United Airlines Flight 175

United Airlines Flight 175

Occurrence
Date	September 11 2001
Summary	Hijacking resulting in crash
Site	World Trade Center
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-222
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	N612UAdisaster
Passengers	56 (incl. 5 hijackers)
Crew	9
Fatalities	65 passengers + approx. 600 (Tower 2)
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

File:WTC attack 9-11.jpg

United Flight 175 crashes into the World Trade Center

Template:Sep11 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). The airplane on the flight, a Boeing 767-222, N612UA, with registration number 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.

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.

Hijacking

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. 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.

UA 175 flight path from Boston to New York City

At 8:47, air traffic control received the first indications that the plane was hijacked. 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.

Crash

At approximately 9:03, Flight 175 flew into the south side of the southern tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 78 and 84. 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 collapse. Parts from the plane were recovered a few blocks north of the World Trade Center on Church Street.

The image of the crash was caught by live TV because of coverage of the Flight 11 crash into the north tower and was broadcast around the world. It was continually replayed in news broadcasts over the next few days.

Around 600 people were killed instantly or trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower (2 WTC).

Unlike at the other tower, one of the three stairwells was still intact, at least initially, although there was thick smoke. 18 people passed the impact zone this way and left the South Tower safely before it collapsed.

Many people jumped to their deaths from the burning tower. In addition, 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". [2] Since then, United Airlines has renumbered all its flights; the current flight number is Flight 161.

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report
• UA Flight 175: Minute by Minute
• Memorial wiki tribute to those killed in this flight (with flight manifest)