Watching "Grounded on 9/11" on History channel

[johnnie]

I have to say that if any group of people did a tremendous job on 9-11 it was these air traffic controllers. It really is amazing what these people did on that day. In contrast to georgie looking like a complete idiot that day, these people really kicked some ass.

[Suich]

1. I watched it and couldn't agree more.

The fact that they managed to land 4500 planes in 3 hours is pretty amazing. This was the 1st time I heard about the KAL headed to Anchorage but sent on to Whitehorse...must have been a nightmare in both places.

:hi:

[Bluebear]

2. Agreed, kicked and recommended.

Thank you to all of them.

[DeSwiss]

3. There is also a great article...

...in Vanity Fair called "The NORAD Tapes" that is an excellent portrayal of what the air traffic controllers did that day. It shows in a glaring light the poor coverage that was assigned by the Pentagon to the protection of the eastern part of the US by fighter planes. And the clips of the audio conversations between the various levels of government with responsibility for air traffic control is bizarre, chilling and poignant at times. And the audio clips includes crosstalk from the fighters who were flying after a nonexistent air plane. Of course, they didn't know it at the time. You gotta hear it:

http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/060801fege01