Delta 1989 transcript + flight 93 UA

Delta 1989 : Timeline
inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1008

8 :05 Delta 1989 pushes back from the gate at Boston Logan Airport.
(Woody Box).

8:25 Delta 1989 takes off (two minutes after UA 175).

(Woody Box)

Shortly after 9 :03 “FBI agents called an air traffic facility in Ohio
that was tracking Flight 1989. Watch what the Delta flight does, agents
told controllers at Cleveland Center. Controllers there had already been
watching. Like the FBI, they realized that the Delta flight had taken
off from Boston just minutes after American Flight 11 and United Flight
175 — the two jets that crashed into the Trade Center towers. The
similarities didn't end there.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

9 :15 “Aboard Delta Flight 1989, Capt. Paul Werner learns of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks from his cockpit radio.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

9 :28 UA 93 : The attack of the hijackers begins. “While travelling
35,000 feet above eastern Ohio, United 93 suddenly dropped 700 feet.
Eleven seconds in the descent, the FAA’s air traffic control center
received the first of two radio transmissions from the aircraft. During
the first broadcast, the captain or first officer could be heard
declaring “Mayday” amid the sound of physical struggle in the cockpit.
The second radio transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated that the
fight was continuing. The captain or first officer could be heard
shouting: “Hey, get out of here – get out of here – get out of here.”
(CR, 11)

Delta 1989: “Now about 9:30 a.m., controllers hear words that seem to
confirm their worst fears. They hear shouting as Flight 1989 approaches
the Ohio border. Then they hear a voice: "Get out of there!" Then what
sounds like a scuffle.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

My comment: This is exactly the same sounds as for UA 93.

At first, they wondered if the struggle was coming from Delta 1989.
"The controller asks the transmission to repeat itself, not knowing
exactly what you had heard," Kettell said. "We finally were able to
deduce... (which one) was the airplane not talking to us. That was
Flight 93."
(Akron Beacon Journal, 8/14/02)

"After the second struggle, we were pretty sure we had a problem on
Flight 93, but we were also still watching Flight 1989," he said.

(Akron Beacon Journal, 8/14/02)

O'BRIEN: At first, they suspected it was Delta 1989, and their fears
grew when it asked to land in Cleveland. As it turns out, the crew was
ordered to land by the airline.

(CNN, 9/8/02)

9 :32 UA 93 : Jarrah’s announcement : « Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the
captain,

please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So,
sit.” (CR, 12)

Delta 1989: “Minutes later, a new voice, this one with a heavy accent:
"Ladies and gentlemen, here it's the captain. Please sit down. Keep
remaining sitting. We have a bomb aboard."

No one who hears those words believes they are coming from Werner. Not
with such a heavy accent. No way. Rather, the transmission seems to be
from a hijacker who unwittingly spoke over the radio when he meant to
address passengers.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

My comment: This are exactly the same sounds and words as from UA 93.

9:34 UA 93: Herndon Command Center advises FAA headquarters that UA 93
is hijacked. (CR, 33)

“Officials at Cleveland Center rush word to Washington: Hijackers have
another flight.

At the Federal Aviation Administration's command center in Herndon, Va.,
Delta Flight 1989 joins a growing list of suspicious jets.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

My comment: This is in clear contradiction to the CR.

9 :36 Controllers order Delta to go away from UA 93 :

Controller #3: (From tape) Delta 1989, that traffic for you is 11
o'clock and 15 miles southbound 41, climbing, looks like he's turning
east, flight heading 3-6-zero.

(ABC, 11/15/01)

“When controllers ordered Werner to change course to avoid Flight 93, he
had complied quickly. /Yes, Delta Flight 1989 must be fine.”/

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

“Cleveland Center asked Command Center specifically whether someone had
requested the military to launch fighter aircraft to intercept United 93.”

(Federal News Service, 6/17/04)

9:39 UA 93: “FAA’s Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center overheard
a second announcement indicating that there was a bomb on board, that
the plane was returning to the airport, and that they should remain
seated.” (CR, 12)

My comment: I didn’t find any account that also the second announcement
was believed to have come from Delta 1989. So why didn’t the 9:39
announcement once again stress the fact that UA 93 was hijacked and not
Delta 1989?

9:41 UA 93: Transponder is turned off. (CR, 33)

9:41 Boston Center called NEADS and identified Delta 1989 as a possible
hijack.

NEADS warned FAA’s Cleveland Center to watch Delta 1989.

(CR, 28)

The FAA's Herndon Command Center and FAA Headquarters were watching it too.

(Federal News Service, 6/17/04)

My comment: The transponder of UA 93 is turned off and Delta is assumed
to be hijacked???

Time ? “The Delta flight wants to land in Cleveland? And the captain's
request comes before he can know that the FAA wants every flight down.
On this day, the fact that the pilot requests to be rerouted before he
is ordered to land seems suspicious. /Why the urgency?/

Controllers don't know that Delta officials, also concerned about the
flight, have ordered Werner to land in Cleveland. They continue to send
messages to Werner. In code, they ask him if all is OK. Yes, he responds
time and again. He doesn't know why they're so worried.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

9:44 “NORAD briefed the conference on the possible hijacking of Delta
Flight 1989.”

(Federal News Service, 6/17/04)

9:46 “The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the Vice
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that they were still
trying to track down the secretary and vice chairman, and bring them
into the conference. The chairman was out of the country.”

(Federal News Service, 6/17/04)

9:48 “A representative from the underground shelter at the White House
asked

if there were any indications of another hijacked aircraft. The NMCC
deputy director for operations mentioned the Delta flight and concluded,
quote, "that would be the fourth possible hijack."

(Federal News Service, 6/17/04)

My comment: Nobody is talking of UA 93!

Before 10:00 (estimation) “And now, preparing for landing, Werner has
more important things to worry about. He was too close to Cleveland when
he got the order to land. So he loops back, over Michigan, and heads
toward the city.

As the jet begins its descent, another message comes through. Busy,
Werner fails to respond.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

10:00 As a precaution, the tower at Cleveland Hopkins "went to a minimum
staffing level" as the Delta flight landed. (Woody Box. Is this time an
estimation?)

Ms. TAYLOR: They're evacuating the city of Cleveland. They're evacuating
the Center as we're all doing all this, too.

(NBC, 9/11/02)

Time unknown “The airport also was evacuated, the mayor said.”

(AP, 9/11/01 g)

“Cleveland police blocked off all entrances to the airport terminal, and
bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to the baggage pickup areas.”
(AP, 9/11/01 f)

One account precises:

“After the plane landed, the airport was closed and bomb-sniffing dogs
were brought to baggage pickup areas.”

(AP, 9/11/01 e)

10:10 Delta made an emergency landing in Cleveland. (Woody Box)

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

“Delta, he (Cleveland FBI Special Agent Robert Hawk) said, told the
Federal Aviation Administration there was a problem with the flight.

”Delta spokeswoman Cindi Kurczewski declined comment.”

(Plain Dealer, 9/12/01)

“Cleveland Mayor Michael White said at a news conference this morning
that a Boeing 767 out of Boston made an emergency landing at Cleveland
Hopkins International Airport because of fears a bomb was aboard.”

(Akron Beacon, 9/11/01)

(NBC, 9/11/01 11:00)

(ABC, 9/11/01 11:00)

(AP, 9/11/01 g)

10:30 “On a remote taxiway at Hopkins International Airport in
Cleveland, Delta Flight 1989 is quarantined.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

Time unknown “A SWAT team and bomb unit were at the scene.”

(AP, 9/11/01 f)

10:45 Flight X made an emergency landing in Cleveland. (Woody Box)

(Akron Beacon, 9/11/01)

“The airport released no information about the plane's intended
destination. Normally, planes of this size do not land at Hopkins.”

(AP, 9/11/01 f)

“The plane landed about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday with 78 passengers aboard,
airport officials said.”

(AP, 9/11/01 e)

11:00 “In a televised news conference at 11, Mayor Michael R. White
first said there was an unconfirmed report that the plane might have
been hijacked or was carrying a bomb. But in the middle of the news
conference, he reported that it had not been hijacked, and later in the
day he said no bomb had been found.
White's office later said that the plane landed as a precaution.

(Plain Dealer, 9/12/01)

Time unknown “Meanwhile, White said a second airplane in distress had
passed through Cleveland airspace Tuesday morning before being handed
off to Toledo.

Officials at Toledo Express Airport did not immediately have any
information about the plane.”

(AP, 9/11/01 e)

(Akron Beacon, 9/11/01)

11:15 Evacuation of the passengers from Flight X begins. (Woody Box)

“The 200 passengers were reportedly released from the plane at 11:15
a.m., though White said the pilot was still concerned that a bomb remained.”

(Akron Beacon, 9/11/01)

12:30 Evacuation of the passengers from Delta 1989 begins. (Woody Box)

“For two hours, passengers and crew will stay aboard the jet.
Cautiously, federal investigators will talk with Capt. Werner through an
open cockpit window. Finally, they will board the flight and interview
its passengers and crew.”

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

“The plane sat on airport property between the terminal, the NASA Glenn
Research Center and the International Exposition Center for about two
hours. About 12:30 p.m. baggage cars and shuttle buses approached the
plane. The 69 passengers and nine crew members then walked down a
portable staircase and onto the buses, which took them to FAA
headquarters nearby.”

(Plain Dealer, 9/12/01)

Info: NEADS never lost track of Delta 1989, and even ordered fighter
aircraft from Ohio and Michigan to intercept it. The flight never turned
off its transponder.
NEADS soon learned that the aircraft was not hijacked, and tracked Delta
1989 as it reversed course over Toledeo, headed east, and landed in
Cleveland. (CR, 28)

Therefore we can also conclude that Delta 1989 didn’t divert from its
flight path until being over Toledo.

My comment: Why is Delta the only flight where apparently the air
defence worked?

Several evacuations are surrounding UA 93 and Delta 1989:

“Later that tense day, after most planes had landed, Oberlin police
warned the center of a small plane still flying and headed toward the
center. That warning resulted in a brief evacuation except for essential
employees. Kettell said that plane simply flew past and was never
identified.”

(AP, 8/13/02)

“As a precaution, the tower at Cleveland Hopkins "went to a minimum
staffing level" as the Delta flight landed. The plane taxied to a safe
area. Passengers remained on the jet for several hours as security
officials inspected the plane.

The Pittsburgh FAA facility also was evacuated as Flight 93 approached.

[…]
After the plane crashed, a small aircraft was spotted flying over the
city of Oberlin, Kettell said. "I made a decision to evacuate the
facility except for a bare minimum staffing," he said. That plane
eventually landed at an airport north of Oberlin, he said.”

(Akron Beacon, 8/14/02)

General comment:

Why does the Commission not mention the bomb that was believed to have
been aboard Delta 1989?

Why does the Commission not mention the evacuation of Cleveland tower,
airport and city?

Why does the Commission not explain the reason why Delta was believed to
have been hijacked?

Why does the Commission not explain why FAA and NORAD seem to have
worked perfectly for Delta but not for UA 93?

URL:

Woody Box’s « Cleveland Airport Mystery »

inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=323

(USA Today, 8/13/02)

www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-08-13-clear-skies.htm

(CNN, 9/8/02)