(Between 9:05 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001: AWACS Plane near Washington Told to Return to Oklahoma, Limiting NEADS’s Communications and Surveillance Capabilities
AWACS Sent Back to Oklahoma - According to author Lynn Spencer, the AWACS is directed to return to Tinker Air Force Base “in the immediate confusion after the attacks.” The exact time the plane’s crew receives this order, and the identity of the person or organization that gives the order, are unstated. NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) will contact the AWACS later on, and instruct it to turn around and head to Washington, to provide radio and radar coverage over the capital (see (11:25 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [SPENCER, 2008, PP. 265-266]
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a905awacsordered#a905awacsordered
Patrick Madigan, the commander of the Somerset Barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police, arrives at the Flight 93 crash scene around 10:20 a.m. [DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY AND THE AIR FORCE NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU, 2002 pdf file] He says that at some point later in the day (he does not specify a time), a “strange incident” occurs: “We were there at the site and an airplane started circling. It was a jetliner circling the crash site very low. No one knew what to expect because we knew that all of the planes were supposedly grounded.” (The FAA had, at about 9:45 a.m., ordered that all aircraft be instructed to land at the nearest airport (see (9:45 a.m.) September 11, 2001).) After a few minutes of uncertainty, it is announced that the plane is carrying United Airlines executives, who are circling the site to view it before they land in nearby Johnstown. [KASHURBA, 2002, PP. 63] Another low-flying jet plane was witnessed over the site earlier on, around the time Flight 93 went down (see (Before and After 10:06 a.m.) September 11, 2001).
Entity Tags: Patrick Madigan, United Airlines
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline
HOLLOWAY'S COMMENTARY:
AWACS have Electronic Warfare Capabilities that allow them to shootdown aircraft. The "airliner" seen circling over the crash site was an AWACS or Brent Scowcroft in the E-4B. ALL three E-4B's were in the air a sure sign that DEFCON ONE was in effect. I am wondering if (as a counter measure) the Soviets/Russians constructed an ICBM with a air to air guided missile payload to take out the E-4Bs and Air Force One. Would the Russian Woodpecker or other system be able to image the planes allowing an ICBM BUS to get in range then hand off to the Sidewinder or smart missile armed with a nuke. Certainly if communications are down for the USA getting out of range could be a problem. This assuming that an ICBM armed with air to air missiles is even feasible.
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