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Several FAA air traffic control officials told us it was the air carriers' respon-
sibility to notify their planes of security problems. One senior FAA air traffic
control manager said that it was simply not the FAA's place to order the air-
lines what to tell their pilots.
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We believe such statements do not reflect an
adequate appreciation of the FAA's responsibility for the safety and security of
civil aviation.
The airlines bore responsibility, too.They were facing an escalating number
of conflicting and, for the most part, erroneous reports about other flights, as
well as a continuing lack of vital information from the FAA about the hijacked
flights.We found no evidence, however, that American Airlines sent any cock-
pit warnings to its aircraft on 9/11. United's first decisive action to notify its
airborne aircraft to take defensive action did not come until 9:19, when a
United flight dispatcher, Ed Ballinger, took the initiative to begin transmitting
warnings to his 16 transcontinental flights: "Beware any cockpit intrusion--
Two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center." One of the flights that received
the warning was United 93. Because Ballinger was still responsible for his
other flights as well as Flight 175, his warning message was not transmitted to
Flight 93 until 9:23.
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By all accounts, the first 46 minutes of Flight 93's cross-country trip pro-
ceeded routinely. Radio communications from the plane were normal. Head-
ing, speed, and altitude ran according to plan. At 9:24, Ballinger's warning to
United 93 was received in the cockpit.Within two minutes, at 9:26, the pilot,
Jason Dahl, responded with a note of puzzlement: "Ed, confirm latest mssg
plz--Jason."
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The hijackers attacked at 9:28. While traveling 35,000 feet above eastern
Ohio, United 93 suddenly dropped 700 feet. Eleven seconds into the descent,
the FAA's air traffic control center in Cleveland received the first of two radio
transmissions from the aircraft. During the first broadcast, the captain or first
officer could be heard declaring "Mayday" amid the sounds of a physical strug-
gle in the cockpit. The second radio transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated
that the fight was continuing.The captain or first officer could be heard shout-
ing:"Hey get out of here--get out of here--get out of here."
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On the morning of 9/11, there were only 37 passengers on United 93--33
in addition to the 4 hijackers.This was below the norm for Tuesday mornings
during the summer of 2001. But there is no evidence that the hijackers manip-
ulated passenger levels or purchased additional seats to facilitate their operation.
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The terrorists who hijacked three other commercial flights on 9/11 oper-
ated in five-man teams.They initiated their cockpit takeover within 30 min-
utes of takeoff. On Flight 93, however, the takeover took place 46 minutes after
takeoff and there were only four hijackers. The operative likely intended to
round out the team for this flight, Mohamed al Kahtani, had been refused entry
by a suspicious immigration inspector at Florida's Orlando International Air-
port in August.
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"WE HAVE SOME PLANES"
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