F.A.A. Official Scrapped Tape of 9/11 Controllers' Statements

Times ^ | 050604 | By MATTHEW L. WALD

[Archangelsk]

Oh, gawd.

[George from New England]

In Libya this would get him an instant death sentence!

[swarthyguy]

Fuel for the fires.

Yes. What is the real story of, and events leading up to that day.

[oceanview]

if there is one agency that screwed up on 9/11 - its the FAA. I always wondered what they were doing watching those planes deviate so far from their flight plans.

[Archangelsk]

Before you start pointing a finger of blame recognize the following: ATC was able to put more than 6000 planes on the ground in 30 minutes. Considering the circumstances, that is beyond extraordinary.

[muawiyah]

Appropriate disciplinary action would include formal beheading!

So why are they now claiming this dead person has some sort of right to privacy?

~ Oh! You mean we aren't done yet ~ we still have to investigate why the higher-ups haven't yet carried out the sentence.

[swarthyguy]

Thinking they were part of the NORAD exercise that day, Operation Vigilant Guardian?

Or was it the NRO exercise. Questions, questions.

http://www.dvmx.com/911crashexercise.html

[Archangelsk]

Ping to the list and hopefully you have the opportunity to see it where you are.

[Cicero]

Well. And this guy's name is not being released two and a half years after the incident because . . . ?

[grobdriver]

"I'm from the FAA and I'm here to help you".

Just another bureau-drone.

[oceanview]

we are talking about what happened before the attacks, not after.

[HiJinx]

For privacy reasons, he said, he could not say what those actions were or identify the employees.

Off topic, I know, but we in the DoD have no problem releasing that information regarding the abusers at Abu Ghraib. Sheesh!

Back on topic...I have worked with sensitive taped material and have been on destruction detail more than once. We would pass a huge (5 pound) magnet over the audio tape, then pull it off the reel into a burn bag. The burn bag was then taken downstairs and the tape was machine shredded.

To me, what the QA Manager did - putting the cut segments in different waste baskets - was overkill. It is my gut feeling that he wasn't so much protecting the privacy of controllers as he was hiding something he overheard that he had no intention of letting out of the control center.

Just my 2 cents, as it were...

[Atlas Sneezed]

Source should be "NY Times", not "Times".

Excerpt?

[Hank Rearden]

And nothing will happen. Nobody will be fired. Nobody will resign. Nobody will be held accountable.

It's the government.

[Cicero]

Reading the previous replies, I am moved to comment that there are two questions here. The conduct of the FAA in general and the conduct of this particular guy. I'd be inclined to say that the FAA did very well, but this guy deserves to be strung up unless he has a very good excuse for his conduct.

[Archangelsk]

"I'm from the FAA and I'm here to help you".

Almost, "I'm from the FAA and I'm not happy until you're not happy."

[OldFriend]

Why am I not surprised that McCain's surfaces in this story.

[isom35]

"destroyed by an F.A.A. quality-assurance manager"...maybe the tapes themselves were of poor quality. I am positive it has nothing to do with the conspiracy notion that what was on the tape might not coincide with the official version.

[princess leah]

Why is it that there is no ability to override an airplane from the flight tower in cases such as these? If they can invent auto pilot, then surely they can invent "tower override" - ....

[Aeronaut]