Top US defense officials were unaware that a hijacked passenger plane was hurtling toward the Pentagon on Tuesday despite a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert to the nation's military air defense command, The Washington Post said yesterday.
The newspaper, citing defense officials and a Pentagon chronology of the attack, said the FAA alerted the US military air defense command that the airliner was heading toward the Pentagon 12 minutes before it struck.
But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his top aides were unaware of imminent danger until the fuel-laden plane hit the building, 35 minutes after two commercial planes plowed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
Pentagon authorities responsible for guarding the building also received no alert and so did not order an evacuation, the paper said.
The Post said two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled in response to the FAA information but took off from Virginia's Langley Air Force Base, about 210km from the Pentagon, rather than Andrews Air Force Base, just 24km away.
The airliner slammed into the side of the Pentagon just two minutes after the jets took off, the Post said, quoting Air Force generals as saying the service was unprepared for a threat of that nature.
Pilot exercises under a Cold War-era air defense system had always dealt with intercepts outside US borders, over the sea, with time to divert the aircraft and consult with the White House before undertaking drastic action, the newspaper said.
A decision to shoot down a commercial aircraft generally would require presidential approval, the newspaper said, citing Air Force officials.
Rescue workers continue to comb the rubble at the site of the impact for the remains of 187 people who are unaccounted for, including 64 people on board the hijacked plane.
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