9/11 on the West Coast

On September 11th, 2001, in the night hours, 6 planes were hijacked and crashed in California. 5 planes got to their targets. The other one crash landed in the Santa Clara River just outside of Santa Paula, California.

Synopsis

At 8:54pm, Delta Airlines Flight 4496, a 767-200 registered N104DA departs Phoenix, Arizona, en route for Honolulu with a stopover in San Diego. 4496 began in Albuquerque. The flight is scheduled to be the penultimate flight of a Delta 767. The next day, September 12th, would be the last flight as Flight 313 from Seattle to Chicago nonstop. At 9:09pm, Flight 4496 is hijacked to the south of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

At 9:10:14pm, American Airlines Flight 244, another 767-200 registered N301AA takes off from Boise, Idaho on a nonstop flight to Los Angeles. At 9:10:42pm, Flight 4496 transmits a message accidentally sent from the hijackers.

At 9:16:12pm, United Airlines Flight 998, a Boeing 737-200 registered N994UA departs Sacramento International Airport en route for San Diego. This flight was a 2 stopover one, starting in Seattle, Washington, with stopovers in Eugene, Oregon, and Sacramento, California, with its destination being San Diego.

At 9:17pm, Flight 4496's transponder is turned off by the hijackers. Just 26 seconds later, at 9:17:36pm, Flight 4496 changes its heading and begins a more southerly turn just 3 miles east of Twentynine Palms, California. At 9:18pm, a photographer on the ground in Cathedral City, California takes a photo of Flight 4496, not knowing of the hijacking.

At 9:18:54pm, Flight 998 is approximately hijacked above Lodi, California, just 2 minutes and 42 seconds after departure. At this point, Flight 244 is passing near Rome, Oregon. At 9:19:20pm, Flight 4496 is passing at 9,850 feet near San Jacinto Mountain and another photographer gets a photo.