Timeline: Key events of Sept. 11, 2001

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Key events as the day unfolded:

• 7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 leaves Boston's Logan International Airport for California carrying 92 people.
• 8:14: United Airlines Flight 175 leaves Boston with 65 people. Flight 11 is hijacked.
• 8:20: American Airlines Flight 77 leaves Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., with 64 people aboard.
• 8:42: United Airlines Flight 93 leaves Newark International Airport in New Jersey with 44 people.
• 8:42-8:46: The hijacking of Flight 175 occurs.
• 8:46: The North American Aerospace Defense Command's Northeast Air Defense Sector scrambles fighter jets to find Flight 11.
• 8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all aboard and cutting through floors 93 to 99. The crash kills hundreds of people in the building and traps hundreds more. New York City police and firefighters and police from The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey race to the burning tower.
• 8:50: President George W. Bush, during a scheduled visit of the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla., is told by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
• 8:51-8:54: The hijacking of Flight 77 occurs.
• 9:03:11: Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, slicing through floors 77 to 85.
• 9:05: Bush is told a second plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
• 9:24: Fighter jets from Langley Air Force base in Virginia are scrambled to find Flight 11 in the belief it is heading to Washington.
• 9:25: The FAA's Herndon Command Center orders the first-ever nationwide groundstop, prohibiting flight take-offs. Incoming transatlantic flights are diverted to Canada.
• 9:28: The hijackers attack Flight 93, which is flying at 35,000 feet over eastern Ohio.
• 9:30: Bush makes his first public comments: "Today, we've had a national tragedy."
• 9:37:46: Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
• 9:40: The FAA orders 4,565 planes in North American airsplace to land at the nearest airports. For the first time in the nation's history, the agency halts all flight operations.
• 9:45: Evacuations are under way at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Empire State Building, the United Nations, the Kennedy Space Center and other sites. Bush heads to an Air Force base in Louisiana.
• 9:52: Flight 93 passes a few miles south of Pittsburgh.
• 9:58: 911 operator in Westmoreland County receives a cell phone call from Flight 93 passenger Edward Felt, saying the plane is being hijacked.
• 9:59: South Tower collapses after burning for 56 minutes. The collapse takes 10 seconds and kills approximately 600 workers and first responders in the building and area.
• 10:03:11: Flight 93 crashes near Shanksville as passengers and crew fight for control of the plane.
• 10:10-10:15: Cheney gives authorization to shoot down Flight 93, believed to be 80 miles from Washington, saying he spoke with the president.
• 10:15: The damaged section of the Pentagon's E Ring, the outermost ring of the office complex, collapses.
• 10:28: World Trade Center's North Tower collapses, after burning 102 minutes. The collapse takes 11 seconds and kills approximately 1,400 people, including firefighters, workers and tourists.
• 10:30: Hundreds of thousands of people covered in white dust and soot flee lower Manhattan. New York Gov. George E. Pataki declares a state of emergency.
• 1:04 p.m.: Bush addresses the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The U.S. military is on "high alert." Once the president leaves Louisiana, he will fly to an Air Force base in Nebraska. Officials are not sure he would be safe returning to Washington.
• 1:27: A state of emergency is declared in Washington.
• 1:44: Ships leave Norfolk, Va., to protect the East Coast from attack.
• 4:01: News reports cite federal officials saying there are "good indications" that Osama bin Laden, suspected in bombing of USS Cole, is involved in these attacks.
• 4:36: Bush departs Offutt Air Force Base for Washington. Aboard Air Force One, he prepares an evening speech to the nation.
• 5:20: The 47-story 7 World Trade Center collapses. Later, the North Bridge and St. Nicholas Church collapse. The Marriott Hotel, as well as 4, 5 and 6 World Trade Center, partially collapse.
• 5:30: U.S. officials confirm Flight 93 could have been headed for Camp David in Maryland, the White House or U.S. Capitol.
• 6:40: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in the Pentagon when the plane hit, says the building will open the next morning.
• 6:55: Bush arrives at the White House on Marine One after landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, escorted by fighter jets.
• 8:30: Bush speaks to the nation, stating "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil." He says the United States will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
• 9:55: New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani closes city schools for the following day and declares the city has all the volunteers it can handle for rescue efforts. There is no evidence of airborne chemical agents, officials say.
• 11:29: Pataki inspects Ground Zero.