United Airlines Flight 175
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11, 2001 |
| Type | Hijacking |
| Site | World Trade Center |
| Fatalities | 65 + approx. 600 (Tower 2) |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 767-222 |
| Operator | United Airlines |
| Tail number | N612UA |
| Passengers | 56 (incl. 5 hijackers) |
| Crew | 9 |
| Survivors | 0 |
United Airlines Flight 175 was a morning flight that regularly flew from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California (Boston–Los Angeles route). On September 11, 2001, the United Airlines Boeing 767-222, registered N612UA, was hijacked and crashed in New York City during the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was the second plane hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center, but was the single airline crash that morning to be witnessed live on television around the world as it happened. It was preceded by American Airlines Flight 11, which had struck the top of the North Tower 17 minutes earlier. The resultant huge inferno in that building then drew live mass media attention on to the scene of the impending Flight 175 crash into the nearby South Tower.
Contents |
[edit] Hijacking
Flight 175 was scheduled to depart at 8:00 EDT and left the gate at 7:59 but due to routine morning taxiing times, the flight departed the runway at 8:14. Had the flight been scheduled to depart 15 minutes earlier, it most likely would have been hijacked around the same time as Flight 11.
The flight was piloted by Victor Saracini, with Michael Horrocks as first officer. At 08:37:08, flight control asked the pilots of UA175 whether they could see American Airlines Flight 11 out their viewpoint, and the response was affirmative. They were ordered to maintain distance from the flight since it was now known that it had been hijacked.[1]. Approximately 7 minutes later, UA175 was also hijacked.
[edit] Hijackers
The hijackers were:
- Marwan al-Shehhi (from the United Arab Emirates)-pilot
- Fayez Banihammad (from the United Arab Emirates)
- Mohand al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian)
- Hamza al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian)
- Ahmed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian)
They claimed they had a bomb, though this is not substantiated. The assailants used knives and mace to subdue members of the flight crew and the pilots.
At 8:47, air traffic control received the first indications that the plane was hijacked. At around this time, the flight had a near midair collision with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, reportedly missing the plane by only 200 feet, following a warning from an air traffic controller to the Delta crew that United Flight 175 had been hijacked.[2]
By 8:52 there was no doubt of an emergency, as the plane had radically changed course and was not responding. Despite reports that one of the passengers called his mother and told her they were thinking of storming the cockpit, it appears that no such intervention took place.
By 8:58, the plane was heading towards New York City and descended from an altitude of 28,500 feet over New Jersey. From the time al-Shehhi completed the turn toward New York (approximately 8:58) to the moment of impact (9:03), the plane went into a sustained power dive, descending at about 10,000 feet per minute.[3]
[edit] Phone calls
Three passengers, Pete Hanson, Brian David Sweeney, and Garnet Bailey made phone calls, all from GTE airphones, from United Airlines Flight 175. Flight attendant, Robert Fangman, also made phone calls.[1][2]
At 8:52 a.m., Pete Hanson called his father, Lee Hanson in Easton, Connecticut, telling him of the hijacking. Pete was travelling with his wife, Sue, and 2 1/2 year old daughter, Christine. Pete said that the hijackers had taken over the cockpit, that a flight attendant had been stabbed, and possibly someone else in the front of the aircraft had been killed. He also reported that the plane was flying erratically.[3]
Flight attendant Robert Fangman called a United Airlines office in San Francisco, and spoke with Marc Policastro. He reported the hijacking, and said that both pilots had been killed.[3] He also reported that a flight attendant was stabbed, and said that the hijackers were flying the plane.[3] The call was disconnected after a minute and 15 seconds.[1]
At 8:58 a.m., Brian David Sweeney tried calling his wife, Julie, and left her a message, telling her that the plane had been hijacked.[3] He then called his parents at 9:00 a.m., and spoke with his mother, Louise.[1][3] Sweeney told his mother about the hijacking, and mentioned that passengers were considering storming the cockpit and take control of the aircraft.[3]
Pete Hanson made a second phone call to his father at 9:00 a.m.
"It's getting bad, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They seem to have knives and Mace. They said they have a bomb. It's getting very bad on the plane. Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we are going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast. My God, my God."
As the call abruptly ended, Pete's father could hear a woman screaming. His parents then turned on the television and saw the plane crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.[3]
[edit] Crash
At 9:03, Flight 175 crashed into the southern facade of building #2 of the World Trade Center (south tower), travelling at 590 miles per hour and impacting between floors 78 and 84.[4] The plane was carrying 56 passengers (including the 5 hijackers) and 9 crew members. All onboard were killed. Hundreds more were killed within the tower and from its ensuing explosion, fires and collapse. Around 600 people were killed instantly or trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower (2 WTC).
According to eyewitnesses and video footage, al-Shehhi appeared to execute a banking left turn in the final moments, as it appeared that the plane might have otherwise missed the building or merely clipped it with its wing. Those seated on the left side of the plane would, therefore, have had a clear view of the towers approaching, with one burning, until the final moment of the flight.[5]
The image of the crash was caught on video from about 30 vantage points and one live-feed from a helicopter camera was broadcast on live TV. This is due to coverage of the Flight 11 crash into the north tower during broadcast around the world. It was continually replayed in news broadcasts over the next few days.
Some debris from the aircraft were recovered nearby, including landing gear found on top of a building on the corner of West Broadway and Park Place, an engine from Flight 175 found at Church & Murray Street, and a section of the fuselage landed on top of World Trade Center 5.
Unlike at the North Tower, initially, one of the three stairwells was still intact. Only 18 people passed the impact zone through the available stairway and left the South Tower safely before it collapsed. One of those 18 people, Stanley Praimnath was on the 81st floor and witnessed Flight 175 coming towards him. Some people above the impact zone made their way upward toward the roof in hope of a helicopter rescue. However, access doors to the roof were locked. In any case, thick smoke and intense heat prevented rescue helicopters from landing.
At 9:59:04 the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, viewed, and heard by a vast television and radio audience. It stood for 56 minutes and 10 seconds after the impact of Flight 175.
- Further information: Collapse of the World Trade Center
The flight route designation for future flights on the same route was later changed from Flight 175 to Flight 1525 "out of respect for those who died in the attack". [4] Since then, United Airlines has renumbered all its flights; as of September 11 2006, the current flight number for the morning flight from BOS to LAX is Flight 161 and operated by a Boeing 757 rather than 767.[6] United Airlines has mounted an American flag on the gate flight 175 departed from on September 11.
[edit] Trivia
- Flight 175 also operated as a code-share flight with Air New Zealand under NZ 9051 [5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Exhibit #P200018, United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui. United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.
- ^ The Four Flights - Staff Statement No. 4. 9/11 Commission.
- ^ a b c d e f g National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2004). “Chapter 1”, 9-11 Commission Report. Government Printing Office.
- ^ World Trade Center Building Performance Study. FEMA (May 2002).
- ^ Flight 175: As the World Watched (TLC documentary). YouTube (December 2005).
- ^ United Airlines timetable
