Victor Saracini

United Airlines Flight 175

Company type	Domestic passenger flight
Industry	Aviation
Headquarters	Boston , United States
Products	Passenger air transport

United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic route operating between Logan International Airport in Boston and Los Angeles International Airport. On September 11, 2001, it was commandeered by five members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The aircraft, a Boeing 767-200, carried 51 passengers and 9 crew members (excluding the hijackers). It was intentionally flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, resulting in the deaths of all onboard as well as over 600 individuals located on the upper levels of the tower. This crash is recorded as the second deadliest aviation disaster, following American Airlines Flight 11.

Flight 175 took off from Logan Airport at 08:14. Approximately twenty-eight minutes later, hijackers assaulted the crew, forcibly entered the cockpit, and fatally wounded both pilots. The lead hijacker, Marwan al-Shehhi, who had received pilot training specifically for this mission, assumed control of the plane. Unlike the hijackers of Flight 11, they left the aircraft’s transponder active, allowing air traffic controllers to detect its deviation from the planned course at 08:51 EDT. Controllers attempted to communicate with the cockpit without success as the aircraft veered dangerously toward New York City, narrowly avoiding other planes. During this time, three passengers succeeded in contacting relatives and colleagues, relaying details about the hijackers and the unfolding crisis.

Within 21 minutes after seizing control, al-Shehhi piloted Flight 175 into floors 77 through 85 of the South Tower at 09:03, synchronizing with Flight 11’s earlier impact on the North Tower at 08:46. Due to extensive media attention, the collision was broadcast live globally. The resulting destruction and fires led to the South Tower’s collapse at 09:59, causing fatalities among all who remained inside. Recovery teams identified some victims from Flight 175; however, numerous remains have not been conclusively identified.

Attacks

The hijacking of this flight was part of the coordinated September 11 attacks masterminded by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who supplied financial backing and logistical coordination. The operation was planned and directed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Bin Laden, Mohammed, and their operatives were driven by opposition to U.S. policies supporting Israel and its involvement in Middle Eastern affairs. Authorization for these attacks came from bin Laden in late 1998 or early 1999. The World Trade Center was selected as a target due to its status as a significant emblem of American economic influence.

Hijackers

The group responsible for commandeering United Airlines Flight 175 was headed by Marwan al-Shehhi, a native of the United Arab Emirates who underwent commercial pilot training in South Florida alongside Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah. Other members included Fayez Banihammad (UAE) and three Saudi nationals: brothers Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi, plus Mohand al-Shehri.

Their preparation involved weapons and explosives instruction at an al-Qaeda facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, followed by cultural orientation and travel training sessions in Karachi, Pakistan. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, they conducted reconnaissance of airport security procedures by boarding flights operated by U.S. carriers to observe pre-boarding checks, crew routines, and cabin service schedules.

Approximately one month prior to September 11, Marwan al-Shehhi acquired two pocket knives measuring four inches in Boynton Beach, Florida; Banihammad purchased a two-piece utility knife set from Wal-Mart; and Hamza al-Ghamdi obtained a Leatherman Wave multi-tool. The hijackers arrived in Boston from Florida between September 7 and September 9.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 767-200, registered as N612UA, which United Airlines had acquired in 1983. It was configured to accommodate 168 passengers, divided into 10 first-class seats, 32 business class seats, and 126 economy seats. On the day of the incident, the flight carried merely 56 passengers alongside 9 crew members, resulting in a load factor of approximately 33 percent—significantly lower than the three-month average of 49 percent.

Crew

The flight's captain, Victor Saracini, aged 51, brought experience as a former Navy fighter pilot and had served with the airline for 16 years. The first officer, Michael Horrocks, aged 38, was a former Marine Corps fighter pilot and had been with the airline for two years. The cabin team consisted of purser Kathryn Laborie, age 42, with seven years of service; flight attendants Michael Tarrou (38) with a decade of experience; Amy King (29) with eight years; Amy Jarret (28) with six years; Robert Fangman (33) with ten months; Alfred Marchand (44) with nine months; and Alicia Titus (28), also with nine months at the airline.

Passengers

Among the 60 individuals on board—excluding the five hijackers—50 were U.S. citizens. Other nationalities included three Germans, two British nationals, and one passenger each from Iran, Israel, Indonesia, Ireland, and Canada. The youngest victim was Christine Hanson (born February 22, 1999), traveling on Flight 175, while the oldest was Dorothy DeAraujo from Long Beach, California, aged 82. Noteworthy passengers included hockey scout Garnet Bailey and former athlete Mark Bavis.

Boarding

At 05:01, hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi contacted Ziad Jarrah to confirm details of their plan. Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi departed their hotel and arrived at Logan Airport’s Terminal C by 06:20; Ahmed checked in two bags. Although they possessed pre-purchased tickets, they expressed an intention to buy them at the airport and faced repeated security questioning until officials were satisfied. Al-Shehhi checked one bag at 06:45; Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri completed check-in at 06:53, with Banihammad checking two bags. None triggered alerts from the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS). At 06:52, al-Shehhi called Mohamed Atta to verify readiness; Atta was boarding Flight 11.

The hijackers boarded Flight 175 between 07:23 and 07:28. Banihammad occupied first-class seat 2A; Mohand al-Shehri took seat 2B. Al-Shehhi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi were seated in business class at seats 6C and 9D respectively; Hamza al-Ghamdi sat in seat 9C.

Flight 175 was scheduled to depart for Los Angeles at 08:00. A total of fifty-one passengers plus five hijackers boarded through Gate C19. The aircraft pushed back at 07:58 and took off from Runway 9 at 08:14—the moment Flight 11 was being hijacked. Both captain and first officer overheard suspicious radio transmissions from an unidentified plane—later identified as Flight 11’s cockpit—but chose to delay reporting until entering New York Center’s airspace to prevent interception.

By 08:33, Flight 175 had reached its cruising altitude of , marking the usual start of cabin service. Air traffic controllers inquired whether Flight 175 could locate Flight 11; initially unable to do so, the crew eventually spotted it at and adjusted their route to maintain separation. At approximately 08:42, after transferring to New York Center control, pilots reported hearing the earlier suspicious communication—“Sounds like someone keyed the mic and said ‘Everyone stay in your seats’.” This message constituted Flight 175’s last transmission.

Hijacking

The hijacking took place between 08:42 and 08:46. The al-Ghamdi brothers compelled passengers and crew to move toward the rear of the aircraft by threatening them with knives, issuing bomb threats, and deploying mace spray. During the assault, a flight attendant was stabbed, and pilots were killed by Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri, enabling Marwan al-Shehhi to assume control of the plane. The initial indication of irregular activity was the alteration in the aircraft’s transponder signal and its deviation from the assigned flight path shortly after the North Tower was hit. Unlike Flight 11, Flight 175’s tracking data remained accessible. By 08:51, it had changed altitude, prompting controllers to attempt several communications while clearing surrounding airspace. At 08:55, the New York Air Traffic Control Center officially confirmed the hijacking.

Near misses

Flight 175 came dangerously close to colliding midair with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, missing by roughly 300 feet. Air traffic controller Bottiglia directed the Delta pilot to execute evasive maneuvers due to suspicions of hijacking. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) likely alerted Flight 175’s cockpit crew, resulting in brief altitude changes. Shortly thereafter, Flight 175 narrowly avoided TWA Flight 3 by about 500 feet and also narrowly missed Midwest Express Flight 7 before its eventual crash.

Calls

Flight attendant Robert Fangman, along with passengers Peter Hanson and Brian David Sweeney, placed phone calls using GTE airphones located in the rear section of the aircraft. Additionally, records indicate passenger Garnet Bailey attempted to reach his wife on four occasions.

At 08:52, Fangman contacted United Airlines maintenance in San Francisco to report the hijacking, stating that hijackers were probably piloting the plane, both pilots were deceased, and a flight attendant had been stabbed. This call lasted one minute and fifteen seconds before it disconnected. Following this, maintenance personnel attempted to communicate with the cockpit via Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) but received no reply.

At 08:59, Brian David Sweeney called his wife Julie, leaving a message describing the hijacking situation. He then spoke with his mother at 09:00, explaining that passengers were contemplating taking control of the cockpit. Concerned that hijackers might return during this attempt, he ended the call shortly after saying farewell.

Peter Hanson reached out to his father Lee Hanson in Easton, Connecticut, at 08:52. Traveling with his wife and young daughter—the youngest victim of the September 11 attacks—Hanson reported that hijackers had seized control of the cockpit, a flight attendant had been stabbed, others may have been killed, and that the plane was flying erratically. He urged his father to notify United Airlines; when this proved unsuccessful, Lee Hanson contacted law enforcement.

Hanson made a second call at 09:00:

It's getting worse, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They have knives and Mace. They claim they possess a bomb. Passengers are feeling sick; the plane is jerking violently. I don't believe the pilot is flying anymore. I think we are going down. They might crash into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it will be very fast... Oh my God... oh my God.

The call abruptly ended amid screams. Both Hanson’s father and Louise Sweeney then witnessed live on television as the aircraft struck the South Tower.

Crash

At 08:58, Flight 175 was positioned over New Jersey at , with al-Shehhi likely observing smoke emanating from the North Tower. The aircraft then entered a continuous high-speed descent exceeding over a span of five minutes, descending at an average rate surpassing per minute. Bottiglia reported descent rates reaching as high as 10,000 feet per minute, a speed never before recorded for a commercial airliner.

Approximately two minutes prior to impact, New York Center requested another Air Traffic Control Facility to track Flight 175’s trajectory as it passed over New Jersey, Staten Island, and Upper New York Bay, aligning itself for an attack on the South Tower. In its final moments, the plane executed a left bank, narrowly avoiding either missing or merely grazing the building. It struck nose-first into the southern facade of the South Tower at about , breaching floors 77 through 85 while carrying roughly of jet fuel. All individuals onboard were killed instantly.

By 09:03, numerous news organizations were reporting on the initial crash into the North Tower that had occurred 17 minutes earlier. The collision of Flight 175 was recorded live on television and by multiple cameras, with footage extensively aired before broadcasters later limited its dissemination. As of October 2024, there are 72 confirmed video angles documenting the second plane’s impact.

At first, the crash of Flight 11 was believed to be accidental, which delayed evacuation directives for the South Tower during the 17-minute window between impacts. The Port Authority instructed occupants to stay put while simultaneously initiating a full evacuation of the North Tower immediately after Flight 11’s collision. Nonetheless, an estimated 2,900 individuals evacuated from floors that were later sealed off before Flight 175 struck.

More than 600 people remained trapped on floors 77 through 110 when Flight 175 impacted. Hundreds perished instantly inside the tower and aboard the aircraft. Unlike the North Tower—where Flight 11 destroyed all escape routes above floor 92—the South Tower maintained a largely intact stairwell due to al-Shehhi’s impact near its southeast corner during a sharp bank, narrowly missing Stairwell A located in the northwest corner. Only eighteen people managed to evacuate via this stairwell prior to the tower’s collapse at 09:59. Some survivors avoided stairwells because of smoke and fire hazards or attempted to reach the roof in hopes of rescue; others may have been descending when the collapse occurred.<ref> Additionally, debris from the impact caused minor damage to the burning North Tower by blowing out windows on its east side and intensifying existing fires.

After piercing through the South Tower, fragments of Flight 175’s landing gear and fuselage exited from the north side and struck floors of an adjacent building at 45–47 Park Place. This resulted in substantial structural damage approximately north of the World Trade Center.

Three individuals fell from upper floors of the South Tower; two jumped to escape hazardous conditions inside—one landed on firefighter Daniel Suhr, who was killed upon impact. A fourth person, a woman who also jumped from the tower's south face, landed near Suhr’s position.<ref>

Aftermath

Flight 175 struck the South Tower at a lower altitude and with greater speed compared to Flight 11's collision with the North Tower. Impacting near a corner, it inflicted more severe damage on the building's structural framework. This led to increased load bearing down on a weakened and uneven section engulfed by flames. After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 A.M. The collapse resulted from fires fueled by the aircraft’s jet fuel rather than the initial impact itself. Although it was the second plane to hit, the South Tower was the first to fall. Tragically, no survivors were found inside when it collapsed.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders for Flight 175 were never retrieved, yet various wreckage components such as landing gear, an engine, and parts of the fuselage were located near the crash zone. In 2013, a piece of a Boeing 767 wing flap was discovered in close proximity. Over time, small fragments of passenger remains were identified through DNA testing; however, many victims’ remains remain unrecovered.

Following the attacks, United Airlines permanently retired flight numbers 175 and 93. In 2011, these numbers were unintentionally reactivated during a codeshare operation with Continental Airlines, which provoked public and union criticism. Subsequently, United confirmed that these flight numbers would not be reused.

The victims aboard Flight 175 are honored at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The federal government guaranteed a minimum compensation of $500,000 to families of victims in exchange for waiving legal claims. Through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, over $7 billion has been distributed to victims from all related attacks. Legal actions against United Airlines and affiliated entities numbered 96; most were resolved confidentially with estimated settlements totaling approximately $500 million. Only one wrongful death lawsuit proceeded to trial before settling in 2011. Additional lawsuits targeting government officials were filed but dismissed as lacking merit.

See also

• Malaysian Airline System Flight 653
• Indian Airlines Flight 814
• TWA Flight 847
• List of aircraft hijackings
• List of tenants in Two World Trade Center

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report (Archive)
• CNN September 11 Memorial page, with passenger and crew lists (Archive)
• Government Releases Detailed Information on 9/11 Crashes
• Picture of aircraft Pre 9/11
• September 11, 2001 archive of United Airlines site with condolences for deceased (Archive)
• Page with additional information from September 12, 2001 (Archive)