port. Remembering the "we have some planes" remark, Boston Center
guessed that Delta 1989 might also be hijacked. Boston Center called NEADS
at 9:41 and identified Delta 1989, a 767 jet that had left Logan Airport for Las
Vegas, as a possible hijack. NEADS warned the FAA's Cleveland Center to
watch Delta 1989. The Command Center and FAA headquarters watched it
too. During the course of the morning, there were multiple erroneous reports
of hijacked aircraft. The report of American 11 heading south was the first;
Delta 1989 was the second.
transponder. NEADS soon learned that the aircraft was not hijacked, and
tracked Delta 1989 as it reversed course over Toledo, headed east, and landed
in Cleveland.
FAA Awareness.
the last normal contact the FAA had with the flight.
screaming or a struggle from an unknown origin."
Cleveland Center controllers began to try to identify the possible source of the
transmissions, and noticed that United 93 had descended some 700 feet.The
controller attempted again to raise United 93 several times, with no response.
At 9:30, the controller began to poll the other flights on his frequency to deter-
mine if they had heard the screaming; several said they had.
to respond: "Calling Cleveland Center, you're unreadable. Say again, slowly."
He notified his supervisor, who passed the notice up the chain of command.
By 9:34, word of the hijacking had reached FAA headquarters.
centers about suspect aircraft.The Command Center executed the request and,
a minute later, Cleveland Center reported that "United 93 may have a bomb
on board."At 9:34, the Command Center relayed the information concerning
United 93 to FAA headquarters.At approximately 9:36, Cleveland advised the
Command Center that it was still tracking United 93 and specifically inquired
whether someone had requested the military to launch fighter aircraft to inter-
cept the aircraft. Cleveland even told the Command Center it was prepared to