T7 B16 Flight 11 Gun Story Fdr- Gao Briefing On Flight 11 Shooting Story

'07/08/2004

15:25

PAGE 01/02

2025123086

United States General Accounting Office

Fax Transmittal Sheet G AO To: (Nam* and Address)

Telephone No.

Fw Telephone No.

Data

From: (Nome and Addre

(301Fax Telephone No.

Date

Subject:

Additional Information

G -

or

O^sJ A u . So ^00-2.

u

Acknowledgement Requested

2. .

pages, including this cover she«i, are being transmitted.

3. If pages are not received, call

OPR:KS

GAO Form Z24 (Rr». IO«VOt

07/08/2004

15:25

2025123086

PAGE

Briefing OSI was asked to obtain the facts surrounding the preparation of and the information contained in an executive summary prepared for FAA Administrator Jane Garvey on September 11,2001. We interviewed 27 people during the course of our investigation, to include the FAA Administrator; Deputy Administrator; FAA senior management and personnel; and American Airlines personnel. We conducted 11 interviews of various FAA security and intelligence personnel before identifying the author of the executive summary, a security staff member. The security and intelligence managers could not identify the person(s) involved in preparing the executive summary. FAA Security had 2 crisis management centers in operation on September 11, 2001. The primary crisis management center (ACC) became operational at approximately 8:55 a,m. It was staffed with FAA security directors/senior managers and other pertinent staff. They also setup an auxiliary crisis management center at approximately 11:00 a.m. Both crisis management centers received and recorded information concerning the hijackings. FAA's Principal Security Inspector (PSI) contacted American Airlines via telephone for a status update at 9:20 am. and was advised of a shooting. The PSI received specific information regarding the names and seat numbers of the passengers involved in the alleged shooting. The information was recorded and posted in both crisis management centers without any additional corroboration. Interviews of the PSI, the author and other security personnel confirmed that this information was recorded and posted in the crisis management centers and later included in the executive summary. We uncovered a phone call received by the FAA Washington Operation Center (WOC) reporting a shooting aboard American Airlines Flight 11. The WOC, a 24-hour operations center located in a room adjacent to the ACC, received the report of a shooting at 8:44 a.m. on September 11,2001. The WOC never reported this information to FAA security personnel in the ACC. Interviews of American Airlines personnel contradict the statements of FAA security personnel. American Airlines personnel deny ever reporting a shooting on any of the hijacked flights on September 11,2001. However, a former American Airlines employee recalled hearing an anecdotal report of a gunshot aboard one of the hijacked flights on September 11, 2001 at the American Airlines Corporate Security Office in Dallas, TX. Due to the lack of cooperation from American Airlines, we did not receive any additional information. Based on our investigation, there is no information to corroborate a shooting on American Airlines Flight 11.

02/02