Before the attacks began, there were probably no more than a couple dozen fighters on alert nationwide. That was the existing peacetime alert status because they had no indication of a specific threat. It's easy to say they should've had more planes on alert but that's hindsight talking.

Where were the nearest alert fighters when the attacks began? How long would it have taken them to take off (a few minutes after the alert), fly to the targets (some about a hundred miles away), verify the threat (you don't just go around shooting down airliners - people get upset about things like that), and neutralize it?

First, the controllers had to realize something was wrong. That took several minutes. They had to send the alert through military channels (there was no direct line between the FAA and NORAD at the time for domestic flights), get the planes launched, and go through the interception process. The way things were structured on Sept 11th, it would've taken over 30 minutes from the time something wrong was first noted before the fighters could've reached NYC. They didn't have 30 minutes - it was more like 10-15 minutes max.

"Coulda, woulda, shoulda" is a child's game. Dealing with hard realities is the domain of adults. You can pull scenarios out your butt all you want, but if you're interested in reality, try reading articles like this for some real world numbers.

"A Norad response timeline shows two F-15 Eagles were scrambled from Otis Air National Guard (ANG) Base at Falmouth, Mass., 6 min. after FAA officials notified the command's North East Air Defense Sector that American Airlines Flight 11 had diverted from its approved Boston-Los Angeles course. The fighters were airborne 6 min. later, but the American aircraft had already hit the first World Trade Center (WTC) tower.

The same two Eagles were about 71 mi. or 8 min. from the WTC when the second hijacked transport, United Flight 175, plowed into the other tower. The fighters were later joined by other military aircraft, flying combat air patrol (CAP) over the city.

Two F-16 fighters scrambled from Langley AFB, Va., were airborne 7 min. before American Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, but still about 12 min. away. After arriving in the Washington area, they remained to fly cover over the nation's capital."

Read down the article a little further and you'll find this little tidbit: "Normally, Norad has 14 fighters on alert in the continental U.S., two in Alaska and two in Canada."

So, here's the answer to the question from my subject line - 14 fighters on alert for the entire continential US. That was the standing number when the attacks occured. That's very few planes to cover a lot of territory. It isn't as simple as ordering more planes on alert, either. The alert birds have to be armed, fueled, and set near a runway or bunker for a rapid takeoff. The pilots have to be briefed, dressed in flight gear, and sitting very close to their planes. The crew chief and other ground personnel have to be standing by to quickly strap in the pilot, fire up the engines, and conduct rapid preflight checks before the plane launches. All of this takes time and resources. They had the resources, but without warning, they didn't have the time.

BTW: When my electrical system failed, I was within a few minutes of NORAD, HQ Air Force Space Command, HQ Army Space Command, HQ US Space Command, Shreiver AFB (where almost all military satellite control takes place), and many other high priority targets like the chemical weapons storage bunkers near Pueblo. This is a pretty sensitive area and the incident happened just a few months after Sept 11th. A nut case could do a lot of damage here, even in a lowly Cessna.