Chapter 1 "We Have Some Planes" Summary and Analysis

This chapter paints a vivid, minute-by-minute portrait of what occurred on the four hijacked aircraft on the morning of September 11. It then analyzes the response of political, military and aviation officials to the unfolding crisis.

Using information from cockpit voice recorders, cell phone calls from flight attendants and passengers, reconstructions of radar data, radio transmissions from pilots of other aircraft and air traffic controllers and some conjecture on the part of the Commission, the report produces a picture of a seemingly routine day for American aviation gone horribly wrong - all in little more than one hour. September 11, 2001, dawned as a cloudless, picture-perfect day in the eastern United States - weather that promised an uneventful day for pilots. The hijackers arrive at their designated airports and submit to the normal security...