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the assault.The recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts,
and breaking glasses and plates. At 10:00:03, Jarrah stabilized the airplane.
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Five seconds later, Jarrah asked,"Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" A hijacker
responded,"No. Not yet.When they all come, we finish it off." The sounds of
fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose of the
aircraft up and down.At 10:00:26, a passenger in the background said,"In the
cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled,"Roll
it!" Jarrah stopped the violent maneuvers at about 10:01:00 and said,"Allah is
the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" He then asked another hijacker in the cock-
pit,"Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" to which the other replied,"Yes,
put it in it, and pull it down."
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The passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:23, a hijacker said,"Pull
it down! Pull it down!"The hijackers remained at the controls but must have
judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them.The air-
plane headed down; the control wheel was turned hard to the right.The air-
plane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting "Allah is
the greatest. Allah is the greatest."With the sounds of the passenger counter-
attack continuing, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Shanksville, Penn-
sylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes' flying time from
Washington, D.C.
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Jarrah's objective was to crash his airliner into symbols of the American
Republic, the Capitol or the White House. He was defeated by the alerted,
unarmed passengers of United 93.
1.2 IMPROVISING A HOMELAND DEFENSE
The FAA and NORAD
On 9/11, the defense of U.S. airspace depended on close interaction between
two federal agencies: the FAA and the North American Aerospace Defense
Command (NORAD).The most recent hijacking that involved U.S. air traf-
fic controllers, FAA management, and military coordination had occurred in
1993.
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In order to understand how the two agencies interacted eight years
later, we will review their missions, command and control structures, and work-
ing relationship on the morning of 9/11.
FAA Mission and Structure.
As of September 11, 2001, the FAA was man-
dated by law to regulate the safety and security of civil aviation. From an air
traffic controller's perspective, that meant maintaining a safe distance between
airborne aircraft.
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Many controllers work at the FAA's 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
They are grouped under regional offices and coordinate closely with the
national Air Traffic Control System Command Center, located in Herndon,
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