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MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Event: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) New York TRACON (N90)

Type of event: Interview with Karl Jiricek
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Special Access Issues: ID Check
Prepared by: Geoffrey Brown
Team Number: 8
Location: N90, 1515 Stewart Ave., Westbury, NY 11590
Participants - Non-Commission: Mary M. McCarthy (Office of Regional Counsel,
Eastern Region, FAA - One Aviation Plaza, RM 561, Jamaica, NY 11434: P 718-553-
3259, F 718-995-5699), Tom Zaccheo (NATCA Vice President, N90), Bill D' Alo
Participants - Commission: John Azzarello, Miles Kara, Geoffrey Brown

Note: Please refer to the interview recording for further details.

Background:

Jiricek noted that operationally working as an air traffic controller for the civilian air
traffic system immediately from his career as a military controller was not a too difficult
transition. He noted that only a handful of the military controllers that came on board to
fulfill the need during the 1981 strike actually worked radar scopes.

Jiricek noted that there is not much involvement with the military at N90, and there is no
real interaction with the air defense missions.

American Airlines Flight 11 (AA 11):

Jiricek noted to Commission staff that there

Poughkeepsie Sikorski:

Jiricek had a vague recollection of a missing helicopter on 9111. He noted that Liberty
Sector controls the Poughkeepsie space, so if the aircraft was from that point a Liberty
controller may have mentioned it. But Jiricek noted that he thought the report of a
missing helicopter came from somewhere "further north".

Hijack protocol:

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Jiricek noted that the responsibility of the controller is to inform their First Line
Supervisor, and the Supervisor takes steps from there. Jiricek also noted that ifhe had to
initiate contact with the military himself he would do so through Herndon Command
Center.

Jiricek noted that the procedure post 9/11 for reacting to a hijack is still the same. Jiricek
noted that post 9/11 the DEN hotline connected the TMU to a military coordinator.

1991-1993

Jiricek worked in this time period at the National Air Traffic control in Washington, D.C.

Recommendations:

Jiricek noted that from the controller's point of view the information they receive needs
to be gained and passed in a timely fashion. From his perspective there must have been
on 9/11 a chain of events prior to him getting a point out of an aircraft 30 miles from
Kennedy. He believed that chain of events should have included informing the air traffic
system quicker. He noted they had no altitude on the first airplane, did not have any real
notice on the second, and so he believed they did the best they could have. If he had
better information on what was ongoing on 9/11, he still does not know what could have
been done from his position. Jiricek noted that given the limited mileage coverage of the
N90 airspace they do not have much time to interpret possible circumstance involving an
aircraft.

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