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FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 9 9/11 15th ANNIVERSARY Moments of silence mark a timeline of terror Six moments of silence will be observed during the memorial service  on Sunday morning at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan. These moments mark a timeline of the tragic events of that day of infamy 15 years ago. 8:46 A.M. – American Airlines Flight 11, which had been hijacked by terrorists out of Boston and diverted toward New York, crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Those in the impact zone were killed instantly, and those above it were hopelessly trapped, as the e l e v a - tors and staircases that w o u l d have led them to safety had been cut off. Hundreds of f i r e f i g h t e r s , police offi cers, p a r a m e d i c s and other fi rst r e s p o n d e r s rushed to the World Trade Center site to begin the massive rescue operation. 9:02 A.M. – As television news stations across the country are focused on the billowing smoke from the North Tower, a jet suddenly appears on the scene and strikes the South Tower, exploding into a ball of fl ame. United Airlines Flight 175, which emanated out of Newark Airport, was hijacked, commandeered and turned toward New York. It is apparent to everyone now that the city is under attack. As with the fi rst crash, those in the impact zone died immediately, and hundreds of others above it were trapped. In both towers, trapped people break windows for air to breathe amid the heavy fire and smoke. Some of them, knowing they couldn’t get out, made the grim choice to jump to their deaths rather than suffocate or burn. Firefighters, carrying 100 pounds of equipment, are heading up the staircases in both towers to rescue victims and extinguish the fi re. 9:37 A.M. – File photo/THE COURIER Residents hold up signs thanking fi refi ghters and police offi cers heading to and from Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks. American Airlines Flight 77, also hijacked and commandeered by terrorists, crashes into the southwestern wall of the Pentagon. The Federal Aviation Administration orders all air traffi c over the United S t a t e s This picture, taken from Brooklyn, shows United Airlines Flight 175 striking the World Trade Center’s South Tower as the North Tower burns from the fi rst plane strike. grounded immediately. All but one of the fl ights in the air at that point will land safely. Air travel wouldn’t resume until the following Friday. 9:59 A.M. – To the shock of everyone watching it, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses. In 10 seconds, the 110- story building is reduced to a massive cloud of pulverized building material and a seven-story pile of warped steel. The massive fi re triggered by the impacted plane’s jet fuel weakened the steel support beams, which caused the upper fl oors of the tower to give way. 10:02 A.M. – The last of the four hijacked flights, United Airlines Flight 93, crashes in a fi eld in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Terrorists had commandeered the plane over Ohio, then turned the fl ight back to the east, apparently heading for Washington, D.C. Passengers on board the jet, after learning of the attacks underway in New York and Washington, decide File photo/RIDGEWOOD TIMES to fi ght back. It is believed that the plane went down as passengers fought the terrorists for control of the jet. 10:29 A.M. – The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses to the ground. Like the South Tower, it disintegrates within seconds into a twisted pile of steel and a giant cloud of debris. The dust of both debris clouds cover almost all of Lower Manhattan in a blanket of ash. Thousands of ash-covered people make their way out of Manhattan, heading out on foot over the East River bridges to Brooklyn and Queens, or on the ferries to New Jersey. In the years that followed, the dust of the World Trade Center would sicken the recovery workers who toiled for nine months in deconstructing and recovering bodies from Ground Zero. Many of these workers would die of illnesses related to their efforts, and have since been added to the death toll of the attacks. File photo/THE COURIER Firefi ghters and police offi cers ride on a pickup truck near Ground Zero.


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