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United Airlines Flight 175

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United Airlines Flight 175
File:Flight 175 TV news.jpg
Flight 175 just seconds before crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Occurrence
DateSeptember 11, 2001
SummaryHijacking
SiteWorld Trade Center
Aircraft typeBoeing 767-222
OperatorUnited Airlines
RegistrationN612UA[1]
Flight originLogan International Airport
DestinationLos Angeles International Airport
Passengers56 (incl. 5 hijackers)
Crew9
Fatalities65 + approx. 600 (Tower 2)
Survivors0

Template:Sep11 United Airlines Flight 175 was a morning flight that regularly flew from Logan International Airport in East Boston, Massachusetts to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California. On September 11, 2001, the United Airlines Boeing 767-222, registered N612UA,[2] 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 inferno drew live mass media attention on to the scene of the impending Flight 175 crash into the nearby South Tower.

Hijackers

The hijackers were:

The Flight

UA 175 flight path from Boston to New York City

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 Captain 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.[3] Approximately 7 minutes later, UA175 was also hijacked.

Hijacking

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 8:41, the pilots overheard suspicious transmission ordering people to "stay in your seats" and reported to air traffic control. [4]

At 8:47, air traffic control received the first indications that the plane was hijacked. The transponder code was changed twice but was never turned off. This allowed ATC to continually track the flight and monitor flight data, including altitude.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[5]

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.[6]

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.[6] He also reported that a flight attendant was stabbed, and said that the hijackers were flying the plane.[6] The call was disconnected after a minute and 15 seconds.[7]

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.[6] He then called his parents at 9:00 a.m., and spoke with his mother, Louise.[7][6] Sweeney told his mother about the hijacking, and mentioned that passengers were considering storming the cockpit and take control of the aircraft.[6]

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.

Then at 9:01 AM; two minutes before impact as United 175 continued its descent into Lower Manhattan, New York Center alerted another nearby Air Traffic Facility responsible for low flying aircraft. He warned

Controller:" Got him just out at 95 hundred, nine thousand now..."

Manager of New York Center: " Do you know who he is?"

Controller:" We don't know who he is...we're just picking him up now"

"New York Center: " All right heads up man, it looks like another one coming in"

Then two minutes later, Cameras trained on the burning tower captured the view of United Flight 175 as it came across Manhattan and turned and crashed into the second tower.

Crash

File:Story.crash.sequence.jpg
Flight 175 before and after it crashed into South Tower of WTC.

At 9:03, Flight 175 crashed into the southern facade of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center (south tower), travelling at approximately 590 miles per hour and impacting between floors 77 and 85 with approximately 10,000 gallons of flammable jet fuel.[8] 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, 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 clipped 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.[9] The Crash of Flight 175 made EVERYONE realize that the U.S had a terorist attack of bibllical proportions taking place.

The image of the crash was caught on video from over 40 vantage points[10], including live-feed from a helicopter camera broadcast on live television. The world wide coverage is due to Flight 11 crash into the North Tower. 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 found at Church & Murray Street, and a section of the fuselage landed on top of 5 World Trade Center.

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.

File:Wtcdebris.jpg
A portion of the fuselage from United Airlines Flight 175 on the roof of 5 WTC.

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

Miscellaneous

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".[11] Since then, United Airlines has renumbered all 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.

Notes

References

  1. ^ "FAA Registry (N612UA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. ^ "NTSB Brief". NTSB. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  3. ^ "Special Report: Attack on America". Guardian Report. 2001-10-17. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  4. ^ "NTSB Report for Flight 175" (PDF). NTSB. 2002-02-19. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  5. ^ "The Four Flights - Staff Statement No. 4" (PDF). 9/11 Commission.
  6. ^ a b c d e f National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2004). "Chapter 1". 9-11 Commission Report. Government Printing Office.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference P200018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "NIST NCSTAR 1-5: Reconstruction of the Fires in the World Trade Center Towers" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. October 2005.
  9. ^ "Flight 175: As the World Watched (TLC documentary)". YouTube. December 2005.
  10. ^ "Flight 175 Crash from 44 clips". YouTube. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  11. ^ "Logan Airport bears memory of its fateful role with silence". Boston Globe. 2002-09-12. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  12. ^ "United Airlines provides further update on UA Flights 93 and 175". PR Newswire Europe Ltd. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
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