Kennedy Tower ATC Recording from September 11, 2001

9/11 ATC Recording
***Timeline of events in video****

3:30: somewhere around this time mark, American Airlines Flight 11, a B767-200 hijacked out of Boston crashes into the 1 World Trade Center North Tower. The time is 846am EST

3:42: TWA Flight 3 is cleared for takeoff. 10 minutes into their flight as they're climbing southwest-bound over New Jersey the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center will alert them they are are on a near course collision with the now erratically flying hijacked United Airlines Flight 175, a B767-200 also out Boston. The time is 846am EST

6:06: Newark Controller Richard Tepper calls in reference to the plane crash into the World Trade Center. The Newark Controllers have a better view of the incident than the JFK controllers that day (reference and watch my Newark videos for a better understanding). Ironically enough just 6 minutes earlier Tepper and his fellow controllers have cleared a B757-200 United Flight 93 for takeoff servicing to San Francisco with 4 hijackers onboard This flight will be compromised nearly 40 minutes from now. The time is 850am EST

7:07: TACA Airlines Flight 580 is cleared for takeoff. 8 minutes from now as the plane is climbing through 17,000ft and talking to the N90 (New York Tracon) Liberty South Departure sector, the air traffic controller working Sector 55, controller Christopher Tucker, right over the Lib. South Departure airspace will frantically call up this sector and demand the controller to climb the TACA 580 to FL280 (28,000ft) in an effort to avoid a midair collision with the erratic and rouge Flight 175. The two planes will miss each other by several miles. The time is 851am EST

8:37: You can clearly hear other controllers in the background either notice or audibly observe the disaster unfolding in Manhattan with the North Tower. The time is 852am EST

10:03: NYPD Helicopter Recuse vehicles 14 and 6 are airborne and are requesting Class Bravo clearance to fly downtown toward the World Trade Center. Time is 853am EST

12:20: JetBlue Flight 23 is the first plane that morning on the Local Control frequency to report a plane flying into the World Trade Center. The time is 855am EST

12:43: America West Airlines Flight 193 (Cactus 193) is cleared for takeoff. Just moments later they will be under the control of ZNY ARTCC where controller Christopher Tucker will report to them the plane crash into the World Trade Center much to the shock and surprise of the pilots who at that point only thought a light plane hit the buildings with no foul. The time is 855am EST

17:18-17:28: Delta Airlines Flight 9900 is cleared for takeoff. Just moments later they'll also be taking to New York Center Sector 55 controller Christopher Tucker, who'll inquire from the pilots more visual information on the disaster happening on the ground at the Twin Towers. Because of the erratic flying the hijackers are doing onboard Flight 175, they are cutting right through the south/southwestern and eastern departure routes out of JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. The several near misses in ZNY Sector's 55 and 42 cause the New York Center to stop and ground any airplane waiting for departure on the ground with the fixes and VOR's such as Idlewild, Breezy Point, Lanna, Biggy, Coltsneck, Robbinsville and so fourth as the departure fix until otherwise. Because of this JetBlue Flight 23, JetBlue Flight 79, and FedEx Flight 9741 are immediately grounded for takeoff. The time is 900am EST.

18:26: JetBlue Flight 17 is cleared for takeoff. A minute later they'll still be on the runway clarifying if they actually received takeoff clearance in the confusion about stopping departure fixes at 19:22. They will be the LAST flight on September 11, 2001 at Kennedy Airport to receive takeoff clearance before the shutdown of airspace at the airport. The time is 901-902am EST

20:20: The hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 flying southwest to northeast slams into the South Tower of 2 World Trade Center in Manhattan. The time is 903am EST

20:35: The controllers who've by this point have all witnessed the 2nd plane hit the towers have unanimously decided to stop all takeoffs from the field. This would wind up being a permanent decision and planes will return to the gate following this. The time is 903am EST

21:03: North American Airlines Flight 84 becomes the first plane to report on the frequency the 2nd plane crashing to the World Trade Center. The controller then announces all departures are stopped. The time is 904am EST

27:36: American Flight 587 is told to move up in sequence and follow an Airbus A-300. Exactly 8 weeks a day later they'll take off from this airport with he same controller working them and they'd crash just 4 miles off the airport killing everyone aboard due to pilot error. The time is 910am EST

29:16, American Eagle Flight 122 is the last plane to land at Kennedy following this at 30:02 the airport is officially closed. Time is 912-13am EST

[Raven]

Pretty strange listening to this. I was the Captain on Eagle Flight 031, that can be heard going into position on 31L at about the 7:30 point on the recording (our takeoff time was a couple minutes later at 0852...one of the last to depart before they stopped all traffic) ....first time I heard this since hearing it live that morning.

[nighthawk]

This woman is unbelievable, how she kept her cool I'll never know. This was going on at every airport in the country and these amazing air traffic controllers got every plane landed in a short amount of time without incident. They were among the many heroes that day.❤

[DutyRon]

Thank you for this audio I am a Retired NYPD Police Detective and responded to the WTC that day. Lost my cousin and many friends that day and the years that followed to cancer. Thank you again for posting this 🇺🇸⚖️

[SteveHylton]

I am a bit of an ATC radio junkie, so I know that NYC ATC's are amongst the best in the world, and this lady is a fine example of that standard. Pure professionalism under intense pressure. She did not plan on having to work on the worst and best day in the history of aviation. Controllers all over the country, and the world shone that day. I had wanted from a child to be an ATC, but I stutter and was always afraid I would get under pressure and not be understood at an important moment. It is a proud and important profession.

[varitek]

She was amazing. Totally in control and calm. I hope she got award, or major recognition.

[cashette]

I was 9. I’m 30 now. I remember it like it was yesterday. If you weren’t old enough to feel it, you’ll never understand how the world changed in one day.

[denelson]

According to the audible IRIG B122 time code, this recording starts at exactly 8:42:45.9465 AM EDT. The two plane impacts into the World Trade Center occurred at 03:44 and 20:13 in this recording.

[Michael-pplz]

My stepfather was flying an American Airlines Boeing 767 around the Washington DC area that morning. After the event he lost his job. He rejoined AA around 2006, flew the A320 and switched to the A321 in 2015ish. He'll be turning 65 this month so he'll be retiring with 35, 000 hours clocked.

[timothycole]

At 30:00: "Go ahead with your priority message please." "Two confirmed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center, terrorist activity suspected." Even today that gave me goosebumps.

[Lee-nnt]

This young lady knows more about her job than I have ever heard. She has a smooth, perfect, kind, jovial, and excellently articulated voice. Bless this woman! 👩

[normie]

I'm just going to echo the sentiments of many others here. This controller was outstanding. Professional, courteous, remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal and completely in control of everything. An absolute case study in how to conduct yourself in such a profession. Bravo.

[emcarn]

I've worked in EMS and as a nurse. The calm, decisive, knowledgeable, cooperative, friendly and professional demeanour of the lady in charge is an inspiring example of how to handle a critical incident.

[vsibirsky]

I can't imagine what this woman felt and said to her family/friends when she finally got home that day, She was so professional, on point-and responsible in carrying out her job with the same calmness and skill as on any other day.

[landibear]

Let me just say, whoever this lady is, this should be required training for call controllers. Not just for air traffic control but any control room. I could tell you now that as someone who trained call controllers for an alarm control center in South Africa (which is pretty busy), this lady would not only be an asset to any control room, she would probably be running it! Her professionalism prior to and during the emergency, being able to handle so many people at once, keeping her cool and her friendly demeanor in general is exemplary!

[dennisgoans]

I really hope this ATC was OK after all this.
The stress had to touch her after she went home. My utmost thanks to her and all the other ATCs and first responders

[sarge]

This ATC was a superstar! She didn't miss a beat. Calm, cool & collect moving all those planes around like a BOSS!!

[TheWickedReactions]

The professionalism displayed here is amazing. Her calm and cool demeanor in the face of everything that's is going on, and her control of the situation is incredible. I imagine it had to be absolute chaos on the ground there. Also, the understanding on the pilots' part is incredible.

[RyansRockin]

20:22 A Male Air Traffic Control Worker can be heard yelling " many ATC workers are likely looking up at the towers. This is the moment Flight 175 hits the South Tower killing more innocent lives.

20:30 Female Air Traffic Control in background can be heard saying something along the lines of "The other towers gone here! Oh!"

20:34 The Air Traffic Control Worker talking can be here'd saying goodbye trying to be polite but also in a hurry to see what happened as panic spreads through the ATC Tower. She also says to stops all departures.

21:05 As ATC communicates the North American Airlines Flight 84, the pilot says "Uh, roger that north American-84, we saw 'em hit the second one." referring to the 2nd plane that just hit the South Tower.

22:22 An aircraft communicates with ATC saying "Smokes coming out of the tower there?" in which ATC reply "Yeah, there is something strange going on over there today.." The pilot than goes on to say "Uh, to those who didn't see it.. there was a big fireball over there a moment ago and now both buildings appear to be on fire. Originally it was only the right building.. the north building was on fire.." The ATC replies "Yeah that is correct.."

[ctfirebattchief]

You could hear the pilot's voices start to take on a different timbre about 13 or so minutes into this. You can hear the concern going on, as the minutes unfolded. Totally professional but you could hear it. Almost read their thoughts of trying to fly the aircraft and process what the heck was going on! Hats off to all who flew that day and who were in the towers and the regional centers. They got it done.

[chriscooper]

I remember the weather was still pretty warm and I walked outside to finish a phone call after my husband and kids went to bed. It was a clear night and as I sat on our front porch and gazed at the sky, I realized that, for the first time in my life, there were no blinking or moving lights. Not one plane in the sky, and we live near an airport. Only stars which look stationary. It was such an eerie feeling. I'll never forget that. I didn't know what might happen next to our country, but I knew this was big and bad. 😢