9:31 a.m. September 11, 2001: Refueling Plane Is Redirected to Training Airspace off the Coast of Maryland

NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) redirects a tanker plane to military training airspace off the coast of Maryland. [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001] The plane, which has the call sign “Team 23,” is a KC-10 that took off from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey at 9:02 a.m. [Kennedy et al., 2012, pp. 42, 66] It was initially directed toward “Whiskey 107,” an area over the Atlantic Ocean, about 70 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, that is frequently used for military training (see 9:14 a.m. September 11, 2001). At 9:27 a.m., someone at NEADS said the plane would be entering Whiskey 107 “in a few more minutes.” [New York Times, 2/7/1997; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001; Global Security (.org), 5/7/2011] But apparently over the following minutes, the decision was made to send it instead to “Whiskey 386,” a different area of military training airspace over the ocean, which is off the coast of Maryland. [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006; Air Force Magazine, 8/1/2013, pp. 4 ]
Commander Requests Airspace for the Tanker – Major Kevin Nasypany, the mission crew commander at NEADS, now talks over the phone to someone at “Giant Killer”—the Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is a Navy air traffic control agency that handles over-water military operations. [New York Times, 2/10/1997; Spencer, 2008, pp. 143] He says, “We’re gonna bring Team 23 into [Whiskey] 386” and asks, “Can I get the airspace at this time?” The person at Giant Killer replies, “Sure, you can have Alpha through Foxtrot.” He then asks: “Is that enough? Is that where you wanna put him?” Nasypany replies, “Alpha through Foxtrot will be fine for right now.” (What “Alpha through Foxtrot” means is unclear.)
Tanker Will Enter the Training Area in the Next 15 Minutes – Seconds later, another person at NEADS tells a colleague what has been arranged. “Alright, here’s what’s gonna happen,” he says. He continues: “Team 23—Giant Killer already called. They have control of him. They’re gonna direct him down into the Whiskey 386.” He adds, “As soon as [Team 23] crosses into the airspace, they’re gonna kick him off frequency and then we’ll tell him where to go from there.” By 9:46 a.m., Team 23 will be in Whiskey 386. At that time, someone at NEADS will tell the plane, “You’re on the eastern side of 386.” [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/11/2001] Team 23 will subsequently provide fuel to aircraft over Washington, DC. [Air Force Print News, 9/9/2011]