The skies over America

The airspace above the United States is in a lock down.  Controllers are furiously diverting planes to land at the nearest possible airport.

Dan D'Agastino:  It was a war zone. Our skies were turned into a war zone. Everywhere you turn it was military jets and helicopters everywhere.  And that’s when the reality sank in. We’re at war.

Tom Brokaw, NBC News: It was nuts.

Greg Callahan:  Yeah. 

11:30 a.m. 
More than 3000 planes have landed safely.  But, there are more than 900 still to go.

Brokaw: How did you keep the concentration on the other planes knowing what had happened here?

Don Jeffroy:  It’s hard but you do it because that’s what you’re trained to do.

12:15 p.m.
Finally, four hours to the minute from when controllers lost contact with that first airliner, they have accomplished their mission.  For the first time in the history of air traffic control, dating back to 1938,  there is not a single civilian plane over the sky in the U.S.

Until now, there has been no time to deal with emotion.  But with the airspace clear, the enormity of what has happened, the staggering loss of life hits home.

Pete Zalewski:  I broke down.  I mean, I just broke down.  

At Boston center, Pete Zalewski, the  first controller to handle a hijacked plane, maintaining composure throughout it all—he finally falls apart.

Zalewski:  I started crying.  I couldn’t talk.  I started shaking.  And I just said, “What’s wrong with the world?  What’s happening?” 

There is more bad news for the Boston center.  One of the controller’s wives actually had been on the American Flight 11, the first plane to hit the world trade tower.

Tom Roberts:  Doug McKay’s wife was on American 11.  And—

Brokaw: —Was he on duty?

Roberts:  Doug was actually on his way to work.  Doug had dropped his wife off at the airport.

Ron: We stopped Doug at the door, and we basically took him aside and brought him into another room.  And we went through—taking care of Doug.  And it was pretty tragic.

Brokaw:  That is part of the brotherhood and sisterhood, isn’t it?  You have to take care of each other as well as take care of all those airplanes out there.

Don Jeffroy: It sure is.

The skies over America would ultimately remain closed down for three days to civilian aircraft.

Brokaw: When flights resumed and controllers came back on duty in this room after September 11^th what was the tone?

Dan D'Agastino: Very somber. 

For many controllers, the coming days and weeks were harder still—each shift a waiting game, with controllers wondering, “Will there be a next time?”  And “If there is, will we be able to stop it?” 

Dave Bottiglia:  Every little thing that happened I was jumping up.

Brokaw: And any tiny little glitch would cause…

Bottiglia: Oh. The stress was enormous.

For Pete Zalewski it was difficult to come back at all.

Zalewski: For about a month I didn’t sleep.  I was out of work for about six weeks, but I knew there was a point where I would go back.  I needed my life back.

The shadow of that day will always hang over them.

John:  Every time an aircraft doesn’t do exactly what you tell them, it brings up the thought of what could happen now and what’s gonna happen, what is he doing, why is he doing this, why is he not answering. And it brings it right back, every time.

Roberts:  It’s not only planes as weapons but we’re also watching out for sensitive areas such as nuclear power plants.  You know—large -

Martins: —stadiums, reservoirs—

Roberts: —bridges and stuff like that. And that’s added a new dimension to our job. We feel that we’re every bit a part of this nation’s defense when it comes to the skies, as anybody else.  Because you know we’re gonna be the first line there.

Every September 11^th is another painful reminder for these controllers. Many have shied away from reading about it, or watching coverage on television.                    

Bottiglia:  I already know too much.  Because I watched the American disappear, the United disappeared. And those were the first two.  And I guess I’m the first one to know it.

Brokaw:  It’s an honor you’d rather give up, though, right?

Bottiglia:  Absolutely.  I just think about all those people...  and all the brave people that died there. 

He remains in awe of the timing of it all.

Bottiglia: How did they do such a coordinated thing, that the American literally disappeared, and the United literally got hijacked at almost the same time.  And I’ve always wondered if they were actually talking to each other saying, “I’m going in now, good luck.”

It’s the “what if’s” that plague the Newark controllers.  

What if those fighter jets scrambled to intercept the second plane had arrived just a bit earlier?

Bob Varcapade: I rememember the two F-15’s. They were moments after the impact.  And I was just said to myself, “If they only could’ve gotten there a couple minutes earlier.   They just missed it.”

Callahan:  But what would they have done?

Brokaw: What do you think they would’ve done, though?

Callahan:  20/20 hindsight—

Varcapane: I don’t know what they have done.

Brokaw: They probably would have had to shoot it down.

Callahan: But back then, that only came from the President.

Varcapane:  Right.

What if Flight 93, delayed so long on the runway at Newark that morning, had been delayed just a few minutes more.  

Varcapane:  If it happened a few minutes later, it may not have made it off the ground.  It may not have made it at all, unfortunately.

Each of them struggles with personal memories:  moments, images, seared into their consciousness.  They will never forget them.

Pete Ender: I still can hear their voices. That will never go away from me. Just horrific.  The feeling of it.  The voices, you knew they had control. You knew they had control, and we didn’t.  And that was very scary. Because as controllers you’re taught to have control and there was none that day.

They were the four darkest hours in aviation history.  But these controllers and their colleagues across the U.S., met an unprecedented challenge that morning five years ago: their coolness kept other tragedies from occurring, ensuring the safety of more than 350,000 people in the air,  countless more on the ground.

Brokaw: I know you have professional pride but when you look back aren’t you a little astonished that it went as well as it did?

Mark Dipalmo:  The people that were working that day, did a phenomenal job. I mean the controllers in this country are the best in the world and I’m proud to be one of them.

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