This Brief is Classified UNCLASSIFIED

in
m
a\

o
H

9/11 Excursion
(AA77and UA93)

Mr. Pete Puhek, N-NC/AN

Ops Research Analyst
 UNCLASSIFIED

Facts and Assumptions for AA 77

Facts:
• 0902 EOT Second World Trade Tower (WTT) hit
o
o
• 0909 EOT Battle Stations for the NORAD F-16s at Langley AFB H

• 0937 EOT AA77 hits the Pentagon

Assumptions (if a scramble order had been given after 2nd WTT hit):
• 0910 EOT - Two F-16s takeoff from Langley AFB for NCR air patrol
• 0925 EOT - F-16s on station over the NCR flying air patrol
• The F-16s would have had 12 minutes of patrol time before AA77 hit
• The F-16s carry radar and IR missiles and a gun
• The air patrol is a box pattern (12 nm per side) centered on the
White House
• Hostile aircraft not squawking so transponder interrogation will not
be done

UNCLASSIFIED
 WITHDRAWAL NOTICE

RG: 148
Box: 00001 Folder: 0001 Document: 25
Series: Dana Hyde Files

Copies: 1 Pages: 1

ACCESS RESTRICTED

The item identified below has been withdrawn from this file:

Folder Title: [NORAD Briefings and OIG Report]

Document Date:
Document Type: Briefing Slides
Special Media:
From:
To:

Subject: NCR Notional Air Patrol Box

In the review of this file this item was removed because access to it is
restricted. Restrictions on records in the National Archives are stated in
general and specific record group restriction statements which are available
for examination.

NND: 382
Withdrawn: 09-05-2008 by:

RETRIEVAL #: 382 00001 0001 25

System DocID: 4238
 UNCLASSIFIED

Cueing to the F-16 Pilots?

Help from the FAA? The FAA lost contact with AA77 when its oo
CO
transponder was turned off at 0851 EDT over West Virginia. The FAA at ro
DCA located AA77 at 0933, but NEADS was not notified until 0936. o
o
NEADS did not have time to do anything about it
Help from NEADS? NEADS never saw AA77, so no cueing was
possible. The best NEADS could do would have been to make a radio
call to "look over there"
The theoretical best that could be achieved by the FAA and NEADS is
the following chain:
• 0933 - DCA FAA calls FAAWashington Center
• 0936 - The FAA Washington Center calls NEADS There was at most 1.5
minutes for the F-16s
• ???? - NEADS calls the F-16s to respond
to respond
• ???? - The F-16s respond before 0937.5
• 0937.5 - AA77 Impact

UNCLASSIFIED
 WITH DRAWAL NOTICE

RG: 148
Box: 00001 Folder: 0001 Document: 26
Series: Dana Hyde Files

Copies: 1 Pages: 2

ACCESS RESTRICTED

The item identified below has been withdrawn from this file:

Folder Title: [NORAD Briefings and OIG Report]

Document Date:
Document Type: Briefing Slides
Special Media:
From:
To:

Subject: Most Optimistic Visual Sighting (page 5) and Tasks

and Timelines (page 6)

In the review of this file this item was removed because access to it is
restricted. Restrictions on records in the National Archives are stated in
general and specific record group restriction statements which are available
for examination.

NND: 382
Withdrawn: 09-05-2008 by:

RETRIEVAL #: 382 00001 0001 26

System DocID: 4239
-z c
 UNCLASSIFIED

Facts and Assumptions for UA93

Facts:
01
ro
• 0946 EOT - Radar contact lost with UA93 f-
o
o
H
U
• 1003 EOT - UA93 Crashes into Shanksville,PA 53

Assumptions:
• UA93 does not crash into Shanksville, PA
• 1003 EOT - UA93 is flown directly to either Pittsburgh,
Philadelphia, New York City, or Washington, DC
• UA93 flies perfectly straight at 400 knots with no turns
• The NORAD fighters will follow the same ROEs as AA77
• NORAD fighters are flying air patrol over NYC and DC

UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

Flight Path ofUA93 Until Loss of Radar Contact

o\O
f-
o
o

Detroit

New fork

Philadelphia

''asiiDC

8
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

The Necessity of Cueing

00
•*
CTl
n
r-
• The previous analysis of AA77 made it clear that relying o
o
H
U
on visual pickup of an airliner will most likely not
provide enough time to respond
• Even with every variable optimized, the only reason
there may have been 2 minutes to respond is that AA77
made a 3-minute turn at the very end
• The remainder of the UA93 analysis will assume cueing

9
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

The Special Case of Pittsburgh

New York City a\o

r-
Pittsburgh 292 miles o
o
H
U
fs,
80 miles^Crash Site

Washington, DC

• The above diagram shows that even with perfect cueing, there is no
possible way that either the NYC or NCR air patrols could reach
Pittsburgh in time to stop UA93
• At 400 knots, UA93 would hit Pittsburgh in 13 minutes
• At Mach 1.4 with perfect cueing, it would still take the DC air patrol
15 minutes just to get to Pittsburgh
• No further analysis will be done on Pittsburgh
10
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

Protecting Philadelphia

in

New York City CO

r-
o
Crash Site o

109 miles

hiladelphia

Washington, DC

Since New York City is closer to Philadelphia than Washington, DC,

the NYC air patrol would be diverted to protect Philadelphia. This
air patrol will be backfilled by Otis AFB

11
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

Cueing Requirements

• The analysis of AA77 demonstrated that once the

NORAD fighters have intercepted a hostile, it still takes o
o
at least four minutes to receive the authority to shoot E-i

• Extra warning time is highly desired to keep the hostile

at least five miles from densely populated targets
(one minute will be the factor)
• The intercept time must also be factored in. It requires
3.5 minutes to intercept from NYC and DC, 9.5 minutes
for Philadelphia
• If the hostile is traveling at 400 knots, then the bare
minimum warning distance would be 60 nautical miles
from NYC and DC, 100 for Philadelphia
12
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

From Crash Site: Minimum Cueing Points

From Crash Site

to Cue Point:

• Washington:
8 minutes

Philadelphia:
14 minutes

New York City:

24 minutes

13
UNCLASSIFIED
 UNCLASSIFIED

Conclusion

oo
•<*
en
n
t-
o
o
H

Without timely cueing, fighters flying air patrols over

dense airspaces probably will not be able to respond to
fast hostiles

If Washington, DC had been the target of UA93, cueing

would have been required to respond in a timely manner
within the rules of engagement at that time

14
UNCLASSIFIED
NCT0073949