September 11, 2001 Research & Archives

American Airlines' System Operations Command Center. [Source: American Airlines]

American Airlines managers activate the System Operations Command Center (SOCC) in order to manage the company's response to the terrorist attacks. [9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12] The SOCC is a dedicated crisis response facility located on the floor above, and overlooking, the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center in Fort Worth, Texas. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004] Activating the command center allows the airline to isolate an event and gather together the people needed to manage it. [9/11 Commission, 1/7/2004 pdf file] The SOCC is activated in emergencies, such as major accidents and hijackings, during which the airline's top operations officials assemble there. Craig Parfitt, the managing director of dispatch operations, and Joseph Bertapelle, the manager of SOC operations coordination/air traffic systems, will serve as its directors today. [USA Today, 8/13/2002; 9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file]

Accounts Unclear over When SOCC Is Activated - The exact time when the SOCC is activated is unclear. Gerard Arpey, American Airlines' executive vice president of operations, will tell the 9/11 Commission that when he arrives at the SOC, between around 8:35 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. (see (8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001), he sees that Parfitt, Bertapelle, and Kyle Phelps, the manager of administration for the SOC, are setting up the SOCC. By around 8:45 a.m. or 8:50 a.m., according to Arpey, the command center is filling up with people. [9/11 Commission, 1/8/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004] But Parfitt will indicate that the SOCC is activated slightly later. He will tell the 9/11 Commission that it is being set up after the airline's 8:45 a.m. conference call (see 8:45 a.m. September 11, 2001) and that senior managers, including himself, arrive there at around 8:55 a.m. Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the SOC, will say that at about 8:50 a.m., he looks up and notices activity in the SOCC. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file] The SOC manager is the individual responsible for activating the SOCC, according to a 9/11 Commission memorandum. However, it is unclear whether Marquis makes the decision to activate the command center on this occasion. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file] Airline's Key Decisions Made in the SOCC - The SOCC will be primarily responsible for dealing with the crisis. [9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004 pdf file] The key decisions on the airline's immediate response to the hijackings will be made there. American Airlines employees in the command center will provide assistance to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies involved in investigating the attacks. The SOCC will remain open 24 hours a day for the next two weeks. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004]

Major General Larry Arnold, the commander of the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR), learns of the possible hijacking of Flight 11 after leaving a video teleconference, but initially thinks the reported hijacking is part of a NORAD training exercise. [Filson, 2002; Code One Magazine, 1/2002]

Arnold, who is at CONR headquarters, at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, has been in the video teleconferencing room, participating in a teleconference with other senior NORAD officials (see (8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 2/2/2004 pdf file; Spencer, 2008, pp. 31]

Colonel Robert Marr, the battle commander at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), recently tried phoning Arnold to get authorization to scramble fighter jets in response to the hijacked Flight 11, but no one at CONR interrupted the teleconference to fetch Arnold, and so Marr left an urgent message for the CONR commander (see (8:38 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20; Spencer, 2008, pp. 31]

Note Informs Arnold of Hijacking - Arnold is now in the video teleconferencing room with Robert Del Toro, an intelligence officer with the 1st Air Force, discussing the just-concluded teleconference, when his executive officer, Kelley Duckett, hands him a note with Marr's message on it. The note says the FAA's Boston Center is reporting a hijacking and requesting assistance with it, and asks that Arnold phone Marr back immediately. [Filson, 2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; 9/11 Commission, 2/2/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 2/3/2004 pdf file]

Arnold Thinks Hijacking Is 'Part of the Exercise' - NORAD is currently in the middle of a major training exercise called Vigilant Guardian. [Code One Magazine, 1/2002; Arkin, 2005, pp. 545] Arnold will later say that, as a result, when he learns of the possible hijacking: "The first thing that went through my mind was: 'Is this part of the exercise? Is this some kind of a screw-up?'" [ABC News, 9/11/2002]

According to author Lynn Spencer, "Even as NORAD's commander for the continental United States, Arnold is not privy to everything concerning the exercise." The exercise "is meant to test commanders also, to make sure that their war machine is operating as it should."

Arnold Told Hijacking Is 'Real-World' - Since a simulated hijacking is scheduled as part of the day's exercise (see (9:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001), Arnold asks Duckett, "Is this part of the exercise?" Duckett replies that the hijacking is real-world. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 38]

Arnold will say that "understanding this is real-world is obviously important, so I rushed downstairs to our battle staff position." [Filson, 2002]

It occurs to Arnold that it has been many years since NORAD handled a hijacking (see February 11, 1993). He is relieved that, "because we were in the middle of an exercise," he recently reviewed the protocol for what to do in response to a hijacking, and so "we were pretty well familiar with those procedures." [9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; Spencer, 2008, pp. 38]

Arnold will promptly phone Marr and instruct him to go ahead and scramble fighters in response to the hijacking (see (8:42 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20; Spencer, 2008, pp. 38-39]

At the FAA's Herndon Command Center, the national operations manager, Ben Sliney, learns more details of the hijacking of Flight 11, and becomes involved with the emergency response to it. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 21]

A supervisor at the Command Center informed Sliney of the suspected hijacking at just before 8:30 (see 8:28 a.m. September 11, 2001). Soon after, the supervisor interrupted a meeting Sliney was in, to tell him American Airlines had called to report the deteriorating situation on Flight 11 (see 8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m. September 11, 2001).

Sliney Receives More Details - Sliney heads to the center's operations floor, where the supervisor gives him further details of the call from American Airlines, including information about flight attendant Betty Ong's phone call from Flight 11 (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001). The supervisor says the plane's transponder has been switched off (see (Between 8:13 a.m. and 8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001), which means no flight data is showing on the screens of air traffic controllers, and the latest information from the FAA's Boston Center is that Flight 11 has turned south, and is now 35 miles north of New York City. On one of the large screens at the front of the Command Center that shows flight trajectories, Sliney can see that the track for Flight 11 is in "ghost." This means that, because no transponder data is being received, the computer is displaying track information based on previously stored track data.

Sliney Seeks Information, Requests Teleconference - Sliney instructs his staff to contact facilities along the path the flight appears to be on, to find if anyone is in contact with it or tracking it. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 1 and 19-21] He will later recall, "I figured we'd try to get the people on the ground, the towers in the area, the police departments, anyone we could get to give us information on where this flight was." [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 9/10/2006]

Sliney then requests a teleconference between the FAA's Boston Center, New York Center, and FAA headquarters in Washington, so they can share information about the flight in real time. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 21]

The Command Center has already initiated a teleconference between the Boston, New York, and Cleveland Centers, immediately after it was notified of the suspected Flight 11 hijacking. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11]

However, Sliney apparently does not request military assistance. According to author Lynn Spencer, "The higher echelons at headquarters in Washington will make the determination as to the necessity of military assistance in dealing with the hijacking." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 21]

Nancy Wyatt, a manager at the American Airlines flight services office at Logan International Airport in Boston, talks on the phone with an employee at the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center, and passes on to them information that is being provided by a flight attendant on the hijacked Flight 11, but the SOC employee advises Wyatt to keep quiet about the hijacking. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41; 9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14; Rutgers Law Review, 9/7/2011, pp. 14 pdf file]

Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, called the flight services office at 8:32 a.m., and has since then been providing details of the trouble on her plane to Michael Woodward, an American Airlines flight services manager at Logan Airport (see (8:32 a.m.-8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11]

Wyatt Passes on Details of Call in Real Time - Wyatt, who, like Woodward, is an American Airlines flight services manager, calls the American Airlines SOC in Fort Worth, Texas, at 8:40 a.m. Her call is answered by Ray Howland. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/15/2001, pp. 2-4; 9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14]

During the call, Wyatt is able to pass on information to Howland in real time, because she is standing next to Woodward and so is hearing his side of the conversation with Sweeney, and she is also able to read the notes he is taking, based on what Sweeney tells him. [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file]

Wyatt Unclear about Name of Flight Attendant - Wyatt is unclear about the identity of the flight attendant Woodward is talking to. At the start of the call with Howland, she says, "We've got the flight attendants on the line here." A couple of minutes later, she says, "We've got... Betty Ong, the purser, on the line." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41]

However, Ong is currently on the phone with the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina (see 8:18 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 8]

Finally, another couple of minutes later and after checking with Woodward, Wyatt tells Howland, "Amy Sweeney is on the phone."

Wyatt Passes on Hijackers' Seat Numbers - Based on Sweeney's information, Wyatt says that Flight 11 "is in a rapid descent." She tells Howland that the hijackers were in seats 9D, 9G, and 10B, and she says one of them "speaks no English." She also reports, several minutes into the call, that the hijackers are "in the cockpit." Wyatt tells Howland that two flight attendants, Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui, have been stabbed. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41]

Referring to passenger Daniel Lewin, who was attacked by one of the hijackers (see (8:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001), she says: "There is severe bleeding. There is a slashed throat." She subsequently says, "There is a passenger also injured." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41; WBUR, 9/8/2011]

Airline Wants Information Withheld from Plane's Crew - During the call, Howland tells Wyatt that the SOC wants some information to be withheld from Sweeney and the other crew members on Flight 11. After Wyatt says the flight attendants on Flight 11 "are concerned" because they "don't know what's going on in the cockpit," Howland replies that the SOC is "trying to get in contact with the cockpit," but then says, "We don't really want to tell Sweeney that." Wyatt confirms: "Okay, don't. Okay, okay. Got it." And when Wyatt later asks: "Do we know where that plane is going to right now?" Howland replies: "We don't know.... It looks like it's going to JFK" International Airport in New York, but he then says: "I mean, we don't really want to give a whole lot of information to that flight. Okay?" Wyatt confirms: "Okay, we're not. We're not giving them that information to that flight."

Airline Employees Told to Keep Quiet about Hijacking - Wyatt and Howland also want American Airlines employees on the ground to keep quiet about the hijacking. At about 8:46 a.m., while she is still on the phone with Howland, Wyatt says to a colleague of hers: "Evelyn, don't mention this to anyone. Me, you, Beth. Just the five of us. Okay?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41]

("Evelyn" and "Beth" are Evelyn Nunez and Elizabeth Williams, two American Airlines employees at Logan Airport. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 57-58; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 3-4; 9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file] )

Near the end of her call with Howland, Wyatt asks, "What do you want us to do as far as just keeping our mouths shut and not... ?" Howland answers simply, "That's basically it." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41] Wyatt notifies Howland when the call from Sweeney gets disconnected, at around 8:45 a.m. (see (8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14] Her call with Howland ends at 8:48 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4]

Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center in Fort Worth, Texas, instructs Bill Halleck, an air traffic control specialist at the SOC, to tell FAA air traffic controllers to treat Flight 11 as an emergency. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14]

Halleck contacted the FAA's Boston Center at 8:29 a.m. to inquire about Flight 11 (see 8:29 a.m. September 11, 2001), and at 8:33 a.m. he called Marquis and passed on what he had just learned from the Boston Center about the crisis with the aircraft (see 8:33 a.m. September 11, 2001). That information, according to the 9/11 Commission, led American Airlines to suspect that Flight 11 had been hijacked. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11-12]

Marquis now instructs Halleck, "Tell [air traffic control] to handle this as an emergency." According to a 9/11 Commission memorandum, "At this point, Marquis was just confirming it was a hijack and he wanted to make sure Halleck was communicating the emergency to the [air traffic control] system." Halleck answers that FAA controllers are treating Flight 11 as a hijacking, saying, "They have in there, it's been hijacked." Marquis replies: "It is. Okay." Halleck adds that FAA controllers "don't know what his altitude is... they think he's descending. They think he's headed toward Kennedy [JFK International Airport in New York]... they're moving everybody out of the way." Referring to Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, Marquis tells Halleck, "I'm talking to the flight attendant in the back of the plane and she says the plane is descending." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; American Airlines, 1/15/2002; 9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file]

Colin Scoggins, the military liaison at the FAA's Boston Center, calls the FAA's New York Center but is quickly cut off when the air traffic controller who answers says the center is busy dealing with a hijacking. According to author Lynn Spencer, Scoggins "calls New York Center to notify them that American 11 appears to be descending toward New York, most likely to land at JFK" International Airport. But the controller who takes the call snaps at him: "We're too busy to talk. We're working a hijack," and then hangs up. According to Spencer, the New York Center controller is referring to United Airlines Flight 175, but "Scoggins just figures that he's talking about American 11. He has no idea that a second airliner is in crisis." However, the timing of this call is unclear. If it is made while Flight 11 is descending toward New York, this would mean it occurs in the minutes before 8:46, when American Airlines Flight 11 crashes (see 8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001). But in Spencer's account, the call is made just after New York Center controller Dave Bottiglia notices that Flight 175's transponder code has changed and he calls out to another controller, "I can't get a hold of UAL 175 at all right now and I don't know where he went to" (see 8:51 a.m.-8:53 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 48-49] The transcript of radio communications between the New York Center and Flight 175 shows that this would mean Scoggins's call occurs around 8:53 a.m.-8:54 a.m., about seven minutes after Flight 11 crashes. [New York Times, 10/16/2001]

While flying south along the Hudson River, Flight 11 passes almost directly over the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, NY, about 30 miles north of New York City. [New York Times, 4/4/2002; Bergen Record, 4/7/2002]

The New Yorker will later comment, "An attack on a nuclear power plant would seem to fulfill, almost perfectly, al-Qaeda's objective of using America's technology against it," and the New York Times will report, "Everyone within at least a 50-mile radius would be in danger if something terrible happened at Indian Point. That 50-mile radius contains more than 7 percent of the entire population of the United States—20 million people." [New York Times, 4/4/2002; New Yorker, 2/24/2003]

Mohamed Atta supposedly earlier considered targeting a nuclear facility on 9/11, but the other suicide pilots did not like the idea (see Between July 9 and July 16, 2001).

Technicians at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) try frantically to locate Flight 11 on their radar scopes, but are supposedly hindered by their outdated equipment. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 31-32]

NEADS has just been alerted to the hijacking of Flight 11 (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20]

Its technicians realize they need to find the location of the hijacked plane quickly, so that the weapons team will be able to pass this information on to any fighter jets that are launched after it.

Locating Flight 11 Is a 'Grueling Process' - Author Lynn Spencer will later explain: "To identify American 11, the surveillance and ID techs must go through a grueling process. Their radar scopes are filled with hundreds of radar returns not just from aircraft but from weather systems, ground interference, and what's called anomalous propagation—false returns caused by conditions in the atmosphere, or by such obstructions as flocks of birds. The technicians must first determine which radar data on their screens is for aircraft, which they do by monitoring its movement, which is distinctive for planes. The technician must observe for at least 36 seconds to a minute just to confirm that a blip is in fact an aircraft track. The tech must attach what's called a tactical display number to it, which tells the computer to start tracking and identifying the target. If the target is in fact a plane, then over a period of 12-20 seconds, the computer will start to generate information on the track: heading, speed, altitude, latitude, longitude, and the identifying information being transmitted by the transponder." However, Flight 11's transponder has been switched off (see (Between 8:13 a.m. and 8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Therefore, "With the hundreds of pieces of radar data filling their screens, and little information as to the location of the flight," the task of locating it "is daunting."

Radar Equipment Supposedly Unsuitable - Spencer will suggest that trying to locate Flight 11 is made more difficult because the radar equipment at NEADS is outdated and unsuited to the task at hand. She writes: "The NEADS radar equipment is different from that used by air traffic controllers. It's much older, developed in the 1970s and brought into use by NEADS in the early 1980s. The system was designed to monitor the shoreline for incoming high-altitude threats: missiles coming from across the ocean. Slow and cumbersome, and not nearly as user friendly as more modern equipment, the NEADS monochromatic radar displays are not designed to take internal FAA radar data or to identify radar tracks originating from inside the United States. The system offers little, if any, such low-level coverage over the country." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 31-32]

Several of the NEADS personnel will later complain of their inability to locate Flight 11 on their scopes (see Shortly After 8:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). But Master Sergeant Joe McCain, the mission crew commander technician at NEADS, believes he has located Flight 11 on the radar screen just before it crashes into the World Trade Center (see 8:45 a.m.-8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001).

Don Arias [Source: US Air Force]

Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins of NEADS twice calls Major Don Arias, the 1st Air Force and Continental United States NORAD Region public affairs officer, who is at the 1st Air Force public affairs office at Tyndall Air Force, Florida. She first calls him after NEADS is informed of the hijacking of Flight 11 (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). She says that NEADS has "a hijacked plane—no, not the simulation—likely heading for JFK [International Airport in New York City]." [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002] The "simulation" refers to a NORAD air defense exercise, presumably Vigilant Guardian, that Arias is involved in. Deskins informs him that fighters are going to be launched after the aircraft. Arias then starts working on a public statement about the incident, but soon after sees the smoking WTC tower on CNN. He says that he thinks, "Wow, I bet that's the hijacked plane." [Florida State Times, 11/2001; Airman, 9/2002; Filson, 2003, pp. 122] Minutes after the crash, Deskins calls Arias again and tells him, "We think the aircraft that just hit the World Trade Center was American Airlines Flight 11." According to Deskins, Arias responds, "Oh, God. My brother works in the World Trade Center." [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002; ABC News, 9/11/2002; Bamford, 2004, pp. 13-14] Arias will quickly contact his brother (see (8:53 a.m.) September 11, 2001).

The talkback button on Flight 11, which has been periodically activated since around 8:14 a.m., stops around this time. Some have suggested that this indicates that the hijackers replace pilot John Ogonowski at this time. [Christian Science Monitor, 9/13/2001; MSNBC, 9/15/2001]

Following a call from the FAA's Boston Center to the the FAA's Cape Cod facility reporting the possible hijacking of Flight 11 (see 8:34 a.m. September 11, 2001), and a subsequent call from the Cape Cod facility to Otis Air National Guard Base (see (8:36 a.m.-8:41) September 11, 2001), Lt. Col. Jon Treacy, commander of the 101st Fighter Squadron at Otis, phones NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) to report the FAA's request for help and get authorization to launch fighters. By now though, the FAA has already gotten through to NEADS itself, and reported the hijacking (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Filson, 2003, pp. 50]

Colonel Robert Marr, the battle commander at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), tries phoning Major General Larry Arnold, the commander of the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR), to get authorization to scramble fighter jets in response to the hijacked Flight 11, but Arnold is in a teleconference, so Marr has to leave an urgent message requesting that Arnold call him back. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20; Spencer, 2008, pp. 31]

Arnold Unavailable to Authorize Launching Fighters - Marr has just learned that the FAA is requesting NORAD assistance with a possible hijacking (see (8:38 a.m.) September 11, 2001), and has therefore ordered that fighter jets at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, be placed on "battle stations," with the pilots in the cockpits but the engines turned off (see (8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Filson, 2003, pp. 55; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20]

He now tries calling Arnold at CONR headquarters, at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, to get authorization to scramble the fighters. However, Arnold is in a teleconference with other senior NORAD officials (see (8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001) and is therefore unavailable to talk to Marr. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 31]

Marr Leaves Urgent Message for Arnold - Marr talks to Colonel Randy Morris, the assistant director of the CONR Regional Air Operations Center, and tells him about the possible hijacking. Morris replies that such an event "falls under law enforcement jurisdiction." Marr says the FAA has requested military assistance with the hijacking and NEADS is "forward leaning" fighters from Otis Air Base, referring to his order to place Otis fighters on battle stations. [9/11 Commission, 2/3/2004 pdf file]

Marr leaves an urgent message for Arnold, stating that he is dealing with a hijacking and requesting that Arnold call him back. [9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; Spencer, 2008, pp. 31]

Arnold will be given Marr's message after he leaves the teleconference (see (8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001) and will promptly call Marr back (see (8:42 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Filson, 2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; 9/11 Commission, 2/3/2004 pdf file]

It is unclear why no one interrupts the teleconference to fetch Arnold to come and talk with Marr right away, or at least to immediately pass on Marr's message.

Unclear if Marr Needs Authorization to Scramble Fighters - It is also unclear why Marr seeks authorization from his superior before ordering that fighters be scrambled. According to Lieutenant Colonel Dawne Deskins, the aircraft control and warning officer at NEADS, the mission crew commander at NEADS—i.e. Major Kevin Nasypany—"is the lowest level rank that has the authority to give a scramble order." However, Deskins will tell the 9/11 Commission: "Since Colonel Marr was in the battle cab, it was his role. Since the decision involved a civilian aircraft, he had to be the one who made the decision." [9/11 Commission, 10/30/2003 pdf file]

The 1st Air Force's book about the 9/11 attacks will similarly state that the "sector commander" at NEADS, i.e. Marr, "would have authority to scramble the airplanes." [Filson, 2003, pp. 50]

But Arnold will say the reason the Otis fighters are placed on battle stations instead of being scrambled immediately is that aircraft hijacking is "considered a law enforcement issue." The correct procedure, according to Arnold, is therefore that, if the FAA wants fighters scrambled, it should call the duty officer at the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. He in turn contacts the NORAD operations center in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, to see if fighters are available. The operations center then seeks permission from someone representing the secretary of defense. Finally, "Once that is approved, then we scramble aircraft," Arnold will say (see June 1, 2001). [Filson, 2002; Code One Magazine, 1/2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003]

Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins. [Source: Newhouse News/ Peter Chen/ Landov]

Members of staff at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) have difficulty locating Flight 11 and other aircraft on their radar screens. Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins of NEADS will say that when the FAA first calls and reports the first hijacking (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001), "He [FAA] gave me the latitude and longitude of that track... [but] there was nothing there." [Fox News, 9/8/2002] Colin Scoggins, the military liaison at the FAA's Boston Center, later recalls: "I was giving NEADS accurate location information on at least five instances where AA 11 was, yet they could never identify him.... I originally gave them an F/R/D, which is a fix/radial/distance from a known location; they could not identify the target. They requested latitude/longitudes, which I gave them; they still could not identify the AA 11.... I gave them 20 miles south of Albany heading south at a high rate of speed, 600 knots, then another call at 50 south of Albany." [Griffin, 2007, pp. 47]

Master Sergeant Kevin Foster and Staff Sergeant Mark Rose, also working at NEADS this morning, later complain about their inability to locate the hijacked planes. After being informed of the first hijacking, reportedly: "As they had practiced countless times before, the NEADS team quickly began searching their radar screens for the plane. Because they had been informed its transponder was off, they knew to look for a tiny dash instead of the usual dot. But radar systems also use such lines to indicate weather patterns, so NEADS personnel began urgently clicking their computer cursors on each stray line to see if information indicating an aircraft would appear." Yet, after receiving further calls indicating more hijackings, "the inability to find the hijacked planes on the radar, despite their best efforts, was difficult." According to Foster, "We were trying to find the tracks, and not being able to was very frustrating." [Utica Observer-Dispatch, 8/5/2004] NEADS Staff Sergeant Larry Thornton will recall: "Once we were called by the FAA, we could find split-second hits on what we thought we were looking for. But the area was so congested and it was incredibly difficult to find. We were looking for little dash marks in a pile of clutter and a pile of aircraft on a two-dimensional scope." Each fluorescent green pulsating dot on their radar scopes represents an airplane, and there are thousands currently airborne, especially over the busy northeast US. [Filson, 2003, pp. 56]

Major Kevin Nasypany. [Source: CBC]

When the FAA's Boston Center first contacts NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) to notify it of the hijacking of Flight 11 (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001), personnel there initially mistake the hijacking for a simulation as part of an exercise. bullet Lieutenant Colonel Dawne Deskins, mission crew chief for the Vigilant Guardian exercise currently taking place (see (6:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001), will later say that initially she and everybody else at NEADS think the call from Boston Center is part of Vigilant Guardian. [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002] Although most of the personnel on the NEADS operations floor have no idea what the day's exercise is supposed to entail, most previous major NORAD exercises included a hijack scenario. [USA Today, 4/18/2004; Utica Observer-Dispatch, 8/5/2004] The day's exercise is in fact scheduled to include a simulated hijacking later on. [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006] Major Kevin Nasypany, the NEADS mission crew commander, had helped design the day's exercise. Thinking the reported hijacking is part of it, he actually says out loud, "The hijack's not supposed to be for another hour." [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006]

In the ID section, at the back right corner of the NEADS operations floor, technicians Stacia Rountree, Shelley Watson, and Maureen Dooley react to the news. Dooley, the leader of the ID section, tells the other members of her team: "We have a hijack going on. Get your checklists. The exercise is on" (see (8:38 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Rountree asks, "Is that real-world?" Dooley confirms, "Real-world hijack." Watson says, "Cool!" [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006; Spencer, 2008, pp. 25] When NEADS Commander Robert Marr sees his personnel reacting to the news of the hijacking (see (8:38 a.m.) September 11, 2001), he reportedly thinks the day's exercise "is kicking off with a lively, unexpected twist." Even when a colleague informs him, "It's a hijacking, and this is real life, not part of the exercise," Marr thinks: "This is an interesting start to the exercise. This 'real-world' mixed in with today's simex [simulated exercise] will keep [my staff members] on their toes." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 26] bullet Major General Larry Arnold, who is at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, also later says that when he first hears of the hijacking, in the minutes after NEADS is alerted to it, "The first thing that went through my mind was, is this part of the exercise? Is this some kind of a screw-up?" [ABC News, 9/11/2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003] According to author Lynn Spencer: "Even as NORAD's commander for the continental United States, Arnold is not privy to everything concerning the exercise. The simex is meant to test commanders also, to make sure that their war machine is operating as it should." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 38] bullet At 8:43 a.m., Major James Fox, the leader of the NEADS weapons team, comments, "I've never seen so much real-world stuff happen during an exercise." [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006]

National Guard troops stationed at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York. [Source: Rome Sentinel]

At NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), a huddle of people is gathered around one of the radar scopes. NEADS Commander Robert Marr initially thinks this hubbub is due to the NORAD training exercise (presumably Vigilant Guardian) that is taking place on this day (see (6:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). He will later recall: "I've seen many exercises... and as I saw that huddle I said, 'There's got to be something wrong, something is happening here.' You usually see that whenever they find a track on the scope that looks unusual; it's usually an indicator that something is getting ready to kick off." [Filson, 2003, pp. 55] According to author Lynn Spencer, Marr thinks the day's exercise "is kicking off with a lively, unexpected twist.... His bet is that his simulations team has started off the exercise by throwing out a 'heart attack card' to see how the troops respond to a first-aid call from a fellow soldier, testing their first responder training." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 26] He sends Lieutenant Colonel Dawne Deskins, the regional mission crew commander for the exercise, to check out what is going on. [Filson, 2003, pp. 55]

Deskins speaks briefly over the phone with the FAA's Boston Center about the Flight 11 hijacking (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 26] She then runs back to the "battle cab"—the glass-walled room that overlooks the NEADS operations floor—and speaks to Marr with urgency in her voice. [Filson, 2003, pp. 55] She tells him: "It's a hijacking, and this is real life, not part of the exercise. And it appears that the plane is heading toward New York City." Although Deskins has specifically stated, "not part of the exercise," Marr reportedly thinks, "This is an interesting start to the exercise." According to Spencer, he thinks "This 'real-world' mixed in with today's simex [simulated exercise] will keep [his staff members] on their toes." Regardless of whether the crisis is real or not, Marr decides to instruct that the two alert F-15s at Otis Air National Guard Base be ordered to battle stations (see (8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 26-27]