Phantom Flight 11: Source found!

[Woody Box]

Thank you, Vanity Fair!

Finally, we know how Phantom Flight 11 - the one who was still airborne after the North Tower hit - entered the reality.

The 9/11 Commission Report was not able to solve the mystery: "The mention of a "third aircraft" was not a reference to American 77. There was confusion at that moment in the FAA. Two planes had struck the World Trade Center, and Boston Center had heard from FAA headquarters in Washington that American 11 was still airborne. We have been unable to identify the source of this mistaken FAA information."

Psst, Mr. Kean, Mr. Hamilton: just read the Vanity Fair article on the NORAD tapes! The source was Colin Scoggins, military liaison at Boston Center:

It's a mistake, of course. American 11 was, indeed, the plane that hit the first tower. The confusion will persist for hours, however. In Boston, it is Colin Scoggins who has made the mistaken call.

"When we phoned United , they confirmed that United 175 was down, and I think they confirmed that within two or three minutes," Scoggins, the go-to guy at Boston Center for all things military, later told me. "With American Airlines, we could never confirm if it was down or not, so that left doubt in our minds."

An unwieldy conference call between F.A.A. centers had been established, and Scoggins was monitoring it when the word came across—from whom or where isn't clear—that American 11 was thought to be headed for Washington. Scoggins told me he thinks that the problem started with someone overheard trying to confirm from American whether American 11 was down—that somewhere in the flurry of information zipping back and forth during the conference call this transmogrified into the idea that a different plane had hit the tower, and that American 11 was still hijacked and still in the air. The plane's course, had it continued south past New York in the direction it was flying before it dipped below radar coverage, would have had it headed on a straight course toward D.C. This was all controllers were going on; they were never tracking an actual plane on the radar after losing American 11 near Manhattan, but if it had been flying low enough, the plane could have gone undetected. "After talking to a supervisor, I made the call and said is still in the air, and it's probably somewhere over New Jersey or Delaware heading for Washington, D.C.," Scoggins told me.

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

Mr. Kean, Mr. Hamilton: You have interviewed Mr. Scoggins and quoted him several times in your report. Why didn't you ask him about the Phantom Flight 11?

You asked him? And he didn't tell you the story he told to Vanity Fair? That's pretty odd. I hope this will not lead to legal consequences for Mr. Scoggins.

But...I'm not so sure the problem is really solved...

'cause the existence of Phantom Flight 11 is confirmed later by NMCC deputy director Charles Leidig:

Inside the NMCC, the deputy director for operations called for an all-purpose "significant event" conference. It began at 9:29, with a brief recap: two aircraft had struck the World Trade Center, there was a confirmed hijacking of American 11, and Otis fighters had been scrambled. The FAA was asked to provide an update, but the line was silent because the FAA had not been added to the call. A minute later, the deputy director stated that it had just been confirmed that American 11 was still airborne and heading toward D.C. He directed the transition to an air threat conference call. NORAD confirmed that American 11 was airborne and heading toward Washington, relaying the erroneous FAA information already mentioned. The call then ended, at about 9:34.

9/11 CR, page 37

So what's up now? Did Phantom Flight 11 exist or not? And what's up with Colin Scoggins? Has he problems with his memory?

More evidence on Phantom Flight 11 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x47725