United Airlines Flight 175 was an American domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijacked airliner was deliberately crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City, killing all 65 people aboard the flight, and resulting in the deaths of more than 600 people in the South Tower's upper levels, in addition to an unknown number of civilians and emergency personnel on floors beneath the impact zone.
The hijacking and crash of Flight 175 is the second-deadliest plane crash in aviation history, surpassed only by American Airlines Flight 11, which struck the North Tower 17 minutes prior to Flight 175's crash. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 767 operating United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental service from Boston Logan International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport.
Flight 175 departed from Logan Airport at 08:14. Twenty-eight minutes into the flight, the hijackers injured several crew members, forced their way into the cockpit, and killed both pilots while moving anyone who remained to the rear of the aircraft. Lead hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi, who had trained as a pilot for the purposes of the attacks, took over the flight controls once the hijackers killed the captain and first officer. Unlike the team on American Airlines Flight 11, the terrorists aboard Flight 175 did not switch off the plane's transponder when they took over the cockpit. Thus, the aircraft was visible on New York Center's radar, which depicted the deviation from its assigned flight path before controllers took notice four minutes later at 08:51 EDT. Upon realizing, the ATC workers immediately made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the cockpit of the hijacked airliner, which twice nearly collided with other planes as it flew toward New York City. In the interim, three people were able to get through to their family members and colleagues on the ground, passing on information to do with the hijackers as well as casualties suffered by the flight crew.
No more than 21 minutes after the hijacking began, al-Shehhi crashed the airplane into the South Tower's south face from floors 77 through 85 as part of an attack coordinated with the takeover of Flight 11, which had struck the upper floors of the World Trade Center's North Tower at 08:46. Media coverage of the disaster that began in the North Tower 17 minutes earlier meant Flight 175's impact at 09:03 was the only one of the four attacks to be televised live around the world. The damage done to the South Tower by the crash and subsequent fire caused its collapse 56 minutes later at 09:59, killing everyone who was still inside. During the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site, workers uncovered and identified remains from some Flight 175 victims, but many victims have not been identified.
Background
Attacks
The flight was hijacked as part of the September 11 attacks. The team was assembled by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who also provided the financial and logistical support, and was led by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who devised the plot. Bin Laden and Mohammed, along with the hijackers, were motivated by the US’s support for Israel and their intervention in the Middle East. The attacks were given the go ahead by bin Laden in late 1998 or early 1999. The World Trade Center was chosen as one of the targets due to it being a prominent American symbol that represented economic prowess.
Hijackers
The team of hijackers on United Airlines Flight 175 was led by Marwan al-Shehhi, originally from the United Arab Emirates with a stint in Hamburg, Germany, as a student. By January 2001, the pilot hijackers had completed their training; al-Shehhi obtained a commercial pilot license while training in South Florida, along with American Airlines Flight 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and Flight 93 hijacker Ziad Jarrah. The hijackers on Flight 175 included Fayez Banihammad, also from the UAE, and three Saudis: brothers Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi, as well as Mohand al-Shehri.
The hijackers were trained at an al-Qaeda camp called Mes Aynak in Kabul, Afghanistan, where they learned about weapons and explosives, followed by training in Karachi, Pakistan, where they learned about "Western culture and travel". Afterwards, they went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for exercises in airport security and surveillance. Part of the training in Malaysia included boarding flights operated by US carriers so they could observe pre-boarding security screenings, flight crew movements around the cabin, and the timing of cabin services.
A month before the attacks, Marwan al-Shehhi purchased two 4-inch (10.2 cm) pocket knives from a Sports Authority store in Boynton Beach, Florida, while Banihammad bought a two-piece "snap" utility knife set at a Wal-Mart, and Hamza al-Ghamdi bought a Leatherman Wave multi-tool. The hijackers arrived in Boston from Florida between September 7 and 9.
Flight
Aircraft
The flight was operated by a Boeing 767-200, registration number N612UA built and delivered to United Airlines in 1983. It had a capacity of 168 passengers (10 in first class, 32 in business class, and 126 in economy class). On the day of the attacks, the flight carried only 56 passengers and 9 crew, which represented a 33 percent load factor — well below the average load factor of 49 percent in the three months preceding September 11.
Crew
The aircraft's pilot in command was Captain Victor Saracini (51), a former Navy fighter pilot with 16 years' service at the airline. The co-pilot was First Officer Michael Horrocks (38), who had previously served as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps with two years' service at the airline. The cabin crew consisted of purser Kathryn Laborie (42) with seven years' service at the airline, as well as flight attendants Michael Tarrou (38) with 10 years' service at the airline, Amy King (29) with 8 years' service at the airline, Amy Jarret (28) with 6 years' service at the airline, Robert Fangman (33) with 10 months' service at the airline, Alfred Marchand (44) with 9 months' service at the airline, and Alicia Titus (28) with 9 months' service at the airline.
Passengers
Out of the 60 occupants (excluding the 5 hijackers), there were 50 Americans, 3 Germans, 2 Britons and 1 each originating from Iran, Israel, Indonesia, Ireland, and Canada. There were also three children all under the age of 5 on board. The youngest victim of the September 11 attacks, Christine Hanson (born on February 22, 1999) was on Flight 175. The oldest passenger victim on the airplane was 82-year-old Dorothy DeAraujo of Long Beach, California. Among the other passengers were hockey scout Garnet Bailey and former player Mark Bavis.
Boarding
Two hours before boarding, al-Shehhi took a phone call from Ziad Jarrah at 05:01. Jarrah was set to hijack Flight 93 out of Newark, New Jersey, not far from the Twin Towers. The 9/11 Commission concluded the call was intended to confirm that the plot was proceeding. Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked out of their hotel and called a taxi to take them to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. They arrived at the United Airlines counter in Terminal C at 06:20 Eastern Time and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked two bags. Both hijackers indicated they wanted to purchase tickets, even though they already had paper tickets, which were purchased approximately two weeks before the attacks.
They had trouble answering the standard security questions, so the counter agent repeated the questions very slowly until satisfied with their responses. Al-Shehhi checked 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 Flight 175 hijackers were selected for extra scrutiny by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS).
In the meantime, at 06:52, al-Shehhi approached a payphone and called Mohamed Atta's cellphone. Atta was preparing to board American Airlines Flight 11 from another terminal in Logan, and would fly the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center 17 minutes before al-Shehhi crashed into the South Tower. Like the earlier conversation with Jarrah, the intent of this final communication was to confirm that they were both ready to go ahead with the attacks.
Al-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, al-Shehhi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi boarded and sat in business class seats 6C and 9D, respectively. One minute later, Hamza al-Ghamdi boarded and sat in 9C.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:00 for Los Angeles. Fifty-one 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, as Flight 11 was hijacked. Around this time, the Captain and First Officer picked up on an alarming communication from a yet-unidentified aircraft, which they surmised to be the voice of a hijacker; indeed, the communication later turned out to have been made from the cockpit of Flight 11. They reported the transmission after crossing from Boston Center's frequencies to those of New York Center. By 08:33, the aircraft reached cruising altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 m), which is the point when cabin service would normally begin.
Seeking information on the whereabouts of Flight 11, air traffic controllers asked the pilots of Flight 175 whether they could see the hijacked airliner. The crew could not locate the plane at first, but immediately corrected themselves once they noticed that Flight 11 was at 29,000 feet (8,800 m). ATC then instructed the pilots to turn and avoid Flight 11. By 08:42, Flight 175 made the transition to the airspace of New York Center, allowing the pilots to report the suspicious transmission they heard while climbing out of Logan. "Sounds like someone keyed the mic and said 'Everyone stay in your seats'," Saracini told Dave Bottiglia, the controller dealing with Flight 11. This was the last transmission from Flight 175.
Hijacking
The hijacking occurred sometime between 08:42 and 08:46. The 9/11 Commission concluded that the al-Ghamdi brothers forced the passengers and crew to the rear of the aircraft using knives and bomb threats, while also spraying mace into the confines of the cabin. A flight attendant was stabbed, and both pilots were killed by Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri when they breached the cockpit, allowing Marwan al-Shehhi to commandeer the flight controls.
The first operational evidence that something was abnormal on Flight 175 came seconds after the North Tower was struck, when the plane's assigned transponder signal changed from "1470" to "3020" and then one minute later to "3321", and the aircraft began deviating from its assigned course. Bottiglia 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 it. At 08:55, a supervisor at the New York Air Traffic Control Center notified the center's operations manager of the Flight 175 hijacking. Now tasked with handling Flight 175, Bottiglia remarked, "We might have a hijack over here, two of them."
Near misses
Around this time, the flight had a near midair collision with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, a Boeing 737-800 (N378DA), flying from Hartford to Tampa, reportedly missing the plane by only 300 feet (90 m). Bottiglia instructed the Delta pilot to make collision avoidance maneuvers, adding, "I think [Flight 175] has been hijacked. I don't know his intentions. Take any evasive action necessary." The aircraft's TCAS may have activated; Flight 175 briefly stopped descending at 28,000 feet (8,530 m) and climbed 300 feet (90 m) and started descending again as soon as they passed the Delta plane.
A few moments later, Flight 175 had another near midair collision with TWA Flight 3 flying from New York JFK to St. Louis missing its tail by around 500 feet (150 m). Moments before Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, it also narrowly avoided colliding with Midwest Express Flight 007, which was flying from Milwaukee to New York LaGuardia. They were forced to make a pair of very quick and very steep dives to avoid a collision, leaving four people aboard with minor injuries. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (N207ME), received minor damage. Pilot Gerald Earwood said in a later interview that the aircraft passed within about 30 feet (10 m) of his own.
Calls
Flight attendant Robert Fangman and passengers Peter Hanson and Brian David Sweeney made phone calls from GTE airphones in the rear of the aircraft. Airphone records also indicate that passenger Garnet Bailey attempted to call his wife four times.
At 08:52:01, Robert Fangman called a United Airlines maintenance office in San Francisco and spoke with Marc Policastro. Fangman reported the hijacking and said the hijackers were likely flying the plane. He mentioned that both pilots were dead and that a flight attendant had been stabbed. After 1 minute and 15 seconds, the call was disconnected. Policastro subsequently made attempts to contact the aircraft's cockpit using the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) message system. He wrote, "I heard of a reported incident aboard your acft [aircraft]. Plz verify all is normal." He received no reply.
Brian David Sweeney tried calling his wife, Julie, at 08:58:45, but ended up leaving a message letting her know the plane had been hijacked. He then called his parents at 09:00:02 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. Concerned that the hijackers would return, he informed her that he might have to hang up quickly. After saying their goodbyes, he hung up.