The morning America changed forever: A timeline of the Sept. 11 attacks

A timeline of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks outlines how 19 al-Qaeda hijackers seized four commercial airliners and carried out coordinated strikes across New York, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93, killing 2,977 people. The 9/11 Commission said the attackers used small knives, box cutters and pepper spray to take control of the planes and turn them into weapons. In Eastern time, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., and American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. By 9:42 a.m., the FAA ordered all civilian aircraft to land nationwide. Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m., after passengers and crew fought back.