Pilots, controllers recall fast reaction to 9-11 chaos

In D-FW, pilots, controllers recall fast reaction to 9-11 chaos

Andrea Ahles
Saturday, Sep. 11, 2010
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

RICHARDSON -- Midwest Express pilot Gerald Earwood didn't know why an air traffic controller was yelling at him to bank his plane hard left and then hard right on his approach to LaGuardia Airport on Sept. 11, 2001.

He found out later that the evasive moves were to avoid a midair collision with United Airlines Flight 175, the second airplane to hit the World Trade Center that day.

"I witnessed the disaster straight on," said Earwood, who did not see the United plane but did see the fireball after the plane crashed into the second tower. "I looked at it through my cockpit window."

Earwood was among about 250 people who attended Navigating Chaos: Aviation's Response on 9/11, a symposium held Saturday at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson. The event recounted the pandemonium of Sept. 11, as told by air traffic controllers and commercial and military pilots.

"It was a horrible day for America, but for American aviation it was a shining day," said Ben Sliney, a Federal Aviation Administration national operations manager.

He said it was unprecedented to shut down U.S. commercial airspace and ground 4,566 planes.

"It was flawless execution of a bad situation on that day," he said.

Controlled chaos

Dan Creedon, a departure controller at Reagan National Airport that day, said he knew that the airspace around the nation's capital needed to be cleared while fighter jets were being launched.

Controllers also knew that United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., was also heading for Washington, Creedon said.

"Anything within 60 miles was considered hostile," Creedon said. "We could not trust any [aircraft] crew, period. We didn't know what we were dealing with."

Lt. Col. Joe McGrady was one of the fighter pilots sent into the air on the East Coast with orders to do whatever was necessary. He is a member of the 102nd Fighter Wing from the Otis Air National Guard base in Massachusetts.

"I don't think it was ever thought of where a military air defense fighter would shoot down a civilian airliner," McGrady said. "The rules changed that day."

Midwest Express pilot Chuck Savall did not know why his plane was being diverted from landing at Newark, N.J. Not until he talked to dispatchers with his airline did he know what was going on. He was told to get as far from the East Coast as possible.

"We just knew the faster we got out of the sky, the quicker we'd be safe," said Savall, adding that he initially planned to land in Cleveland but was ordered to Pittsburgh.

Changes made

Lt. Col. Dan Caine, a fighter pilot for the D.C. Air National Guard at Andrews Air Force Base, was in the air above the nation's capital Sept. 11. He acknowledged that the military alert aircraft were not prepared for terrorists to use commercial airliners to attack the country.

"We reacted as good as we could, and it's unfortunate we couldn't stop the tragedy that happened, but there has been improvements since then," Caine said.

The panelists mentioned that protocols for dealing with hijackings have changed since then and that the skies are safer.

"I don't look at an aircraft the same again," Sliney said. "I seldom, if ever, turned to watch when a plane went by. I look at all of them now."