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Norad and September 11

Broadcast Date: Sept. 11, 2002

The watchful eyes of Norad have peered outward for more than four decades. On Sept. 11, 2001, the attack comes from within. Commercial airliners flying over domestic airspace become devastating bombs, and Norad is caught looking the wrong way. Canadian Maj.- Gen. Rick Findley was the highest-ranking officer inside Norad's Cheyenne Mountain complex when the planes started crashing. One year later, he sits down with CBC's Kathleen Petty to talk about how one day changed everything.

Norad and September 11

• American air defence procedures — including Norad — were roundly criticized for failing to adequately respond to the Sept. 11 hijackings. In June 2004, a report from the 9/11 Commission said that at least one of the hijacked planes could have been intercepted if officials had been better prepared. Commission chair Philip Zelikow criticized the wasted minutes between the time air traffic controllers realized the planes had been hijacked and the time Norad ordered fighter jets to intercept them.

• Communications had to go through several layers of civilian aviation command before Norad could be notified. "On the morning of 9/11, the existing protocol was unsuited in every respect for what was about to happen," Zelikow said. "What ensued was the hurried attempt to create an improvised defence by officials who had never encountered or trained against the situation they faced."

• The plane that crashed into the Pentagon flew undetected for 36 minutes after veering off course. F-16 fighters were scrambled out of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia (not from the nearer Andrews Air Force Base) but were still 12 minutes away when the airliner hit the Pentagon. The sole military aircraft that reached the airliner in time was an unarmed cargo plane.

• Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Norad has shifted its focus to include domestic airspace. Reconnaissance planes randomly orbit large cities, and the number of bases ready to scramble fighter jets has more than tripled. Ominously, Norad officials now say the order to shoot down a domestic jetliner no longer needs to come directly from the U.S. president, but has been "delegated."

Norad and September 11

Medium: Television

Program: CBC Television News Special

Broadcast Date: Sept. 11, 2002

Guest(s): Rick Findley

Host: Peter Mansbridge
Reporter: Kathleen Petty

Duration: 4:01

Last updated:
Dec. 23, 2004