Delta 1989 – Additions to the 9/11 Timeline as of August 17, 2009
Most of the new entries in the last week have concerned the "red herring" Delta 1989, which was a suspected hijack in the day of 9/11, but was never taken over by terrorists. Shortly after the hijacking of United 93, both Delta 1989 and other aircraft had to turn to avoid the hijacked airliner, and, shortly after the Pentagon was hit, Delta Air Lines ordered the plane to land in Cleveland, but did not tell the FAA. The pilot then changed course and failed to respond to an FAA message, causing the FAA to think it may be a hijack. However, when the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) told the FAA the Delta plane was a confirmed hijack at 9:45 a.m., an FAA controller disagreed. Delta Air Lines reported four missing planes around 9:50 a.m., the same time as Cleveland airport and city buildings started to be evacuated. The pilot's failure to use a standard aviation term shortly after 10:00 a.m. made controllers suspicious, but SWAT teams and the FBI finally allowed passengers off the plane around noon.
There are also several entries about fighters being scrambled from non-alert bases, such as an unsuccessful attempt by NEADS to launch planes from Minnesota after 9:40 a.m. NEADS also contacted Selfridge Air Force Base to get unarmed jets sent after either Delta 1989 or United 93 just before 10:00 a.m., but the planes ended up returning to base instead. Pilots in Toledo originally through a NEADS request they launch was a joke, but were in the air at 10:17 a.m.
In addition to the Delta 1989 entries, there are two more about the Langley jets that took off at 9:30; they were initially given an incorrect heading, flying east instead of north, and were not immediately redirected.
Finally, nearly three years before the 7/7 London bombings, British counterterrorism officials discussed a possible terrorist attack against the London underground.
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