Editing American Airlines Flight 77 (section)

==Flight==
The aircraft involved in the hijacking was a [[Boeing 757|Boeing 757-223]] [[Aircraft registration|registered]] as {{Airreg|N|644AA| built and delivered to American Airlines in 1991.}}<ref name="fps">{{cite web |title=Flight Path Study – American Airlines Flight 77 |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc02.pdf |date=February 19, 2002 |publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]] |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824050511/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc02.pdf |archive-date=August 24, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On September 11, the total flight duration was 77 minutes. The crew included Captain [[Charles Burlingame]] (51) (a [[United States Naval Academy|Naval Academy]] graduate and former [[fighter pilot]]), First Officer David Charlebois (39), purser Renee May and flight attendants Michele Heidenberger, Jennifer Lewis and Kenneth Lewis.<ref>{{cite news |title=American Airlines Flight 77 |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA77.victims.html |year=2001 |work=CNN |access-date=May 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512091509/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA77.victims.html |archive-date=May 12, 2008}}</ref> The capacity of the aircraft was 188 passengers, but with 58 passengers on September 11, the [[Load factor (transportation)|load factor]] was 33 percent. American Airlines said Tuesdays were the least-traveled day of the week, with the same load factor seen on Tuesdays in the previous three months for Flight{{spaces}}77.<ref name="four"/> Passenger [[Barbara Olson]], whose husband [[Theodore Olson]] served as the 42nd [[Solicitor General of the United States]], was en route to a recording of the TV show ''[[Politically Incorrect]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Moraes |first=Lisa |title=Letterman's Back Tonight, but Don't Expect a Biting Monologue |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 17, 2001}}</ref> A group of three 11-year-old children, their chaperones, and two [[National Geographic Society]] staff members were also on board, embarking on an educational trip west to the [[Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary]] near [[Santa Barbara, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0912_disasterngs.html |title=Team from National Geographic Killed in Pentagon Crash |publisher=National Geographic Society |date=September 12, 2001 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518235900/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0912_disasterngs.html |archive-date=May 18, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Former [[Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball|Georgetown University]] basketball coach [[John Thompson (basketball)|John Thompson]] had originally booked a ticket on Flight{{spaces}}77. As he would tell the story many times in the following years, including a September 12, 2011 interview on [[Jim Rome]]'s [[The Jim Rome Show|radio show]], he had been scheduled to appear on that show on September 12, 2001. Thompson was planning to be in [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] for a friend's birthday on September 13, and initially insisted on traveling to Rome's Los Angeles studio on the 11th. However, this did not work for the show, which wanted him to travel on the day of the show. After a Rome staffer personally assured Thompson he would be able to travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas immediately after the show, Thompson changed his travel plans. He would later feel the impact from the crash at his home near the Pentagon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/35169/john-thompsons-surreal-911-story |title=John Thompson's surreal 9/11 story |first=Eamonn |last=Brennan |work=College Basketball Nation Blog |publisher=[[ESPN.com]] |date=September 12, 2011 |access-date=September 16, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408221930/http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/35169/john-thompsons-surreal-911-story |archive-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>

===Boarding and departure===
[[File:Nawaf and Salem airport.gif|thumb|Nawaf and Salem in Dulles airport]]
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the five hijackers arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport. At 07:15 AM ET, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Majed Moqed checked in at the American Airlines ticket counter for Flight{{spaces}}77,<ref name="911-ch1">{{cite book |chapter='We Have Some Planes' |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |year=2004 |title=9/11 Commission Report |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514052417/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |archive-date=May 14, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> arriving at the passenger security checkpoint a few minutes later at 07:18.<ref name="staff3">{{cite web |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_3.pdf |title=The Aviation Security System and the 9/11 Attacks – Staff Statement No. 3 |work=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528201527/http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_3.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both men set off the metal detector and were put through secondary screening. Moqed continued to set off the alarm, so he was searched with a [[hand wand]].<ref name="dullesvideo">{{cite episode |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/21/acd.01.html |title=New Video of 9/11 hijackers at Dulles Airport before attacks |series=Anderson Cooper 360 |network=CNN |air-date=July 21, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601033213/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/21/acd.01.html |archive-date=June 1, 2013}}</ref> The Hazmi brothers checked in together at the ticket counter at 07:29. Hani Hanjour checked in separately and arrived at the passenger security checkpoint at 07:35.<ref name="911-notes"/> Hanjour was followed minutes later at the checkpoint by Salem and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who also set off the metal detector's alarm. The screener at the checkpoint never resolved what set off the alarm. As seen in security footage later released, Nawaf al-Hazmi appeared to have an unidentified item in his back pocket. [[Utility knife|Utility knives]] up to four inches were permitted at the time by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as carry-on items.<ref name="911-ch1"/><ref name="dullesvideo"/> The passenger security checkpoint at Dulles International Airport was operated by [[Argenbright Security]], under contract with [[United Airlines]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Orecklin |first=Michele |author2=Land, Greg |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1001252,00.html |title=Why Argenbright Sets Off Alarms |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=November 19, 2001 |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823121209/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1001252%2C00.html |archive-date=August 23, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The hijackers were all selected for extra screening of their checked bags. Hanjour, al-Mihdhar, and Moqed were chosen by the [[Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System]] (CAPPS) criteria, while the brothers Nawaf and Salem al-Hazmi were selected because they did not provide adequate identification and were deemed suspicious by the airline check-in agent. Hanjour, Mihdhar, and Nawaf al-Hazmi did not check any bags for the flight. Checked bags belonging to Moqed and Salem al-Hazmi were held until they boarded the aircraft.<ref name="four">{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306021319/http://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2008 |title=Staff Monograph on the "Four Flights and Civil Aviation Security" |date=September 2005 |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=August 14, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the boarding process a National Geographic employee took a group photograph of the teachers and students going on the Channel Islands trip and the two employees accompanying them, as well as a picture of the airplane, inadvertently capturing the last images of both the victims and N644AA. Visible in the background of the group photograph is a man whose haircut and dress shirt match that of Nawaf al-Hazmi from Dulles security footage, indicating it may also be the last photograph of any of the Flight 77 hijackers while alive, but this has not been definitely confirmed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/sep21/out-of-the-ashes.html |title=Out of the Ashes: How the Tragedy of September 11 Left Its Mark on the National Marine Sanctuary System}}</ref>

Flight 77 was scheduled to depart for Los Angeles at 08:10; 58 passengers boarded through Gate D26, including the five hijackers. The 53 other passengers on board excluding the hijackers were 26 men, 22 women, and five children ranging in age from three to eleven. On the flight, Hani Hanjour was seated up front in 1B, while Salem and Nawaf al-Hazmi were likewise seated in first class, in seats 5E and 5F. Majed Moqed and Khalid al-Mihdhar were seated farther back in 12A and 12B, in economy class.<ref name="Summary">{{cite web |url=http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/flights/P200054.html |title=Summary of Flight 77 |publisher=[[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] |access-date=February 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201185541/http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/flights/P200054.html |archive-date=February 1, 2014}}</ref> Flight{{spaces}}77 left the gate on time and took off from Runway 30 at Dulles at 08:20.<ref name="four"/> The attacks were already underway by this point, as [[American Airlines Flight 11]] had been hijacked six minutes earlier.<ref>{{cite book |title=9/11 Commission Report |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=2004 |author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |chapter=Chapter 1 |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |page=21}}</ref> Shortly after Flight 77 became airborne, FAA flight controller Danielle O'Brien made a routine handoff of the flight to a colleague at the FAA's Indianapolis Center. For reasons she could not explain and would never fully understand, O'Brien did not use one of her normal sendoffs to the pilots: "Good day," or "Have a nice flight." Instead, she wished them, "Good luck."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dulles air traffic controller recalls 'chilling' day - October 24, 2001 |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/10/24/gen.terror.controller/index.html |url-status=live |work=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518155926/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/10/24/gen.terror.controller/index.html |archive-date=May 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Traffic Controllers Recall 9/11 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123822&page=1 |url-status=live |website=ABC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324230843/http://abcnews.go.com:80/2020/story?id=123822&page=1 |archive-date=March 24, 2009}}</ref>

Flight 77 reached its assigned cruising altitude of {{convert|35,000|feet|m|0}} at 8:46&nbsp;a.m., four minutes after the hijacking of [[United Airlines Flight 175]] commenced and the very same minute Flight 11 crashed into the [[List of tenants in 1 World Trade Center (1971-2001)|North Tower]] of the World Trade Center.<ref>{{harv|9/11 Commission|2004a|page=25|loc=chpt. 1}}</ref> The final communication between Flight 77 and [[air traffic control|controllers on the ground]] occurred four minutes later at 08:50:51, as Hanjour and his team prepared to strike.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gregor |first=Joseph A. |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/foia/9_11/ATC_Report_AA77.pdf |title=ATC Report American Airlines Flight 77 |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=December 21, 2001 |access-date=September 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029094317/https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/foia/9_11/ATC_Report_AA77.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2012}}</ref>