September 11, 2001 Research & Archives

Michael Woodward, a manager at the American Airlines flight services office at Logan International Airport in Boston, instructs a colleague to find out the details of three hijackers on Flight 11, based on their seat numbers, but it is unclear whether his colleague is then able to identify the hijackers. [ABC News, 7/18/2002; New York Observer, 2/15/2004]

Since 8:32 a.m., Woodward has been on the phone with Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, who has been describing to him the trouble on her plane (see (8:32 a.m.-8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11]

During the call, she says that the men who hijacked her plane were in seats 9D, 9G, and 10B. [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file] According to the New York Observer, Woodward then orders a colleague "to punch up those seat locations on the computer." [New York Observer, 2/15/2004]

This enables airline personnel "to pull up [the hijackers'] names, phone numbers, addresses—and even credit card numbers—on the reservations computer," according to ABC News. ABC News will add, "One of the names that came up was Mohamed Atta," the name of the lead hijacker. [ABC News, 7/18/2002]

However, apart from 10B—the number of the seat belonging to Satam Al Suqami—the seat numbers provided by Sweeney are different to the numbers of the seats assigned to the hijackers. The five hijackers on Flight 11 were in seats 2A, 2B, 8D, 8G, and 10B, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. Atta was in seat 8D—not one of the seats mentioned by Sweeney. [Los Angeles Times, 9/20/2001; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 2]

It is therefore unclear whether American Airlines is able to determine the identities of any of the hijackers, other than, presumably, Al Suqami, at this time. Evelyn Nunez, a passenger service agent at the American Airlines flight services office, was provided with the seat number of Al Suqami, but none of the other hijackers, when she talked with Sweeney in an earlier call, at 8:25 a.m. (see 8:25 a.m. September 11, 2001). By running a computer check, she was able to determine Al Suqami's identity from this number. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 57-58]

Nancy Wyatt, another employee in the flight services office, will pass on the three hijackers' seat numbers provided by Sweeney to the American Airlines System Operations Control center in Fort Worth, Texas, when she calls it at 8:40 a.m. (see 8:40 a.m.-8:48 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14]

Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, tells American Airlines employees on the ground that a passenger on her plane has been stabbed and may be dead. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

Ong is on the phone with three members of staff at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 38-41; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 5, 453]

Ong Names Passenger Who May Have Been 'Fatally Wounded' - One of them, Nydia Gonzalez, asks Ong if the first class section of her plane was full when the flight was hijacked. She then asks, "Do we know how the passengers up there [in first class] are doing, if any of the passengers got hurt?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

When she first reached the reservations office, Ong mentioned that somebody had been "stabbed in business class," but gave no further details about the stabbing (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 3-6; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 8]

Now, Gonzalez will later recall, Ong says she has been "informed by other flight attendants that a passenger by the name of Daniel Lewin may have been fatally wounded" (see (8:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 69-71]

This is "the first indication" that authorities on the ground receive "of a fatality on board" Flight 11, according to the 9/11 Commission. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12] Gonzalez asks, "One of our passengers is?" She then checks with Ong, "So just, you know of just one [passenger] that got stabbed?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

Gonzalez Passes on News of Fatality to Airline Operations Center - Gonzalez has been relaying the information Ong provides to Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the American Airlines System Operations Control center in Texas, on another phone line (see (8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file; Spencer, 2008, pp. 17-18]

She immediately passes on the new information. Gonzalez tells Marquis: "They think they might have a fatality on the flight. One of our passengers, possibly on [seat] 9B, Levin or Lewin, might have been fatally stabbed." She says, "I was just asking about how [the] first class passengers were doing, and [Ong] mentioned that there might be one that they think might be fatally stabbed." Gonzalez then returns to her conversation with Ong (see 8:35 a.m.-8:36 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

Evelyn Nunez and Elizabeth Williams, two American Airlines employees at Logan International Airport in Boston, call the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center and pass on to it information that a colleague of theirs is receiving from a flight attendant on Flight 11, but apparently no details of their call will later be provided to the 9/11 Commission. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 3-4; 9/11 Commission, 2004; 9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4]

Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, phoned the American Airlines flight services office at Logan Airport at 8:32 a.m., and in a call lasting 12 or 13 minutes gives details of the trouble on her plane to Michael Woodward, an American Airlines flight services manager (see (8:32 a.m.-8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006]

Williams Passes on Information from Flight Attendant - While Woodward is talking to Sweeney, Williams, a colleague of his, looks on the computer for information about Flight 11. Then Nunez, a passenger service agent for American Airlines, calls the American Airlines SOC in Fort Worth, Texas, to advise it of the situation. The person who answers the call is unknown. Nunez has a short conversation with them and then Williams takes over the call. Williams repeats to the SOC employee information that Woodward is calling out to her, which he is receiving from Sweeney. Woodward passes on to Williams the information that the hijackers on Flight 11 are Middle Eastern and have broken into the cockpit; Sweeney thinks the original pilot is no longer flying her plane; two flight attendants have been stabbed; one of them—Karen Martin—is on oxygen, but the other—Barbara Arestegui—is "hanging in there"; and a passenger in business class had his throat slashed and is presumed dead. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 3-4]

Details of Call Not Provided to 9/11 Commission - Nancy Wyatt, another American Airlines employee in the flight services office, talks over the phone with someone at the SOC from 8:40 a.m. to 8:48 a.m., and passes on to them the information that Woodward is receiving from Sweeney (see 8:40 a.m.-8:48 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14; Rutgers Law Review, 9/7/2011, pp. 14 pdf file]

It is unclear whether the call made by Nunez and Williams takes place before or around the same time as Wyatt's call. When she is interviewed by the FBI about her experiences on 9/11, Williams will not state the time her call is made at or its duration. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 3-4]

When he is interviewed by the 9/11 Commission in 2004, Woodward will describe the call Wyatt makes to the SOC, but make no mention of the call made by Nunez and Williams. [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file]

Wyatt's call and some other calls to the SOC made today by American Airlines employees at Logan Airport are recorded. But it is unclear whether the call made by Nunez and Williams is also recorded. Apparently no transcript or recording of their call will be provided to the 9/11 Commission during its investigation of this morning's terrorist attacks. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 31-32; American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 34-41; American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 46-48; 9/11 Commission, 2004; 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, is told details of the crisis with Flight 11 that have just been received from the FAA's Boston Center, and this information leads American Airlines to suspect that Flight 11 has been hijacked. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

Minutes earlier, Marquis instructed Bill Halleck, an air traffic control specialist at the SOC, to contact the Boston Center to find out what was happening with Flight 11, and Halleck has just done so (see 8:29 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 1/8/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004 pdf file]

Halleck now calls Marquis and tells him what he learned about Flight 11 from his call with the Boston Center. He says the aircraft is at "29,000 feet. They've lost comm [communications] with 'em. Turned off his transponder. Tracking his primary [radar track] only. Was westbound. Turned southbound. Said the controller heard on the [radio] frequency, the pilot apparently adjust his mike... lot of loud voices... that sounded threatening." Halleck then tells Marquis the details of this possible threat in the cockpit of Flight 11 that the Boston Center heard over radio. He says, "Something about 'return or I'll kill ya,' or something to that effect... or threatening dialogue." Halleck adds that he asked the Boston Center to pass on to the SOC "any information or updates" it subsequently receives. After Marquis hears this information from Halleck, he asks Halleck to "pull" Flight 11 up on his aircraft situation display. Following Halleck's report to Marquis, American Airlines "now suspected that Flight 11 had been hijacked," according to the 9/11 Commission. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

FAA headquarters in Washington, DC. [Source: FAA]

Four minutes after it is informed of the suspected hijacking of Flight 11 (see 8:28 a.m. September 11, 2001), the FAA Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, passes on word of the hijacking to the operations center at FAA headquarters in Washington, DC. The headquarters is apparently already aware of the hijacking, as the duty officer who speaks with the Command Center responds that security personnel at the headquarters have just been discussing it on a conference call with the FAA's New England regional office. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11] According to the 9/11 Commission, "FAA headquarters is ultimately responsible for the management of the national airspace system," and the operations center there "receives notifications of incidents, including accidents and hijackings." FAA headquarters has a hijack coordinator, who is "the director of the FAA Office of Civil Aviation Security or his or her designate." Procedures require that, if a hijacking is confirmed, the hijack coordinator on duty is "to contact the Pentagon's National Military Command Center (NMCC) and to ask for a military escort aircraft to follow the flight, report anything unusual, and aid search and rescue in the event of an emergency." Yet, the Commission will state, although "FAA headquarters began to follow the hijack protocol," it does "not contact the NMCC to request a fighter escort." [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 16-19]

Mike Canavan, who would normally be the FAA's hijack coordinator, is away in Puerto Rico this morning, and it is unclear who—if anyone—is standing in for him in this critical role (see 8:30 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 17]

Michael Woodward. [Source: Discovery Channel]

Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, reaches the American Airlines flight services office at Logan International Airport in Boston for the third time, and, in a phone call lasting 12 or 13 minutes, gives details of the trouble on her plane to a manager there. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] Sweeney has already called the flight services office two times and provided employees there with details of the hijacking of Flight 11, but both calls were cut off after a short time (see 8:25 a.m. September 11, 2001 and 8:29 a.m. September 11, 2001). Manager Takes Over Answering Call - At 8:32 a.m., Sweeney reaches the office for the third time. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 6; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] The call is answered by James Sayer, a staff assistant. But Sayer tells Michael Woodward, an American Airlines flight services manager at Logan Airport, that the caller is Sweeney, and Woodward then takes over the call. Woodward is friends with Sweeney and has known her personally for 10 years. Furthermore, Woodward will tell the 9/11 Commission, Sayer is not trained to handle emergency calls. Woodward asks Sweeney, "Amy, sweetie, what's going on?" She replies, "Listen to me very, very carefully." Realizing that Sweeney is going to give him important information, Woodward immediately begins taking notes.

Sweeney Provides Details of Hijacking - Woodward will tell the 9/11 Commission that, in a matter-of-fact and official manner, Sweeney then describes to him the trouble on her plane. She says she is sitting in the back of the aircraft next to Betty Ong, another flight attendant, and the two of them are trying to relay as much information as they can to people on the ground. She says her plane has been hijacked, a man in first class had his throat slashed, and two flight attendants—Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui—have been stabbed. Sweeney says that Martin isn't doing very well and is on oxygen, but Arestegui is less seriously injured and seems to be alright. She says the hijackers have gained entry into the cockpit, though she doesn't say how they did this, and there is a bomb in the cockpit. She makes no comments about the condition of the pilots, but says the flight attendants are unable to contact the cockpit. Later in the conversation, she says she doesn't think the original pilot is in control of the plane, because they are flying "all over the place." [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11-12] Sweeney Gives Seat Numbers of Hijackers - Sweeney apparently believes there are only three hijackers on Flight 11. She tells Woodward that the people who hijacked her plane were in seats 9D, 9G, and 10B. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 5-6; 9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 14] However, apart from seat 10B, these are different seats to those assigned to the hijackers on the tickets they purchased. [Los Angeles Times, 9/20/2001; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 2] Sweeney tells Woodward that the hijackers are of Middle Eastern descent. She says one of them spoke excellent English and another spoke very little English. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 1-2; 9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file] Doctor or Nurse Requested - Woodward will say, when he is first questioned by the FBI about Sweeney's call, that Sweeney tells him that a doctor and nurse are caring for the passenger who had his throat slashed. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 5-6] But Ong, who is on the phone with employees at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001 and 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001), says there are no doctors on Flight 11 (see 8:36 a.m.-8:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 pdf file] However, in a second interview with the FBI and in his interview with the 9/11 Commission, Woodward will say only that a doctor or nurse has been paged. Woodward Gives Contradictory Accounts of Type of Phone Used - Woodward hears no noise in the background during his conversation with Sweeney. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 1-2; 9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file] The information Sweeney provides about the hijacking has been given to her by Sara Low, a flight attendant who was assigned to the front of Flight 11 and so would have witnessed the hijacking when it happened. [Boston Herald, 12/15/2008; Associated Press, 3/5/2009] In interviews with the FBI, Woodward will say that Sweeney makes the call using an Airfone, or that he is unsure whether she uses an Airfone or a cell phone. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 5-6; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/13/2001, pp. 1-2] But he will tell the 9/11 Commission that she makes the call on a cell phone. [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file] However, the FBI will state that Sweeney is using an Airfone. [9/11 Commission, 2004, pp. 4; New York Observer, 6/20/2004; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9/11/2011] There is no tape machine in the flight services office, and so her call is not recorded. [9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file; New York Observer, 6/20/2004] Airline Contacted about Call - At 8:40 a.m., one of Woodward's colleagues in the flight services office calls the American Airlines System Operations Control center in Fort Worth, Texas, and passes on to it the information that Sweeney is providing to Woodward (see 8:40 a.m.-8:48 a.m. September 11, 2001). Sweeney's call ends after 12 or 13 minutes (see (8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11, 14; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006]

Nydia Gonzalez, a supervisor at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in Cary, North Carolina, tells colleagues of hers to keep the information they have received about the hijacking of Flight 11 to themselves. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

Gonzalez and two of her colleagues—Vanessa Minter and Winston Sadler—are on the phone with Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11 who called the reservations office to report the hijacking of her plane (see 8:18 a.m. September 11, 2001, 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001, and 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 38-41; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 5, 453]

Gonzalez reassures Ong, telling her, "Okay, sweetie... we've got security working on [dealing with the hijacking] right now." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

(Gonzalez is referring to the fact that she has contacted the American Airlines System Operations Control center in Texas and alerted it to the trouble on Flight 11 (see (8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 9] )

Gonzalez adds, "We're gonna maintain this line open as much as we can." Presumably addressing all of the other participants in the call—Ong, Minter, and Sadler—she then says: "We don't want to spread anything around. Okay?" The others apparently agree to keep quiet about the hijacking, as Gonzalez responds to them, "Excellent." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy. [Source: CBC]

After being informed of the possible hijacking of Flight 11, an air traffic controller in the control tower at Otis Air National Guard Base calls the base's operations desk to let it know that it might be receiving a call from NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 27-28] Daniel Bueno, a supervisor at the FAA's Boston Center, has just called the control tower at Otis Air Base, at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, alerting it to the problems with Flight 11 and requesting military assistance. The controller who took the call told Bueno he needed to call NEADS in order to get fighter jets launched (see (Between 8:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Filson, 2003, pp. 47; Spencer, 2008, pp. 22] Tower Controller Calls Operations Desk - According to author Lynn Spencer, the tower controller subsequently "figures a call [to Otis Air Base] will be coming from NEADS soon and a scramble order is likely. He knows the fighter pilots will appreciate the heads-up." He therefore calls the Otis Air Base operations desk. According to Spencer, the phone is answered by Master Sergeant Mark Rose, who is the superintendent of aviation management, in charge of flight records and currency for the pilots of the 102nd Fighter Wing. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 27]

But according to the 102nd Fighter Wing's own history of the 9/11 attacks, the call is answered by a Technical Sergeant "Margie Woody." [102nd Fighter Wing, 2001] Controller Confuses Superintendent - Rose (or Woody, if the wing's account is correct) is initially confused by the call. The tower controller does not identify himself or say where he is calling from, but instead begins by asking, "What do you have available?" As Spencer will describe, "For all [Rose] knows, this could be a wrong number or a crank call," so rather than giving information about the base, Rose responds, "What are you talking about?" The controller then identifies himself and explains that he has just received a report about a hijacking. Rose realizes he needs to pass the call on to someone more appropriate. Pilot Informed of Hijacking - Pilot Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy, who is the director of operations for the 102nd Fighter Wing, is standing next to Rose by the operations desk. Rose tells him, "Duff, you got a phone call," and then says the caller is "Otis tower—something about an apparent hijacking under way: American 11, a 767, out of Boston and headed for California." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 27-28] Duffy will later recall his response to this news: "As soon as we heard there was something about a hijacking we got moving." [Filson, 2003, pp. 50] On his handheld radio he calls Major Daniel Nash, who along with Duffy is an "alert" pilot on duty at this time, and instructs him to suit up ready for any scramble call. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 28] The two pilots will run to the nearby locker room, put on their G-suits and helmets, and then head out toward their jets (see (8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Cape Cod Times, 8/21/2002; Boston Globe, 9/11/2005] Meanwhile, a commander at Otis will phone NEADS to report the FAA's request for military assistance (see Shortly After 8:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). Call Is Not 'the First Notification Received by the Military' - The exact time the tower controller calls the operations desk at is unclear. Duffy will later guess that the call occurs "at about 8:30, 8:35." [Filson, 10/22/2002; Filson, 2003, pp. 50] But according to the 9/11 Commission Report, "the first notification received by the military—at any level—that American 11 had been hijacked" is when the FAA's Boston Center calls NEADS just before 8:38 a.m. (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20] According to the102nd Fighter Wing's history of the 9/11 attacks, the call to the operations desk is made at 8:38 a.m. [102nd Fighter Wing, 2001] Bueno also called the FAA's Cape Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which is located on Otis Air Base, at 8:34 a.m., to request that fighters be launched from Otis (see 8:34 a.m. September 11, 2001), and in response, the TRACON contacts the Otis tower and operations desk (see (8:36 a.m.-8:41) September 11, 2001). [Federal Aviation Administration, 4/19/2002; 9/11 Commission, 9/22/2003 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 9/30/2003 pdf file]

Managers at the FAA's Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, learn of the apparent hijacking of Flight 11, but continue with a meeting they are in for several minutes, until being notified that one of the plane's flight attendants may have been stabbed. The daily staff meeting among all the department heads at the Command Center begins at 8:30 a.m. Ben Sliney, who is on his first day as national operations manager there, has just been informed of the suspected hijacking of Flight 11 (see 8:28 a.m. September 11, 2001). He begins the meeting by announcing news of the hijacking to the other managers, but then continues with his normal briefing, about the outlook for the coming day's operations. Sliney is interrupted, apparently at around 8:40 a.m., when a supervisor enters the conference room and whispers to him that the situation with the hijacking has deteriorated: American Airlines has just called, reporting that a flight attendant on the plane may have been stabbed. Deciding he should be on the center's operations floor rather than in the meeting, Sliney announces to the other managers: "Look, this hijack situation has seriously escalated and I need to get back to the floor. There is an unconfirmed report indicating that a flight attendant may have been stabbed." He then excuses himself. The meeting is quickly broken up before the first World Trade Center crash occurs at 8:46 a.m. The managers then head to their posts. Despite the "intuitive nature of this group of people," none of them will initially consider the first WTC crash to be connected to the hijacking they have been informed of. According to Linda Schuessler, the deputy director of system operations at the Command Center, "something that seemed so bizarre as flying a hijacked plane full of people into a skyscraper didn't seem possible." [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 12/17/2001; Freni, 2003, pp. 63; Spencer, 2008, pp. 1 and 19-21]

FAA's Boston Center [Source: ABC News]

According to some reports, Boston flight control decides that Flight 11 has probably been hijacked, but apparently, it does not notify other flight control centers for another five minutes, and does not notify NORAD for approximately 20 minutes. [New York Times, 9/15/2001; Newsday, 9/23/2001] ABC News will later say, "There doesn't seem to have been alarm bells going off, [flight] controllers getting on with law enforcement or the military. There's a gap there that will have to be investigated." [ABC News, 9/14/2001] (Note the conflicting account at 8:21 a.m. (see (8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001)

Daniel Lewin. [Source: Akamai Technologies]

An FAA memo written on the evening of 9/11, and later leaked, will suggest that a man on Flight 11 is shot and killed by a gun before the plane crashes into the World Trade Center. The "Executive Summary," based on information relayed by a flight attendant to the American Airlines Operation Center, states "that a passenger located in seat 10B [Satam Al Suqami] shot and killed a passenger in seat 9B [Daniel Lewin] at 9:20 a.m." (Note that since Flight 11 crashes at 8:46, the time must be a typographical error, probably meaning 8:20). A report in Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz on September 17 will identify Lewin as a former member of the Israel Defense Force Sayeret Matkal, Israel's most successful Special Operations unit. [United Press International, 3/6/2002] Sayeret Matkal is a deep penetration unit that has been involved in assassinations, the theft of foreign signals intelligence materials, and the theft and destruction of foreign nuclear weaponry. It is best known for the 1976 rescue of 106 passengers at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. [New Yorker, 10/29/2001] Lewin founded Akamai, a successful computer company, and his connections to Sayeret Matkal will remain hidden until the gun story becomes known. [Guardian, 9/15/2001] FAA and American Airline officials will later deny the gun story and suggest that Lewin is probably stabbed to death instead. [Washington Post, 3/2/2002; United Press International, 3/6/2002]

Officials assert that the leaked document was a "first draft," and subsequently corrected, but decline to release the final draft, calling it "protected information." However, an FAA official present when the memo is drafted will dispute the FAA's claim, asserting that "[t]he document was reviewed for accuracy by a number of people in the room, including myself and a couple of managers of the operations center." [WorldNetDaily, 3/7/2002] This unnamed official is probably Bogdan Dzakovic, a leader of the FAA's "red team" conducting covert security inspections. He will later tell the 9/11 Commission: "There are serious indications that the FAA deceived the public about what happened on 9/11. On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, I was working in one of the FAA operations centers collecting information on details of what happened during the hijacking. We received information that a firearm was used on one of the hijacked aircraft.... That evening the administrator of FAA requested an executive summary covering the day's activities, and this information about a gun was included in the summary. Days later, without any explanation or questioning of the summary's author, the administrator publicly announced that no guns had been used in the hijacking. Several months passed when the press re-surfaced this issue. FAA's initial response was that no so such executive summary existed. Later, when confronted with the document, FAA admitted the executive summary existed, but denied its accuracy. Sometime later I learned that another operations center also received a report that a firearm was used.... There were also reports of a possible explosive threatened on a flight." [CBS News, 2/25/2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/22/2003; Village Voice, 2/8/2005]

The air traffic control tower at Otis Air National Guard Base. [Source: CapeCodFD.com]

Daniel Bueno, a supervisor at the FAA's Boston Center, calls the air traffic control tower at Otis Air National Guard Base to alert it to the problems with Flight 11 and request military assistance. [Filson, 2003, pp. 47; Spencer, 2008, pp. 22] Otis Air Base, at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is one of NORAD's seven alert sites in the continental United States, which keeps two armed fighter jets ready for immediate takeoff. [Filson, 2003, pp. 50; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 17] Supervisor Calls Otis, Violating Protocol - Bueno calls the control tower at Otis even though, according to author Lynn Spencer, he "knows it's not standard operating procedure to call the military directly—that's supposed to be done by FAA headquarters." But he has "checked the FAA regulation manual, and in the back under section FAAO 7610.4J, Appendix 16, it states that fighters can be launched directly at FAA request, so he is going to make that happen. He may not be FAA headquarters, but he is FAA!" [Spencer, 2008, pp. 22] Bueno Requests Fighters, Told to Call NEADS - Bueno tells the controller at the Otis tower that Flight 11 has lost its identification signal and appears to be headed toward Manhattan; it looks like a possible hijacking, and fighter jets are needed, fast. [Filson, 2003, pp. 47] But the controller tells Bueno that he must follow the protocol, which is to contact NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS). The controller says: "You've got to go through the proper channels. They're the only ones with the authority to initiate a scramble order." [Spencer, 2008, pp. 22]

Bueno asks the controller for the telephone number for NEADS. [102nd Fighter Wing, 2001] Following this call, the tower controller will contact the Otis Air Base operations desk, to let it know that it might be receiving a call from NEADS (see (Between 8:31 a.m. and 8:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 27] Otis Pilots Critical of Bueno - The two alert pilots at Otis Air Base will later criticize Bueno for calling the base directly. One of them, Major Daniel Nash, will complain: "It sounds like the FAA didn't have their [act] together at all when they were calling the [Otis] tower.... To me, it sounded like there was someone who didn't know what they were doing." [Boston Globe, 9/11/2005] Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy, the other alert pilot, will comment: "It didn't happen the way it was supposed to.... We were the ones who were contacted right away and knew about it before the air defense sector." [Filson, 2003, pp. 50] Time of Call Unclear - Bueno also calls the FAA's Cape Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which is located on Otis Air Base, at 8:34 a.m. and requests that fighters be launched from Otis (see 8:34 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Federal Aviation Administration, 4/19/2002; 9/11 Commission, 9/22/2003 pdf file] Whether he makes that call before or after he calls the Otis tower is unstated. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, "the first notification received by the military—at any level—that American 11 had been hijacked" is when the FAA's Boston Center calls NEADS just before 8:38 a.m. (see (8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20] If that is correct, it would indicate that Bueno calls the Otis tower after he calls the Cape TRACON.

Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center in Fort Worth, Texas, describes to his colleague Mike Mulcahy what he has been told about the trouble on Flight 11, but says he does not want this information to be passed on. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file]

Marquis is currently on the phone with Nydia Gonzalez, a supervisor at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina. Gonzalez is relaying to him information provided to her by Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, about what is happening on the hijacked plane (see (8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 8-9]

Marquis Describes Hijacking of Flight 11 - Marquis now talks to Mulcahy and describes what he knows about the crisis. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file]

Mulcahy is the manager of SOC policies and procedures. His responsibilities include maintaining the emergency procedure checklist used in the SOC. [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file]

After telling him to "come here," Marquis says to Mulcahy: "I got an incident going on here. Flight 11, from Boston to LA. The number three flight attendant [i.e. Ong] called and said that two male passengers [i.e. hijackers] on board stabbed the number one and the number five flight attendant." Marquis says the two hijackers have "broken into the cockpit and the plane is being flown erratically right now." He adds that the hijackers "were in seats 2A and 2B." Apparently still talking to Mulcahy, Marquis gives the instruction, "All the information on Flight 11, bring it to me here." He then repeats what he knows about the incident, saying: "The passengers in 2A and 2B, two male passengers, have broken into the cockpit, stabbed the number one flight attendant. Okay, so right now the plane is being flown erratically, but that's all we know."

Marquis Tells Colleague to Keep Quiet about Hijacking - Marquis then says he wants the news of the incident kept quiet. He says: "I don't want this spread all over this office right now. Any information that you get, send to me, okay?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

A tape recording of today's events in the SOC, including this conversation, will in 2004 be played to some relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks. One relative, who is a veteran flight attendant for United Airlines, will, after hearing the tape, be highly critical of the apparent desire of American Airlines managers to keep the news of the hijacking among themselves. She will say: "It was disgusting. The very first response was cover-up, when they should have been broadcasting this information all over the place." Another relative will say, "I find it alarming that the airline... would want to hold something as horrific as a hijacking among a few people, when bells and whistles should have been going off in all categories of responsibility." [New York Observer, 6/20/2004]

Bill Halleck, an air traffic control specialist at the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) center in Fort Worth, Texas, calls the FAA's Boston Center to ask about the status of Flight 11 and is told that the plane has deviated from its flight path, air traffic controllers have lost communication with it and have lost its transponder signal, and they have heard a possible threat being made in the background over the radio. This call is American Airlines' first contact with FAA controllers regarding Flight 11. [9/11 Commission, 3/25/2004, pp. 15; 9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004; 9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004 pdf file]

Manager Told Halleck to Call FAA - At 8:21 a.m., Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the SOC, received a call from a supervisor at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina, alerting him to a call the office had received from Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, reporting the emergency on her plane (see 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001). Marquis had replied that he would get in touch with air traffic control about this. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 9]

He asked Halleck to contact the FAA's Boston Center and find out what is happening with Flight 11. Immediately after receiving this request, Halleck calls the traffic management unit (TMU) at the Boston Center. [9/11 Commission, 1/8/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004 pdf file]

Boston Center Tells Halleck Details of Crisis - When the call is answered, Halleck introduces himself and then says, "We're trying to find out the status to what you know about our Flight 11." The Boston Center controller replies that Flight 11's last reported altitude was below 29,000 feet. He reports that the flight has altered course, saying, "He was heading west, but right now he's pointed southwest of Albany." Furthermore, he says, "we lost frequency with him," meaning communication has been lost with the plane, and adds that the plane's transponder has been turned off.

Controller Heard a 'Threat in the Background' on Flight 11 - The controller at the TMU also tells Halleck that the Boston Center controller dealing with Flight 11 "heard on the frequency a threat in the background, but that's unconfirmed and we're trying to pull the tape [recording of the radio communication] at this time." Halleck asks for clarification that the controller handling Flight 11 "heard a background noise in the cockpit," and is told: "Like a threat. Yes, sir." The controller at the TMU adds that he has been told that it is believed the pilot's microphone on Flight 11 was keyed, and so the controller handling the flight "heard in the background, like, yeah, 'Return to an airport... or I'll kill you,' or something to that effect." He also says the plane is not squawking any emergency transponder codes. Halleck says he is tracking Flight 11 on the aircraft situation display, and the controller replies that the Boston Center is currently tracking the plane with primary radar only. The controller ends by telling Halleck, "That is all we have." [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 56-57; American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 58; 9/11 Commission, 1/8/2004 pdf file]

Halleck Does Not Pass On Information from Flight Attendant - With this call, Halleck is the first person at American Airlines to speak to FAA air traffic control personnel about Flight 11. [9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004; 9/11 Commission, 4/26/2004 pdf file]

During the call, he does not tell the Boston Center controller about the ongoing conversation between American Airlines and Ong, or what Marquis has learned from this conversation. [United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1/16/2009 pdf file]

Halleck will promptly pass on the information from the Boston Center to Marquis, and this will lead American Airlines to suspect that Flight 11 has been hijacked (see 8:33 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

James Sayer. [Source: Boston Globe]

Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on Flight 11, reaches the American Airlines flight services office at Logan International Airport in Boston for the second time, and describes the trouble on her plane to an employee there. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 6; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] Sweeney called the flight services office at 8:25 a.m. and told Evelyn Nunez, a passenger service agent, about the trouble on Flight 11, but the call was cut off after less than two minutes (see 8:25 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 57-58; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 10; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] Sweeney now calls the flight services office again. Nunez is busy making a phone call, so Sweeney's call is answered by James Sayer, a staff assistant.

Sweeney Describes Stabbings on Flight 11 - Sayer takes notes while he is talking to Sweeney. He will later describe to the FBI what she tells him. Sweeney apparently does not give her name during the call. Sayer will recall that "on the telephone was a female flight attendant on... Flight 11, calling from the air, who stated that two flight attendants were stabbed and a man in business class had been stabbed in the throat." [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8] Sweeney would be referring to flight attendants Barbara Arestegui and Karen Martin, and passenger Daniel Lewin (see (8:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001), who were attacked by the hijackers. [ABC News, 7/18/2002; Ha'aretz, 7/22/2004] Sweeney says that a "doctor and nurse on board the plane [are] caring for the injured man," Sayer will recall. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8] Michael Woodward, a manager in the flight services office who talks with Sweeney in a subsequent call (see (8:32 a.m.-8:44 a.m.) September 11, 2001), will also tell the FBI that Sweeney says a doctor and nurse are caring for a passenger who has been stabbed. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 5-6] However, Betty Ong, another flight attendant on Flight 11, is currently talking over the phone to employees at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001 and 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001), and she will say there are no doctors on the plane (see 8:36 a.m.-8:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 pdf file] Hijackers Have a Bomb and Are in the Cockpit - Sweeney tells Sayer that the individuals who took over her plane "had Mace and pepper spray," and she can "detect an odor in the cabin." She says that "two people had gone in the cockpit and they said they had a bomb." Apparently describing the bomb, Sweeney says she "observed two boxes connected with red and yellow wire." Sweeney Gives Incorrect Information about Plane's Location and Hijackers' Seat Numbers - Sweeney says Flight 11 is currently in the air over New York City, Sayer will recall. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8] However, Flight 11 recently turned south over Albany, which is about 150 miles north of New York (see (8:26 a.m.-8:29 a.m.) September 11, 2001), and so is still a long way from the city. [Federal Aviation Administration, 9/17/2001 pdf file; National Transportation Safety Board, 2/19/2002 pdf file] Sweeney also indicates that she thinks there are only three hijackers on Flight 11, telling Sayer that the hijackers were in seats 9C, 9G, and 10B. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8] However, apart from seat 10B, these seat numbers are different to those registered in the hijackers' names. The five hijackers on Flight 11 had been in seats 2A, 2B, 8D, 8G, and 10B, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. [BBC, 9/21/2001; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 2] Call Is Disconnected, but Sweeney Phones Again - Sweeney's call is cut off after 43 seconds. [US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] Sayer will answer the phone when Sweeney contacts the flight services office again at 8:32 a.m., but he will pass the call on to Woodward. It is unclear whether all the information that Sayer describes to the FBI, about the problems on Flight 11, is given to him by Sweeney in the current call, or if she provides some of it to him in the 8:32 a.m. call. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-8; 9/11 Commission, 1/25/2004 pdf file; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 11]