Why were these FAA regulations not followed immediately after the hijacked planes lost radio contact?
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has never explained why two routinely scrambled “anti-terror” interceptors on 15-minute strip alert at Andrews AFB just 10 miles from the Pentagon were held on the ground until after that target was struck. Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 12, 2001. Retired Maj. Gen. Larry K. Arnold, who was in charge of NORAD on Sept. 11, told a national inquiry last May it was “physically possible” for the Langley Falcons to have intercepted the Pentagon plane had they been activated earlier. The FAA knew Flight 77 had been hijacked at 8:55 a.m. But instead of following regulations and procedures used at least once a week to scramble fighters to escort wayward civil aircraft, the FAA did not notify NORAD until 9:24 a.m. Sources: AP Oct. 18, 2003; Boston Globe, Sept. 15, 2001. The first pair of F-15s launched from Otis AFB on Cape Cod were capable of exceeding 1,875 mph. But NORADs official timeline shows the heavily armed “Strike Eagles” flew
