This collection contains television news programs recorded live from around September 11, 2001 by the non-profit Television Archive to help patrons research this important part of United States history. These materials were available on the televisionarchive.org site from October 11, 2001 through 2003.
Watch a video summary of the news coverage on September 11, 2001.
The Internet Archive, a non-profit library, is loaning these items to our patrons to view for strictly non-commercial research purposes.
You can view the televisionarchive.org site in the Wayback Machine – although not all of the links are intact, you can still read analysis of the events that were posted on the site:
Because we have tried to get this collection up as quickly as possible, there are some segments that have not been uploaded yet (see a list of these files). We will continue to add files as they become available.
Click to see a program guide or a chronology of events:
Program Guide: September 11 September 12 September 13 Chronology: September 11 September 12 September 13
September 11: Program Guide
September 11: Chonology of Events
| 8:48 a.m. | First news reports that American Airlines Flight 11 has crashed into One World Trade Center (north tower). |
| 9:03 a.m. | United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into Two World Trade Center (south tower). |
| 9:17 a.m. | FAA closes NYC area airports. |
| 9:21 a.m. | NYC Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels in NYC. |
| 9:24 a.m. | President Bush calls crashes "an apparent attack on our country". |
| 9:32 a.m. | New York Stock Exchange closed. |
| 9:40 a.m. | FAA orders all commercial flights grounded. |
| 9:43 a.m. | American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. (Note: other sources cite the crash at 9:37 and 9:45) |
| 9:45 a.m. | White House evacuated. |
| 9:59 a.m. | Two World Trade Center (south tower) collapses. (note: other souces cite the collapse at 10:03, 10:05, & 10:06) |
| 10:00 a.m. | United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. (note: the crash happened slightly after 10 am, perhaps as late as 10:10 according to other sources) |
| 10:10 a.m. | Portion of the Pentagon collapses. |
| 10:13 a.m. | United Nations building evacuates. |
| 10:22 a.m. | State and Justice Departments, and World Bank, evacuated in Washington DC. |
| 10:24 a.m. | FAA reroutes inbound transatlantic flights to land in Canada. |
| 10:28 a.m. | One World Trade Center (north tower) collapses. |
| 10:45 a.m. | All federal office buildings in Washington DC evacuated. |
| 10:48 a.m. | Police confirm Pennsylvania plane crash. |
| 10:53 a.m. | New York's primary elections postponed. |
| 10:54 a.m. | Israel evacuates diplomatic missions. |
| 10:57 a.m. | NY Gov. Pataki announces closure of all state government offices. |
| 11:02 a.m. | Mayor Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street |
| 12:04 p.m. | Los Angeles International Airport evacuated. |
| 12:15 p.m. | San Francisco International Airport evacuated. |
| 12:15 p.m. | US closes some Canada and Mexico border crossings. |
| 1:02 p.m. | NY Mayor Giuliani evacuates Manhattan south of Canal Street. |
| 1:04 p.m. | President Bush says: "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." (note: other sources cite this at 12:36) |
| 1:27 p.m. | Washington DC declares state of emergency in the city. |
| 2:30 p.m. | FAA announces suspension of US commercial air traffic until noon EST Wednesday 9/12/01. |
| 4:00 p.m. | CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports there are indications that Osama bin Laden is involved in attacks. |
| 4:10 p.m. | Seven World Trade Center reported to be on fire. |
| 4:25 p.m. | American Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and New York Stock Exchange announce they will be closed Wednesday, 9/12. |
| 4:45 p.m. | City of New York announces that 200 firefighters and 78 police officers are missing.(Note: according to other sources, at 7:45 pm the New York Police department announced that at least 78 police officers were missing and that as many as half (200) of the first firefighters at the scene had been killed.) |
| 5:20 p.m. | Seven World Trade Center building collapses. |
| 5:30 p.m. | Explosions reported in Kabul, Afghanistan. (note: other sources cite this for 6 pm) |
| 6:40 p.m. | Press conference by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from the Pentagon. |
| 6:45 p.m. | President Bush arrives at the White House. (note: other sources say he arrived at 6:54) |
| 8:30 p.m. | President Bush addresses the nation. |
| Search warrants obtained for homes and post office boxes in Florida. |
September 12 (Wednesday): Chronology of Events
| 5:20 a.m. | Pope John Paul II condemns attacks. |
| 8:45 a.m. | European stock markets observe silence for one minute in remembrance |
| 10:00 a.m. | Congress reconvenes. |
| 10:30 a.m. | NY City Mayor Giuliani warns that death toll will be in the thousands. |
| 10:50 a.m. | President Bush calls attacks "act of war". |
| 10:54 a.m. | CNN reports that two phone calls from al Qaeda members referring to attacks have been intercepted. |
| 11:20 a.m. | FAA will not allow air travel to resume at noon. |
| 1:00 p.m. | FBI takes several people in Boston and Florida into custody for questioning. |
| 1:20 p.m. | Taliban officials ask the US to not attack Afghanistan. |
| 2:15 p.m. | Morgan Stanley says "vast majority" of its World Trade Center employees are safe. |
| 2:20 p.m. | FAA allows planes diverted on Tuesday to finish their flights. |
| 2:57 p.m. | White House claims to have credible information that Air Force One and White House were targets. |
| 3:40 p.m. | US Attorney General Ashcroft says 3-6 hijackers per plane, armed with knives and box cutters, some terrorists trained as pilots in the US, and calls investigation most massive in US history. |
| 4:00 p.m. | NATO announces will back US military action, says "when one member is attacked, then all members are attacked". |
| 5:20 p.m. | Rescue workers evacuated from World Trade Center area due to partial collapse of One Liberty Plaza, Nasdaq's new headquarters. |
| 5:45 p.m. | Relatives of Pennsylvania crash victim Jeremy Glick say he called them from the plane and said people on the flight we're going to attempt to stop the hijackers. |
| 6:00 p.m. | President Bush visits Pentagon, thanks rescue workers. |
| 6:00 p.m. | G7 issue statement promising to support banks experiencing high withdrawal demands. |
| 7:00 p.m. | Congress holds prayer vigil in Capitol Rotunda. |
September 13 (Thursday): Events
| Most New York City schools reopen. |
| Most US airports reopen. |
| FBI serves search warrants to major Internet service providers in order to get information about an e-mail address believed connected to the attacks. |
| Colin Powell acknowledges that Osama bin Laden is a leading suspect. |
| Bomb threat forces evacuation of Congress. |
| Pakistani leader promises full cooperation. |
| Germans detain two in Hamburg. |
| Three men detained in Boston and later released. |
| Black box from Pennsylvania flight found. |
| Rome police investigating stolen American Airlines uniforms and pilot's key card. |
| Eight people arrested at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. |
