So why were the two airliners after the first plane on 9/11

quote:

---

but clearly they could have shot down the next two.

---

Do you understand how many planes fly on any given day? Do you know how many planes were in the air that day? Singling out the other two planes that quickly and scrambling jets to stop them that quickly over a heavily populated NYC is an impossible task.

Maybe you should look up the story of Heather "Lucky" Penney.

quote:

---

Not shotdown? Just heard the conversation between the air traffic controllers on 9/11 and the hijackers. The air traffic controllers realized the plane was being hijacked then contacted the military to scramble F-16's. It may have not been enough time to save the first plane hitting the tower but clearly they could have shot down the next two. Honestly this was the first time I have heard this conversation in 25 years.

---

because the fog of war is a real thing. reality isnt the clean, linear series of events and decisions that you seem to think.

In addition to the points above, 9/11/2001 was THE watershed moment that marked a mindshift in the way we approach safety and security in this country, especially as it relates to air travel.

Prior to 9/11, the mindset and the "best" advice was give the hijackers whatever they want, avoid confrontation, etc.. We didn't lose 3,000 people on 9/11 because 11 terrrorists had boxcutters and mace on airplanes but because we were sheep.

It's always been galling to me that the Glock I have in my nightstand leaves me better prepared to answer a threat than the entire U.S. military was on and prior to 9/11/2001.

There was a ton of confusion amongst Air Traffic Control and the military about which planes were hijacked and which ones had already been crashed. Furthermore, our air defense system at that time wasn’t really geared toward defending against an attack launched from inside the United States. In fact, some of the first fighter jets scrambled during all of the confusion flew out to sea not realizing where the attack was coming from.

Was it ever known or said what that one plane that jets across the Atlantic shortly after 11am as traffic was winding down was?

quote:

---

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there was 0 conversation between the hijackers and ATC. The hijackers accidentally broadcast the internal plane announcement "we have the plane, sit down and be queit, we are going to xxxx" but they never responded to inquiries from ATC.

---

This is correct. The hijackers were not talking to ATC intentionally. The communications from the hijackers were accidental and were intended to be announcements made to the passengers on the planes.

I know when Mohammed Atta (ring leader of the attack and hijacker pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower) accidentally called ATC while trying to make an announcement to the passengers, the controller quickly responded and asked “Is this American 11 trying to call?” and Atta did not respond.

Their was so much confusion in real time. It all happened so fast, we weren't prepared for such a situation. We all know the story now, but at 9:00 AM, Sept 11, 2001 the confusion was real. Just look at the fact that authorities were telling people in the South tower to stay put and keep working.

The air traffic controllers didn't know where the planes were. The hijackers turned off the tracking devices, they flew low to avoid radar. If you listen to all of the audio from the air traffic people, they were completely confused. They were still looking for American Airlines Flight 11 long after it had crashed into the North tower. The air traffic people were getting messages from the outside world that a plane had crashed into the World Trade and they still weren't sure it was their hijacked flight.

The hijackings were all planned to take place as close to simultaneously as possible, and they performed that very well.

quote:

---

People need to realize how short that time really is.

---

This is where going back and watching real time news coverage is helpful. My Mom has been watching a lot of the stories and documentaries over the past week or so. I was over there Sunday and asked if she had re-watched any of the original coverage and she said no. So, I put on the ABC morning news show coverage and let it run. It was the whole show, beginning at 7am.

What stood out initially was how it was just a regular, mundane day. The Yates trial was kicking off, Michael Jordan had hinted about coming back to play for the Wizards, GE dishwashers were catching on fire, and they had DNA tested a hair from the trunk of a car that was proven to likely belong to Jimmy Hoffa. They were just running the news like they always do, then......

We watched a probably four hours worth of coverage. At one point Mom said, "Well, I know more than they did." I know what she meant, but it was at that moment that I realized people let 25 years of hindsight cloud their perception of that day. It was chaos in those buildings, it was chaos in the streets of NYC, it was chaos in DC, and it was chaos in every newsroom across the country.

I try to watch original coverage every year to keep that perspective. It really was a shot out of nowhere for 99.9% of the people it affected. It was terrible, and it was a collection of fallible humans making decisions on the literal worst day of their lives.