Editing American Airlines Flight 77 (section)

==Hijacking==
[[File:Video2 flight77 pentagon.png|thumb|alt=Refer to caption|Three frames from the security camera video of Flight{{spaces}}77 hitting the Pentagon, the aircraft can be made out on Frame 2 just above the tan post furthest from the building.]]

The terrorists launched their assault at 08:51, by which point the North Tower had been on fire for around five minutes and Flight 175 was within 12 minutes of striking the South Tower. Flight 93 had also become airborne from Newark at 08:42,<ref>{{harv|9/11 Commission|2004a|page=27|loc=chpt. 1}}</ref> but had been delayed on the runway for as long as 42 minutes and would not be seized until 09:28,<ref>{{harv|9/11 Commission|2004a|page=28|loc=chpt. 1}}</ref> preventing al-Qaeda's idea to synchronize its takeover with that of Flight 77. Three minutes after the hijacking began, according to the commission, the attackers on Flight 77 were in full control of the aircraft. The ''modus operandi'' of Hanjour's group was in stark contrast to the other three teams, in that while the victims were threatened with knives and box cutters, there were no reports of any injuries or deaths prior to the crash; both pilots were spared when the cockpit was breached, and the use of chemical weapons or bomb threats was not reported by either of the two people who made phone calls from the rear of the cabin.{{efn|Although the two people who made phone calls did not mention the use of chemical weapons or bomb threats, the 9/11 Commission noted that both of them were originally from the first-class cabin and had been moved to the rear, implying the first class area may have been uninhabitable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |work=[[9/11 Commission|National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States]] |title=Final Report of the 9/11 Commission |year=2004 |pages=26}}</ref>}} At 08:54, as the plane flew in the vicinity over [[Pike County, Ohio]], it began deviating from its normal assigned flight path and turned south.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sciolino |first1=Elaine |last2=Cushman |first2=John H. Jr. |date=2001-09-13 |title=After the Attacks: American Flight 77; A Route Out of Washington, Horribly Changed |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/us/after-the-attacks-american-flight-77-a-route-out-of-washington-horribly-changed.html |access-date=2021-04-27 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Two minutes later, the plane's transponder was switched off.<ref name="911-ch1"/> The flight's [[autopilot]] was promptly engaged and set on a course heading eastbound towards Washington, D.C.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/autopilot_AA77_UA93_study.pdf |title=Study of Autopilot, Navigation Equipment, and Fuel Consumption Activity Based on United Airlines Flight 93 and American Airlines Flight 77 Digital Flight Data Recorder Information |last=O'Callaghan |first=John |author2=Bower, Daniel |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=February 13, 2002 |access-date=June 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604114258/https://www.ntsb.gov/info/autopilot_AA77_UA93_study.pdf |archive-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

The FAA was aware at this point there was an emergency on board the airplane. After learning of a second hijacking involving an American Airlines aircraft and the hijacking of a United Airlines jet, American Airlines' executive vice president Gerard Arpey ordered a nationwide ground stop for the airline.<ref name="911-ch1"/> For several minutes, [[Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center]] and dispatchers for American Airlines made several failed attempts to contact the hijacked airliner, giving up just as Flight 175 flew into the World Trade Center's [[List of tenants in 2 World Trade Center|South Tower]] at 09:03.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/about/Documents/Flight_Path_Study_AA77.pdf |title=Flight Path Study - American Airlines Flight 77 |date=February 19, 2002 |access-date=May 27, 2023}}</ref> The plane had been flying over [[United States National Radio Quiet Zone|an area of limited radar coverage]] at the time of its hijacking.<ref name="Wash4">{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Don |title=Pentagon Crash Highlights a Radar Gap; Limited System in One Area Made Flight 77 Invisible to Controllers for Half-Hour |date=November 3, 2001 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> With air controllers unable to contact the flight by radio, an Indianapolis official declared that it had possibly crashed at 09:09, twenty-eight minutes before it actually did.<ref name="Wash4" /> Sometime between 09:17 and 09:22, Hanjour broadcast a deceptive announcement via the cabin's public address system, advising those aboard that the plane was being hijacked and that their best chance of survival was by not resisting.<ref>{{harv|9/11 Commission|2004a|page=29|loc=chpt. 1}}</ref> This tactic was used on Flight 11 and on Flight 93 with the aim of deceiving the passengers and crew into believing the plan was to land the plane after securing a ransom; in both cases, however, the terrorists’ understanding of the internal communication systems used aboard aircraft was evidently not as good as Hanjour's,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA567866.pdf |title=The First 109 Minutes: 9/11 and the U.S. Air Force |year=2011 |page=37}}</ref> as they keyed the wrong microphone and broadcast their message to the ground instead. No passengers aboard Flight 11 reported hearing any intercom messages.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf |work=[[9/11 Commission|National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States]] |title=Final Report of the 9/11 Commission |year=2004 |pages=36 and 46}}</ref>

===Calls===
Two people on board the aircraft made a total of three phone calls to contacts on the ground. At 09:12, flight attendant Renee May made a phone call lasting just under two minutes to her mother, Nancy May, in Las Vegas.<ref name="Summary" /> During the phone call, she made the erroneous claim that "six persons" had forced "us" to the rear of the airplane, but did not explain whether the people crowded together were crew members, passengers, or both.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/ |title=Home &#124; National Security Archive |website=nsarchive.gwu.edu}}</ref><ref name="911-ch1"/><ref name="Summary" /> May asked her mother to contact American Airlines, which she and her husband promptly did,<ref name="911-ch1"/> although the company was well aware of the hijacking by this point.

At 09:16, [[Barbara Olson]] made a call to her husband Ted, quietly explaining that the plane had been hijacked and that those responsible were armed with knives and box cutters.<ref name="911-ch1" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Glen |url=https://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/planes_reconstruction.htm |title=Probe reconstructs horror, calculated attacks on planes |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 23, 2001 |access-date=June 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608210201/http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/planes_reconstruction.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> She revealed that everyone, including the pilots, had been moved to the back of the cabin and that the call was being made without the knowledge of the hostage takers. The connection dropped a minute into the conversation.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Tim |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/pentagon.olson/index.html |title=Wife of Solicitor General alerted him of hijacking from plane |work=CNN |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=September 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310030535/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-09-11/us/pentagon.olson_1_hijacking-plane-crash?_s=PM%3AUS |archive-date=March 10, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Theodore Olson contacted the command center at the Department of Justice, and tried unsuccessfully to contact [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[John Ashcroft]].<ref name="911-ch1" /> Barbara Olson called again five minutes later, informing her husband of the announcement Hanjour―"the pilot"―made over the loudspeaker,<ref>{{harv|9/11 Commission|2004a|page=26|loc=chpt. 1}}</ref> and asked him, "What do I tell the pilot to do?"<ref name="usatoday30-atoday-77-whitehouse">{{cite web |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/12/flights-main.htm |title=Four flights, four tales of terror |author=Laura Parker |work=USA Today |date=September 13, 2001 |access-date=February 8, 2015 |archive-date=March 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308232047/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/12/flights-main.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Inquired of her whereabouts, Barbara replied saying that they were flying low over a residential area.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Zero Hour |series=Inside 9/11 |series-link=Inside 9/11 |air-date=September 23, 2005 |credits=Producers: Colette Beaudry and Michael Cascio |network=[[National Geographic Channel]]}}</ref> In the background, Ted overheard another passenger mentioning that the plane was flying northeast.<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=9}}</ref> He then made his wife aware of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center, causing her to go quiet; Ted wondered if this meant she had been shocked into silence. After expressing their feelings and reassuring one another, the call cut off for the last time, at 9:26&nbsp;a.m.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/telegraph030502.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905105204/http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/telegraph030502.html |url-status=live |archive-date=2008-09-05 |title='She Asked Me How to Stop the Plane' |work=The Telegraph |first=Toby |last=Harnden |date=March 5, 2002 |author-link=Toby Harnden |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Telegraph Group Limited}}</ref>