9:03 AM Eastern on September 11th, 2001, twenty-one years ago to the minute, was when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 17 minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 – initially believed to be an accident – hit the North Tower. Both flights originated in Boston, both were destined for Los Angeles, which the Al-Qaeda hijackers had chosen specifically because their tanks would be filled with jet fuel, maximizing the destruction.
What was already a bad morning in New York City became far, far, far worse. Then, 34 minutes later at 9:37 AM EDT, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, having taken off from Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Finally, at 10:03 AM, United Flight 93, which took off from Newark-Liberty International Airport, crashed in rural western Pennsylvania as the passengers attempted to take control of the flight from the hijackers. The terrorists’ target was unclear, but it is widely thought to be either the White House or the US Capitol.