Worst day in US history?

Actually you don't really need to know very much about flying IMO. If you can operate the Flight Management System (FMS), which isn't hard, it should be easy to pull it off. Know the exact position of the Trade Towers, enter it into the the FMS indicating this is where you want to go, enter desired altitude into the FMS and change when appropriate, and let the computer do the rest.

The tradgety that has fallen upon many firemen is unbelievable. They have a tough job and they are committed to doing it well. I saw an interview with a fireman on one of the news channels. He said something like "I don't consider myself a hero. This is my job and it is what I have to do. Yes I know it is dangerous."

Well, there's no way FMS would throw you into a 50 degree bank as was seen at the conclusion of the second tower flightpath. I can't imagine that it's that hard to hit a tower that size if you've successfully flown the plane for a couple hundred miles as the sharp turn in upstate NY would indicate had been the case. I understand that they slowed down in the approach to the city. At that point, you would just see if you were pointing to the tower and correct as necessary.


Because of this, I speculate (and visualizing this in three dimensions from what I have seen is difficult) that the flight path upon approach may have been intended to appear to not be headed toward the tower at all and that the sharp bank was part of this plan. This would serve the notion of making the action appear less threatening and perhaps slow the use of countermeasures if there were any. I understand that the plane that hit the Pentagon today circled as well before homing in on its target. Once again a possible cover move. I suspect that these pilots knew exactly what they were doing.


JG

>>Well, there's no way FMS would throw you into a 50 degree bank as was seen at the conclusion of the second tower flightpath. > I can't imagine that it's that hard to hit a tower that size if you've successfully flown the plane for a couple hundred miles as the sharp turn in upstate NY would indicate had been the case. I understand that they slowed down in the approach to the city.<<


If you flew it that far no doubt. I was wondering about the crazy flight path the airliner took that hit the second tower I believe. Also why did the one airliner end up crashing in PA?

Before the 4th plane went down in PA, it was reported on the news that there was a 4th plane headed to Washington. Fighter planes had been scrambled. Then the plane was down. It could have been shot down. But maybe someone who paid attention to what the media showed of the crash site and who are familiar with accident reconstruction could hazard a guess.

Beautifully put, Tim.