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Question:
Did the government conduct, or plan to conduct, any
simulated crashes of fuel-laden aircraft into command
and control centers prior to the aerial attack on 9-11
on the Pentagon and World Trade Center — or was such
a possibility beyond the imagination of the national
leadership?
Answer:
Agencies of the government had considered such an event
prior to 9-11.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which manages
US spy satellites, had scheduled well in advance of 9-11
an exercise in which a simulated civilian jet crashed
into one of the four towers at the agency's headquarters
in Chantilly, Va. The simulated attack was scheduled on
the morning of 9-11-01 at approximately the time that
American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon,
which was less than 4 miles away. The simulation was intended
to test NRO's employees' ability to respond to a disaster.
(Those employees in the simulation would be in the position
of tourists on the earthquake ride at Universal Studio
theme park at the time of a real earthquake).
The simulation was organized and
managed by John Fulton, a CIA officer assigned as chief
of NRO's strategic gaming division. Fulton, a member
of U.S. Joint Forces Command's Project Alpha - a "think
tank" for advanced concepts related to such issues as
homeland security, had formerly served as the mission
director for the satellite imagery program. The NRO,
after 9-11, officially described the exercise as just
an errant aircraft that crashed into one of its buildings
— "a simulated accident." But that begs the question
why the NRO, which is concerned with real-time intelligence
from satellites at a time of a national emergency, would
be concerned with an unintentional rather than intentional
crash. The real issue is what intelligence, or risk
assessment data, caused the CIA and NRO to conduct this
simulation. The North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) also planned a hijacking drill involving two
American passenger planes, including scrambling interceptors
to respond to the simulated highjackings, and one scenario
that included shooting down the airliners. According
to Major Mike Snyder, a NORAD spokesman, the scenario
was planned before the September 11 terrorist attacks,
but not carried out until the following summer. So
the possibility was not beyond the imagination of the
government.
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