11 Airplanes Astray On September 11, According to Exclusive Aviation Week & Space Technology Report On FAA Air Traffic Control Command Center.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2001

Suspicions Lead To Nationwide Grounding

An exclusive examination of the activities at the FAA air traffic control command center on September 11 reveals that in the minutes following the attack on the World Trade Center, 11 airplanes had either flown off course or were out of communication, leading the FAA to ground all air traffic for the first time in US history.

The in-depth analysis, in the December 17 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology, also reveals the air traffic control system responded quickly, decisively, professionally and with surprising cooperation among government and industry groups.

Just minutes after the second of two hijacked airliners had flown into the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. EDT the air traffic control command center in Herndon, Va., asked field facilities to advise it of any aircraft that weren't in communication or were flying unexpected routes. The facilities reported 11 such aircraft, according to AW&ST. As the reports of unusual operations grew, Herndon issued a ground-stop order at 9:26 a.m. "We just thought, OK, enough is enough, let's keep them on the ground and see what we've got," Linda Schuessler, manager of tactical operations at the command center told AW&ST.

Two of the 11 aircraft were American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon at 9:41 a.m., and United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania at 10:10. The anomalies that caused controllers to flag the other nine aircraft were explained later to Herndon's satisfaction. "We followed up on that, at the end of the day and the following day," said Schuessler, "People here continued to say (they had) a little discomfort about the information (they) received. We followed up with the security people and got enough information that the specialists here felt very comfortable that they understood the situation." One of the nine aircraft was identified in later press reports as a Delta Air Lines transcontinental flight out of Boston. The FAA declined to provide information about any of the nine for the AW&ST report, however. An agency official told AW&ST the FAA has no open issues regarding the flights with respect to ATC, but it doesn't know their status in the FBI's criminal investigation of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The AW&ST report tracks the timeline of activities at the control command center, beginning with normal morning staff and industry meetings, then immediately bringing in FAA headquarters office, the secretary of transportation's office and other agencies in the minutes following the first attack.

The first indication of trouble began when the national operations manager, in charge of supervisors and ATC specialists on the command center's operational floor reported a possible hijacking in progress. In a stroke of luck, the Department of Defense was represented at the control command center. The Pentagon staffs the center only three days per month for refresher training to coordinate priority aircraft movement during warfare or emergencies, and September 11 happened to be one of those days.

John Carr, National Air Traffic Controllers Association president, told AW&ST the air traffic controllers landed the airborne airplanes about twice as fast as they would have done normally. Controllers used minimum spacing and maximum efficiency, and followed normal landing rules, Carr said. "We didn't cheat. Considering that controllers hadn't ever tested or trained for clearing the sky, the process was surprisingly smooth."

The magazine reports coordination between en route centers, Tracons and airport towers was normal. Communication between pilots and controllers "is no different during an emergency than it is during a normal operation," Carr said. "Air traffic control is a very tightly woven net of responsibility. It is not unlike a relay race, with airplanes as batons." Aircraft were passed in sequence from centers to Tracons, to towers, to ground controllers, to gates. "It wasn't hard," Carr told AW&ST. "It's what we do. We work airplanes . . . We didn't find it to be even the least bit extraordinary. We found it to be challenging, extremely important, deserving of due caution and care . . . But I don't think you could find a single controller who would tell you they did something extraordinary that day. They did their job."

Aviation Week & Space Technology is the world's leading aviation and aerospace industry magazine, covering technology, business and operations in the commercial, military and space markets for more than 104,000 paid subscribers (375,000 readers) in 130 countries. It is the cornerstone of the Aviation Week division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. With nearly 50 products and services and an audience of more than 1 million professionals and enthusiasts, Aviation Week is the largest multimedia information provider to the global aviation and aerospace industry. Its web portal, www.AviationNow.com, offers the industry's most comprehensive real-time news, professional information and e-business features.

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in financial services, education and business-to-business information through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The Corporation has more than 300 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2000 were $4.3 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Senior Transport Editor David Bond is available to provide additional insight and/or interviews on the activities of the air traffic control center on September 11.