Dianavan,

I see your point, and I accept your clarification. The problem was that, right up until 9/11, all pilots, and indeed the entire aviation system, was trained to acquiesce to the highjackers demands. The thought was go along with what was demanded, get the plane on the ground, and let the law enforcement at that point deal with the highjackers. It was simply unthinkable that a US military aircraft would have to fire on a passenger jet to keep it from being used as a weapon. I am not sure, even if the fighters had been able to intercept the jets, that they would have fired into them. They might have ultimately done so, but only if the passenger jets were within sight of the White House, Capitol building, etc. Can you imagine a US military pilot shooting down an American or United jet?

I know you were not accusing the ATC or pilots of any wrong doing. I just got off on a rant - I am sorry if you thought I was responding to you. ATC was just amazing on that day, and their story really has not been told.

Freightdawg