(8:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Boston Flight Control Notifies NEADS, Against Normal Procedures; Timing Disputed

Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Powell. [Source: Scott A. Gwilt/ Rome Sentinel]According to the 9/11 Commission, Boston flight control contacts NEADS at this time. This is apparently the first successful notification to the military about the crisis. Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Powell, a member of the Air National Guard at NEADS, initially takes the call from Boston flight control. [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002; Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/2002] Yet according to the 1st Air Force’s official history of the response to the 9/11 attacks, “If normal procedures had taken place… Powell probably wouldn’t have taken that phone call. Normally, the FAA would have contacted officials at the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center who would have contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The secretary of defense would have had to approve the use of military assets to assist in a hijacking, always considered a law enforcement issue.” The only explanation it gives for this departure from protocol is that “nothing was normal on Sept. 11, 2001, and many say the traditional chain of command went by the wayside to get the job done.” [Filson, 2003, pp. 51] Beginning the call, Boston flight control says, “Hi. Boston [flight control], we have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft headed toward New York, and we need you guys to, we need someone to scramble some F-16s or something up there, help us out.” Powell replies, “Is this real-world or exercise?” Boston answers, “No, this is not an exercise, not a test.” [BBC, 9/1/2002; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Powell gives the phone to Lieutenant Colonel Dawne Deskins. [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002] Deskins recalls, “I picked up the line and I identified myself to the Boston [flight] controller, and he said, we have a hijacked aircraft and I need to get you some sort of fighters out here to help us out.” However, the timing of this vital notification is in some dispute. One report claims the call occurred at 8:31 a.m. [ABC News, 9/11/2002] Another states, “Shortly after 8:30 a.m., behind the scenes, word of a possible hijacking [reaches] various stations of NORAD.” [ABC News, 9/14/2002] NORAD on the other hand will initially claim they were first notified at 8:40 a.m., and this will be widely reported in the media prior to the 9/11 Commission’s 2004 report. [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001; Associated Press, 8/21/2002; BBC, 9/1/2002; Newsday, 9/10/2002] If the 8:37 a.m. time is accurate, then flight controllers failed to notify the military until approximately 13 minutes after the hijackers in the cockpit clearly stated that the plane had been hijacked at 8:24 a.m.; 17 minutes after the transponder signal was lost and the flight goes far off course; and 24 minutes after radio contact was lost at 8:13 a.m.