The September 11 attacks of 2001 were a major event that had a significant long-lasting impact even beyond the day of the attacks itself. This article summarizes events which relate to the attacks in the remaining days of September 2001. News coverage was significant in the period after the attacks which meant that many of these events were reported on quickly by news agencies at the time.
All times, except where otherwise noted, are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), or UTC−04:00.
September 2001
Tuesday, September 11 CBS and CNN report that a van filled with explosives has been stopped on the George Washington Bridge. According to the report, the New Jersey police claimed there were enough explosives to destroy the entire bridge. Police commissioner Bernard Kerik said that the report remained unconfirmed.
Wednesday, September 12 2:30 a.m.: According to a later ABC news report, five Israeli men were detained after a witness reported seeing several men filming the World Trade Center attack and behaving in a manner she considered suspicious. According to the police and FBI report regarding the five men, "All of the males appeared to be jovial. The [sic] smiled, they hugged each other and they appeared to 'high five' one another." There were no explosives involved. Before 3:15 a.m.: The Associated Press Press reported that the Boston Herald, citing an anonymous source, said five Arab men had been identified as suspects. The Herald also reported that authorities seized a rental car containing Arabic-language flight-training manuals from an airport parking garage. The FBI in Boston declined the comment on these reports. Their passports were traced to the United Arab Emirates. A car, rented in Portland, Maine, was seized from the Logan International Airport garage, containing flight training manuals in Arabic. According to CNN, the FBI could neither confirm nor deny this. The men had been in a fight with a man shortly before take-off; this man later recalled the incident and called the police. Before 3:50 a.m.: Reports emerged that Osama bin Laden had denied involvement in the attacks. 4:35 a.m.: CNN reports, citing a law-enforcement source, that information from the highjacked planes' passenger list has led to search warrants in South Florida. After 7:00 a.m.: PAPD Sergeant John McLoughlin, who had been trapped beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center for about 22 hours is pulled to safety. 10:00 a.m.: The Senate and House of Representatives reconvene. 10:53 a.m.: President George W. Bush holds a cabinet meeting, saying that the attacks "were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war." Bush later that day tours the Pentagon to oversee the rescue and recovery efforts. Early afternoon: NASCAR postpones the New Hampshire 300 that was scheduled to be held at the New Hampshire International Speedway on September 16. The race is rescheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. Support races were cancelled, while a Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway is postponed until October. 12:30 p.m. (approximately), Genelle Guzman-McMillan is pulled from the rubble of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and is the last person recovered alive from the buildings' collapse zones.John Cloud, "A Miracle's Cost ," Time, Sept. 1, 2002. 1:10 p.m. (approximately): Armed FBI agents storm the Westin Hotel in Boston to investigate a room rented by a passenger on one plane. They encounter and detain three people in the room and call in a bomb squad to investigate a suspicious package. 3:58 p.m.: The FBI announces they have evidence showing the White House and Air Force One were intended targets of the attacks. Later this is recanted, and blamed on administration staffers misunderstanding the security information they received. 5:00 p.m.: Attorney General John Ashcroft announces that some of the hijackers were pilots trained in the US. 7:00 p.m.: Candlelight vigils are held in Washington Square, Union Square, Central Park, and various other locations in New York City, as well as across the country. Late evening: The Chicago Tribune reports that an anti-Arab rally was held by a crowd of a few hundred people near Bridgeview mosque in Bridgeview, Illinois. Three were arrested by the over 100 policemen there, two for disorderly conduct and one for reckless driving.
Thursday, September 13 The NFL cancels games for the weekend of September 16. These games were rescheduled to be played the week after the regular season was supposed to end, delaying the playoffs and Super Bowl XXXVI. Some commercial flights resume, and several airports are reopened, but under strict security protocols from the FAA. Before 1:00 a.m.: German police raid an apartment in Hamburg, apparently at the behest of the FBI, believed to have been used by suspect passengers on the airline flight list. It is believed to be the first police action outside the U.S. connected with the attack. Two people are taken into provisional custody, one is an airport worker. Both are later released, but re-arrested in late 2002. The United States National Transportation Safety Board, which usually investigates air disasters, issued a press release stating that the NTSB would assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and that the FBI would be "the lead investigative agency". Between 4:15 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.: 10 people are detained at New York airports, reportedly including people who had boarded planes under false pretenses, people who had been trained to fly aircraft at the same schools as the previous terrorists, and people who had attempted to bring knives and other weapons past airport security. Some of these people had already been identified by the FBI as potential suspects. Three are removed from planes ready for departure by police SWAT teams, one resists arrest. It is later found that none of them were planning a hijacking. 4:20 p.m.: The flight data recorder from United Airlines Flight 93 is recovered, fifteen feet below the surface of the ground. It is announced that Ahmad Shah Massoud, the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, died on September 9 from wounds received during an al-Qaeda suicide attack. His death was widely reported in the following days. On the orders of Queen Elizabeth II, "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, marking the first time that the national anthem of a foreign nation was played at Buckingham Palace outside of an official state visit. This unprecedented act was witnessed by a huge crowd, many singing along. At the orders of Vladimir Putin, Russia observes a moment's silence at noontime (Moscow time) with flags placed at half-staff throughout Russia "in memory of terrorist acts' victims". At 8:00 p.m., the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) holds a special live broadcast of WWF SmackDown! from the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas, dedicated to the victims and heroes of the attacks. This live broadcast made UPN the first major television network to resume regular programs after the attacks. Not only was this the first major sporting event since the events of September 11, but it was also the first public assembly of its size. All storylines are put on hold for this tribute show, as various wrestlers and other individuals give their best wishes to the families of the victims and congratulate all of the workers and firefighters in New York.
Friday, September 14 The National Day of Prayer and Remembrance
Church and memorial services are held throughout the world. These include a special service held in London, which was attended by a black-clad Queen and 1,500 mourners. A three-minute silence at noon Paris time was observed throughout Europe. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is performed or sung in front of the Brandenburg Gate and at mass gatherings in Edinburgh, Paris, and Ottawa. National days of mourning are observed in Ireland and South Korea. Ireland was brought to a standstill on the day, because the government had ordered schools, offices, and stores across the country closed because a public holiday as part of the national day of mourning had been declared. The New York City Office of Emergency Management completes setup of an Emergency Operations Center after a 32-hour construction marathon, at Pier 92. This facility served to replace the Office of Emergency Management office formerly housed in the basement of 7 World Trade Center, and destroyed on the afternoon of September 11. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) releases a revised estimate and the names of unaccounted. 125 people are missing: 74 Army, 42 Navy, 9 Defense agency. The original estimate for Defense Agencies was 10, which inadvertently included one DoD employee on American Airlines Flight 77, Mr. Bryan C. Jack. Resumption of package deliveries from national carriers such as UPS and Federal Express. Nine of the ten detained at New York airports were released. One is still being questioned about immigration status. Authorities suspected one of them was holding a false pilot certificate, but he was a pilot. He was carrying papers, including a visa, which were owned by his brother in Boston, who happened to live in the same building as three of the people suspected of involvement in the hijackings. There was no hijacking attempts at either airport on the 13th, only suspicious circumstances. The Pentagon reports recovering both black boxes from flight AA 77 which crashed into the Pentagon. The names of the 19 suspected hijackers are released by the FBI.FBI Announces List of 19 Hijackers FBI Archives, FBI, national Press Release September 14, 2001 Arrests are made in the Netherlands and Belgium and apartments searched in the Philippines and on a Carnival cruise ship in Florida. The connection to the Sept. 11th attack is not immediately clear.
12:00 PM, Service led by Rev. Billy Graham at Washington National Cathedral, with President George W. Bush and past and present top officials in attendance. Bush gave remarks, beginning with "We are here in the middle hour of our grief." Canadian television covers a memorial service on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci presided over, and more than 100,000 people attended. 2:15 PM Colin Powell press briefing. 3:40 PM President George W. Bush arrives in New York City. Later delivers 'Bullhorn Address'. 8:30 PM: The cockpit voice recorder from United Airlines Flight 93 is recovered, twenty-five feet below the surface of the ground.
Saturday, September 15 The Department of Defense releases a casualty update: Aerographer's Mate First Class Edward Thomas Earhart, 26, Salt Lick, Kentucky, is confirmed dead. Herbert W. Homer, a civilian employee of the Defense Contract Management Agency, was previously listed in error as unaccounted for at the Pentagon; he was among the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 175. Before 8:00 AM, New York authorities end request for donations of emergency supplies. Before 2:30 PM, Iran announces that it has closed its border with Afghanistan. Before 2:30 PM, the official New York City missing count has risen to 4972. Over 150 bodies have been found, 92 positively identified. Before 2:30 PM, the official death count at the Pentagon has risen to 189, including the 64 in AA77. 3:00 PM approx., a funeral mass is held for the Rev. Mychal Judge. 3:00 PM approx., a funeral is held for fire chief Peter J. Ganci, Jr. in New Jersey. Afterwards mayor Rudy Giuliani breaks his policy of never making public comments after the funeral, saying "All eyes are on New York City." Before 3:00 PM, The New York Stock Exchange is successfully tested for its morning open at 9:30 am EDT.