What if WX had been bad on Sept. 11?
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What if WX had been bad on Sept. 11?
Some of the hijackers bought their Sept. 11 tickets days in advance, others bought them just before theit flight. There was a lot of highly suspicious stock market activity involving companies who would be greatly affected by the WTC event in the days preceding Sept. 11. The AA and UA flights were apparently picked because of low load factors typical on certain days, and the good probability of an early morning on-time departure. Thus, it seems the Sept. 11 date and the particular flights were chosen at least several days beforehand.
The East Coast was under a stable high pressure, with clear skies and VFR, during the Sept. 11 timeperiod. However, what if the WX had been otherwise, such as an occluded front being present along the East Coast with overcast conditions and various cloud layers between 2500 and 20000 feet, and 1.5 miles visibility in light rain and fog at LGA and DCA. On the basis of their sim training (it is unclear how much, if any, IFR time they had) would a hijacker pilot be able to find either the WTC or Pentagon under such weather conditions? And would a carefully sequenced attack have been foiled by ATC or WX delays? (Military flighters were only minutes away from intercepting the planes before they hit the targets.)
Any opinions?
The East Coast was under a stable high pressure, with clear skies and VFR, during the Sept. 11 timeperiod. However, what if the WX had been otherwise, such as an occluded front being present along the East Coast with overcast conditions and various cloud layers between 2500 and 20000 feet, and 1.5 miles visibility in light rain and fog at LGA and DCA. On the basis of their sim training (it is unclear how much, if any, IFR time they had) would a hijacker pilot be able to find either the WTC or Pentagon under such weather conditions? And would a carefully sequenced attack have been foiled by ATC or WX delays? (Military flighters were only minutes away from intercepting the planes before they hit the targets.)
Any opinions?
