Debunking Popular Mechanics:"NORAD and the No Stand Down Order"See my related article "Debunking Popular Mechanics Article '9/11 Myths, The Pentagon: Flight 77 Debris'”
http://letsroll911.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb...opic.php?t=5505Popular Mechanics first paragraph discusses NORAD responses. The second paragraph discusses FAA and NORAD radar coverage. In this article I will expose the lies and mistatements in the second paragraph.
Popular Mechanics “9/11: No Stand Down Order (second paragraph)”
| QUOTE |
| Why couldn't ATC find the hijacked flights? When the hijackers turned off the planes' transponders, which broadcast identifying signals, ATC had to search 4500 identical radar blips crisscrossing some of the country's busiest air corridors. And NORAD's sophisticated radar? It ringed the continent, looking outward for threats, not inward. "It was like a doughnut," Martin says. "There was no coverage in the middle." Pre-9/11, flights originating in the States were not seen as threats and NORAD wasn't prepared to track them. |
Transponder & Flight Timeline
• American Airlines took off at 7:59 AM from Boston Logan. The transponder stopped transmitting at 8:21 AM at the edge of an area that has no primary radar coverage (see Technical Notes). It crashed into WTC 1 at 8:46 AM.
• United Airlines 175 175 took off at 8:14 AM from Boston Logan. The transponder code was changed twice at 8:47 AM and then stopped transmitting. UA 175 remains within primary radar coverage during its entire flight until crashing into WTC 2. Note that United Airlines flight 93 crosses the path of UA 175 and are within visual sight of each other at 8:47 AM. It crashed into WTC 2 at 9:03 AM.
• American Airlines 77 took off at 8:20 AM from Washigton Dulles. AA 77 transponder stopped transmitting at 8:56 AM and disappears from radar since it is not in a primary radar coverage area, only secondary radar coverage. At 9:32 AM, controllers at the Dulles Terminal Radar Approach Control "observed a primary radar target tracking eastbound at a high rate of speed." AA 77 entered an area with no primary radar coverage at 8:39 AM and re-entered radar coverage before 8:56. It crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 AM. AA 77 was off the radar scopes from 8:56 – 9:32 AM, a total of 36 minutes.
• United Airlines 93 took off from Newark Liberty at 8:42 AM. FAA informs NORAD at 9:16 AM it may have been hijacked. UA 93 transponder stopped transmitting at 9:41 AM in an area with no primary radar coverage. After a review of radar tapes, a primary radar signal is detected at 10:02 AM near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At 10:04 AM Johnstown-Cambria County airport reports the plane is 15 miles south and coming fast. It crashed near Shanksville at 10:06 AM. UA 93 was off the radar scopes from 9:41 – 10:02 AM, a total of 21 minutes.
Technical Notes
Primary radar is what most people think of when radar is discussed. This is the radar return (“blip”) caused by transmitting radio waves, bouncing them off an object (a plane) and receiving the rebounding radio waves.
Secondary radar interrogates a plane’s transponder, asking “What is your FAA-assigned flight code and altitude?” This information is received, matched to the radar return (“blip”) generated by primary radar and shown on the air traffic controller’s radar scope next to the blip as a 4-digit code number, plus the altitude.
When a transponder is turned off or stops functioning, the 4-digit code and altitude information will not be presented with the blip on the air traffic controller’s radar scope. As long as the aircraft is within primary radar range, the controller will see the blip – but not the code and altitude information.
ATC Had To Search 4500 Identical Radar Blips: A Huge Lie
| QUOTE |
| … ATC had to search 4500 identical radar blips crisscrossing some of the country's busiest air corridors. |
All commercial and private aircraft are required to have a transponder which transmits a 4-digit code that is assigned by the FAA for each flight. Private pilots flying under visual flight rules (VFR) use code 1200. Transmitting only the 4-digit code is called Mode A. All commercial flights are required to transmit their altitutde, which is calculated automatically by the aircraft’s systems. Many private flights also have this requirement depending on their flight plan. This is called Mode C, which is a combination of Mode A plus altitude information.
FAA air traffic control (ATC) had to search for only three radar blips that did not show the 4-digit codes and altitude information on the radar scopes – flights 175, 77 and 93.
• Until AA 11 crashed into WTC 1 at 8:46 AM there was no indication that an attack was in progress – only that AA 11 apparently had been hijacked at 8:26 AM.
• UA 175 stopped transmitting at 8:47 AM (becaming an unidentifed blip) and crashed into WTC 2 at 9:03 AM. However, ATC knew that it was UA 175.
• AA 77 stopped transmitting at 8:56 AM and disappears from radar until 9:32 AM. ATC could only guess that it was AA 77 when it appeared on radar scopes at 9:32 AM. It crashed into the the Pentagon at 9:37 AM.
• UA 93 stopped transmitting at 9:41 AM and reappeared at 10:02 AM It crashed near Shanksville at 10:06 AM.
At no time was there more than one unidentified blip. It is absolutely clear that the following statement is blatant lie: “…ATC had to search 4500 identical radar blips crisscrossing some of the country's busiest air corridors.”
Did Hijackers Turn Off The Transponders?
The transponder code is easily set or changed in the cockpit. There is no proof that hijackers turned off the transponders, only that this is assumed. Three alternative possibilities are presented for information purposes:
1) Transponders turned off by the original crews, as part of the NORAD mass hijacking exercise that was occuring exactly at the same time as the 9/11 attacks. These existence of these exercises have been documented in the testimony by General Ralph Eberhart, NORAD commander, during testimony with the 9/11 Commission; plus there is other evidence of the existence of these “wargames”. Six of the eight crewmembers were ex-military pilots with combat experience. The theory is that these crewmembers were voluntarily participating in a national security exercise.
2) Transponders were not turned off, but became out of range from FAA secondary radar, when the planes flew into areas not covered by secondary radar. Secondary radar is used only with transponders and has a greater range than primary radar.* Three of the four flights flew into, or very close to, some of the few areas not covered by FAA or NORAD radar in the northeast USA. Only Flight 11 did not enter an area not covered by radar. Remember that only Flight 11 did not turn off its transponder. It has been proven that Flights 175, 77 and 93 entered or came very close to areas of no radar coverage. It is not possible to prove 100% if these flights were out of secondary radar coverage without conducting extensive physical tests.
3) Transponders were turned off by remote control or were pre-set to turn off automatically. Boeing 757s and 767s have identical avionic and electronic systems, many of which can be completely controlled by remote control or pre-set for automatic control.
This is not only a complete fabrication, but the wording “ATC had to search 4500 identical radar blips crisscrossing some of the country's busiest air corridors” implies there was a master control room with one big radar scope showing every flight in the country. There are several hundred radar scopes in operation across the country, each managing one section of airspace and a number of flights.
FAA air traffic control did have a huge problem ensuring that additional flights had not been hijacked, that all aircraft were under proper control and arranging for all flights to land when it was ordered to ground all flights. The immensity of this challenge cannot be understated and FAA performed very well.
NORAD Radar Coverage: Another Big Lie
From Popular Mechanics:
| QUOTE |
| And NORAD's sophisticated radar? It ringed the continent, looking outward for threats, not inward. "It was like a doughnut," Martin says. "There was no coverage in the middle." Pre-9/11, flights originating in the States were not seen as threats and NORAD wasn't prepared to track them. |
NORAD Radar Coverage & The Four Flights
This statement is generally correct, but is very disingenous. NORAD’s radar coverage does ring the continental United States and there is “no coverage in the middle”. However, the northeast USA has extensive coverage and the majority of the flight paths were within NORAD radar.
• AA 11: 100% within NORAD radar coverage from takeoff until crashing into WTC 1.
• UA 175: 100% within NORAD radar coverage from takeoff until crashing into WTC 1.
• AA 77: Approximately 25% of the flight path within NORAD radar coverage, split between takeoff from Dulles and the final approach into the Pentagon.
• UA 93: Approximately first 10-15% of its flight path within NORAD radar coverage after taking off from Newark.
NORAD & Internal Threats
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| Pre-9/11, flights originating in the States were not seen as threats and NORAD wasn't prepared to track them. |
Prior to 9/11, flights originating within the continental USA were generally not considered threats. The statement that NORAD wasn’t prepared to track them is completely false. NORAD tracks everything within their radar coverage – its their job.
Much of this article is based on the analysis “Holes in the Radar” by Frank Levi and Team +8. Outstanding research.
http://www.the-movement.com/Radar/Radar.htm