t8 b2 faa ny center mark merced fdr- handwritten notes

8/14/2019 T8 B2 FAA NY Center Mark Merced Fdr- Handwritten Notes

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[Classification]MEMORANDUM FO R THE RECORD

Event: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) New York Air Route CenterType of event: InterviewDate: Tuesday, September , 2003Special Access Issues: NonePrepared by : Geoffrey BrownTeam N umber: 8Location: FAA New Yo rk Air Route Center, Rokonkom o, New YorkParticipants - Non-Com mission: Alfred , FAA General Con sulParticipants - Commission: John Azzarello, Miles Kara, Geoffrey Brown

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the following paraphrases the response and opinion ofthe interviewee. Please refer to the interview transcript for a complete account.Mark Merced1345EDTMerced was very hesitant to meet with commission staff. We received his statementthrough a request. W e became aware that we did not receive it originally because hisdirectly involved AA11, and new York center only provided us with documentsinvolving UA L 175. M erced did not have time prior to interview to review his statement.Began in 1991 at ZNY. Certified controller fo r eight years. ATC Area B all time.W as working sector 56, Kennedy sector on 9/11. Shift started at 6:30. R56 by self.W asn't very busy. ZBOS Kingston Sector points out their prima ry target. Co ntroller toldprimary target at f!290, possible hijack could be AA11. Calls aircraft radar contact. Madephysical point out to Dave Bittiglia. Started to follow the track. Don't remember ifactually got marked. Got an eagle flight headed towards Boston. Descended him to 31,flew over hoping AA11 still at f!290. But eagle flight didn't see anything. Put eagle backon course. Tried to do sa me thing with fed ex out of Bradley at f!270. Then targetdisappeared. Watching it the whole time, doing what they could to find something on thetarget. Told Ivonna (CIC) to call NY Tracon to try and get an altitude. Was working withBittiglia, but don't remem ber going with "AA1 la" tag. B ittiglia received an "h" positiononce AA11 disappe ared. C hris tucker workin g departures. Set scope to see floor toceiling to check. Very infrequently done that in the past, especially fo r commercialaircraft. Training teaches that partially but learned much on own.


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Once AA11 disappeared, someone called Washington center (ZDC) to let them knowwhat was happening. Assum ed he kept on flying and had gone under radar, at a loweraltitude, and continue d south. No clues. Could see distance between lines for speed butdid do a slight turn to the southwest. That was all the knowledge of its movement.First heard of WTC impacts after U A L 175 went dow n. Very aware of w hat Bittiglia wasdoing. When U A L 175 hit south tower, no real doubt in min d that U A L 175 went down.Dave Bittiglia ha d told him a plane said the WTC was on fire, but had no idea it was theAmerican. Didn ' t know un til after went home 5 o'clock. W hen they said th e trade centerwas hit he left. Tried to get in touch with friend.Were sequestered upstairs in a room after the event. Gave a written and a tapedstatement.Prior 9/11: there would have been a hijack transponder code or a verbal code.Lost comm unications: quite often, no reason to think hijack.Lost transponder: happens, but would probably be something electrical.Deviates from course: would have thought emergency and pilot headed for nearestairport.Aware of threatening cockpit commun ications? D ave heard from UA L 175 of threateningco m on A A 1 1 . And since ZBW had said possible hijack took it seriously enough. Neverhandled a hijack. Training to deal with such be a verification of code used and not to leton, and notify supervisor and other sectors.Scope level no authority to notify military or Herndon. That is the supervisor's position.Prior 9/11 no experience with military scramble exercise, but had worked militaryexercises in the past through a sm all piece of airspace 14k and below. No problem s orlack of coordination. Som etimes they spill out. But no practice with military on hijackingexercise. But feel prepared to vector a military aircraft to a target.Annual refresher training with hijack scenarios with DynSim. DynSim is simulatedtraffic. Involved one aircraft, and pilot as participant in communication through code use.Post 9/11 only single aircraft situations as well.Recommendations:Post 9/11 NO RD O - do whatever can be done to get that airplane back. Prior to 9/11: nostandard on how or when to get the airplane. Not as diligent there as now. Ask anotherairplane to get in touch with company, or can do that through supervisor.

t8 b2 faa ny center mark merced fdr- handwritten notes

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