The Boeing 767 departed Boston's Logan Airport bound for Los Angeles at 07:59.

Fifteen minutes later the plane was hijacked. It crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, travelling at 440mph, at 08:47.

All 92 on board, including two pilots and nine crew, were killed instantly. Another 1,462 died in the tower, the 9/11 Commission report said.

The hijackers stabbed two of the crew, forced their way into the cockpit and seized control. One passenger had his throat slashed. The hijackers used mace and the threat of a bomb to force others towards the rear of the plane.

At 08:24 air traffic controllers heard the following transmission from flight 11: "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be OK."

The plane hit the north tower between the 93rd and 99th floors, destroying all three stairwells and any possibility of escape for anyone on the 92nd floor or above.

Four of the five hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. The ring-leader and pilot of flight 11, Mohamed Atta, was born in Egypt.