Quote:
Originally Posted by mdbapa
There was something like 20 minutes from the first jet hitting, the second jet, and some time later the pentagon was hit. Why Pres. Bush sat in that stupid classroom for 15 minutes after being informed of the attack is beyond my understanding.
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It is true that NORAD only looked outward before 911 which meant that final guidance to anything within the continental US had to be done by ATC which is far less experienced in that sort of thing. Now they look inward and outward. Before 911, the only intercept done by NORAD over US soil was the intercept of Payne Stewart's jet. That intercept took over an hour and a half. Some sources quote it as an hour shorter but they ignore the time change from Eastern to Central in the official report which adds an hour to the overall time. Also it should be noted that once the plane was intercepted, it was done with an unarmed plane that was already airborne for a training mission. It was even longer before an armed plane dedicated to air defense could get to the jet.