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United Airlines Flight 175

UA 175 flight path from Boston to New York City on September 11, 2001
Hijacking
Date	Tuesday, September 11, 2001 (2001-09-11)
Summary	Suicide hijacking
Site	World Trade Center
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767–222
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	N612UA
Flight origin	Logan International Airport
Destination	Los Angeles Int'l Airport
Passengers	51 (plus 5 hijackers)
Crew	9
Fatalities	60, (plus 5 hijackers), and approximately 850 (including emergency workers) at the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Survivors	0

United Airlines Flight 175 was a passenger flight which was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. They deliberately crashed it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 60 people aboard plus the hijackers, and an unconfirmed number in the building's impact zone. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 767–222, was flying United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental service from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California.

Approximately thirty minutes into the flight, the hijackers forcibly breached the cockpit and overpowered the pilot and first officer, allowing lead hijacker and trained pilot Marwan al-Shehhi to take over the controls. Unlike Flight 11 which turned its transponder off, the aircraft's transponder was visible and the aircraft deviated from the assigned flight path for four minutes before air traffic controllers noticed these changes at 08:51 EDT. They made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the cockpit. Several passengers and crew aboard made phone calls from the plane and provided information about the hijackers and injuries to passengers and crew.

The aircraft crashed into the tower at 09:03. The Flight 175 hijacking was coordinated with that of American Airlines Flight 11, which struck the top of the North Tower 17 minutes earlier. The crash of Flight 175 into the South Tower was the only impact seen live on television around the world as it happened. The impact and subsequent fire caused the South Tower to collapse 56 minutes after the crash, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties due to the collapse of the tower. During the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site, workers recovered and identified remains from Flight 175 victims (see the Aftermath section below), but many other body fragments could not be identified.

Background

The team of hijackers on United Airlines Flight 175 was led by Marwan al-Shehhi, from the United Arab Emirates. Shehhi obtained a commercial pilot's license while training in south Florida, training together with Flight 11 hijacker and plot coordinator, Mohamed Atta. The muscle hijackers on Flight 175 included Fayez Banihammad, from the UAE, and three Saudis: Hamza al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, and Mohand al-Shehri. On August 13, 2001, Marwan al-Shehhi purchased two four-inch pocket knives from a Sports Authority store in Boynton Beach, Florida, while Banihammad bought a two-piece snap knife set at a Wal-Mart, and Hamza al-Ghamdi bought a Leatherman Wave multi-tool.

In early September 2001, the Flight 175 group of hijackers arrived in Boston from Florida. Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi arrived together on September 7, and checked into the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The next day, they relocated to the Days Inn in Boston. Fayez Banihammad flew from Florida to Boston, together with Mohand al-Shehri, on September 8, and they checked into the Milner Hotel in Boston. Marwan al-Shehhi arrived in Boston on September 9, and stayed at the Milner Hotel where he shared a room with Mohamed Atta.

Flight

The United Airlines Flight 175 aircraft was a Boeing 767–222 built in 1983, registration number N612UA, with capacity of 168 passengers. It had 168 seats (10 in first class, 32 in business class, and 126 in economy class). On September 11, 2001, the flight carried only 56 passengers and 9 crew members, which represented a 33 percent load factor — well below the average load factor of 49 percent in the three months preceding September 11. The nine crew members included Captain Victor Saracini, First Officer Michael Horrocks, and flight attendants Robert Fangman, Amy Jarret, Amy King, Kathryn Laborie, Alfred Marchand, Michael Tarrou, and Alicia Titus. Excluding the hijackers, the passengers on the flight included 35 men, 12 women, and three children who were all under the age of 5.

Boarding

Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked out of their hotel and called a taxi to take them to Logan International Airport. They arrived at the United Airlines counter in Terminal C at 06:20 Eastern Time and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked in two bags. Both hijackers indicated they wanted to purchase tickets, though they already had paper tickets. They had trouble answering the standard security questions, so the counter agent repeated the questions very slowly until the men gave the correct answer. Hijacker pilot Marwan al-Shehhi checked in a single bag at 06:45, and the other remaining hijackers, Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri, checked in at 06:53. Banihammad checked two bags. None of the hijackers were selected for extra scrutiny by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS).

Shehhi and the other hijackers boarded Flight 175 between 07:23 and 07:28. Banihammad boarded first and sat in first class seat 2A, while Mohand al-Shehri was in seat 2B. At 07:27, Shehhi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi boarded, and sat in business class seats 6C and 9D respectively. A minute later, Hamza al-Ghamdi boarded, and sat in 9C.

The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:00 for Los Angeles. 51 passengers and the five hijackers boarded the 767 through Terminal C's Gate 19. The plane pushed back at 07:58 and took off at 08:14 from runway 9, several minutes after Flight 11 departed. By 08:33, the aircraft reached cruising altitude of 31,000 feet, which is the point when cabin service would begin. At 08:37, air traffic controllers asked the pilots of Flight 175 whether they could see American Airlines Flight 11. The crew responded that Flight 11 was at 29,000 feet, and controllers ordered Flight 175 to turn and avoid the aircraft. The pilots declared that they had heard a suspicious transmission upon takeoff. "Sounds like someone keyed the mic and said everyone stay in your seats," the flight crew reported. This was the last transmission from Flight 175.

Hijacking

The hijacking of Flight 175 occurred between 08:42 and 08:46. According to Flight 175: As the World Watched, Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri killed the pilots while Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi started moving passengers and crew to the back of the aircraft. At 08:47, the plane's transponder signal changed once, and a second time within a minute, and the aircraft began deviating from its assigned course. But, the air traffic controller in charge of the flight did not notice until minutes later at 08:51. Unlike Flight 11, which had turned its transponder off, Flight 175's flight data could still be properly monitored. Also, at 08:51, Flight 175 changed altitude. Over the next three minutes, the controller made five unsuccessful attempts to contact Flight 175, and worked to move other aircraft in the vicinity away from Flight 175.

Near-Collision with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315 and Midwest Express Flight 7

At around this time, the flight had a near midair collision with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, reportedly missing the plane by only 300 feet, as air traffic controller Dave Bottiglia frantically tried to tell the Delta pilot to take evasive action. Bottiglia was the first person in the control center to realize that Flight 175 was hijacked when he gave directions for a turn. Flight 175 did not respond, instead accelerating and heading toward Delta Air Lines Flight 2315. The controller commanded the Delta pilot, "Take any evasive action necessary. We have an airplane that we don't know what he's doing. Any action at all." Moments before Flight 175 crashed, it avoided a near collision with Midwest Express Flight 7, which was flying from Milwaukee to New York.

At 08:55, a supervisor at the New York Air Traffic Control center notified the center's operations manager of the Flight 175 hijacking, and David Bottiglia, who was tracking Flight 175, noted, "we might have a hijack over here, two of them." By 08:58, the plane was heading toward New York and descended from an altitude of 28,500 feet over New Jersey. From the time, at approximately 08:58, when Shehhi completed the final turn toward New York City to the moment of impact, the plane went into a sustained power dive, descending more than 24,000 feet in 5 minutes 4 seconds, for an average rate of over 5,000 feet per minute. New York Center air traffic controller Dave Bottiglia reported he and his colleagues "were counting down the altitudes, and they were descending, right at the end, at 10,000 feet per minute. That is absolutely unheard of for a commercial jet."

Calls

Flight attendant Robert Fangman, as well as two passengers (Peter Hanson and Brian David Sweeney) made phone calls from United Airlines Flight 175, using GTE airphones, from the rear of the aircraft. Airphone records also indicate that Garnet Bailey made four phone call attempts, trying to reach his wife.

Flight attendant Robert Fangman called a United Airlines office in San Francisco at 08:52, and spoke with Marc Policastro. Fangman reported the hijacking, and said that the hijackers were likely flying the plane. He also said that both pilots were dead, and that a flight attendant was stabbed. After a minute and 15 seconds, Fangman's call was disconnected. Policastro subsequently made attempts to contact the aircraft's cockpit using the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) message system.

Brian David Sweeney tried calling his wife, Julie, at 08:58, but ended up leaving a message, telling her that the plane had been hijacked. He then called his parents at 9:00 a.m., and spoke with his mother, Louise. Sweeney told his mother about the hijacking, and mentioned that passengers were considering storming the cockpit and taking control of the aircraft, as the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which had not yet been hijacked, would.

At 08:52, Peter Hanson called his father, Lee Hanson, in Easton, Connecticut, telling him of the hijacking. The family was originally seated in Row 19, in seats C, D, and E; however, Peter placed the call to his father from seat 30E. Hanson was traveling with his wife, Sue, and 2½-year-old daughter, Christine, who had never flown on a plane before. Speaking softly, Hanson said that the hijackers had commandeered the cockpit, that a flight attendant had been stabbed, and possibly someone else in the front of the aircraft had been killed. He also said that the plane was flying erratically. Hanson asked his father to contact United Airlines, but Lee could not get through and instead called the police.

Peter Hanson made a second phone call to his father at 09:00:

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. 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....Oh my God... oh my God, oh my God."

As the call abruptly ended, Hanson's father heard a woman screaming.

Crash

At 09:01, two minutes before impact as United Airlines Flight 175 continued its descent into Lower Manhattan, the New York Center alerted another nearby Air Traffic Facility responsible for low-flying aircraft, which was able to monitor the aircraft's path over New Jersey, and then over Staten Island and New York Harbor in its final moments. (Flight 175 came in from the southwest, apparently heading for the Empire State Building, but turned right, then left into the South Tower.)

Flight 175 crashed into the southern facade of South Tower of the World Trade Center (Tower 2) at 9:03:02, traveling at approximately 590 mph (950 km/h, 264 m/s, or 513 knots) and striking between floors 77 and 85 with approximately 10,000 U.S. gallons (38,000 L; 8,300 imp gal) of jet fuel on board. Onboard were 56 passengers (including the 5 hijackers) and 9 crew members, none of whom survived. The youngest person on Flight 175 was 2½-year-old Christine Hanson of Groton, Massachusetts, and the oldest was 80-year-old Dorothy DeAurajo of Long Beach, California. Hundreds more were killed within the tower and from its ensuing explosion, fires, and eventual collapse. Around 637 people were killed instantly or trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower.

According to eyewitnesses and video footage, the aircraft 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 scraped it with its wing. Upon crashing, the plane was banked left. 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.

The image of the crash was caught on video from multiple vantage points on live television and amateur video, while approximately 100 cameras captured Flight 175 in photographs before it crashed. Video footage of the crash was replayed numerous times in news broadcasts on the day of the attacks, and in the following days, before major news networks put restrictions on use of the footage.

After the plane penetrated through the tower, part of the plane's landing gear and fuselage came out the north side of the tower and crashed through the roof and two of the floors of 45–47 Park Place, between West Broadway and Church Street, (600 feet (180 meters)) north of the former World Trade Center. The plane parts destroyed three floor beams, and severely compromised the building's internal structure.

Collapse

Unlike at the North Tower, initially, one of the three stairwells was still intact after Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower. This was because the plane struck the tower from an angle, and not straight on as Flight 11 in the North Tower had done. Only 18 people passed the impact zone through the available stairway and left the South Tower safely before it collapsed. One of them, Stanley Praimnath, was on the 81st floor and his office suffered a direct hit. He witnessed Flight 175 coming toward him. One of the wings ended up in his office. Some people above the impact zone made their way upward toward the roof in hopes 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. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59:04, after burning for 56 minutes.

Aftermath

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 found at Church & Murray Street, and a section of the fuselage landed on top of 5 World Trade Center.

During the recovery process, small fragments were identified from some passengers on Flight 175, including a six-inch piece of bone belonging to Peter Hanson, and small bone fragments of Lisa Frost. Remains of many others aboard Flight 175 were never recovered.

Shortly after September 11, the flight number for future flights on the same route was changed from Flight 175 to Flight 1525 "out of respect for those who died in the attack". Since then, United Airlines has renumbered and rescheduled all flights from Boston to Los Angeles, and none of its morning flights depart at 8:00 AM EDT. As of August 2012, this flight has now been redesignated as Flight 1494 now departing at 8:34 AM EDT, using a Boeing 737-800. It was reported in May 2011 that United was reactivating flight numbers 175 and 93 as a codeshare operated by Continental, sparking an outcry from some in the media and the labor union representing United pilots. However, United said the reactivation was a mistake and said the numbers were "inadvertently reinstated", and would not be reactivated.

At the National September 11 Memorial, the names of the victims of Flight 175 are inscribed on the South Pool, on Panels S-2 – S-4.

See also

• American Airlines Flight 11
• American Airlines Flight 77
• United Airlines Flight 93
• List of tenants in One World Trade Center
• List of tenants in Two World Trade Center

References

1. Federal Bureau of Investigation (February 4, 2008). "Hijackers' Timeline" (PDF). NEFA Foundation. p. 218. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
2. ^ "Staff Monograph on the "Four Flights and Civil Aviation Security"" (PDF). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2005. pp. 17–26. Retrieved August 14, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
3. Federal Bureau of Investigation (February 4, 2008). "Hijackers' Timeline" (PDF). NEFA Foundation. pp. 261–274. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
4. "Brief of Accident" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. March 7, 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
5. "Staff Report – "We Have Some Planes": The Four Flights — a Chronology" (PDF). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
6. "United Airlines Flight 175". CNN. 2001. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
7. "Flight 175 Victim List".
8. Federal Bureau of Investigation (February 4, 2008). "Hijackers' Timeline" (PDF). NEFA Foundation. p. 288. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
9. Federal Bureau of Investigation (September 21, 2001). "Interview with Gail Jawahir" (PDF). Intelfiles. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
10. ^ "We Have Some Planes". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2004. p. 2. Retrieved July 1, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
11. ^ "We Have Some Planes". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2004. p. 7. Retrieved July 1, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) Cite error: The named reference "chap1-p7" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
12. Ellison, Michael (October 17, 2001). "'We have planes. Stay quiet' – Then silence". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
13. Wald, Matthew L. (October 16, 2001). "A Nation Challenged: The Tapes; 'We Have Some Planes,' Hijacker Said on Sept. 11". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
14. ^ "Flight Path Study – United Airlines Flight 175" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. February 19, 2002. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
15. "Report: hijacked plane nearly hit flight from Bradley". SouthCoastToday.com. September 12, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
16. ^ "Flight 175: As the World Watched (TLC documentary)". The Learning Channel. 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
17. Spencer, Lynn (2008). Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11. Simon and Schuster. pp. 74–76. ISBN 1-4165-5925-6.
18. ^ "Exhibit #P200018, United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui". United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
19. "The Four Flights – Staff Statement No. 4" (PDF). 9/11 Commission. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
20. Serrano, Richard A. (April 11, 2006). "Moussaoui Jury Hears the Panic From 9/11". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
21. ^ National Transportation and Safety Board (February 7, 2002). "Radar Data Impact Speed Study" (PDF). NTSB. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
22. "NIST NCSTAR 1–5: Reconstruction of the Fires in the World Trade Center Towers" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
23. Boxer, Sarah (September 11, 2002). "One Camera, Then Thousands, Indelibly Etching a Day of Loss". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
24. Bauder, David (August 21, 2002). "The violent images of 9–11 will return to television screens, but to what extent?". Boston Globe / Associate Press. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
25. Structural Engineers Association of New York, Noah Klersfeld, Guy Nordenson and Associates, LZA Technology (2003). World Trade Center emergency damage assessment of buildings: Structural Engineers Association of New York inspections of September and October 2001. Vol. 1. Structural Engineers Association of New York. Retrieved August 3, 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
26. World Trade Center emergency damage ... January 3, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
27. World Trade Center building ... Retrieved August 8, 2010.
28. Gordon, Greg (April 11, 2006). "Moussaoui jurors hear 9/11 victims' final calls". Star Tribune. Minneapolis.
29. Radcliffe, Jim (May 20, 2005). "Her parents now have the 9/11 victim's cremated remains with them in Orange County". Orange County Register.
30. Vogel, Charity (August 21, 2003). "Adding to Grief; Families of Many Victims of the World Trade Center Attack Deal With the Prospect of Never Having Their Remains Identified". Buffalo News.
31. "Logan Airport bears memory of its fateful role with silence". Boston Globe. September 12, 2002. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
32. "United Airlines Worldwide Timetable" (PDF). p. 16. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
33. Unions slam United for mistakenly reinstating 9/11 flight numbers
34. ^ Flight Number Flub: United/Continental Accidentally Reinstates Flights 93 and 175
35. Bad Mistake: United Revives Sept. 11 Flight Numbers
36. About: The Memorial Names Layout. Memorial Guide: National 9/11 Memorial. Retrieved December 11, 2011.

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report
• CNN September 11 Memorial page, with passenger and crew lists
• 9-11 NTSB Report
• Picture of aircraft Pre 9/11
• September 11, 2001 archive of United Airlines site with condolences for deceased
  • Page with additional information, from September 12, 2001

• Use mdy dates from August 2010
• September 11 attacks
• Islamist terrorism in the United States
• Airliner accidents and incidents in Massachusetts
• Airliner accidents and incidents involving deliberate crashes
• World Trade Center
• United Airlines accidents and incidents
• Logan International Airport
• Filmed deaths
• Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 767
• Airliner accidents and incidents caused by hijacking
• Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2001
• Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2001
• 2001 fires
• Airliner accidents and incidents in New York
• 2001 in New York
• 2001 in Massachusetts