Flights 11 and 175

American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were the two planes that crashed into the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. Flights 11 and 175 were both Boeing 767-200s on scheduled flights from Boston to Los Angeles. Flight 11, a 767-223ER, had 81 passengers, nine flight attendants and two pilots, and Flight 175, a 767-222, had 56 passengers, seven flight attendants and two pilots. ¹  

Flight 11 took off from Boston's Logan at 7:59 AM. The loss of contact with the pilots by Boston Air Traffic Control around 8:13 AM was the first sign that something was wrong on 9/11/01 -- outside of the sizable group of people who were warned of the attack. At 8:20 Flight 11's transponder signal ceased, and it began flying south toward New York City.

The USA Today graphic shows the plane veering to the northwest before turning south -- strange behavior for hijackers intent on fulfilling a suicide mission.

Flight 175 took off from Logan at 8:14 AM, 16 minutes late and around the time Flight 11 lost contact. At 8:42 Flight 175 switched off its transponder, and veered off course flying first southward, and then turning northeast to attack the World Trade Center. The USA Today graphic is interesting because it shows Flight 175's planned route taking it close to New York City and well south of the most direct route, reducing the distance and time it subsequently had to travel off course to reach its target. This is curious given that Flight 175's flight plan was presumably not filed by hijackers.

The North Tower impact was captured by only one known video, and no known photographs. This sequence is from the film 9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition (2002) made by the Naudet brothers -- two French film-makers who were recording a documentary about the New York Fire Department when the attack commenced. This film contains the only known footage of the plane crashing into the North Tower.