September 13, 2001: Air Force General Gives Inaccurate Account of Fighter Response during Attacks

Air Force General Richard Myers appears before the Senate Armed Forces Committee for a hearing to confirm him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and makes false statements about the launching of fighters in response to the 9/11 attacks. Myers claims that no fighters were launched before the Pentagon was hit at 9:37 a.m. However, the 9/11 Commission will later conclude that the first fighters were airborne before 9:00 a.m. (see 8:53 a.m. September 11, 2001). It is unclear why Myers, a former pilot who had flown hundreds of missions, gives such an inaccurate account. Author Philip Shenon will comment, “It seemed obvious that Myers, of all people at the Pentagon, would want to know—would demand to know—how jet fighters under NORAD’s control had responded on the morning of September 11 to the threat in the skies.” [US Congress, 9/13/2001; Shenon, 2008, pp. 118-119] A different version of the air defense response will be put forward the next day (see September 14, 2001).