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IN SOME WAYS it may seem crude – almost callous – to try and distil the gruesome events that shaped an entire decade of international diplomacy and war into a single selection of numbers.
In others, though, it is perhaps a way of trying to make sense of the carnage of Tuesday 11 September 2001 – an attempt at tackling the titanic emotional and political legacy left behind by the attacks and their aftermath.
It is in the latter spirit that we present this selection of statistics – largely temporal – on the September 11 attacks.
4 – The time, in years, taken to build the World Trade Centre’s twin towers.
19 – The number of hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; in 2004, Osama bin Laden claimed direct responsibility for their actions.
47 - The time, in minutes, between the takeoff of American Airlines flight 11 and the time of its impact in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre (impact time 8:46am ET).
33 – The time, in minutes, between Flight 11′s last routine check-in with air traffic control and the time of impact.
466 – The estimated speed, in miles per hour, at which Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower between floors 93 and 99. Those in the floors above the impact are stranded: the main stairwell, running down the centre spine of the building, is destroyed.
102 – The time, in seconds, between the impact of Flight 11 in the North Tower and the first news broadcast describing the attack: one reporter for the local TV station WNYW, a Fox affiliate, was on the street broadcasting coverage of the Democratic primary for the city’s Mayoral election, was able to broadcast live from the scene, though his cameraman did not catch a visual image of the first impact.
48 – The time, in minutes, between the takeoff of United Airlines flight 175 from Boston Logan airport until the time of its impact into the South Tower of the WTC (impact time 9:03am ET).
5 – The time, in minutes, between the staff of Flight 175 reporting a visual sighting of the hijacked Flight 11, and the time Flight 175 itself was estimated to have been hijacked.
590 – The speed, in miles per hour, at which Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower between floors 77 and 85. Unlike the attack on the North Tower, which was not broadcast live (and of which footage did not emerge for some time), the impact on the South Tower was witnessed live by millions around the globe who were watching TV coverage of the first impact.
23 – The time, in minutes, between the impact on the South Tower and the first formal report – by the Associated Press, carried by CNN – that the plane crashes were the result of a suspected terrorist attack.
114 – The time, in seconds, between the impact on the South Tower and the time that President George W Bush, visiting a school in Florida, is informed of the second impact. His Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, leans to him and whispers:
A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.
77 – The time, in minutes, between American Airlines flight 77 taking off from Washington Dulles airport and its impact into the Western side of the Pentagon (impact time 9:37am ET). The affected side of the building is largely comprised of newly-renovated buildings, minimising the loss of human life on the ground, though 125 Pentagon staff are killed as well as the 64 people on board the plane.
81 – The time, in minutes, between United Airlines flight 93 taking off from Newark airport and its impact in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania (impact time 10:03am).
3362 – The time, in seconds, between the impact of Flight 175 in the South Tower and the time it began to collapse. (This is the equivalent of 56 minutes and 2 seconds.) The destruction is witnessed live on TV by hundreds of millions, who are able to discern exactly what is happening: some onlookers on the ground, confused by the scale of the dust and rubble, mistakenly believe that a secondary explosion has occurred at the tower. It is only when the dust dissipates that they realise the 110-storey building has been destroyed and simply no longer exists.
6105 – The time, in seconds, between the impact of Flight 11 on the North Tower and the beginning of its collapse. (This is equivalent to 101 minutes and 45 seconds.) The collapse of the second tower, at 10:28am ET, comes 29 minutes after the collapse of its Southern twin.
85 – The time, in minutes, between the collapse of the North Tower (the second one to fall) and the confirmation by United Airlines that two of its craft had been hijacked and lost.
412 – The time, in minutes, between the collapse of the North Tower and the collapse of 7 World Trade Centre (colloquially the ‘Salomon Brothers Building’), which falls after sustaining heavy damage from debris emitted by the collapse of the Twin Towers.
608 – The time, in minutes, between the first crash into the North Tower and the arrival of President Bush back at the White House, a few minutes before 7pm ET. Bush had been carried in airspace for much of the day, as security forces strived to keep him from harm’s way.
2,996 – The total number of casualties on 9/11, including the 19 hijackers. They include:
70 – The number of countries – including Ireland – whose citizens were killed in the 9/11 attacks.
26 – The number of days between the 9/11 attacks and the first United States-led military action in Afghanistan on October 7, 2011.
3,520 – The number of days between the September 11 terrorist attacks and the death of Osama bin Laden.
1,185 – The number of people who died on September 11 whose bodies have yet to be recovered or identified.
Said it yesterday that it wouldn’t be long before she issued an apology. I wonder is she truly sorry or is she just apologising because of the backlash? My money is firmly on the latter.
@Rachel O’ Meara: probably but sure you can’t be expected to have an opinion these days without someone telling you it’s wrong and ruining your career
@David Daly: She’s a celebrity and was happy to make her fortune and fame from her positive contributions to society, she can be equally accepting of her ruin and infamy for harmful, toxic actions.
@David Daly: There’s having an opinion and then there’s what she said, not so much of an opinion but the ramblings of a deranged and sick mind. She single handedly united people of all political sides, cultures and beliefs in repulsion of what she said. That takes some doing but she managed it. I have yet to see one person defend her remarks.
@Rachel O’ Meara: yeah nobody is saying she is right. It’s just her opinion, totally wrong but sure let her on and ignore it. Why do people have to get so offended over it?
@David Daly: she said his sexual desires were his his sexual desires…. Like paedophilia isn’t wrong in every way…. How can that not be offensive????
@David Daly: she said she believed the victims but rationalized Jackson’s actions by talking about his “needs” as if that should evoke sympathy. If you now want to jump on the fact that she’s walking back that weirdness so you can have a moan about “political correctness” then you’re an eejit
@David Daly: so Streisand walks back incredibly weird defenses of Jackson while saying she believes his accusers – and you want to use it to moan about political correctness? Or what is your point? Are you sorry she apologized?
@As the fella says: let me make this clear in case your still struggling. I do not agree with her and what she said was completely wrong and also odd. I’m not Letting it ruin my day however as some people tend to do. A lot of folks get a little bit too excited about what people say and call for their heads. Can they not just let it go instead of having to look for some sort of action to be taken? Yes she’s wrong, yes she’s strange to say that but at the end of the day who is really going to care by next week?
@Rachel O’ Meara: agreed it is more serious than the usual nonsense they spout but at the same time nothing illegal has been said or done. It’s just a has been oul one not being able to use her filter.
@David Daly: she was basically condining or justifying the actions of a peodophile. Her career is based on her public persona and she is rightly being judged on the things she said.
Im sure if i went on national newspapers condining sick acts such as jacksons my employer would have something to say about it.
Of course she has to clarify/take accountability for what she said.
@David Daly: Hhhmmn seems my third comment was removed, not sure why…wierd.
@Rachel O’ Meara: *weird*
@David Daly: In this case she was totally wrong!! You cannot say what she did and not expect a backlash.
@David Daly: this is so true. The PC police are watching every word. 1984 arrived long ago. George Orwell was right.
@David Daly: bravo. If we ignored such people and got on with life their opinions would just die . The public outcry will only send paedophiles underground.
The worst part was when she justified his alleged actions by saying his “sexual needs were his sexual needs”
@MaeVic: That justification of MJ’s actions were the worst thing that she said in that whole interview. Forget who she was talking about for a moment – she, in her warped mind, attempted to justify why a child sex abuser abuses children.
Babs has been twittered into submission.
Delaney Out!
Remember her disastrous concert in 2007? People were fighting over seats. All over Liveline for days. MCD couldn’t really explain what happened. However one caller who had worked at the venue said traffic delays on the one access road meant huge areas of empty seats at start time so apparently (so this women undestood) loads of people were moved into the expensive front area so Barbara wouldn’t be faced with all the empty seats. (Apparently she’s a bit of a diva, allegedly hotel staff are told not to make eye contact with her). When the rightful ticket holders arrived during the gig chaos ensued. Anyway MCD said they would get a retired Garda Commissioner to do a report.
@Squiddley Diddley: I remember reading it months later. It said seats were rearranged for speakers or lighting towers at the last minute and some seats were supposed to be re-numbered “but for some reason that didn’t happen”. No mention was made of the very plausible allegation on Liveline. I was not that surprised.
Off topic I know, but may interest some Streisand fans.
@Squiddley Diddley: what is the point of that rambling report on an insignificant concert from over 10 years ago.
@roderick: Reminiscing for those Streisand fans who were there(she is the subject of the article, after all). It was quite a story at the time. Plenty others seemed to enjoy the comment. Don’t worry I didn’t fill up the internet.
You maintaining his innocence would sent shivers down the spine more than her words.
Take your blinkers off. Robson idolized his abuser that’s why he copied his pose. You’d understand that if you actually watched the documentary. MJ made out of court settlements with accusers to escape justice. Incidentally, Jimmy Saville wasn’t convicted either. Guess he must have been innocent too.
You’re an ass hat if you belive mj wasn’t a fiddler.
@Nial D: proof please,
“Their truth”
I’d say in 60 years time people will look back at us and say what vindictive spiteful gleefully judgemetnal the people in 2019 were. What animals. You know the same way we judge others .
@Dublin Northsider: They’ll look at people like you and wonder why their focus was on dismissing criticism towards child abuse enablers rather than on the victims of horrendous acts.
Friend of mj says she has some compassion. Internet goes into f ing meltdown and demands she be strung up from the nearest lamppost.
@Dublin Northsider: I’m sure if her words were just ‘”I have some compassion for MJ” the reaction would have been slightly different.
@Dublin Northsider: Yeah, that’s not what happened. People who think what she said was no big deal should never be left alone with children. Creeps.
@SidNolan: I’m fine with what she said.
@Dublin Northsider: “You can say ‘molested,’ but those children, as you heard them say [the grown-up Robson and Safechuk], they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.” Creepy attitude to child abuse.
@Squiddley Diddley: did I miss the announcement when courts and juries and stuff were replaced with two part documentaries?
Well you missed the point.
@Squiddley Diddley: not really. You took a single quote out of the context in which it was written and held it up to judge me and me comments to it. I chose not to respond to a paragraph taken out of context and instead made the point that there had been a documentary. You missed the point.
@Dublin Northsider: You said you’re fine with what she said. That’s deeply troubling.
@Dublin Northsider: found the pedo!
Comments taken down again, why no comment on the allegations made by bishop Casey’s niece about him sexually abusing and raping her since the age of 5……
@Michael Byrne: see how long it stays up this time….
@Michael Byrne: It’s everywhere else now.
Interesting that the Redress Board was allegedly used to compensate another victim. From the Mail “This is the first time it has ever become public knowledge that Bishop Casey is among those named to the redress board. The Government is now proposing to seal those documents on alleged child abuse in religious institutions for a period of 75 years.
This controversial move by the State, under the Retention of Records Bill, is due to come before the Dail this week.”
Was a comment by Babs that is typical of those who after illustrious careers and the idolizations that comes with it feel that they can make these remarks about mere ” minions “and not be challenged about them .
Social media has turned into mcarthysim. Have you now or have you ever defended someone who has defended someone about whom a two part documentary was made? What ? I’m horrified. Throw my hands up in the air. The horror. Lol
Damage limitation
“The Streisand Effect”!
She never learns.
Technically she’s right they aren’t dead
Sorry depends on the public outcry after saying it???
Another prime example of a celebrity running their mouth of to protect their own
What’s the big deal …. the world is f#cked anyway ….
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