The destruction of the Passenger Boarding Bridge
that was used to load Flight 11 from Boston, MA on
September 11th, 2001, as explained in the article below.
The article, along with the complete timeline
of events on 9/11, can be found at historycommons.org
Terminal B 9/11/01 Gate 32 Logan International Airport Boston, MA
I had an opportunity to be there while this bridge
was being destroyed, so I made it a point to bring my camera and thought
it wouldn't be a bad idea to share the pictures and videos with the world.
A Passenger Boarding Bridge is the connection from the airport terminal that docks
to the airplane and permits passengers to enter the plane. The bridges are mounted
on a column that is secured to the ground near the terminal called a rotunda.
When a new or used bridge is transported, it typically ships in not less than
2 trailer truckloads, the first load being the tunnel section/mainload and the
2nd consists of the remaining parts required for assembly, lift columns (these
mount on each side of the boarding bridge and electronically raise and lower the
bridge to match the airplanes height), bogie wheels(used to drive the bridge in,
out, and to and from the airplane) are mounted beneath the lift columns.
The rest of the load could include PCAir units(ground powered, cooling and heating
for airplanes), Ground Power Units(which provide power to keep airplane computers
running during idle time (loading and unloading of passengers) so the planes can
power down and save fuel costs), and all remaining hardware and accessories as
needed to complete installation.
A brief description of the above images from left to right;
The 1st and 2nd images are how the bridge looked when it was installed at the airport
while the bridge was still in service. The US flag was installed by the airline post Sept. 11th, 2001.
The 3rd image is what a typical tunnel section looks like form the inside, while this particular
picture was taken from a nearby bridge, it is the only picture on this site that is not from
the Gate 32 bridge. The last 2 images are the mainload on a flatbed when they arrived at the scrapyard.
The above 5 images depict the mainload being weighed and positioned to unload for the scrap process to begin.
The 1st 3 images above depict the machines getting into position to raise the
tunnel section of the bridge so the flatbed can be driven out from underneath.
There is a video of this process below, which was pretty neat to watch
how they were able to do this considering that under normal circumstances,
a 90 - 120 ton crane is used to carefully raise the bridge while the truck
is then driven out from underneath. The next 2 images show a very large
"Jaws of Life"type machine beginning to cut the tunnel section in half.
The pictures above are part of the 1st video posted below where the tunnel section is cut in half, seemingly rather easy.
Quite the damage from such a powerful set of jaws which is used to cut the tunnel section apart.
The 1st 2 pictures depict the walkway into the tunnel section of the bridge
and the next 3 show the rotunda part on the truck with more components.
The rotunda is unloaded from the flatbed and the last image shows one of the machinces used to unload.
A closer look at the large jaws that lift the parts off the truck and
of course one of the big trucks used to transport.
I only made a few videos, but the ones I did make are posted below
For video playback options, right click on video and select PLAY.
Right click on any video to play
JW Player goes here
Right click on any video to play
To read or post comments on the blog for this page, please click the following link
American Airlines Flight 11 pushes back from the gate at Boston's Logan Airport. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 2]
There are discrepancies over which gate it leaves from. Most early
reports state that it pushes out from Gate 26 in Terminal B of the
airport. [Boston Globe, 9/12/2001; Chicago Sun-Times, 9/13/2001; Daily Telegraph, 9/16/2001; Washington Post, 9/16/2001; Bernstein, 2002, pp. 179; Der Spiegel, 2002, pp. 36] However, one unnamed Logan Airport employee will say it leaves from Gate 32, also in Terminal B. [Boston Globe, 9/11/2001]
The transcript of radio communications with the flight confirms it left
from Gate 32, and the 9/11 Commission also later states this. [New York Times, 10/16/2001; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 451]
The reason for the discrepancy in these reports is unclear. Flight 11, a
Boeing 767 with a capacity of 158 passengers, is about half full on
this day, with 81 passengers on board (including the five hijackers),
along with the two pilots and nine flight attendants. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 6 
] It will take off at 7:59 (see (7:59 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 4] 
