Photo: Shutterstock Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration is looking back at the employees who helped bring the U.S. aviation system to a standstill as four hijacked aircraft were used in the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, FAA air traffic controllers and managers faced a situation unlike anything the agency had encountered before. Within just over two hours, they helped land or account for more than 4,500 commercial and private aircraft across the U.S. National Airspace System.
The FAA's account, published for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, details how controllers recognized the hijackings, alerted military authorities, stopped departures and eventually ordered every civilian aircraft in U.S. airspace to land at the nearest available airport.
Tribute in Light. Photo: Mariusz Lopusiewicz / Shutterstock.comThe response began with American Airlines Flight 11, which departed Boston for Los Angeles at 7:59 a.m. with 92 people aboard, including five hijackers. At 8:14 a.m., Boston air traffic controller Pete Zalewski received no response to an altitude instruction. Attempts to contact the aircraft produced only static.
Ten minutes later, Zalewski heard a transmission from the cockpit. The message, which was initially difficult to understand, was later identified as a statement from hijacker Mohamed Atta. The Boston Center notified other FAA facilities and, at 8:37 a.m., contacted the Northeast Air Defense Sector to request military assistance.
At 8:46 a.m., Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Controllers were already dealing with another aircraft. United Airlines Flight 175, also flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had changed its beacon code and deviated from its assigned altitude. Controllers moved nearby aircraft out of its path and began treating the flight as a possible hijacking.
At 9:03 a.m., Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
Meanwhile, American Airlines Flight 77 had deviated from its course after departing Washington Dulles for Los Angeles. Its transponder was switched off, and controllers initially believed the aircraft might have suffered a serious mechanical or electrical problem.
At 9:32 a.m., controllers detected a fast-moving eastbound radar target. Five minutes later, American 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
United Airlines Flight 93 was the fourth hijacked aircraft. Controllers heard signs of a struggle in the cockpit before the hijackers took control and announced that there was a bomb aboard.
At 9:41 a.m., Flight 93 turned toward Washington, D.C. Passengers then attempted to take control of the aircraft. At 10:03 a.m., the Boeing 757 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
As the attacks unfolded, FAA employees were making decisions on an unprecedented scale.
Photo: ShutterstockAt 9:05 a.m., Boston Center moved to stop departures in its airspace. At 9:06 a.m., New York Center ordered a complete shutdown of air traffic around New York City.
At 9:26 a.m., the FAA Command Center issued a nationwide ground stop, preventing civilian aircraft from taking off anywhere in the country.
At 9:45 a.m., FAA National Operations Manager Ben Sliney, on his first day in the position, issued the order that closed U.S. airspace and instructed commercial and general aviation aircraft already airborne to land at the nearest available airport.
Firefighters on 9/11. Photo: ShutterstockInternational flights bound for the United States were diverted to Canada under Operation Yellow Ribbon, while Canada also closed its airspace.
By 12:16 p.m., the FAA reported that 4,638 commercial and private aircraft had been safely landed and accounted for.
The FAA's role did not end with the grounding of aircraft. Aviation safety inspectors also joined recovery operations at Ground Zero and the Pentagon, working alongside the FBI and other emergency personnel to identify aircraft components.
At Ground Zero, inspectors helped locate aircraft structures, landing gear and engine parts. At the Pentagon, FAA personnel spent 18 days helping sift through the rubble.
Photo: ATL AIRPORTThe agency's employees also helped drive the enormous aviation security changes that followed 9/11. Among the projects was the certification and installation of reinforced flight deck doors on more than 7,000 commercial aircraft worldwide. According to one FAA engineer, the fleet was retrofitted within 19 months.
Recollections from FAA employees working on September 11 also show how quickly an ordinary morning became a national emergency.
Boston employee Chris Quigley recalled that the day initially appeared normal and that the possibility of aircraft being deliberately used as weapons was almost inconceivable.
At the FAA's Kansas City center, Nick Fuller remembered being instructed to land aircraft at the nearest available airport without initially knowing what had happened.
For employees involved in aviation security, the work continued for months. Airport security assessments were carried out, emergency communications systems were established and new procedures were developed for aviation security and aircraft design.
The 9/11 Commission later recognized the actions of FAA controllers, facility managers and Command Center personnel, noting that they recommended alerts, stopped local traffic and ultimately landed every aircraft in the system while dealing with an unprecedented crisis.
Twenty-five years later, the FAA's account provides another look at September 11 through the people who were responsible for managing the nation's skies. Their decisions helped bring thousands of aircraft safely to the ground while the country was under attack, before many of those same employees went on to help rebuild and secure the aviation system in the years that followed.