Dh B3 Billy Hutchison Andrews Afb Fdr- 2-27-04 Mfr- Billy Hutchison 638

COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Event: Interview of Major Billy Hutchinson, 113th Fighter Wing Air National Guard, Andrews Air Force Base Type: Interview Date: February 27,2004

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Team: 8 Special Access Issues: Clearances passed to D&& Location: Andrews Air Force Base -113th Fighter Wing Air National Guard, Morningside, VA Participants (non-Commission): Major Billy Hutchinson and Air Force General Counsel Tony Wagner Participants (Commission): John Farmer, Dana Hyde, Miles Kara and Lisa Sullivan Background

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Hutchinson has spent 20 year's in the military./He enlisted^ ite applied for pilot training / •get-selected; and-ho wentTOF-16 school. He>came back to the DC area flew with 121st Squadron in 1990. Over the years, he held different duties - Chief of Intelligence; Chief of Training; Chief of Scheduling (these were/other duties he had as fighter pilot). He flew the F-16 (known as the "viper," or "fighting falcon") leading up to 9-11. Last year, during war time, he was a fighter pilot. ''This year, now with the 201st Squadron, which is a lift-squad moving high ranking congressman and other ranking officials. On 9-11

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I ^ Bully i^|; Eric They took off at 8:25 a.m. from Andrews AFB on 9-11. HutchinsonSwas Hagenson was Bully£2£(and he came off the morning exercise early); and Lou Campbell was Bully (3) in the exercise earlier that morning. That morning, he was flying a training mission for a surface-attack. It was a very routine mission. He and the pilots of the other two planes were stopped at a tanker to get refueled before heading back. J&»e-t>f-trre Bullys was sent back because he was so low on gas. The tanker came out of Tennessee. It was late for the rendezvous with the fighters. By the time the tanker got to the meeting spot, Hutchinson was low on gas because he was waiting for him. The tanker pilot contacted him over the intercom. He said that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. This was all the information he was given at this time by the pilot of the tanker. By the time Hutchinson's wingman got gas, a second COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED

9/11 C l a s s i f i e d

Information COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED

plane had hit the trade center. The tanker was told that everyone must land. Hutchinson knew he had to get back to Andrews. When he disconnected from the tanker, he plugged back into the ATC frequency (this is standard procedure). Hutchinson said that "nothing" was on the ATC frequency. . Normally, there is constant chatter as controllers work all the air traffic. This was highly unusual. Though a radio relay with his wingman, Hutchinson was told by the other fighter pilot he was with that was a little ahead of him that he was being denied entry to airspace over Andrews AFB. Hutchinson instructed him to go to Pawtucket so he did not run out of gas (he.was lower on fuel than Hutchinson was). No one was telling him what was going on (overVthe radio). He did not have an am/fm radio in the cockpit. He still only knew what the tanker pilot had told him at the rendezvous. "BUSTER" means to fly as fast as you can fly - above MAC 1. You program-in fuel levels: 1 0 / 1 1 „.„<*<.* \ He doesn't remember hearing] I Pilots always have to stay conscious of fuel levels. He talked to the SOC directly at about the half way point. The SOC didn't tell him anything what was going on. He was given instructions to go back to Andrews and to park on Echo (which is the parallel taxi way). The SOC asked him repeatedly (as he was returning to Base) for his fuel level. He was not given a reason why at the time. The wingman was out of gas when he touched down; Hutchinson's gas level was at roughly 2.8 when he landed. Based on the amount of gas he had, they wanted him back in the air. ATC would talk to him and also they would give him instructions "to intercept an aircraft coming from the north," according to Hutchinson. Upon landing, he stopped; turned around; and took right back off. He was trying to coordinate with Tower and ATC. He said, "There was an aircraft coming down the Potomac that they needed me in the air for. ..." He remembered that he was told it was coming from Pennsylvania. He was told "this aircraft needs to be prevented from reaching the DC area." Once he went back up, he clearly remembers watching the Pentagon bum. He was told at that time: "the sky is mine" by the controller. He continued to fly and continued climbing. He received instructions to return to DC because the plane had been lost. He was chasing after anything that was moving; all the voices on the frequency were "hi-pitched". They were vectoring him for helicopters that are really slow-movers.

The only weapon he had was a low angle gun (nothing that launches off the airplane). COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED

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COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED Hutchinson commented, "ATC is not a weapons director. They do not know how to give you an intercept. They are good at keeping you apart," Hutchinson said. He knew it was a civilian aircraft he was looking for; all the while, he had a knot in his throat. He kept a CAP over the Pentagon as long as he could. He was "on vapors" when he landed. A lot of people saw his aircraft over the Pentagon that day. He was told he gave them a sense of security when they saw him fly overhead. Heather Penny and Col Sasserville took off after he landed. Hutchinson went back up after he was loaded with weapons. He flew a couple of times that day. He is not aware of the Langley fighters that were scrambled in response that day. Bully 2 didn't go back up because he was a brand new pilot. That was his first flight outside an instructional arena. The pilots in his fighter squad had all just returned from "Red Flag" training in preparation for deployment abroad. Most of them had taken leave after that. That was one reason why there weren't many pilots available that day; and why he was flying with two young guys that morning. None of the aircraft were "loaded" when they found about the attacks. The three planes assigned to fly were already out there. Technical Issues Oceana and Giant Killer only control off-shore. The ranger controls when you want to release ordinance. His cockpit has a multi-functional display (MFD) and a heads-up display (HUD). Recordings of the heads-up display are for recreation and voice cues. He has never looked at or heard his recording from 9-11-01. Commission staff informed him that the DOD provided us with the video and audio of the day. He was also unaware of this. Commission staff said the audio from the tape is pretty clear. Commission staff asked him if any audio from his cockpit that day could have been missed by the recorder; or was there another means of communication that might not have been captured? Hutchinson responded, "No, there was a UHF and VHP radio. The MFD should have captured the content of orders."

9/11 Personal Privacy

COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED

COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED Hutchinson commented, "ATC is not a weapons director. They do not know how to give you an intercept. They are good at keeping you apart," Hutchinson said. He knew it was a civilian aircraft he was looking for; all the while, he had a knot in his throat. He kept a CAP over the Pentagon as long as he could. He was "on vapors" when he landed. A lot of people saw his aircraft over the Pentagon that day. He was told he gave them a sense of security when they saw him fly overhead. Heather Penny and Col Sasserville took off after he landed. Hutchinson went back up after he was loaded with weapons. He flew a couple of times that day. He is not aware of the Langley fighters that were scrambled in response that day. Bully 2 didn't go back up because he was a brand new pilot. That was his first flight outside an instructional arena. The pilots in his fighter squad had all just returned from "Red Flag" training in preparation for deployment abroad. Most of them had taken leave after that. That was one reason why there weren't many pilots available that day; and why he was flying with two young guys that morning. None of the aircraft were "loaded" when they found about the attacks. The three planes assigned to fly were already out there. Technical Issues Oceana and Giant Killer only control off-shore. The ranger controls when you want to release ordinance. His cockpit has a multi-functional display (MFD) and a heads-up display (HUD). Recordings of the heads-up display are for recreation and voice cues. He has never looked at or heard his recording from 9-11-01. Commission staff informed him that the DOD provided us with the video and audio of the day. He was also unaware of this. Commission staff said the audio from the tape is pretty clear. Commission staff asked him if any audio from his cockpit that day could have been missed by the recorder; or was there another means of communication that might not have been captured? Hutchinson responded, "No, there was a UHF and VHF radio. The MFD should have captured the content of orders." 9/11 Personal Privacy

COMMISSION SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED