Ok, "the Boeing" was "found" (Duh!), and thanks to Matthew, the MASS MEDIA=20 "put-options" legend/myth perhaps laid to rest..and here's something more=20 towards Matthew's point from LATimes and Bloomberg...They're few and far=20 between after that initial burst of reports through all the major outlets.=20 (But then again I'm not paying for the WSJ archives and maybe they cleared i= t=20 up much sooner).=20 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-091901trading.story Now, maybe some knowledgeable folks can fill in some of the blanks here.... with the apparent lack of Air Force intervention in the events of Sept 11th.= =20 =20 As I read about it, the USAF gets a fighter jet alongside Payne Stewarts=20 bizjet/ in October of 1999 within 20 minutes of ATC losing contact with the=20 pilot. This via bang bang ATC-USAF relay. AF Fighter pilot able to peer over= =20 at the bizjet cockpit - see that there is condensation on the glass or=20 whatever....he's now in a position to shoot this plane down if the order=20 comes through the proper chain of command. =20 >From NTSB report (supposedly): 9:19 am.: the flight departs=20 9:24: am.The Learjet's pilot responds to an instruction from air traffic=20 control=20 9:33: The controller radios another instruction. No response from the pilot.= =20 For 4 * minutes the controller tries to establish contact. 9:38: Having failed, the controller calls in the military. 9:54 16 minutes later -- the F-16 reaches the Learjet at 46,000 feet and=20 conducts a visual inspection.=20 Total elapsed time: 21 minutes. Come Sept 11th 2001: =20 party from cnn/ others 8:45 am.: A large plane, possibly a hijacked airliner , crashes into one of=20 the World Trade Center towers, tearing a gaping hole in the building and=20 setting it afire. [I assume it has already "lost contact" before this=20 occurs. It departed Boston at 7:45(?) - one full hour (?) prior to slamming=20 into the North Tower.] =20 9:03 am: A second plane, apparently a passenger jet, crashes into the second= =20 World Trade Center tower and explodes. Both buildings are burning.=20 9:17 am: The FAA shuts down all New York City area airports.=20 9:21 am: New York City Port Authority orders all bridges and tunnels in the=20 New York City area closed=20 9:30 am: Bush, speaking in Florida, says the country has suffered an=20 "apparent terrorist attack."=20 9:40 am: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first tim= e=20 in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.=20 9:43 am: An aircraft crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of=20 smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.=20 Here at 9:43, it is a full 40 minutes from the time the North World Trade=20 Center has been hit. a full 30 minutes since the 2nd plane has hit the South= =20 World Trade Center. =20 12 minutes since the President says the US is under attack. =20 But the Pentagon, White House etc. is apparently unprotected from incoming=20 rogue airliners. 10:10 am: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania= ,=20 southeast of Pittsburgh. This is well over a full hour since the first=20 airliner lost contact. It is sporadically reported the fighter jets had bee= n=20 just minutes away from the PA jet as well as the 2nd WTC jet. =20 OK, so apples and oranges. The transponders are turned off on the=20 airliners...the Payne Stewart bizjet is not changing direction, zig zaging=20 etc...there is, I guess, alot more traffic in the NE. Is the thinking "well,= =20 its a hijacking, just wait for it to land".? as opposed to the Payne Stewart= =20 incident where maybe there was an immediate fear of it crashing? Questions: Is it not possible to easily enough track these hijacked=20 airliners on radar? even without the transponders, which were turned off? AS= =20 unidentified blips/targets? ... Is the NorthEast just that poorly stocked=20 with combat ready jet fighters? Remember, The airliners are a moving target= ,=20 but W-DC is not. Still it is undefended a full 40 minutes from the 2nd impac= t=20 on WTC (if I have the times correct). There is Andrews Air Force Base, home of Air Force One. A large installation= =20 once purported to be home of two combat-ready squadrons of jet interceptors=20 mandated to ensure the safety of the US capital. Andrews is 12 miles (?) fro= m=20 the White House/Pentagon. The 121st Fighter Squadron of the 113th Fighter=20 Wing, equipped with F-16s, (the 321st Marine Air Group, Detachment A,=20 equipped F-18s?) =20 [I find these pictures - undated really - at the following... http://freespace.virgin.net/peter.rolt/RF01-04/rf01.htm Theres 12 pictures of F-16s of the "District of Columbia Air National Guard"= =20 - if you scroll down.] =20 AT http://www.tenc.net/9-11backups/dcandr.htm dated Jan 21st 2001. I read the following:=20 andrews 121 st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter wing =20 Air National Guard Readiness Center >=20 >=20 > On June 1 1979 the old ANG Field Support Center at Edgewood Arsenal, MD.,=20 > was inactivated as a named activity and, concurrent with inactivation, the= =20 > Headquarters ANG Support Center was constituted as a direct reporting unit= =20 > and assigned to the United States Air Force. This designated the ANG=20 > director as a dual position-one actively on the Air Staff and one as the=20 > ANG Support Center Commander. >=20 > The ANG Support Center was redesignated as a field operating agency of the= =20 > National Guard Bureau in 1989 as a result of an internal reorganization. I= n=20 > late1990, the NGB at Andrews was redesignated as the Air National Guard=20 > Readiness Center. >=20 >=20 113th Wing (DCANG) >=20 > Andrews AFB has been the home of the 113th Wing and associated District of= =20 > Columbia Air National Guard units since 1946. Over the years, the 113th ha= s=20 > flown nine different fighter aircraft, including the F-100 Super Sabre in=20 > which the unit conducted the first all-Air National Guard deployment to=20 > Europe in 1964. Four years later the 113th aviators employed the F-100 in=20 > combat in Vietnam following the Pueblo call-up. > Wing members were also called to active duty in the Korean War, the 1961=20 > Berlin crisis and most recently Operation Desert Storm. > The wing flew the F-105 Thunderchief for 10 years before it converted to=20 > the F-4D Phantom II fighter in 1981. The 113th now flies the F-16C Fightin= g=20 > Falcon and only recently the C-21 Learjet and C-22 Boeing 727, as a result= =20 > of the DCANG unit reorganization when the 201st Airlift Squadron became=20 > part of the wing in October 1985. > Formerly Detachment 1, Headquarters DCANG, the 201st AS performs=20 > operational airlift missions for the National Guard Bureau, the Air Force=20 > and the Department of Defense. > Training for air combat and operational airlift for national defense is th= e=20 > 113 this primary mission. However, as part of its dual mission, the 113th=20 > provides capable and ready response forces for the District of Columbia in= =20 > the event of natural disaster or civil emergency. Members also assist loca= l=20 > and federal law enforcement agencies in combating drug trafficking in the=20 > District of Columbia. > At Andrews, the 113th Wing, its associated DCANG units, and their people=20 > are full partners with the active Air Force. ****************************************************************************= ** *********** >From USAF Fact Sheet...=20 In addition, the Air National Guard has total responsibility for air=20 defense of the entire United States.... Besides providing 100 percent of the United States air defense interceptor=20 force, the Air National Guard performs many other ... ****************************************************************************= ** *********** So.....the "interceptor force" was not trained to intercept civil airliners=20 of course...but why couldn't the Air Force get some jets up on the=20 unidentified radar blips and ask "Friend of Foe"??? I assume enemy bombers= =20 would not have "transponders" turned on...although they'd be readily=20 identified upon visual which a rogue airliner would not. =20 The story below illustrates that last minutes warning was possible...but=20 obviously the Air Force would need more lead time that that. =20 Radar screen blip raised suspicions Unidentified jet's transponder had been deactivated By Don Phillips The Washington Post Published September 12 2001 WASHINGTON -- Controllers watching their radar screens at Washington Dulles=20 International Airport spotted an unidentified aircraft flying at unusually=20 high speed directly toward the White House on Tuesday morning, and warned=20 authorities minutes before the Boeing 757 turned tightly and circled around=20 to slam into the Pentagon, according to federal aviation sources. The controllers couldn't identify the plane because someone on board=20 apparently had turned off its transponder, the equipment that transmits the=20 plane's airline, flight number, speed and altitude to radar screens.=20 Tentatively, the plane was identified as American Flight 77, which had been=20 scheduled to take off from Dulles at 8:10 a.m. EDT for Los Angeles, with two= =20 pilots, four flight attendants and 58 passengers aboard. The skill with which the plane was flown, including the knowledge of how to=20 turn off the transponder, raised the probability that a trained pilot was at= =20 the controls, possibly a hijacker. Sources were not specific about the times of the events but said that after=20 leaving Dulles, the plane continued west for a while. At some point, apparently after turning off the transponder, the plane turne= d=20 back toward Washington with no radio contact. The plane would have appeared on radar screens as an unidentified blip,=20 called a "primary target" -- something commonly seen by controllers when an=20 aircraft doesn't have a transponder or is a military aircraft flying with it= s=20 transponder turned off. But the airspace around Dulles, Washington Reagan=20 National Airport and much of Washington is designated "class B" airspace,=20 meaning no one is supposed to fly there without a working transponder and=20 permission from a controller. The sources said Dulles controllers noticed a fast-moving primary target in=20 their airspace east-southeast of the airport, where it shouldn't be, headed=20 directly toward the restricted airspace around the White House. They alerted= =20 controllers at National Airport that an unidentified unauthorized aircraft=20 was headed their way. But as they watched, the plane began turning to the right, away from the=20 White House, circling a full 270 degrees to the right and approaching the=20 Pentagon from the southwest. It then dropped below radar level, disappearing= =20 from the controllers' screens, shortly before hitting the Pentagon about 9:4= 5=20 a.m., less than an hour after two other aircraft hit the World Trade Center=20 towers in New York City. Federal aviation rules limit the speeds of commercial aircraft flying below=20 10,000 feet. The sources said it appeared this plane was at full throttle. Controllers then saw that a Boeing 757 identified as United Flight 93, flyin= g=20 from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, had turned toward Washington over=20 Pennsylvania. The United plane crashed for unknown reasons about 10 a.m.=20 about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Federal aviation officials are reporting that the transponders had been=20 turned off on all four planes that crashed Tuesday morning, including two=20 that flew into the World Trade Center. Copyright =A9 2002, <A HREF=3D"http://www.chicagotribune.com/";>The Chicago T= ribune</A>