United Airlines Flight 175

United Airlines Flight 175
	Flight route of UA175 published by the 9/11 Commission of Inquiry
Accident summary
Accident type	kidnapping
place	World Trade Center
date	September 11, 2001
Fatalities	65 + approx. 600 (WTC 2)
Survivors	0
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-222
operator	United Airlines
Mark	N612UA
Departure airport	Logan International Airport
Destination airport	Los Angeles International Airport
Passengers	51 and 5 kidnappers
crew	9
	Lists of aviation accidents

The hijacked Boeing 767 in December 1999

On September 11, 2001 , a Boeing 767-200 on United Airlines Flight 175 ( flight number : UA175 or UAL175) was the second of four aircraft in the USA to be hijacked by five terrorists and at 9:03 a.m. in the south tower of the World Trade Centers in New York City . American Airlines Flight 11 had already been directed into the neighboring north tower . The south tower withstood the impact of the impact for a shorter period of time and collapsed after 56 minutes. All 65 occupants of the aircraft and around 600 people in the south tower died in the collision and the subsequent collapse. The five kidnappers were Marwan Al-Shehhi (alleged pilot), Hamsa Alghandi, Ahmed Alghandi, Fayez Banihammad and Mohand Alsheri.

Flight history

Sketch of the World Trade Center with the location of the impact of flight UA175 in the south tower (WTC 2)

The Boeing 767 was scheduled to take off from Logan International Airport in Boston at 8:00 a.m. EDT on a scheduled flight to Los Angeles International Airport . The aircraft actually left the gate at 7:59 a.m., but had to wait in a holding position until the clearance for take-off at 8:14 a.m.

At 8:37 a.m., air traffic control alerted the crew to an American Airlines Boeing 767 flying south (this was American Airlines flight 11 ) and asked to change course 30 degrees to the right.

At 8:41 a.m., the UA175 pilots overheard suspicious radio traffic asking people: Stay in your seats! (“Stay in your place!”) And reported this to ground control.

At 8:42 a.m., flight UA175 deviated from the specified flight route. At 8:44 a.m., a pilot on US Airways Flight 583 informed flight control that he had just picked up a distress signal from flight UA175.

At 8:46 a.m., the aircraft was about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of New York City and headed for Baltimore . From this point in time, according to some reports, flight UA175 no longer sent a transponder signal . The investigation by the aviation authority says that the transponder code was changed twice, but the transponder was never switched off. This enabled air traffic control to continuously track the flight data. Around this time there was a threat of a collision with Delta Airlines Flight 2315 flying from Hartford to Tampa . The two machines only missed each other by about 300 feet. The fact that there was no collision was also due to the quick reaction of air traffic controller Dave Bottiglia, who energetically instructed the Delta machine to fly an evasive maneuver.

At 8:46 a.m., the first hijacked machine hit the north tower. The impact also caused an earthquake-like tremor in the south tower.

At 8:58 a.m., the aircraft went into descent at an altitude of 8700 meters (28,500 feet). The rate of descent was more than 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) per minute. In those minutes of steep descent, UA175 came dangerously close to Midwest Express Flight 7, which was en route from Milwaukee to New York.

At 9:03 a.m. local time (3:03 p.m. daylight saving time in Germany), the UA175 flew after a wide left turn at 510 knots (approx. 940 km / h) from the south into the south tower, roughly between the 77th and 85th floors . Some debris fell out to the ground on the north side of the tower. Underneath were parts of the landing gear that broke through the roof and two floors of the 45-47 Park Place building two blocks away. A turbine hit Church Street.

literature

Lynn Spencer: Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11 , Simon and Schuster, 2008, pp. 74-76 ISBN 978-1-4165-5925-2

Inmates

On that day, the flight captain Victor Saracini, his first officer Michael Horrocks and the flight attendants Robert Fangman, Amy Jarret, Amy King, Kathryn Laborie, Alfred Marchand, Michael Tarrou and Alicia Titus formed the nine-person crew. 56 passengers had checked in .

Three passengers, Pete Hanson, Brian David Sweeney and Garnet Bailey , as well as the flight attendant Robert Fangman were able to make phone calls after the aboard. The latter reported the killing of the pilots.

Consequences of the impact in the south tower

Flight UA175 impacted the south tower (photo from the north)

When UA175 struck, there was an explosion of kerosene and a subsequent building fire starting from the floors between the 77th and 85th floors. All 65 people on board UA175 must have died instantly from the speed and the explosion that followed. The photos show explosive flames emerging from the facades on three sides of the building. The approach was shown live by various television stations that filmed the burning north tower. There are many different photographs of the impact from different angles.

An unknown number of people in the south tower were immediately killed by the airliner impact. Due to the destroyed stairwells and the smoke-filled staircase, it was largely impossible for the people above the impact point to escape. Driven into a corner by the effects of heat and smoke, the first victims fell to their deaths from the destroyed windows on the upper floors after just a few minutes in order not to burn themselves. At 9:59:04 a.m. local time (EDT) , 56 minutes after the aircraft hit, the south tower collapsed completely. About 600 people, including many firefighters and other rescue personnel, were still in the tower and, with few exceptions, were killed when it collapsed. Only some of the body parts found later could be identified by means of dental findings and DNA analysis.

Most of the people working in the south tower (WTC 2) who were below the impact site at 9:03 a.m., around 8,000 people, survived. There were numerous injured and traumatized people.

Remembrance, warning, memorials

Memorial plaque at the World Trade Center Memorial

The World Trade Center Memorial (memorial with a museum to commemorate the victims) has been located in Manhattan since 2014 .

A very diverse culture of remembrance and warning has arisen in the United States in connection with this and the other abductions and their aftermath. This also includes many family websites.

Nationalities of the victims on the plane

The nationality of the 51 passengers and 9 crew members included 7 different countries:

nationality	Passengers	crew	total
United States United States	43	9	52
Germany Germany	3	-	3
Canada Canada	1	-	1
El Salvador El Salvador	1	-	1
Indonesia Indonesia	1	-	1
Israel Israel	1	-	1
United Kingdom United Kingdom	1	-	1
total	51	9	60