Team 8 Work Paper GSA-001

May 30, 2003

SUBJECT: FAA Air Traffic Control (ATC) Advisories

ATTACHMENT: Spread Sheet

1. Summary. Attached sheet depicts the universe of ATC advisories issued by the
FAA and selected Canadian advisories. Information important to the 9/11 story is
bolded in red. The first ground stop advisory, for New York, was issued at 0908
EDT. A Boston ground stop advisory followed at 0926 EDT, followed
immediately by a Washington D.C. area ground stop at 0929 EDT. Concurrent
with the latter a national emergency ground stop was issued for all departures, all
airports. [Note, this is all before AA77 flies into the Pentagon] At 1106 EDT by
order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports/airdromes are not
authorized for landing and takeoff. At 1918 EDT FAA convened a user hotline
conference to determine what airplanes were where, on the ground, and to begin
discussion of opening of airports.
2. FAA issued 45 advisories that day; the first one to concern hijacking events was
#27. According to an FAA-commissioned study published March 6, 2000
(Traffic Flow Management: ATC Coordinator's Information Requirements for the
NAS), FAA issues as many as 150 advisories on any given day. According to the
same study, the ATCSCC Advisory system "supplies the airlines with a list of
NAS [National Air Space] restrictions. These advisories are transmitted system-
wide in the form of text messages that appear in a text window on the airline's
proprietary flight management system. The advisories can be copied, printed,
forwarded, and deleted. At most airlines, advisories are copied into the daily log
and printed."
3. The reference study was commission to "examine the communication structure
and information requirements of personnel directly involved in managing the flow
of air traffic within the NAS." Interestingly, among all the potentialities for air
space managment discussed—weather, airport closures, traffic density, etc—there
was no discussion or consideration of hijacking, pirating, or passenger
intervention such as attempting to enter the cockpit.
4. Team 8 provides this work paper as piece of the 9/11 puzzle, a piece relevant to
Teams 7 and 9, but of interest to all teams, generally. The paper is intended as a
stand alone document based on information provided by FAA in response to a
document request.

Drafter: Miles Kara

 Air Traffic Control System Command Center
Advisories Issued 9/11/01
Number Z Time EOT Details
USA
001 0022 102022
002 0031 102031
003 0044 102044
004 0049 100049
005 0054 100054
006 0058 102058
007 0116 102116
008 0121 102121
009 0124 102124
010 0127 102127
011 0216 102206
012 0250 102250
013 0318 102318
014 0357 102357
015 0749 0349
016 0906 0506
017 0911 0511
018 0934 0514
019 1010 0610
020 1014 0614
021 1115 0715
022 1127 0727
023 1128 0728
024 1142 0742
025 1200 0800
026 1256 0856
027 1308 0908 Ground Stop ZNY Ground Stop, all flights arriving or transiting ZNY

028 1319 0913

029 1326 0926 Bos [Boston] Ground Stop
030 1329 0929 IAD/BWI/DCA/ZDC [Wash area] Ground Stop System Emergency
031 1329 0929 Ground Stop All Departures, all airports, all facilities Due to National
Emergency
032 1331 0931 LAX/ZLA (Los Angeles) Ground Stop
033 1338 0938 SFP/ZOA (San Francisco) Ground Stop
034 1417 1017 User Hotline activation. ATCSCC has activated the user hotline as a means of
rapid information flow.
035 1457 1057
036 1506 1106 FDC Special Notice. By order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all
airports/airdromes are not authorized for landing and takeoff. All traffic
including airborne aircraft are encouraged to land shortly, including all
helicopter traffic. Aircraft involved in firefighting in the Northwest US are
excluded. Please read this notice over the emergency frequenceies, and VOR
voice.
037 1645 1245 Request to Utilize the National Airspace System, ATCSCC advises all requests
for medical emergency, military, law enforcement or other absolutely essential
flight clearnaces in the continental Untied States are to be made through your
servicing FAA ARTCC on an individual basis.
038 1659 1259 Part II of above advisory
 Air Traffic Control System Command Center
Advisories Issued 9/11/01
039 1746 1346 All military flights requesting to depart are requested to forward their requests
through military channels
040 1757 1357 Updates Advisory #038
041 1830 1430 Requests to use the national airspace system, servicing FAA ARTCC's are
authorized to release medical emergency, military, and law enforcement flights
into the National Airspace System
042 2014 1614
043 2130 1730 Replaces #41, same information
044 2318 1918 User hotline/conference activation. Airline representatives should have
following information available and be prepared to discuss following issues:
How many diverted flights their companies have? Locations of their diverted
flights: Priority of recovery? Minimum number and identity of airports
considered necessary to resume operations? Priority of airport openings?
Security plans call for all airports to undergo a security check. Security issues
may vary at different airports and not all airports will be available when NAS
operations resume. Airports being used in conjunction with emergency
recovery will have reduced AAR's.
045 2318 1918 Coprrection to above, changes phone numbers
CANADA
Montreal 002 1420 1020 Ground Stop, at CZM request all Canadian departures destined CZM CZQ are
ground stopped [CZM=Montreal, CZQ=Quebec]
Toronto 001 155 1002155 Reference NOT AM PAZA A0208/01 , Due to Russian military activity -flight is
prohibited between [certain locations], effective 9/11/01 to 9/15/01

Toronto 003 1248 0848 Users are advised that Toronto 001 was issued in error. Users are to refer to
NOTAM PAZA A0208/01 for correct information
Toronto 004 1308 0908 All A/C from CZY destined to New York area are ground stopped UFN.
Toronto 005 1344 0944 A A/C destined to/or through USA are ground stopped UFN. A/C airborne clear
of American airspace will land ASAP outside of continental USA

Totonto 007 1443 1043 Ground Stop. Ottawa has implemented a ground stop for all IFR7VFR traffic
throughout the country until further notice.