(Shortly After 10:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001: First Non-Alert Fighters Take off from Otis Air Base Unarmed

Joe McGrady. [Source: John P. Meyer]Fighter jets start taking off from Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) ordered the base to launch all its available aircraft (see (10:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001). However, the first of these jets are unarmed. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 245-246] The 102nd Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard operates from Otis, and is responsible for defending the northeastern US against various threats, including terrorist attacks. [Cape Cod Times, 9/12/2001; Cape Cod Times, 9/12/2001] The aircraft maintenance squadron officer started preparing the base’s F-15s for combat less than 15 minutes after the second attack in New York (see (9:15 a.m.-9:35 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Spencer, 2008, pp. 155] But despite the reportedly “furious pace of the weapons handlers” who “hurried to fix all available jets with live weapons,” only a few jets have so far been loaded with any armament. [Cape Cod Times, 9/8/2002; Spencer, 2008, pp. 245]
First Jets Have No Weapons - The first two fighter jets to take off are piloted by Dennis Doonan and Joe McGrady. As they are the first pilots to start their F-15s and taxi off the flight line (the parking and servicing area for aircraft), they are paired up. But Doonan suddenly realizes that, though he is being sent into a combat situation, his jet is unarmed. He radios McGrady and tells him, “I’m Winchester!” (“Winchester” is the code word for having no weapons.) McGrady’s aircraft is also unarmed, so he immediately radios squadron commander Lt. Col. Jon Treacy and in a panic tells him: “We’re Winchester, SOF [supervisor of flying]! We’re Winchester!” But Treacy instructs him: “Just go! You need to get airborne now!” McGrady and Doonan head out for takeoff, not knowing where they are going or what they will have to do, but realizing that if they have to take out a target, they must do so with their own aircraft. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 245-246] Another fighter jet, that of pilot Marty Richard, will subsequently take off with only one missile loaded instead of two. [Cape Cod Times, 9/11/2006]
Takeoff Time Unclear - The exact time when Doonan and McGrady take off is unclear. According to the account of author Lynn Spencer, it appears to be shortly after 10:20 a.m. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 244-246] One local resident will recall noticing increased activity around Otis Air Base at about 10:00 or 10:30 a.m., with fighter jets taking off in pairs. Another local resident sees “jets leaving all day long.” [Cape Cod Times, 9/12/2001] By 6:00 p.m., 21 of the 24 F-15s that are stationed at Otis will be airborne. [Spencer, 2008, pp. 281] The base’s two F-15s that are kept on alert took off at 8:46 a.m. in response to the hijacking of Flight 11 (see 8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 20]