verbalizing it.
The airplane is all over the place.
WOODWARD: I asked her,
"Can you look out the window?"
This was right near the
end of our conversation.
She said, "I see water.
"I see... I see we're flying
low, We're flying way too low.
"I see buildings. I see lots of buildings."
I see the water.
I see the buildings.
I see buildings.
We're low.
We're far too low.
(WHISPERS) Oh, my God!
(CHUCKLES)
So, what do we do now?
- I don't know. I guess...
- (SOUND OF LOUD ENGINE)
(ALARM BEEPING)
(SHOUTING IN ARABIC)
(ALL SOUND STOPS)
(BEEPING)
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:
What's going on, Betty?
Betty, talk to me.
Betty, are you there?
Betty? I think we might have lost her.
NARRATOR: The crash of Flight 11
started a chain of events that
still dominates today's world.
In the convulsions that followed,
the calm and resourceful
actions of Flight 11's crew
have not been recognized.
But, in a very real sense,
it was they who began the fight back
against a new and appalling terror.
What my wife and Betty Ong and
the rest of the crew did that day is...
Is unbelievable. When they
talk about heroes that day
there were also heroes in the air
and those heroes were flight attendants.
I hope people realize that
flight attendants are just not
someone that throws a
crappy meal in your lap,
because it goes well, well beyond that.
Dealing with the personal loss,
I, I just don't even know
how to describe that.
John and I were married
for almost 18 years.
And we have three children.
A home life together.
And all of a sudden, the world
has just completely changed.
You know, we're still
lucky enough to be here and
enjoy life and
if anything, want to
reach out and grab it even more
and try to take hold of that piece of it
that John's never going
to be entitled to have.
You know, I don't feel
that's fair for my wife.
For all the people that day.
You know, you're supposed to die old,
you know, and be married.
And for me, it was... We
were supposed to have a child.
And, um, in a heartbeat, things can change.
And it did for me personally, and
I know one day I will see her again
and that's the only comforting thing.