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Commission Report Reveals Myths of 9/11 By DR. THOMAS D. PHELAN The 9/11 Commission Report is must reading for those of us involved in BCP and DR. I picked up my copy the day it came out and read it on the plane crossing to and from New York to Manchester, England. In the days following its publication, the “rest of the story” began to surface in many, less-widely published, first-hand accounts which I found fascinating and pertinent to my practice in emergency preparedness and disaster recovery planning. The most fascinating was an interview in the Utica Observer-Dispatch regarding the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) military air traffic control center at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY. On page 20 of the 9/11 Commission Report, the exchange between the FAA Boston Center Traffic Management Unit and NEADS at Griffiss is reported. This is the section containing the now famous words from the NEADS air traffic controller, Tech. Sgt. Jeremy W. Powell, “Is this real-world or exercise?” What the 9/ll Commission Report failed to include was the situation prompting that question. As BCP/DR professionals, we are all familiar with exercises designed to test our recovery plans. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, NEADS had scheduled an exercise known as “Vigilant Guardian.” At the precise moment of the FAA call, several NEADS personnel were standing around, exchanging friendly conversation in anticipation of the start of the exercise when the call came in. What would you have said? Is this call the start of the exercise? In addition to this shaky start to the most horrendous event to impact the emergency response in our lifetimes, there were more problems soon to frustrate the air traffic controllers. On a radar screen, an aircraft with a functional transponder is easily recognizable and easily tracked. But in the case of the three hijacked aircraft on Sept. 11, the hijackers had turned off the transponders. According to William B. Scott of Aviation Week: “Back at the NEADS Operations Center, identification technicians were sorting thousands of green dots on their radar scopes, looking for American Flight 11. Since terrorists had turned off the Boeing 767’s transponder, FAA controllers could only tell NEADS technicians where the flight had last been seen. The NEADS radar screens showed ‘primary’ or ‘skin-paint’ returns, the raw radar pulses reflected from an aircraft’s surface.” This makes identification a multi-step process and adds time to the response. So, the process by which information from the FAA was received, analyzed and passed on to enlist military aircraft support was indeed hampered on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Why should this be of concern to BCP/DR professionals? The close-up and personal details of a crisis situation can get clouded, if not lost, in the reports that are issued, especially if those reports are delayed for months following the incident. It should caution all of us to pay close attention to documentation of an event. Our records need to be accurate and need to be created as the event unfolds. The investigation, whether it be by a special commission or an insurance adjuster will attempt to put our actions under a microscope. One such topic, one which should not be left to chance, is the partnerships that come into play during a disaster and the period following. As I compose this column, the hurricane relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley in Florida involves vendors partnering with Gov. Jeb Bush’s staff to set up small business assistance centers. This assistance is helpful because small business needs deeper understanding which private-sector partners can provide. In the 9/11 Commission Report, attention was drawn to the role of private-sector civilians as “first responders.” On page 317, the commission reports, “The ‘first’ first responders on 9/11, as in most catastrophes, were private-sector civilians. Because 85 percent of our nation’s critical infrastructure is controlled not by government but by the private sector, private-sector civilians are likely to be the first responders in any future catastrophes.” Furthermore, when commenting on the importance of standards such as NFPA 1600, the commission stated, “The experience of the private sector in the World Trade Center emergency demonstrated the need for these standards. Private-sector preparedness is not a luxury; it is a cost of doing business in the post-9/11 world. It is ignored at a tremendous potential cost in lives, money, and national security.” PPBI has updated and revised its course material to include important references to the 9/11 Commission Report and other assessments of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. We believe PPBI can best serve its members and course participants by using real examples from the trenches to enhance the best practices we include in our course materials. rivate/Public partnerships making valuable
contributions are of great interest to us. Please let us know of your
involvement with successful partnerships by contacting us at PPBIMail@twcny.rr.com
or at DRJ. Dr. Thomas D. Phelan is president of Strategic Teaching Associates, Inc., a founding member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and training coordinator for PPBI. He is also a member of the DRJ Editorial Advisory Board. ©Copyright 2005 Systems Support Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without the express written permission of System Support Inc. is prohibited.
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