Meanwhile, a manager from Boston Center reported that they had deci-
phered what they had heard in one of the first hijacker transmissions from
American 11:
Boston Center:
Hey . . . you still there?
New England Region:
Yes, I am.
Boston Center:
. . . as far as the tape, Bobby seemed to think the guy
said that "we have planes." Now, I don't know if it was because it was
the accent, or if there's more than one, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna
reconfirm that for you, and I'll get back to you real quick. Okay?
New England Region:
Appreciate it.
Unidentified Female Voice:
They have what?
Boston Center:
Planes, as in plural.
Boston Center:
It sounds like, we're talking to New York, that there's
another one aimed at the World Trade Center.
New England Region:
There's another aircraft?
Boston Center:
A second one just hit the Trade Center.
New England Region:
Okay.Yeah, we gotta get--we gotta alert the
military real quick on this.
131
Boston Center immediately advised the New England Region that it was
going to stop all departures at airports under its control. At 9:05, Boston Cen-
ter confirmed for both the FAA Command Center and the New England
Region that the hijackers aboard American 11 said "we have planes." At the
same time, New York Center declared "ATC zero"--meaning that aircraft were
not permitted to depart from, arrive at, or travel through New York Center's
airspace until further notice.
132
Within minutes of the second impact, Boston Center instructed its con-
trollers to inform all aircraft in its airspace of the events in New York and to
advise aircraft to heighten cockpit security. Boston Center asked the Herndon
Command Center to issue a similar cockpit security alert nationwide.We have
found no evidence to suggest that the Command Center acted on this request
or issued any type of cockpit security alert.
133
Military Notification and Response.
The first indication that the
NORAD air defenders had of the second hijacked aircraft, United 175, came
in a phone call from New York Center to NEADS at 9:03.The notice came at
about the time the plane was hitting the South Tower.
134
By 9:08, the mission crew commander at NEADS learned of the second
explosion at the World Trade Center and decided against holding the fighters
in military airspace away from Manhattan:
Mission Crew Commander, NEADS:
This is what I foresee that we
probably need to do.We need to talk to FAA.We need to tell 'em if
"WE HAVE SOME PLANES"
23
Final1-4.4pp 7/17/04 9:12 AM Page 23