The reason behind the shutdown of US Airspace
I received this notice from a US Coast Guard bulletin board that I subscribe to. You may find it interesting. Some of it may not print out properly.
SCATANA Measures: As you are aware, the NORAD COMMAND CENTER implemented SCATANA measures. What is SCATANA? This acronym stands for Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids. This plan was originally developed in the 1960's and authorizes NORAD, the FAA, and the FCC to impose flight restrictions in order to clear the skies of all non-essential air traffic and shut down all navigation aids. The implementation of this system also allows the air defense network to identify aircraft tracks and have only mission essential aircraft airborne. On 9 Nov 1979 SCATANA was erroneously triggered when a technician at NORAD inserted a computer tape to simulate a nuclear attack into the on-line warning system. FAA controllers at some locations were ordered to land aircraft immediately. This went on for six minutes until the error was recognized and SCATANA was lifted. On 11 Sep 2001 the SCATANA implementation was no error. While G-OCA (US Coast Guard Aviation directorate)understood everyone’s frustration, realize this, the forest fires in the West grew and burned yet the fire-fighting aircraft were grounded. Organ transplants could not be performed since aircraft were not allowed to fly organs to the patients who desperately needed them. This event affected more than just Coast Guard aviation. Our staff worked tirelessly with Cheyenne Mountain Operation Center to get the best information out to the fleet on how to continue Coast Guard Operations. While we hope this never happens again, this was the first full-scale implementation of SCATANA, and not unexpectedly, there are some bugs in the plan that NORAD needs to resolve.