BEGPRODNO : M-INT-O0125731

BEGBATES : 265A-NY-280350-302-107780
DATE = 12/19/2001
FBIDESCR : INTERVIEW
FULLTEXT : FD-302 (Rev. 10-6-95)

-1 -

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Date of transcription 12/19/2001

I Special Investigator and Firearms

Instructor, Firearms Training Unit, FBI Academy, was interviewed at
the Dulles International Airport. Also present for initial part of
the interview were Assistant United Stales Attorneys ROBERT
SPENCER, Eastern District of Virginia, KENNETH KARAS, Southern
District of New York, and DAVID J. NOVAK, EDVA, Richmond Division.
After being advised of the identities of the interviewing and
observation AgentsI 1 provided the following information:

KRAUSS escorted the interviewing Agents aboard a United

Airlines UA Boeing 757 for the purpose of a familiarization ,.
exercise. KRAUSS pointed out and described the functibhattty of
the Aircraft Communication and Reporting System ACARS, the Flight
Management Computers FMCs, the Inertial Reference Units IRUs,
the VOR, autopilot and communications systems of the plane. :;; .

Regarding the FMC, the flight path is programmed in the /^11 Law
FMC by either entering latitude and longitude coordinates or the / tnrorcemeni
three letter identifier for a specific navigation aid navaid or Privacy
airport. After the initial flight path has been entered in the /
GPS, anyone with some familiarity with the FMC system can easily /
modify the initial flight plan with onhy a few keystrokes. The /
commerical Boeing 737-300 series possesses an FMC which is similar /
to the 757 but commercial Boeing 727s do not have an FMC. /

Regarding GPS systems, KRAUSS advised that with a /

handheld GPS, one could travel to an area and obtain a way point /
to determine the coordinates for that particular place. The wave
points can then be used to manually fly the aircraft to the desired /
location. In addition by entering the latitude and longitude of
the wave point into the FMC, the pilot can program the aircraft to
fly to the wavepoint automatically by using the Autofiight System
AFS. For use in an aircraft, the FMC would require an antennae
and KRAUSS speculated that it probably would have been placed /
around the window near the Pilot. /

Regarding the VOR, a plane must be within approximately /

200 miles of the tower site to receive the radial beacon signal.
The VOR is an older navigational aid and is typically used as a /

Investigation on at
12/18/2001 Dulles International Airport

File # Date dictated /

265A.NY.2803SO-302 12/19/2001

by
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI
••••'••••••-•-'• and is loaneW to your agency;

September 4, 2003 2:13 pm Pa9e 1

 it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

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back up to land the plane in the event the electronic GPS aids are
not functioning. .

I loointed out the microphones from which records

sounds on the Cockpit Voice Recorder CVR. These microphones are
located above the Captain's head, in trie Pilots and First
Officer's radio headset, the Captain and First Officer's handheld
radio and in the Captain's and First Officer's oxygen masks. ..
Federal Aviation Administration FAA regulations dictate oxygen ::;;;
mask usage by the Pilot or the First Officer in the event the Pilot ::;:==;:> g/11 Law
or First Officer is alone in the cockpit at altitudes greater than .„„,,.•••;;:>" Enforcement
25,000 feet. FAA regulations further dictate that when a :;";: : ,
commercial airliner is flying at altitudes greater than 41,000 :::; :
feet, both the Captain and the First Officer are required to wear
an oxygen mask when in the cockpit. I, ... , Ircoted that oxygen mask
usage results in muffled voices and speculated that theoccurrence
of muffled voices on theGVR could be indicative of oxygen mask
usage.l I demonstrated the functionality of the aircraft's
radio and public address PA buttons. These buttons control with
whom the Captain or the First Officer speaks. Only one of the
buttons can be selected at a time. There are two sets of the
buttons. One set is for the Captain and the other is for the First
Officer. | |dld not believe that the hijacker pilot used the
Captain's headset because the headset probably would not have fit
him properly and would have been tossed aside. If the headset were
tossed aside, the CVR may reflect banging noises if the headset
impacted the walls of the cockpit.

A fire axe Is located behind the seat of the First

Officer near the floor. The First Officer sits on the right of the
cockpit while the Captain sits on the left. The fire axe is used to
break through panels to aid in the extinguishing of on-board fires
and is also used as an extrication tool for escape. Some Boeing
757s have two jumpseats in the cockpit while others only have one.

9/11 Classified Information

Cockpit keys are maintained by the Captain, the First

Officer and some Flight Attendants. Some Flight Attendants used to
carry the cockpit key on their security badge neck chains. Prior
to September 11,2001, a cockpit key was also maintained outside
the cockpit in the forward galley area.

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 265A-NY-280350-302

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I Idemonstrated the use of the ACARS system by

retrieving and displaying .several weather reports which had been
sent earlier in the day. The ACARS system is a VHP-based radio
system which is synchronized with Coordinated Universal Time UTC.
ACARS messages are received oh either the ACARS .display screen or a
small printer. I brinted out an example of a printed ACARS
message. This message was placed in a 1A envelope. A visual
indicator on the ACARS screen labeled "MSG" flashes when a message
is received. This indicator is difficult to see. Because the
indicator is difficult to see, critical messages are typically
forwarded to the printer which is more obvious to the Captain or
First Officer rather than to the display screen.

I Was provided access to the preliminary National ..

Traffic Safety Board NTSBUA 93 Flight Profile. Flight Data
Recorder FDR narrative, Altitude Profile graph and FDR graphs.
The full flight FDR graph reflected that at about 09:40, the ......... ""-.::; -,;-,.
altitude of the aircraft increased to over 40 OOP feet while the ............ N;: .
speed decreased to less than 200 knots. I l-noted-thata ........ :::::::::::::;;^h,,
potential stall of the aircraft might have occurred if the aircraft ;;;;.,--;;;:# 9/1 1 Law
snflari had decreased to less than 190 knots at tfiis altitude. , : / Enforcement
I Iclarifled that a stall in the engines would not have .>;: Privacy
occurred, however, "the wings would have stopped flying." :: /

The NTSB Final 6-minute FDR graph, Flight Profile and FDR .,-:7
narrative reflect that at about 10:00, a "sertes of control column : .
inputs caused the aircraft to pitch nose-up and nose-down . :>
aggressively" which caused the gravitational pull to range from 44
to -1 G. I hroied that the FDR graph only reflected
re tire
G. fojc& to -1 G and questioned whether the negative G
force was even measurable at a level greater than -tft.i I
speculated that UA flight 93 might have experienced negative G
force greater than -1 G. The Boeing 757 is rated for negative G
force up to -1 G. Any negative G force greater than -1 would have
unpredictable and potentially detrimental effects on the integrity
of the aircraft's structure. I [speculated that the UA flight
93 was probably "coming apart" if the negative G force of the
aircraft was greater than -1 G. ..

The Flight Plan Forecast contains weather briefings .and

might also contain previous pilot reports.

I I re viewed the UA ACARS log for UA flight 93 on

9/11/2001. The abbreviation EWR is the three letter identifier for
Newark International Airport. The abbreviation CHIDQ represents

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 the UA Dispatch in Chicago, IL. The abbreviation DTW is the three
letter identifier for Detroit International Airport. The
abbreviation JFKFOUA refers to the UA Flight Operations Office at
JFK International Airport. I fcnmmaritt>rt that the message sent
from UA flight 93 at 13:21 9:21 Eastern Time indicated that the
Captain had encountered occasional light chop and the wind was
290/50.| [surmised that the Captain could have delayed
allowing cabin movement due to the occasional light chop.

Regarding the message stating "Leroy, Melody wants to

make sure you are o.k. send me back a message" which was sent to
UA 93 from JFKFOUA at 13:22 9-22 ETI [commented that it is
unusual for messages of a personal nature to be forwarded on the
ACARS system. I loomed that it"w.as suspicious that Lerov did
not acknowledge receipt of that message because If hel I were
piloting an aircraft and received such a message, he would • \y respond. .

Regarding the ACARS message stating "HOWS THE WX, CAN

DISPATCH BE OF ANY ASSISTANCE?" sent by Chicago Dispatch at 13:36
9:36 ET, L___3stated that this message which appeared to be
inquiring about the weather was not a standard UA code, but that it
,appea«ed4o be.an attempt by the dispatcher to ascertain the status
of UA flight 93.

I l-evlewed the FAA radio communications transcript

for UA flight 93. C___jexpiiinetf ;yberty West. Franklin-R, and
Lorain-R are names given to aircraft control towers that have
responsibility for a specific geographic flight area. The ... \s opera

physical location sitting side by side. . Enforcement

Of particular interest on the FAA radio communications... / ^

transcript was a transmission at 9:35:36 in which Cleveland Tower
directed UA flight 93 "if able ah squawk trio please."! I QM *
...--•" I /'' ..--••""' y/i i
.,. ' I .....--;/•' Classified
=;^il' 1 , Information

•eviewed the VCR transcript of ExecuJet 956.

The Aeronautical Radio Incorporated ARINC relays radio

transmissions from aircraft to its respective home company
counterpart. ARINC allows United pilots and pilots of other
airlines to communicate via radio transmissions with their

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Continuation of FD-302 of | \ On 12/18/2001 , Page 5

respective corporate offices even though the aircraft is physically

located on the other side of the world.

The UA e-mail system is called UNIMATIC.

Robert Spielman is the UA Chief Pilot for the New York

Pilot domicile. Spielman could Identify the First Officers who

September 4, 2003 2:13 pm Page 4

 have flown with UA 93 Captain Jason Dahl. These First Officers
could provide information regarding Dahl's in-flight habits
including when he allowed Flight Attendants to begin food service,
when he allowed passengers to move around the cabin, his food and
beverage habits and if and where he allowed cockpit keys to be
located outside the cockpit.

A representative of UA In-Flight Services can provide

specifics-regarding UA93's in-flight service routines.

Several photographs were taken of the cockpit and First

Class and Coach sections of the plane. These photographs were
placed in 1A envelopes.

Copies of the preliminary NTSB UA 93 Flight Profile, NTSB

FDR narrative, NTSB Altitude Profile graph, NTSB FDR graphs, the
FAA Tower communications transcript and the ExecuJet 956 CVR
transcript were placed in a 1A envelope.

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