NEW PEARL HARBOR: AA flight 11 Flashcards
What happened to American Airlines flight 11 (AA11) the day of September 11, 2001?
According to official accounts, it was hijacked and flown full of passengers into the World Trade Center North Tower (WTC1) in New York.
According to official accounts cited by Griffin, what were the take-off and crash times of American Airlines Flight 11?
At 7:59 am, AA11 left Boston airport.
At 8:46 am, AA11 struck WTC1 (North Tower).
(p. 3-4)
When, according to Griffin, did the FAA receive sufficient reason to believe that AA11 was hijacked?
At 8:14, 8:20, and 8:21.
“At 8:14, besides failing to respond to an order from FAA…, …[AA11’s] radio and transponder went off, suggesting that it had possibly been hijacked. At 8:20…the plane went radically off course, leading ground control to conclude that it had probably been hijacked. At 8:21, flight attendants reported by telephone that the plane had definitely been taken over by hijackers…”. (p. 3)
What does NORAD stand for?
North American Aerospace Defense Command
Were fighter planes sent to intercept AA11?
**Griffin cites two conflicting accounts. **
(1) According to official testimony offered on 9/13, fighters were never sent. (2) According to official testimony made public on 9/18, however, NORAD gave an order to intercept AA11 at 8:46–the very time WTC1 was struck.
What was the nature of the testimony which claimed that fighters were not sent to intercept AA11? What was said, who said it, and when and under what conditions was it said?
According to Griffin, this testimony was offered by General Richard Myers to the Senate Armed Services Committee on 9/13: “[A]fter the second tower was hit, I spoke to the commander of NORAD, General Eberhart. …I think the decision was at that point to start launching aircraft.” (p. 6)
What was the nature of the testimony which claimed that fighters were sent to intercept AA11? What was said, who said it, and when and under what conditions was it said?
According to Griffin, “NORAD began saying that it did have planes scrambled but they arrived too late.” (p. 9).
“Although this new version was in the air a few days earlier, NORAD made it official on September 18 in a press release.” (footnote, p. 208).
Why does the fact that fighters did not intercept AA11 encourage some to doubt the official story?
“The basic problem…is that there are standard procedures for situations such as this and that, if they had been followed, Flight 11 would have been intercepted by fighter jets within 10 minutes.” (p. 4)
Under normal circumstances, how long does it take to intercept a hijacked plane?
A few minutes.
Griffin writes: “According to…NORAD, from the time the FAA senses that something is wrong, ‘it takes about one minute’ for it to contact NORAD, and then NORAD can scramble fighters ‘within a matter of minutes to anywhere in the United States.’” (p. 4)
How long does it typically take for an F-15 to get into the air once orders are received?
2.5 minutes.
“Griffin cites authorities which claim that, “an F-15 routinely ‘goes from scramble order to 29,000 feet in only 2.5 minutes’ and then can fly at 1,850 nmph (nautical miles per hour).” (p. 4)
Under normal circumstances, at what time would AA11 have been intercepted?
8:24 am to 8:30 am.
Griffin writes, “If normal procedures had been followed…, Flight 11 would have been intercepted by 8:24, and certainly no later than 8:30, 16 minutes before it…crashed into the WTC.” (p. 5)
According to the original official account, AA11 wasn’t intercepted because planes were never sent out. Why according to the revised official account wasn’t AA11 intercepted?
The fighters arrived too late.
Griffin writes that, according to NORAD, “NORAD…did have planes scrambled but they arrived too late.” (p. 9)
If according to the second official account fighters were sent to intercept AA11, why didn’t they arrive on time?
The FAA called NORAD too late.
Griffin writes: “According to this version, NORAD was not notified by the FAA…until 8:40. This would have been 26 minutes after the plane’s radio and transponder went off and 20 minutes after it went off course.” (p. 9)
At what time, according to the second official account, were fighters sent to intercept AA11?
8:46 am.
“[A]ccording to this account,” Griffin writes,” “[NORAD] did not give the scramble order until 8:46, six minutes after it had been notified.” (p. 9)
(WTC1 was struck at 8:46.)
At what point are air-traffic controllers supposed to begin emergency procedures under normal conditions?
At the first sign of trouble.
Griffin argues that, under FAA regulations, air-traffic controllers should begin emergency procedures if “there is unexpected loss of radar contact and radio communications” (p. 4), and/or if “a plane deviates by 15 degrees” from its assigned course” (p. 5)
