Editing United Airlines Flight 175 (section)

==Crash==
At 08:58, Flight{{nbs}}175 was over [[New Jersey]] at {{convert|28,500|ft}}, by which point al-Shehhi would have seen the smoke pouring from the North Tower in the distance.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book |last=McMillan |first=Tom |date=2014 |title=Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXiFBAAAQBAJ&q=The+sight+must+have+thrilled+him.+Atta+had+struck%3B+we+can+only+guess+that+it+was+a+final+motivation+for+him+to+do+the+same&pg=PA73 |location=[[Lanham, Maryland]] |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=73 |isbn=978-1442232853 |access-date=September 10, 2021 |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911145616/https://books.google.com/books?id=MXiFBAAAQBAJ&q=The+sight+must+have+thrilled+him.+Atta+had+struck%3B+we+can+only+guess+that+it+was+a+final+motivation+for+him+to+do+the+same&pg=PA73 |url-status=live}}</ref> The airplane was in a sustained power dive of more than {{convert|24,000|ft}} in the 5{{nbs}}minutes and 4{{nbs}}seconds between approximately 08:58 and the moment of impact, at an average rate of over {{convert|5,000|ft}} per minute.{{sfn|NTSB|2002a}} Bottiglia later said that he and his colleagues "were counting down the altitudes, and they were descending, right at the end, at 10,000 feet per minute. That is absolutely unheard of for a commercial jet."<ref name="LearningChannel">{{cite web |url=http://tlc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=2.14966.55526.0.0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121204735/http://tlc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=2.14966.55526.0.0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-21 |title=''Flight 175: As the World Watched'' (TLC documentary) |publisher=[[The Learning Channel]] |date=December 2005}}</ref>
[[File:World Trade Center 9-11 Attacks Illustration with Vertical Impact Locations.svg|thumb|right|Diagram of the impact position of both aircraft]]
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| width     = 200
| image1    = World Trade Center, NY - 2001-09-11 - Debris Impact Areas.svg
| image2    = 911 - FEMA - WTC impacts (graphic).svg
| footer    = (Top) Diagram showing how debris from both aircraft fell after the impact<br />(Bottom) World Trade Center site with WTC 2
}}

{{multiple image
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| direction = vertical
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| image1    = Final moments of Flight 175.jpg
| image2    = UA Flight 175 hits WTC south tower 9-11.jpeg
| image3    = WTC 2nd plane hit - Greenwich Street.jpg
| footer    = (Top) Flight 175, seconds before crashing into the South Tower (only the northern facade is visible) as the North Tower burns.<br />(Middle) Flight 175 explodes after hitting the South Tower.<br />(Bottom) Smoke rising from the South Tower seconds after the crash as seen from Greenwich Street.
}}

Two minutes before impact, New York Center alerted another nearby Air Traffic Facility responsible for low-flying aircraft, which was able to monitor Flight 175's path as it flew over New Jersey, followed by [[Staten Island]] and [[Upper New York Bay]] as al-Shehhi lined the plane up to strike the South Tower.{{sfn|NTSB|2002a}} The aircraft was in a banking left turn in its final moments, as it appeared the plane might have otherwise missed the building or merely scraped it with a wing. Therefore, those on the left side would have had a clear view of the towers approaching, with one burning.<ref name="LearningChannel"/> The airplane crashed nose-first into the South Tower's southern façade at a speed of around {{convert|587|mph|km/h m/s kn}},{{efn|Sources disagree on the exact speed of impact. NTSB study in 2002 concluded around {{cvt|587|mph|kn m/s km/h}},{{sfn|NTSB|2002b}} whereas MIT study concluded {{cvt|503|mph|kn m/s km/h}}.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kausel |first1=Eduardo |title=Speed of Aircraft |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |url=http://web.mit.edu/civenv/wtc/PDFfiles/Chapter%20III%20Aircraft%20speed.pdf |access-date=15 August 2021 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511123620/http://web.mit.edu/civenv/wtc/PDFfiles/Chapter%20III%20Aircraft%20speed.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>}} striking through floors 77 and 85<ref name="DailyNews">{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Dick |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/touching-9-11-tribute-welles-crowther-selfless-hero-central-florida-boston-college-game-article-1.955409 |title=Touching 9/11 tribute to Welles Crowther, selfless hero, before Central Florida-Boston College game |date=September 11, 2011 |work=[[Daily News (New York)|NY Daily News]] |location=New York |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=March 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043246/https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/touching-9-11-tribute-welles-crowther-selfless-hero-central-florida-boston-college-game-article-1.955409 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=293}} with approximately {{convert|9100|U.S.gal|L impgal}} of jet fuel on board.{{sfn|NIST|2005|p=38}}<ref name=":2" /> All passengers on board were killed instantly.
[[File:WTC 2 plane crash (Myers clip6).webm|thumb|A video showing UA175 crashing into the South Tower]]
By the time Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 09:03,{{efn|The exact time is disputed. The 9/11 Commission report says 9:03:11,{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|pp=7-8}}{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004b|p=24}} NIST reports 9:02:59,{{sfn|NIST|2005|p=27}} some other sources report 9:03:02.<ref>{{cite news |title=Timeline for United Airlines Flight 175 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1962517 |newspaper=NPR |date=June 17, 2004 |language=en |access-date=August 24, 2021 |archive-date=August 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824221736/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1962517 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rinaldi |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y_wlCwAAQBAJ&dq=south+tower+9:03:02+am&pg=PT80 |title=The Red Bandanna (Young Readers Adaptation) |date=2017-09-05 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-425-28763-7 |language=en}}</ref> multiple media organizations were already covering the first plane crash in the North Tower 17 minutes earlier, with millions watching all around the globe.<ref>{{cite news |author=Deans |first=Jason |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/sep/12/overnights.september112001 |access-date=September 12, 2001 |title='Within 10 minutes of the first crash, around 4m people were in front of a TV watching the tragedy unfold.' |work=The Guardian |url-status=live |archive-date=August 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825144716/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/sep/12/overnights.september112001}}</ref> The image of Flight{{nbs}}175's crash was thus caught on video from multiple vantage points on live television and amateur video, while close to a hundred cameras captured Flight{{nbs}}175 in photographs before it crashed.<ref>{{cite news |author=Boxer |first=Sarah |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEED71F3EF932A2575AC0A9649C8B63 |title=One Camera, Then Thousands, Indelibly Etching a Day of Loss |date=September 11, 2002 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 17, 2008 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911145703/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/11/us/eyewitnesses-one-camera-then-thousands-indelibly-etching-a-day-of-loss.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Video footage of the crash was replayed numerous times in news broadcasts on the day of the attacks and in the days that followed, before major news networks put restrictions on use of the footage.<ref>{{cite news |author=Bauder |first=David |date=August 21, 2002 |title=The violent images of 9-11 will return to television screens, but to what extent? |url=http://www.boston.com/news/packages/sept11/anniversary/wire_stories/0908_tv.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208131645/http://boston.com/news/packages/sept11/anniversary/wire_stories/0908_tv.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=November 10, 2008 |work=The Boston Globe |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> As of October 2024, there are a total of 72 known video angles of the second plane.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miQstaQJW5Y&list=WL&index=22 |title=[9/11] All 72 Video Angles of the Second Plane |date=2024-10-26 |last=Erebus 911 |access-date=2025-05-19 |via=YouTube}}</ref> The initial assumption was that the crash of Flight 11 had been an accident, a mistaken belief that also hindered the process of immediately evacuating the South Tower after the first plane struck the North.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5335a3.htm |title=Preliminary Results from the World Trade Center Evacuation Study – New York City, 2003 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204032648/https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5335a3.htm}}</ref> This was dispelled when Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.<ref>{{cite news |title=9:03 a.m.: The 9/11 moment when many grasped a new reality |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/10/903-a-m-the-9-11-moment-when-many-grasped-a-new-reality/ |website=[[The Mercury News]] |date=September 10, 2021 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130094708/https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/10/903-a-m-the-9-11-moment-when-many-grasped-a-new-reality/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='By 9:05 a.m., it was clear America was under attack' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/11/it-was-the-loudest-explosion-ive-ever-heard-a-9/11-survivor-on-her-harrowing-escape-from-the-pentagon.html |website=[[CNBC]] |date=September 11, 2021 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130094707/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/11/it-was-the-loudest-explosion-ive-ever-heard-a-9/11-survivor-on-her-harrowing-escape-from-the-pentagon.html}}</ref>

The [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|Port Authority]] initiated an immediate full-scale evacuation of the North Tower within moments of Flight 11's impact. However, the same was not done for the South Tower during the 17-minute window between the two impacts; instead, the Port Authority instructed workers to remain in place.{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=334-335}} In spite of these hindrances, the number of people who would have been killed in the South Tower still reduced considerably after the first plane crash, and an estimated 2,900 descended from what would later be the trapped floors before the tower was even hit.<ref name=ncstar1.pdf/>{{Reference page|page=92}}

Nonetheless, more than 600 people were still present on floors 77–110 when the plane struck. The impact killed hundreds, including everyone on the plane and many more inside the South Tower.  Unlike at the North Tower, however, a single stairway was mostly intact from top to bottom after Flight{{nbs}}175 crashed into the South Tower. This was because Flight 11 crashed almost directly midway into the North Tower's central core and severed all escape routes from the 92nd floor up, but al-Shehhi flew the plane into the eastern half of the South Tower's southern facade near the southeast corner while also banking at a severe angle, narrowly missing Stairwell A in the northwest corner.{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=293}}<ref name="102Mins2">{{cite news |last1=Dwyer |first1=Jim |last2=Lipton |first2=Eric |last3=Flynn |first3=Kevin |last4=Glanz |first4=James |last5=Fessenden |first5=Ford |display-authors=2 |date=May 26, 2002 |title=102 Minutes: Last Words at the Trade Center; Fighting to Live as the Towers Die |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114063928/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Only 18 people passed the impact zone through the available stairway and left the South Tower safely before it collapsed. One of these survivors, [[Stanley Praimnath]], saw the plane coming toward him.{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=294}}<ref name="LearningChannel2">{{cite web |url=http://tlc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=2.14966.55526.0.0 |title=''Flight 175: As the World Watched'' (TLC documentary) |date=December 2005 |publisher=[[The Learning Channel]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121204735/http://tlc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=2.14966.55526.0.0 |archive-date=2013-01-21 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Smoke, isolated fires and hot gases ventilating through the stairs compelled those who were trapped to either avoid using them entirely, or to head upward in the hopes of a rooftop rescue,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/18/september11.usa3 |title=Distant voices, still lives, 08:00-09:35 |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=18 August 2002 |access-date=May 16, 2023 |url-status=live |language=en |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516223107/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/18/september11.usa3}}</ref> while it has been suggested that others may have been in the process of descending from the impact zone when the tower collapsed at 09:59.{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=314}}<ref name=ncstar1.pdf/>{{Reference page|page=239}} In any case, those who did not make it out succumbed to the fire and smoke or tower's eventual collapse. Three people were spotted falling to their deaths from the upper floors of the South Tower, two of whom had jumped to escape conditions inside; firefighter [[Daniel Suhr]] reporting to the South Tower was killed when one of these two landed on him.{{efn|The NIST report documented three victims who fell from the South Tower's east face, one of whom had evidently jumped to his death<ref name=ncstar1-5av2.pdf>{{cite book |last=National Institute of Standards and Technology |title=Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster |year=2005 |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av2.pdf |access-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530012855/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av2.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|34}} and two more who had tried to climb down.<ref name=ncstar1-5av2.pdf/>{{rp|46,52}} The fourth victim went unnoticed by NIST, but was a woman<ref>{{Cite news |last=Caldwell |first=Vanessa |url=https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-passionate-eye/september-11-2001-5-firsthand-stories-from-people-who-survived-1.6130622 |title=September 11, 2001: 5 firsthand stories from people who survived |date=September 11, 2021 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=May 15, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=March 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306234907/https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-passionate-eye/september-11-2001-5-firsthand-stories-from-people-who-survived-1.6130622 |url-status=live}}</ref> who jumped<ref>{{cite news |title=9/11 Tribute Museum Future in Jeopardy Without Immediate Assistance |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/9-11-tribute-museum-future-in-jeopardy-without-immediate-assistance/3606000/ |website=[[WNBC]] |date=March 18, 2022 |access-date=May 15, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516050114/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/9-11-tribute-museum-future-in-jeopardy-without-immediate-assistance/3606000/}}</ref> from the tower's south face and landed on firefighter Danny Suhr near the intersection of West and Liberty Streets.{{sfn|9/11 Commission|2004a|p=314}}}}

The impact of Flight 175 also did some minor damage to the already-burning North Tower, as some windows on the east face nearest to the South Tower blew out the moment the pressure wave generated by the fireball hit them,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2017/05/09/WTC_total__rept.pdf |title=Initial Model for Fires in the World Trade Center Towers |work=National Institute of Standards and Technology |access-date=January 2, 2023 |url-status=live |page=17 |archive-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321223749/https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2017/05/09/WTC_total__rept.pdf}}</ref> worsening the fires in the North Tower.<ref name=ncstar1-5av1.pdf>{{cite book |last=National Institute of Standards and Technology |title=Visual Evidence, Damage Estimates, And Timeline Analysis |year=2005 |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf |access-date=August 24, 2021 |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911011051/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=63}} After the plane passed through the tower, part of the plane's [[landing gear]] and [[fuselage]] came out the north side of the skyscraper and crashed through the roof and two of the floors of 45–47 Park Place, between [[West Broadway (Manhattan)|West Broadway]] and [[Church Street (Manhattan)|Church Street]], {{convert|600|ft|yd m}} north of the former World Trade Center. Three floor beams of the top floor of the building were destroyed, causing major structural damage.{{sfn|NTSB|2002b}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Klersfeld |first1=Noah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ |title=World Trade Center emergency damage assessment of buildings: Structural Engineers Association of New York inspections of September and October 2001 |last2=Nordenson |first2=Guy |last3=and Associates, LZA Technology |publisher=Structural Engineers Association of New York |year=2003 |volume=1 |access-date=August 3, 2010 |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907051213/https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Noah |first1=Klersfeld |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ |title=World Trade Center emergency damage ... |last2=Nordenson |first2=Guy |last3=Associates |first3=and |last4=(Firm) |first4=L.Z.A. Technology |date=January 3, 2008 |publisher=Structural Engineers Association of New York |access-date=August 8, 2010 |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907051213/https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkxSAAAAMAAJ |title=World Trade Center building ... |date=May 2002 |access-date=August 8, 2010 |last1=Corley |first1=Gene |last2=Federal Insurance And Mitigation Administration |first2=United States |last3=Region Ii |first3=United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency |last4=O'Mara |first4=Greenhorne |publisher=Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration |isbn=978-0160673894 |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907051213/https://books.google.com/books?id=vkxSAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>