T8 B17 FAA Trips 2 of 3 Fdr- FAA Controllers- Interview Outline- 8 Pg Version (Different Questions)

8/14/2019 T8 B17 FAA Trips 2 of 3 Fdr- FAA Controllers- Interview Outline- 8 Pg Version (Different Questions)

1/8

FAA Controllers - Interview OutlineI. Introduction

A. The September 11 Commission is an independent, bipartisan Commissioncreated by Congress and the President to investigate the facts andcircumstances surrounding the 9-11 attacks an d make recomm endations toprevent an d prepare fo r future terrorist attacks.B. We are not part of the congressional "Joint Inquiry" whose report has beenin the news recently. The Joint Inquiry's mandate is more limited andnarrower than our mandate. The Joint Inquiry's investigation was limitedto the review of intelligence agenc ies' actions and the collection ofcounterterrorism intelligence prior to the 9-11 attacks. We have a much

broader mandate, namely, to review the "facts and circumstancessurrounding" the 9-11 attacks. Am ong other areas of inquiry, ou rCommission is looking at airport security, the FAA' s interaction with thefour hijacked aircraft, the military's response to the attacks, the nationalleadership's response to the attacks an d U.S. immigration policies prior to9-11.C. We are memb ers of the Comm ission staff team focu sing on the FA A'stracking and the military's attempted interdiction of the hijacked airliners.One of the Com mission's goals is to create a complete and factuallyaccurate account of what transpired on 9-11 when our country was

attacked by suicide bombers using com mercial aircraft as weapons ofmass destruction. We asked to meet with you based on the fact that youare FAA employees who had some form of interaction with one or moreof the hijacked aircraft on 9-11. We are also very interested in yourthoughts concerning recommendations the Commission m ay make toprevent future terrorist attacks.D. We are not investigating you personally. Moreover, we are not aprosecuting b ody and do not have grand jur y powers.E. We will use the information that we obtain from you in today's interview

to assist the Commissioners prepare their report to Congress and thePresident. In this regard, we need to accurately record the information yo ugive us today. Fo r that reason, the C omm ission's rule is to tape record allinterviews. A Memorandum for the Record ("MFR") will be createdfollowing your interview and you will not be permitted to review thisMFR because of the time constraints faced by the Commission.


2/8

F. W e appreciate you taking the tim e to m eet with us today and tell us aboutyour job in general as well as your spec ific job experience on 9-11. W etrust that you understand th e ground rules for the interview. Before webegin the interview, do you have any q uestions about w hy we are here andwhat we are doing? Did anyone discuss the subject matter of today'sinterview with you prior to today? If so, who? Did anyone at the FAA orelsewhere instruct you not to discuss or to discuss certain subject matterstoday? If so, who? W hat subject matters?

II. FAA Employee's BackgroundA. Describe your education and training prior to becoming an FAAcontroller.B. How long have you been with the FAA?C. What p ositions have you held? What period of time did you hold eachposition?D. W hat position did you hold on 9/11/01? How long prior to 9-11 did youhold that position?E. What classroom and /or field training did you receive to prepare you foreach position yo u have held?F. Describe the supervisory chain of comm and?

III. Jo b Description on 9-11A. Exp lain your duties and responsibilities as they existed on 9-11.B. Who was your immediate supervisor on 9-11? Was he/she present thatmorning? If you know , describe his/her role.C. Identify other supervisors on duty on 9-11. If you know, please describethe roles and responsibilities of other supervisors on duty that day?D. How many aircraft do you typically handle on any given weekday

morning?E. How many aircraft were you responsible fo r handling on the morning of 9-11?F. What are the duties an d responsibilities of a Radar Associate?


3/8

G. Prior to 9-11, what was the FAA SOP for dealing with an aircraft that wasNORDO (i.e., no radio communication with the FAA facility)?H. Prior to 9-11, ho w often would you lose radio contact with an aircraft?Approximately what percentage of the time was the lost radio contactattributable to technical or mechanical failures? Percentage attributable to

non-mechanical failures?I. Prior to 9-11, what is the longest passage of time that you lost radio

contact with a commercial aircraft? What is the longest time one of yourcolleagues has lost radio contact w ith a comm ercial aircraft?J. Prior to 9-11, what was the FAA SOP for handling a commercial aircraftthat stopped transmitting its transponder code?K. Prior to 9-11, ho w often would you lose the transponder signal (i.e., modethree code) of a commercial aircraft? How often was the loss of

transponder signal attributable to mechanical or technical failures? Howoften was it attributable to something more serious like cockpit invasion,hijacking or other c riminal activity?L. Was there any me chanical device or metho d to determine the altitude of acommercial aircraft that is NOR DO with no transponder signal? W hatabout the speed of such an aircraft? The direction?M. Prior to 9-11, in your handling of comm ercial aircraft, what is the longestperiod o f tim e that an aircraft has been without a transponder signal? Ifyou are aware, what is the longest period of time during wh ich one of your

colleagues has handled a commercial aircraft with no transponder signal?N. Prior to 9-11, what was FAA SO P for handling a comm ercial aircraft thatdeviated slightly from its intended course? W hat about an aircraft thatdeviated substantially from its intended course?O. Prior to 9-11, how many times have you handled a comm ercial aircraftthat deviated substantially from its intended course? Wh at were the

reasons for the a ircraft's deviation?P. Prior to 9-11, was there an FAA SOP for handling a comm ercial aircraft

that deviated substantially from its course and was NORDO? What wasthe SOP?Q. Prior to 9-11, how m any times have you handled a comm ercial aircraftthat deviated substantially from its intended course and was NORDO?What were the circumstances that caused such events?


4/8

R. Prior to 9-11, was there an FAA SOP for handling a comm ercial aircraftthat deviated substantially from its course, w as NORDO and lost itstransponder signal? What was the SOP?S. Prior to 9-11, how many t imes had you handled a commercial aircraft thatdeviated substantially from its intended course, was NORDO an d withouta transponder signal? What were the circumstances that caused suchevents?T. Prior to 9-11, what was FAA SOP for handling a comm ercial aircraft thatwas deemed a hijacked aircraft? What w as the SO P for notification toFAA supervisors? What was FAA SOP for notification to the military?NEADS?U. Prior to 9-11, what was FAA SOP for handling a commercial aircraft thatwas NORDO, without a transponder signal, deviated substantially from itscourse and was deemed a hijacked aircraft?V. Prior to 9-11, how would an FAA controller vector a military aircraft tointercept a hijacked aircraft that was NORDO and without a transpondersignal?

IV. The Events of 9-11A. What time did you report to work on 9-11 ?B. What radar position were you assigned to on 9-11 ?C. Describe your duties an d responsibilities on that day.D. W hat region of airspace were yo u responsible for on 9-11? What altitudedid you control?E. From 8:00 a.m. to approximately 10:00 a.m., approximately ho w manyaircraft were you scheduled to control? W as this a normal workload?F. W hat parts of the flight path of Am erican Airlines Flight 11 were youscheduled to control?G. W hen did AA 11 first come under your control?H. Did there come a point in time when you determined som ething wasunusual or suspicious with respect to the operation of AA 11? When didyou make that determination? Wh at event(s) caused you to reach thatconclusion? W hat actions did you take?


5/8

I. When did you determine that AA 11 was NORDO ? Were there FAASOPs regarding how to handle an aircraft that was NOR DO? What wasthe SOP for this situation? W hat actions did you take wh en you discoveredAA 11 was NORDO?J. Did there come a time wh en you determined that AA 11 was NORDO andhad no transponder signal? W hat actions did you take when youdiscovered A A 11 was NORDO and had no transponder signal? Wereyour actions guided by FAA SOP?K. Was AA 11 still following its intended flight path when it first wentNORDO?L. Was AA 11 still following its intended flight path when the FAA first lostits transponder signal?M. Did there come a time when you determined AA 11 had deviated

significantly from its intended c ourse in add ition to its loss of radiocontact an d transponder signal? What actions did SOP indicate yo ushould take in response to this scenario? What actions did you take inresponse to this set of events?N. Had you ever participated in an exercise (i.e., test drill) concerning thecontrol of a commercial aircraft that was NOR DO for more than fiveminutes?O. Had you ever participated in an exercise (i.e., test drill) concerning thecontrol of a com mercial aircraft that was NORDO and had lost its

transponder signal fo r more than a few minutes? What about an aircraftthat had substantially deviated from its course in addition to loss of radiocontact and transponder signal?P. On 9-11, did there com e a time w hen you or another FA A employeedeemed that AA 11 ha d probably been hijacked? W hen was thatdetermined? W ho made th e determination? What was the determinationbased on ?Q. Prior to 9-11, had you ever participated in an exercise (i.e., test drill) that

involved the military's intercept of a hijacked commercial aircraft? Howabout the military intercept of a hijacked commercial aircraft that wasNORDO, lost its transponder signal and had substantially deviated fromits intended course?

R. Prior to 9-11, had you ever participated in an exercise that involved themilitary's intercept of a comm ercial aircraft hijacked by terrorists whoplanned to crash the planes into buildings in the U.S.? Had you ever


6/8

received or heard about any internal or external intelligence reports, FA Ainformation circulars or Security Notices that described such a scenario?S. On 9-11, when a determination was made that A A 11 had been hijacked,what actions did you take? W hat actions did your supervisors take?T. W hat was the SOP for m ilitary notification? How w as the military firstnotified about AA 11? If you know, who at the FAA Boston Center firstnotified the military about AA 11? Why did Boston ARTC C personnelbypass protocol for hijacking notifications and call NEADS directly?U. W hat capabilities, if any, did you have to determine th e altitude and speedof AA 11 in the absence of a transponder signal? Could you determine theprecise direction of AA 11 after the transponder was shut off? When anaircraft changes its transponder code like UAL 175 did, what effect does ithave on your ability to track the aircraft (i.e., how, if at all, does it changethe data on your radar screen)?V . Did there come a time prior to the m edia report of the first WTC crashthat you felt this was not the normal hijacking scenario (e.g., a hijackingfor ransom or political asylum)? What factors led you to believe that thesituation aboard A A 11 was m uch more om inous than the traditionalhijacking scenario?W. Volume of aircraft handled by each controller that tracked AA 11 or UAL175 between 8:20 a.m. AND 9:20 a.m.X. Com pare duties and responsibilities of FAA controller on a norm al day

with normal aircraft activity vs. duties of FA A con troller responsible fortracking suspicious or hijacked aircraft.Y. Explore facts an d circumstances that influenced controller's determinationconcerning the identity of aircraft that struck WTC 1 and WT C 2.Z. Explore the rebirth of AA 11. What capabilities, if any, did you have todetermine whether AA 11 had crashed somewhere in NYC or if it was stillairborne? Explore direct and indirect knowledge of FAA or NO RA Dreports that AA 11 was airborne after 8:46 a.m. and the basis for such

reports.

AA . Describe the specific facts and circumstances that influenced thetiming of your FAA cen ter's decision to ground all departures? Describethe specific facts and circumstances that influenced the timing of yourFAA center's decision to declare ATC zero? W as there establishedprotocol fo r these decisions on 9-11? If so, did your facility practice fo r


7/8

this scenario? If not, is there protocol today to govern these decisions an dare they practiced?BB. Discuss aspects of FAA HQ Order to Ground Stop all aircraft.Had you ever practiced implementing a ground stop? W as there aprotocol or plan in place that explained how to im plement the ground stop

order? If not, describe how the ground stop was achieved without anyincidents or accidents. Is there a written plan today? Is it practiced?CC. Discuss aspects of FAA Order to Ground all airborne aircraft. Hadyou ever practiced im plemen ting such an Order? Was there a plan inplace to imp lemen t the order to ground all traffic? If not, describe h ow theground stop was achieved without any incidents or accidents. Didsomeone devise an ad hoc plan on 9-11 to ground all traffic? Is there awritten plan today? Is it practiced?DD. Explore witness' knowledge of SCAT AN A. Have you ever

participated in an F AA /Military exercise simulating the implementation ofa SCAT AN A Order? Pre-9-11? Post 9-11?EE.Explore witness' involvement in any military exercises prior to 9-11?After 9-11? Describe nature of exercises and witness' role.

i. Explore whether witness participated in or had know ledge of anymilitary exercises that may have occurred on 9-11? If the answeris yes, explore whether the military exercise added an y confusionto the real world hijackings.

FF. Do you believe the FAA system in place on 9-11 to control aircraftand respond to a potential hijacking contained the mechanisms (e.g.,training, equipment, technology, etc.,) necessary to effectively respond tothe events of 9-11? If not, explain. Wh at kind of training, equipm ent,etc., do you believe was not in place? Wh at lessons, if any, did you learnfrom the events of 9-11 as they impacted y our job?GG. Describe (in your opinion) the most significant FAA policychanges and SOP changes that have occurred since 9-11 that you believebetter prepares the FA A to handle events sim ilar to those of 9-11 were

they to occur again.HH. Do you believe you as a controller are adequately prepared an dtrained to deal with events today similar to those that transpired o n 9-11?If not, explain. Do you believe the FAA is armed with all the availabletechnology and equipment to help yo u track an aircraft today if it washijacked by terrorists? W hat changes, if any, wou ld you make within the


8/8

FAA to better defend against terrorists who plan to use aircraft as weaponsof mass destruction?II . Do you believe that your role as an FAA controller today has changedfrom what that role was on the mor nin g of 9-11? If so, how has you r rolechanged? Are you adequately prepared an d trained to deal with your role

today? If not, what are you lacking?JJ. Explore the nature of interaction between the FA A and the M ilitary(e.g., NEADS) prior to 9-11? After 9-11?KK. Are there any recomm endations you would propose that thiscomm ission should m ake to Congress for changes w ithin the FA A, themilitary air defense system or the airline industry to better prepare thecountry to defend against future terrorist attacks?LL.If you recall an y information after today 's interview that you did not

discuss with us today, you believe is important an d think th e Commissionshould know about, please contact me or someone at the Commission an dlet us know.MM . Is there anything that you w ould like to d iscuss with me orinform the Commission about that you have chosen not to discuss becauseof the presence of the FA A minder?

T8 B17 FAA Trips 2 of 3 Fdr- FAA Controllers- Interview Outline- 8 Pg Version (Different Questions)

Documents

Transcript of T8 B17 FAA Trips 2 of 3 Fdr- FAA Controllers- Interview Outline- 8 Pg Version (Different Questions)