The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 1

4 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 Copyright 2001 On The Internet: www.utimis.com iijacked Jets Fly Into Trade Center, Pentagon i 3. .0. 111 3 StW-rijjji BSJ 11 PARK FOREMAN For The Times Trade Center towers after two today in downtown New York. it Associated Press One of the two hijacked American Trade Center in New York City is PARK FOREMAN For The Times Airlines jetliners that slammed into the World A circle of flames flown into one of the landmark twin towers, hijacked American o. and smoke surrounds the World Airlines planes hit the towers 1 1 HI Tragedy: Thousands are killed and injured in the worst such incident in U.S.

history. FAA shuts down the airport system amid fears of more attacks. Four passenger planes crash. ByGERALDINEBAUM and MAGGIE FARLEY TIMES STAFF WRITERS NEW YORK In the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, hijackers flew two airliners into the World Trade Center today, collapsing both towers into flaming rubble, and crashed another aircraft at the Pentagon, shutting down the government and financial markets and spreading fear throughout America, The toll of dead or injured was expected to climb into the thousands.

Hours later, a fourth airliner, bound from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, went down in western Pennsylvania. Authorities were not immediately certain whether this crash was caused by terrorists. In addition, a major airline said a plane, bound from Boston to Los Angeles, had gone down at a location it did not immediately disclose. Authorities would not say whether this was the aircraft that hit the Pentagon. For the first time ever, the Federal Aviation Administration closed all airports across the nation and ordered U.S.-based airlines to cancel all domestic and international flights until at least noon EDT Wednesday.

European aircraft were diverted to airports in Canada. Amtrak suspended service along the Northeast corridor. "This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that's ever taken place in the world," said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Transport magazine in London. "It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list.

I would name at the top of the list Osama bin Laden." President Bush ordered federal investigators to "hunt down the folks who committed this act." The Army deployed troops in Washington, including an infantry regiment. The Situation Room at the White House went into full operation. Authorities went on alert from coast to coast, the U.S. borders Please see ATTACK, S8 INSIDE Attack Shuts Down Air Travel in U.S. U.S.

air travel came to an abrupt halt today, clogging airports nationwide and stranding more than 1.5 million people. S2 No Incidents Locally but Landmarks Closed There were no reported attacks in Southern California, but airports and other local landmarks were closed as a safety precaution. S2 Financial Markets Thrown in Turmoil Global financial markets were thrown into panic by the attacks. Oil and gold prices soared, while New York markets did not open. S7 A Nation Riveted by Televised Terror The horrific television images broadcast worldwide showed a nation being struck by a thunderbolt.

Howard Rosenberg column. S8 7 11,1 85944 11 00050 111 '1 A ball of fire explodes from one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New'York after a hijacked airplane crashed into it this morning. A Day of Carnage and Chaos Boston A Morning of Terror This morning's attacks (all times Eastern): VA, N.C.V Plane crashes at 9:43 a.m. into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. United Airlines Flight 93 with 45 aboard, from Newark, N.J., bound for San Francisco, crashes at 10:10 a.m.

about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Then 15 minutes later came the second blow. The 110-story Tower 2 was hit by another plane. And finally, there was the Pentagon. In a matter of just a few minutes, the nation's largest city and the nation's capital had been plunged into an unimaginable disaster.

In New York, huge clouds of smoke billowed from the trade center as fire engulfed the two towers. Workers at the center began jumping from the 60th floor and higher, some with their legs in a bicycle motion as they plunged to their deaths. Then came a crash and one Scene: Shock, incomprehension prevail as trade center, Pentagon burn. ByGERALDINEBAUM and MATEA GOLD TIMES STAFF WRITF.RS NEW YORK-The chaos of America's terrible day began at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday when an American Airlines Boeing 767 plowed into Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.

tower was gone, altering the New York skyline in a matter of seconds. As the mass of steel and glass crashed to the ground, the reverberations sounded like thunder in the distance. Streams of police moved back from where the building had once stood because their staging areas were being buried under debris. Kevin McNeal was in his office on the eighth floor of Tower 1 when the plane struck. In the street afterward, he was covered with dust.

"My whole floor was destroyed," he said. "I thought it was a bomb." Please see SCENE, SO Hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 aboard out of Boston, bound for Los Angeles, crashes at 8:50 a.m. Into the north tower of the World Trade Center. 0 Plane crashes at 9:08 a.m. into the World Trade Center south tower.

Sources: Wire reports Los Angeles Times.