Anyone who wants to read the truth about what happened that morning in Florida, this link will take you to the breathtaking account of the pilot of Air Force One. It's awesome.
"Radios and phones on Air Force One came alive. The Secret Service created a huge security perimeter on the tarmac. My boss, Mark Rosenker, called and told me to depart as soon as the president got on board.
There are written protocols to follow in a nuclear attack, a chemical attack or anything like that. I knew someone was hijacking airliners and hitting targets. But there was no manual for terrorists in suicide planes. The sky was filled with other aircraft, and I really didn't know who had hijacked what. Was Air Force One among the targets? I needed a plan to make sure the president was safe.
I was still married then, and had three kids. But there was so much going on I didn't have time to get emotional or think about anything but my job. Communications systems were overwhelmed with traffic. Key officials were being evacuated in Washington, D.C., and cell calls that got through were breaking up. Information was mixed with rumor. We had to switch to the military radio network. The president couldn't reach key people on regular phones because people like the secretary of Defense had abandoned buildings in D.C. Cellphones were useless because the networks were saturated.
At one point, Mr. Bush advised me through a staffer that we were a target. The message, using a code name for Air Force One: "Angel is next."
Read more:
On 9/11, Air Force One pilot's only concern was President Bush's safety
