This video map above comes from an animated map created by NASA using FAA air traffic control data from September 11, 2001. (You can watch the original below)
It has been modified by slowing it down 2.5x times to allow for a timeline of major events to be included.
From the original video:
It shows the rapid grounding of air traffic across the US, and redirection of incoming international traffic, in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Time is at lower left, number of planes in the air lower right.
At 9:06am, FAA issued a ground stop to all traffic not yet departed that would encounter NY airspace [“tier one”- NY, DC, Boston, Cleveland] .
A series of rapid decisions followed, including redirecting inbound traffic away from NY and warning airplanes in the air of potential cockpit intrusion.
At 9:45am, FAA Command Center decided to close all US airspace for the first time in history. Within a few hours, all commercial air traffic was grounded.
NASA/FAA Video
Timeline of 9/11
Below I’ve included a brief timeline of events from September 11th from Wikipedia.
7:59 am: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with registration number N334AA, carrying 76 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 11 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Hijacker and ringleader Mohamed Atta was piloting the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
8:14 am: United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, with registration number N612UA carrying 56 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 9 crew members, departs 14 minutes late from Logan International Airport in Boston, bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Marwan al-Shehhi was piloting the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
8:14 am: Flight 11 is hijacked over central Massachusetts, turning first northwest, then south heading straight to New York.
8:20 am: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with registration number N644AA with 58 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 6 crew members, departs 10 minutes late from Washington Dulles International Airport, for Los Angeles International Airport. Five hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour will pilot the plane into the West side of The Pentagon.
8:42 am: United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with registration number N591UA with 37 passengers (excluding the hijackers) and 7 crew members, departs 42 minutes late from Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport), bound for San Francisco International Airport. Four hijackers are on board. Lead hijacker-pilot is Ziad Jarrah.
8:42–8:46 am (approx.): Flight 175 is hijacked above northwest New Jersey, about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of New York City, continuing southwest briefly before turning back to the northeast.
8:46:40 am: Flight 11 crashes into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99. All passengers aboard are instantly killed with an unknown number inside the building. The aircraft enters the tower on impact.
8:50–8:54am (approx.): Flight 77 is hijacked above southern Ohio, turning to the southeast. The transponder is turned off by hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour.
9:03:02 am: Flight 175 crashes into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85. All passengers and crew are killed together with an unknown number inside the building. Out of the four attacks, it is the only one witnessed by a live television audience and confirms that the North Tower had been deliberately attacked.
9:28am: Flight 93 is hijacked above northern Ohio, turning to the southeast.
9:37:46 am: Flight 77 crashes into the western side of The Pentagon. All 58 passengers and crew were killed aboard the aircraft, as well as an additional 125 (including emergency workers) on the ground.
9:45 am: United States airspace is shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration; all operating aircraft are ordered to land at the nearest airport, and international flights are not permitted into the airspace. Operation Yellow Ribbon begins.
9:57 am: The passengers aboard Flight 93 begin a revolt, planned by Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, and others, moving against the hijackers in an attempt to take back the plane.
9:59:00 am: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 56 minutes after the impact of Flight 175. Impact speed of the plane is considered one of the likely factors of the shorter amount of time between impact and collapse than that of the North Tower.
10:03:11 am: Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers as a result of fighting in the cockpit 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Later reports indicate that passengers had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes and were resisting the hijackers. The 9/11 Commission believed that Flight 93’s target was either the United States Capitol building or the White House in Washington, D.C. but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claims that the United States Capitol was the main target.
10:20 am: President Bush, aboard Air Force One, tells Vice President Cheney that he has authorized a shootdown of aircraft if necessary.
10:28:25 am: The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 1 hour and 42 minutes after the impact of Flight 11.
10:50:19 am: All five stories of the Pentagon on the West side where American 77 crashed collapse due to the fire started by the crash.
12:15 am (approximately): The airspace over the 48 contiguous United States is clear of all commercial and private flights.
5:20:33 pm: 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building, collapses after fires started inside the building.
Flight paths of the four hijacked planes used in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
Operation Yellow Ribbon
Operation Yellow Ribbon was initiated by Canada in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Its primary goal was to quickly divert civilian aircraft from U.S. airspace—where they could potentially be used as weapons—and safely land them in Canada.
The operation was coordinated by Transport Canada and Nav Canada, with additional support from various agencies, including the Department of National Defence and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In total, between 225 and 240 flights were rerouted to 17 airports across Canada, mainly in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and British Columbia, with other provinces also assisting.
None of the diverted flights posed an actual threat.
Canadian airports provided accommodation and support to thousands of stranded passengers until U.S. airspace reopened.
The operation notably included shutting down Canadian airspace to all but police, military, and humanitarian flights—a first in Canada’s history—and deploying emergency measures to coordinate security, customs, and immigration screening.
The United States later expressed gratitude for Canada’s swift response and solidarity during the crisis.
By the Numbers
Different sources offer varying figures on the number of diverted flights and passengers.
Transport Canada reported that over 33,000 passengers arrived on 224 flights, while Nav Canada recorded a total of 239 flights.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien noted that the number of flights ranged from 225 to 250, with passenger counts estimated between 30,000 and 45,000.
Here’s the data from NavCan by airport
| Airport | # of planes |
|---|---|
| Halifax International Airport | 47 |
| Gander International Airport | 38 |
| Vancouver International Airport | 34 |
| St. John's International Airport | 21 |
| Winnipeg International Airport | 15 |
| Toronto Pearson International Airport | 14 |
| Calgary International Airport | 13 |
| Greater Moncton International Airport | 10 |
| Montréal–Mirabel International Airport | 10 |
| Stephenville International Airport | 8 |
| Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay | 7 |
| Montréal-Dorval International Airport | 7 |
| Edmonton International Airport | 6 |
| Hamilton International Airport | 4 |
| Whitehorse International Airport | 2 |
| Deer Lake Airport | 1 |
| Yellowknife Airport | 1 |
| Total | 238 |
Gander International Airport, the first North American airport on the transatlantic route, took in 38 wide-body aircraft—primarily bound for the United States.
Around 6,600 passengers and crew were accommodated, a substantial number given Gander’s resident population of fewer than 10,000 people at the time.
Then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien observed that in just a few hours, the town’s population had increased by more than 50%.
9/11 Death Toll
| Location | Number of Fatalities |
|---|---|
| World Trade Center (New York City) | 2,753 |
| The Pentagon (Arlington, Virginia) | 184 |
| Shanksville (Pennsylvania) | 40 |
| Total | 2,977 |
Note: These figures do not include the hijackers.
For more see: Countries That Lost Citizens On 9/11
Gabriel says
Great work, thank you. I remember being in London (England) on 9/11, at a training by the charity Water Aid for its fundraisers (we had travelled there from Brighton on the South coast). A tv was turned on to display slides — and we had a brief glimpse of a plane hitting a World Centre tower, before the set was switched to another display mode. This was extraordinary: but we had no chance to discuss it until the lunch break, walking along the South Bank of the Thames. Was the attack by homegrown US terrorists? Or by a foreign enemy? Like Islamists?
Gabriel says
PS I meant World TRADE Centre tower — which I had last walked past in 1985 on a trip to New York.