September 11, 2001 Research & Archives

Events of September 11, 2001 => September 11, 2001 Timeline => Topic started by: Archangel on August 03, 2017, 08:27:19 PM

Title: American Airlines Conducts ‘Lockout’ of Flight 11
Post by: Archangel on August 03, 2017, 08:27:19 PM
Craig Marquis, a manager at the American Airlines System Operations Control (SOC) in Fort Worth, Texas, initiates actions to "lockout" Flight 11. This procedure, as the 9/11 Commission later describes, "acknowledges an emergency on the flight and isolates information so that the case can be managed by top leadership at the airlines in a way that protects information from being altered or released, and also protects the identities of the passengers and crew." Within two minutes, American Airlines has completed the lockout. Marquis realized Flight 11 was an emergency situation almost immediately after 8:21 a.m., when he began receiving details of flight attendant Betty Ong's phone call from it (see 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001). Since "lockout" is a standard procedure for airlines in safety and security incidents, it is unclear why he did not initiate it sooner. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 5; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12-13]