Chris Stephenson, 44, controller-in-charge at Reagan National Airport tower
After the second jet hit the Trade Center, the airport tower that overlooks the Washington Monument and the Capitol from across the Potomac River was roiling with activity.
Stephenson's initial concern was following FAA orders to halt takeoffs. He stopped takeoffs for flights headed toward New York, then Boston. Within a few minutes, no one was allowed to take off.
About this time, someone from American Airlines telephoned. "We don't want any of our airplanes going airborne," the caller said. "Send them back to the gate."
"I just told them, 'Nobody's going anywhere,'" Stephenson said.
About 9:30, the phone that connects his tower to the Secret Service rang. A voice on the other end said an unidentified aircraft was speeding toward Washington. Stephenson looked at the radarscope and saw that the jet was about five miles to the west.
The airplane was completely out of place. "I knew what had just happened in New York. I had a pretty good idea what was up," he said.
He looked out the tower window and saw the jet turning to the right and descending. The jet did a full circle and whoever was flying knew what he was doing. The wings never rocked or oscillated, Stephenson said.
The jet disappeared behind a building in nearby Crystal City, Va., and exploded into the Pentagon. A fireball blew several hundred feet into the air. For several minutes, a huge cloud of debris — paper, insulation and pulverized building materials — hung in the air.
Stephenson and the others stood in stunned silence for several seconds. But then the phones started ringing again and they got back to shutting the airport down.
Doug Teach, 46, airline representative at the FAA's Herndon, Va., Command Center
The command center is where FAA officials oversee the air traffic system. Officials ordered the skies cleared from here on Sept. 11, and they also kept track of missing and suspicious aircraft. Aircraft that officials suspected were hijacked were placed on an erasable white board in the front of the room.
Teach was one of those assigned to find out whether the flights were actually hijacked or not. As each new report came in, he phoned airlines seeking information on the flights. One by one, he and others confirmed that jets on the board were actually fine.
"You'd just say a prayer and move on and hopefully there's no more," he said.
Just before 10 a.m., he heard that another jet was heading toward Washington. It was United Airlines Flight 93. By this time, a jet had already crashed into the Pentagon and there were reports that a bomb had exploded in Washington.
"I called my wife and said my peace with her," Teach said. "I told her I loved her and I loved my son. I didn't know what was going to happen."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-08-11-voices_x.htm
