Haunting 9/11 audio recordings show how traffic controllers tried to handle the horrific attacks

The terrorist attacks on 9/11 are among the most documented moments in history, and at times it felt like the whole world was watching.

The sight of two hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center is one of the most stark of modern times, and there were witnesses to the first impact being interviewed during the time the second tower was hit.

The pictures of then US president George W Bush being told about the attacks as he was visiting an elementary school in Florida are also well known, while there is also footage of passengers on other planes being told about the attacks.

Elsewhere, air traffic controllers were receiving information about the terrorist attacks and trying to piece together what was happening.

Around a decade after the terrorist attacks, Rutgers Law Review released audio recordings of the conversations from air traffic control on that day.

The image everybody has seen of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

They record much from that day, including the moment when control realised American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, had changed direction and was not responding to them.

Another audio recording shows the moment the emergency line was called after flight attendants on board the plane were able to raise the alarm.

The conversation to the emergency line tells them 'everyone’s been stabbed', before saying that one flight attendant had been stabbed 'but she seems to be breathing', while another had been 'stabbed pretty badly' and the caller was not sure whether she was conscious.

The caller then relayed that the hijackers were 'in the cockpit with the pilot' and that 'the aircraft is erratic again, bobbing very erratically'.

The emergency line confirmed that they would 'handle this as a confirmed hijacking' and that air traffic control thought the plane was descending.

You can listen to the recording here.

Efforts to piece together exactly what happened include audio recordings of air traffic control responding to the hijackings. (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

Another of the recordings, which you can listen to here, captured the moment when one of the hijackers transmitted a message of false reassurance to air traffic control instead of the plane's PA system, saying: "Nobody move, everything will be ok. If you try to make any moves, you will injure yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."

A later call with Boston Flight Service confirmed that the 'plane's in a rapid descent' and they didn't know what was going on in the cockpit. You can hear how the situation unfolds here.

Other parts of the recorded conversations picked up the moment one person called the terrorist attacks 'a new type of war' and another asked whether September 11 was a 'national terrorist day that we missed out on'.

In the end there were 2,977 victims who died as a result of the terrorist attack along with 19 terrorists.

Topics: US News, Terrorism, History

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker