Lynn Spencer - Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11

September 11, 2001, began benignly, with the most beautiful sunrise heralding soft winds and the clearest of blue skies. The entire East Coast of the United States was bathed in sunshine, signaling a high-volume day of few delays for the busy airspace of Boston, New York, and D.C. No ground delays were in the offing; normalcy reigned. Then the attacks began.

Through the shocking course of the series of events that started at approximately 8:15 a.m. and culminated at 10:03 in the lonely countryside of Pennsylvania, our aviation and military communities strove mightily to comprehend the meaning of the events that were unfolding. I was on my first day of a new job as the National Operations Manager of the Federal Aviation Administration that morning, overseeing the agencys Command Center. The live television image of United Airlines Flight 175 streaking into the World Trade Centers South Tower told all of us in aviation immediately that we were under planned attack; no pilot of any commercial airliner would deliberately fly an aircraft into a building. These exquisitely prepared professionals would sacrifice all to avoid loss of life on the ground. This is the pilots long and storied credo.

From the first notification of the possible hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11, we in air traffic control worked furiously to gain precisely that, control over an unprecedented and bewildering series of shocks to the system. A mere few minutes, from 8:56 until 9:03, elapsed between notification that United 175 was a possible hijack and the time it struck the South Tower. More than 4,000 aircraft were flying over the country that hour, and every one suddenly became a potential missile.

While some stories of that day have been told in great depth, we have read comparatively little of the drama in the skies. The consummate professionalism and skill displayed in responding to apparent chaos, while the military simultaneously improvised a complete defensive shield around U.S. airspace, is unparalleled. Pilots, crews, controllers, and the military collaborated in a magnificent effort, and it is this inspiring story that Lynn Spencer brings us.

Only when the last aircraft touched down that day did we allow ourselves to believe that the terror was over. Only now, thanks to Lynn Spencer, do we know the full story of the extraordinary and heroic actions of so many who confronted the challenges on the front lines that fateful day.

Ben Sliney
FAA National Operations Manager on 9/11/2001

September 11, 2001, was our nations second Pearl Harbor. When the smoke cleared, the loss of life was actually greater, and the shock to our country equally palpable.

Years later, the 9/11 Commission Report gave us the explanations we sought. Finally, the inside story. I was one of the seven million citizens who flocked to the nearest bookstore to buy a copy. I wanted answers. I needed an understanding. As an airline pilot, the tragedy had been gut wrenchingly personal, and collectively, aircrews seemed to have a more difficult time leaving the tragedy behind.

When I finished reading the commissions findings, I was much better informed, but I couldnt shake the feeling that the story was incomplete. Something was missing. I felt compelled to dig deeper, so I began a journey to meet with the people behind the headlines: those who found themselves on the front lines that day in the cockpits of airliners and fighters, and in the control towers and military battle cabs. I went to their homes and their offices. I met their families. I listened intently as they shared their stories, and I experienced their pride, their sadness, their furor, and their unresolved emotions.

I also discovered that the 9/11 Commission Report did not even begin to tell the full story; that it did not convey the heroism, confusion, anger, bravery, and sacrifice that are an inextricable part of this tragedy. I invite you to reconsider what you know about the events of 9/11, and to experience 9/11 through the eyes and minds of those who were there. In talking with them, I was moved, comforted, astounded, and proud, and felt as though I had somehow touched history. I hope you will feel the same.

Skies Severe Clear

Federal Aviation Administration Command Center, Herndon, Virginia, the Morning of September 11, 2001

Ben Sliney arrives early for his first day on the job as the national operations manager at the FAA Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, 25 miles outside of Washington. He feels invigorated, even eager to be taking charge, responsible for the hands-on management of the entire national airspace system.

With nearly 5,000 planes in the sky during peak hours and approximately 50,000 flights operating on any given day, the work of the Command Center keeps nearly 50 specialists intensely busy at their posts, around the clock, planning and monitoring the flow of air traffic over the United States. The Center is a communications powerhouse, modeled after NASAs Mission Control. The Operations floor is 50 feet wide and 120 feet long, packed with tiered rows of computer stations, and at the front, seven enormous display screens show flight trajectories and weather patterns. The specialists work with airlines and air traffic control facilities to fix congestion problems and contend with weather systems. The job is demanding, and as Sliney makes his way through the tiers of desks, the center pulses with an energy so strong that he feels he can almost touch it.

Having spent many years with the FAA as a controller and then a manager, Sliney is intimately familiar with the workings of the agency. Originally he had trained to be a lawyer; he returned to the agency only six months ago after many years of working in a law partnership he started with a friend from law school. He hadnt thought much about rejoining the agency until his friend, Jack Kies, the FAAs manager of tactical operations, approached him with a tantalizing offer.

Kies wanted him to take the position of national operations manager, but thinking things over, Sliney asked instead for a job first as a specialist. He preferred to develop a comfort level with all the operational details of the Command Center from the ground up. Becoming a traffic management specialist, he was responsible for reroutings for weather, airspace congestion, ground stops, and all other traffic management issues for the entire East Coast.