In a 9-12-2001 <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A14330-2001Sep11&notFound=true">Washington Post article titled "At Logan Airport, Nobody Saw Plane's Sharp Turn South", we get the following incredible lie reported by Hanna Rosin and Pamela Ferdinand:

"Boston airport officials said they did not spot the plane's course until it had crashed, and said the control tower had no unusual communication with the pilots or any crew members."

As we shall see, this is a demonstrable lie.

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What follows is an abbreviated but relevant timeline for American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 81 passengers, 9 flight attendants.

7:59 -- Flight 11 departs Boston Logan 14 minutes late, bound for LAX
8:13 -- Last routine comms with F11, which responds to 'turn right' order
8:15 -- Boston ATC unable to contact the pilots of Flight 11 even on emergency frequencies
8:15 -- Boston FTC: "He won't answer you. He's NORDO..." (NORDO = transponders off)
8:20 -- F11 veers dramatically off-course to the NW. (NORAD shud've been notified NOW)
8:21 -- FA Betty Ong calls AA reservations.
8:21 -- FA Madeline Sweeney calls AA ground mgr Mike Woodward. "The airplane has been hijacked."
8:2? -- Sweeney reports that hijackers ".. just gained access to the cockpit."
8:2? -- F11 pilot M. Ogonowski apparently clicking his radio transmission button
8:24 -- F11 pilot activates talk-back button, broadcasting F11 hijackers' orders to passengers
8:24 -- Hijacker on Flight 11: "We have some planes... We are returning to the airport."
8:24 -- A controller responds: "Who's trying to call me?"
8:24 -- Hijacker "If you try to make any moves you'll endanger yourself and the airplane."
8:24 -- Boston ATC notifies other ATCs of the hijacking.
8:2? -- FAA tags F11 radar dot for easy visibility
8:28 -- F11 makes 100 degree turn to the south, following the Hudson R. to NYC
8:3? -- Ong reports F11 tilts all the way on one side, then resumes horizontal position
8:3? -- Sweeney reports that F11 has begun a rapid descent
8:37 -- Boston ATC contacts AA F175, asks them to look for lost AA plane, 10 miles to the south
8:3? -- F175 responds that they see it, and are then ordered to stay away from the plane (F11)
8:38 -- Boston ATC supposedly finally notifies NORAD that Flight 11 has been hijacked
8:40 -- Otis F-15 pilot 'Nasty' informed by colleague that a plane from Boston has been hijacked
8:46 -- Two F-15s ordered to scramble from Otis ANGB (approx 190 miles from NYC) to find F11
8:46 -- F11 slams into north tower of the WTC
8:52 -- Otis F-15s airborne, 38 minutes after FTCs had lost contact with F11

(quoting directly - with my spacing for clarity - from Center for Cooperative Research timeline on Flight 11:)

8:52 A.M. Two F-15's take off from Otis ANG Base, 6 minutes after being ordered to go after Flight 11, which has already crashed. [8:52, NORAD, 9/18/01, 8:52, CNN, 9/17/01, 8:53, Washington Post, 9/12/01, 8:52, Washington Post, 9/15/01] This is 38 minutes after flight controllers lost contact with the plane.

They go after Flight 175 instead.

According to Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air National Guard, "the pilots flew 'like a scalded ape,' topping 500 mph but were unable to catch up to the airliner." [Dallas Morning News, 9/16/01]

NORAD Major Gen. Larry Arnold says they were headed straight for New York City and travelling about 1100 to 1200 mph. [Slate, 1/16/02]

"An F-15 departing from Otis can reach New York City in 10 to 12 minutes, according to an Otis spokewoman." [Cape Cod Times, 9/16/01] They would have been flying an average of about 1125 mph to reach New York City in 10 minutes.

F-15's can travel over 1875 mph. [Air Force News, 7/30/97]

Presumably in such an emergency they would be flying much faster than 1125 mph, yet these planes take about 19 minutes to reach New York City - less than 600 mph. Why so slow??

If they really had taken 10 minutes, the fighters would have reached New York City before Flight 175 (which hit the south tower, WTC at about 9:03 - sp).

Note that Joint Chiefs of Staff Myers says that the decision to start launching fighters was only made after the second WTC hit at 9:03.

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You see how it is? Stay tuned.

sp

source: Center for Cooperative Research, Flight 11 Timeline