discussion of the need for rules of engagement. Clarke reported that they were
asking the President for authority to shoot down aircraft. Confirmation of that
authority came at 10:25, but the commands were already being conveyed in
more direct contacts with the Pentagon.
strike was a terrorist attack.The job of the NMCC in such an emergency is to
gather the relevant parties and establish the chain of command between the
National Command Authority--the president and the secretary of defense--
and those who need to carry out their orders.
to his office for his daily intelligence briefing.The Secretary was informed of
the second strike in New York during the briefing; he resumed the briefing
while awaiting more information. After the Pentagon was struck, Secretary
Rumsfeld went to the parking lot to assist with rescue efforts.
aircraft had struck the World Trade Center, there was a confirmed hijacking of
American 11, and Otis fighters had been scrambled.The FAA was asked to pro-
vide an update, but the line was silent because the FAA had not been added to
the call.A minute later, the deputy director stated that it had just been confirmed
that American 11 was still airborne and heading toward D.C. He directed the
transition to an air threat conference call. NORAD confirmed that American
11 was airborne and heading toward Washington, relaying the erroneous FAA
information already mentioned.The call then ended, at about 9:34.
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen
Hadley all participated in this teleconference at various times, as did military
personnel from the White House underground shelter and the President's mil-
itary aide on Air Force One.
times before 10:03 to confirm the presence of the FAA in the teleconference.
The FAA representative who finally joined the call at 10:17 had no familiar-
ity with or responsibility for hijackings, no access to decisionmakers, and none
of the information available to senior FAA officials.