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Draft
The Air
Traffic
Organization's
Response
to the
September 11
th
Terrorist Attack:ATCSystemAssessment, Shutdown,
and
Restoration
21 March
2002
Draft
Draft
Table
of
Contents
Executive Summary
ES-1
1. Introduction 1
1.1
Purpose
11.2
Scope
1
1.3
Summary
of the Air
Traffic
Organization's Response
1
2. In-depth Examination of the Air Traffic Organization's Response 6
2.1
System Assessment
6
2.2
System Shutdown
142.3
System
Restoration 18
3.
Observations
23
Appendices
A
Critical Incidents
and
Major
Air
Traffic System Decisions
A-l
B
Military Liaison Activities
B-l
C Air
Traffic Situation Room
C-l
D ATC
System Command Center Traffic Flow Initiatives Briefing
D-l
E ATCSystem Command Center Advisories Briefing
E-l
F AirTraffic Services Cell Activities
F-l
G
KeyPersonnel Movement
G-l
H Background
Paper
on
North American
Aerospace
Defense
Command
(NORAD)
Intercept
Procedures
H-l
I
Medevac,
Law
Enforcement
and
Military Movement
1-1
J
Diversions
J-l
K
Appendix
17 to FAA
Order 7610.4J,
Special Military
Operations:
DOT/FAA/Federal
Communications Commission
(FCC) Security Control
of Air
Traffic
and Air
Navigation
Aids (SCATANA) Plan
K-l
L
HQ NORAD Modified SCATANA Message
L-l
M
ATCSystem Restoration Events
M-l
N
Aircraft Operations from 11-13 September 2001
N-l
O General Aviation Operations
on 12
September 2001
O-l
P Air Traffic Customer Advocate
P-l
Q FAA
Notice
7110.25
Reporting
of
Suspicious
Aircraft/Pilot Activities
Q-l
R
Special
Federal Aviation Regulation
94
R-l
S Chronological Account of Events on 11 September 2001
S-l
T Air
Traffic
Situation Room Notes from 11 September to 27 September 2001
T-l
Draft
Executive
Summary
Overview
On the morning of September
11
th
2001,
and for the three months that followed, the Air
Traffic
organization coordinated many activities both internal
and
external
to the
FAA,
and
made timelydecisions related to the assessment, unprecedented shutdown, and restoration of the Air
Traffic
Control system.
The
actions taken
by Air
Traffic
during this period demonstrated
the
interconnectedness of the Air
Traffic
community, as well as the autonomous decision making
abilities
of Air
Traffic
personnel
at all
levels;
that
is, at field facilities, regional headquarters,
national
headquarters, and at the Air
Traffic
Control System Command Center.The Air
Traffic
activities discussed in this paper extend
from
September
11th,
2001
throughmid-December,
2001.
These activities include the actions that the Air
Traffic
organization took
in
assessing the dangers posed to the Air
Traffic
Control (ATC) system as a result of the
hijackings
of
four
U.S. commercial airplanes, as well as those actions that resulted
from
otherpotential threats to the ATC system. Also included are the specific actions Air
Traffic
took in
shutting
down the ATC system by clearing the skies of all aircraft except those involved inmissions related to national security, law enforcement, emergency movement of key personnel,and medical evacuation. Finally,
the
actions taken
by Air
Traffic
in
restoring
the ATC
systemover
a
three-month period following
the
terrorist attacks
are
discussed.
Air
Traffic
activities discussed
in
this paper
focus
on the
following organizations:
• FAA
Headquarters:
Air
Traffic
personnel operating within
the Air
Traffic
SituationRoom and the Security Operations Center
• The Air
Traffic
Control System Command Center, including
the Air
Traffic
Services Cell
• Air
Traffic
Division
Offices
at FAA
Regional Headquarters, with emphasis
on
EasternRegion,
New
England
Region, and
Great
Lakes Region
• Air
Traffic field
facilities, with emphasis
on the
controller interaction with
the
four
hijacked
aircraft
during the search for the missing flights on September
11th.
The Air
Traffic
organization's
response to the terrorist attack on September
11
th
is discussed inthreetimeframes:System Assessment, System Shutdown, and System Restoration.
Additionally,
observations madeby Air
Traffic
personnelwhowere interviewedforthis projectwere collected to document their suggestions for improvement in any
future
scenario that mayrequire similar actionsby the Air
Traffic
organization.
System
Assessment
During
the period
from
0800
hrs until approximately
1106
hours Eastern Daylight Time on themorning of September
11
th
,
the Air
Traffic
organization was engaged in assessing the extent of
the
threats to the ATC System.
ES-l
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