COMMISSION SENSITIVE
UNCLASSIFIED
MEMORANDUM
FOR THE RECORD
Event: Interview of
Major
Billy Hutchinson, 113
th
Fighter Wing Air National Guard,Andrews
Air
Force BaseType: InterviewDate: February
27,2004
n
\
Team:
8
Special Access Issues:
Clearances passed to
D&&
Location: Andrews Air Force Base -113
th
Fighter Wing Air National Guard,
Morningside,
VAParticipants
(non-Commission):
Major
Billy Hutchinson and Air Force General CounselTony WagnerParticipants (Commission): John Farmer, Dana Hyde, Miles Kara and Lisa Sullivan
Background
.
^'
Hutchinson
has
spent
20 year's in the military./Heenlisted^
ite
applied
for
pilot training
/
•get-selected;
and-ho
went
TO
F-16
school.
He>came
back
to the DC
area
flew
with
121st
Squadron in 1990. Over
the
years,
he
held
different
duties
-
Chief
of
Intelligence;
Chief
of
Training; ChiefofScheduling (these
were/other
dutieshe had as
fighter
pilot).He
flew
the F-16 (known as the
"viper,"
or "fighting falcon") leading up to
9-11.
Last year,during war time, he was a fighter pilot.
''This
year, now with the
201
st
Squadron, which isa
lift-squad
moving high ranking congressmanandother ranking
officials.
On
9-11
.
I
^
They took
off at
8:25 a.m.
from
Andrews
AFB on
9-11.
HutchinsonSwas
Bully
i^|;
EricHagenson was
Bully£2£(and
he came off the morning exercise early); and Lou Campbellwas Bully (3) in the exercise earlier that morning. That morning, he was flying a trainingmission for a surface-attack. It was a very routine mission. He and the pilots of the other
two
planes were stopped
at a
tanker
to get
refueled
before heading back.
J&»e-t>f-trre
Bullys was sent back because he was so low on gas.Thetanker cameout ofTennessee.It waslatefor therendezvous withthe fighters. Bythe time the tanker got to the meeting spot, Hutchinson was low on gas because he waswaiting for him. The tanker pilot contacted him over the intercom. He said that a planehadstruck the World Trade Center. This was all the
information
he was given at thistime by the pilot of the tanker. By the time
Hutchinson's
wingman
got gas, a secondCOMMISSIONSENSITIVE
UNCLASSIFIED
9/11 Classified
Information
COMMISSION SENSITIVE
UNCLASSIFIED
plane
had hit the
trade center.
The
tanker
was
told that everyone must land.
Hutchinson
knew
he had to get
back
to
Andrews.When
he
disconnected
from
the
tanker,
he
plugged back into
the ATC
frequency (this
is
standard procedure). Hutchinson said that
"nothing"
was on the ATC
frequency.
.
Normally, there
is
constant chatter
as
controllers work
all the air
traffic.
This
was
highly
unusual.
Though
a
radio relay with
his
wingman,
Hutchinson
was
told
by the
other
fighter
pilot
hewas
with that
was a
little ahead
of him
that
he was
being denied entry
to
airspace overAndrews
AFB.
Hutchinson instructed
him to go to
Pawtucket
so he did not run out of
gas
(he.was
lower
on
fuel
than Hutchinson
was).
No one was
telling
him
what
was
going
on
(overVthe
radio).
He did not
have
an
am/fm
radio
in the
cockpit.
He
still only knew
what the
tanker pilot
had
told
him at the
rendezvous.
"BUSTER"
means
to fly as
fast
as you can fly -
above
MAC
1.
0/11
„.„<*<.*
ou
program-in
fuel
levels:
1
\ He
doesn't
remember
hearing]
I
Pilots always have
to
stay conscious
of
fuel
levels.
He
talked
to the SOC
directly
at
about
the
half
way
point.
The SOC
didn't
tell
him
anything
what
was
going
on. He was
given instructions
to go
back
to
Andrews
and to
park
on
Echo (which
is the
parallel taxi way).
The SOC
asked
him
repeatedly
(as he was
returning
to
Base)
for his
fuel
level.
He was
not
given
a
reason
why at the
time.
The
wingman
was out of gas
when
he
touched down;Hutchinson's
gas
level
was at
roughly
2.8
when
he
landed.
Based
on the
amount
of gashe
had,
they wanted
him
back
in the
air.
ATC
would talk
to him and
also
they wouldgive
him
instructions
"to
intercept
an
aircraft
coming
from
the
north,"
according
to
Hutchinson.
Upon landing,
he
stopped; turned around;
and
took
right
back off.
He was
trying
to
coordinate
with Tower
and
ATC.
He
said,
"There
was an
aircraft
coming down
the
Potomac that they needed
me in the air
for.
..."
He
remembered that
he was
told
it was
coming
from
Pennsylvania.
He was
told"this
aircraft
needs
to be
prevented
from
reaching
the DC
area."
Once
he
went back
up,he
clearly remembers watching
the
Pentagon
bum.
He was
told
at
that time:
"the
sky is
mine"
by the
controller.
He
continued
to fly and
continued climbing.
He
received
instructions
to
return
to DC
because
the
plane
had
been lost.
He was
chasing
after
anything
that
was
moving;
all the
voices
on the
frequency were
"hi-pitched".
They were
vectoring him for
helicopters that
are
really slow-movers.
The
only weapon
he had was a low
angle
gun
(nothing that launches
off the
airplane).
COMMISSION SENSITIVE
2
UNCLASSIFIED
COMMISSION SENSITIVEUNCLASSIFIED
Hutchinson
commented,
"ATC
is not a weapons director. They do not know how to giveyou an intercept. They are good at keeping you apart," Hutchinson said.
He
knew
it was a
civilian
aircraft
he was
looking for;
all the
while,
he had a
knot
in histhroat.
He kept a CAP over the Pentagon as long as he could. He was "on
vapors"
when helanded.
A lot of
people
saw his
aircraft
over
the
Pentagon that
day.
He was
told
he
gavethem
a
sense
of
security
when they
saw him fly
overhead.
Heather
Penny
and Col
Sasserville took
off
after
he
landed. Hutchinson went back
up
after
he was
loaded withweapons. He
flew
a couple of times that day.He is notawareof theLangley fighters that were scrambledinresponse that
day.
Bully
2 didn't go back up because he was a brand new pilot. That was his
first flight
outside an instructional arena. The pilots in his fighter squad had all
just
returned from"Red
Flag"
training in preparation for deployment abroad. Most of them had taken leave
after
that. That was one reason why there weren't many pilots available that
day;
and why
he was
flying
with
two
young guys that morning.None of the
aircraft
were
"loaded"
when they
found
about the attacks. The three planesassigned
to
fly
were already
out
there.Technical IssuesOceana and Giant Killer only control off-shore. The ranger controls when you want torelease ordinance.
His
cockpit has a
multi-functional
display (MFD) and aheads-updisplay (HUD).Recordings of the heads-up display are for recreation and voice cues. He has neverlooked
at or
heard
his
recording
from
9-11-01. Commission staff informed
him
that
the
DOD provided us with the video and audio of the day. He was
also
unaware of this.Commission staff said
the
audio
from
the
tape
is
pretty clear. Commission staff asked
him
if any audio from his cockpit that day could have been
missed
by the
recorder;
orwasthere another meansofcommunication that mightnothave been captured?
Hutchinson
responded,
"No,
there was a
UHF
and VHP radio. The MFD should havecaptured the content of
orders."
9/11 Personal Privacy
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