United Airlines Flight 175: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:175_hits.gif|left|thumb|200px|Flight 175 as it hits second tower.]] |
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{{Infobox Airliner accident | |
{{Infobox Airliner accident | |
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name=United Airlines Flight 175 | |
name=United Airlines Flight 175 | |
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Revision as of 21:11, 8 November 2006
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11 2001 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site | World Trade Center |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 767-222 |
| Operator | United Airlines |
| Registration | N612UA[1] |
| Passengers | 56 (incl. 5 hijackers) |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 65 + approx. 600 (Tower 2) |
| Injuries | 0 |
| 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[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 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.
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. [3]
Crash
At 9:03, Flight 175 crashed into the southern facade of building #2 of the World Trade Center (south tower), between floors 78 and 84.[3] 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).
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 was 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.
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 47 and operated by a Boeing 757 rather than 767.[4] United Airlines has mounted an American flag on the gate flight 175 departed from on September 11.
Trivia
- Flight 175 also operated as a code-share flight with Air New Zealand under NZ 9051 [5]
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)
- 9-11 NTSB Report
References
- ^ "FAA Registry (N612UA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "FAA Registry (N612UA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "World Trade Center Building Performance Study". FEMA. May 2002.
- ^ United Airlines timetable