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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3212.PDF
TERROR AFTERMATH USAF RESPONSE US bolsters its air defences and builds up force in Gulf Failure of Air National Guard to intercept hijacked aircraft sees fighters on 15min alert The US Air Force is simultaneously bolstering the air defences of the North American continent while deploying 1st Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) units to the Gulf in readiness for retaliation. The air force has moved quickly in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC to strengthen the US defences. It has placed fighters on 15min quick reaction alert status and increased to 26 the number of air bases assigned to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). It has also implemented a standing combat air patrol in the 195nm (360km) corridor between New York and Washington. This has entailed the mobilisation of 13,000 Air National Guard (ANG) personnel as part of a wider call-up. This follows the failure of ANG fighters to intercept any of the hi jacked aircraft. NORAD ordered two Boeing F-15s to scramble from Otis ANGB, Massachusetts, only 2min before the first hijacked aircraft, an American Airlines Boeing 767, hit the north World Trade Center tower. The fighters were still more than 60nm from the city when the United Airlines 767 hit the second tower. Three Lockheed Martin F- 16s took off from Langley AFB, Virginia, over 30min later to inter cept an American Boeing 757, which by then was only 3min from crashing into the Pentagon. The US Federal Aviation Admini stration is responsible for covering domestic airspace and according to NORAD it was only notified of the first hijacking 18min after the transponder on the American 767 was switched off. Another factor was that the nearest NORAD units, at Otis ANGB and at Langley AFB, are around 175nm (320km) and 115nm respectively from New York and Washington DC. Prior to the 11 September attack the number of NORAD squadrons had been reduced to 10 ANG units operating from 14 bases across the USA. There were closer non- NORAD bases and units, including an ANG F-16 unit at Andrews AFB near Washington. The fourth hijacked aircraft, a United 757 from Newark, was also believed to be heading for the US capital before crashing in Pennsylvania. The USAF has started deploying to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia up to 100 additional aircraft, comprised of F-15s, F-16s, Boeing B-lBs, B-52s and KC-135s drawn from two aerospace expeditionary wings. The US Navy has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is expected to join the USS Carl Vinson and USS Enterprise now in the Gulf and Arabian Sea respectively. Other deployments include two major exercises providing a signifi cant increase in manpower and equipment outside the operational build-up. UK forces are in Oman for Exercise Saif Sareea II - includ ing around 60 aircraft - while 20,000 US troops are due in Egypt for Operation Bright Star. SECURITY Armed guards to protect airliners Armed federal law enforcement agents posing as passengers will be the norm on domestic and inter national airline flights in the wake of the four hijackings. Airline pilots say passengers must now serve as the last line of defence against suicidal terrorists. The Federal Air Marshal Program, involving an undisclosed number of US Federal Aviation Administration agents trained to foil air piracy, is being augmented by law enforcement officers from the US justice department. The new sky marshals will undergo instruction at the FAA's technical centre where FAA agents are trained for anti-hijacking missions. The cabin security programme began in the 1970s to prevent hijackings to Cuba, but few of the elite personnel are operational. The marksmen are trained to fight in the confined space of an airliner cabin. Exercises are con ducted in a mock air traffic control tower and in retired Boeing 727s and Lockheed L-1011 TriStars. Hollow-point, grooved aluminum ammunition is carried that will not penetrate the aircraft skin or damage aircraft systems. SECURITY Mineta sets up panel of experts US transportation secretary Norman Mineta has appointed a six-member panel of aerospace, airport and security experts to develop detailed recommenda tions for improving security at US airports and onboard commercial transports. One team will examine in flight security, including cockpit access, while a second team will scrutinise security at airports. The review by outside experts will augment the on-going gov ernment probe into problems with aviation security revealed by the US airliner hijackings. Mineta is due to receive the panel's findings by 1 October. "Our efforts must now turn to developing long-term, sustain able security improvements within our airports and aircraft themselves," says Mineta. Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines and Charles Barclay, head of the American Association of Airport Exec utives (AAAE) trade association, have been appointed to the panel, as has Raymond Kelly, a former US Customs Service commissioner and New York City police commissioner. The retired law enforcement officer now heads corporate security at a leading international broker age firm. Also involved is Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Robert Baker, vice chairman of American Airlines, an expert on airline tech nical issues, and Robert Davis, who developed engineering and technology projects for Boeing until his recent retirement. The General Accounting Office warned, however: "That previous tragedies have resulted in...little long-term resolve to cor rect flaws in the system as the memory of the crisis recedes. The future of aviation security hinges in large part on overcom ing this cycle of limited action that has too often characterised the response to aviation security concerns." 8 25 SEPTEMBER - 1 OCTOBER 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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