Air-traffic controllers saw problem on flights

Washington Times ^ | 9/14/01 | Tom Ramstack

[kattracks]

Air-traffic controllers knew there was a problem with the hijacked flights before they crashed in suicidal raids on Tuesday but said there was little they could do to stop them, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The controllers' only options were to get the other planes out of the way and to notify the FAA, starting a process which would end with the Air Force shooting down the hijacked planes. Neither option provided a realistic way to prevent the huge loss of life that seemed inevitable, based on limited information known while the hijacked planes still flew, according to airline industry officials.

[Fulbright]

A "problem" on the flights. That must be the understatement of the year.

These kind of "problems" need to be reported immediately by having several people on board each flight empowered to have access to the hijacking transponder code.

[onyx]

The controllers then called the White House to tell them the airplane was coming straight at them at full throttle.

HELLO Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Brian Williams, Christopher Matthews, Al Hunt, Maureen Dowd, et al.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

The controllers then called the White House to tell them the airplane was coming straight at them at full throttle.

HELLO Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Brian Williams, Christopher Matthews, Al Hunt, Maureen Dowd, et al.

A "definitely worth repeating" bump!