>>> The Village Voice's James Ridgeway and I teamed up to make a Freedom of Information Act request regarding communications from the four doomed flights of 9/11. We have been completely rebuffed. Below are the relevant extracts from our request letter and the reponses we received from the FAA, FBI, and CIA (the NSA has yet to respond).

From our request letter:

I request a copy of all documents relating to communications emanating from the four hijacked flights of September 11, 2001: American Airlines Flight 11, American Airlines Flight 77, United Airlines Flight 93, and United Airlines Flight 175. This includes:

1) Recordings of communications from any parties on any of the above-mentioned planes during their flights on September 11, 2001. (This would include pilots radioing air traffic control, the widely-reported 911 calls made by passengers, etc.)
1.1) Transcripts of any of these communications.
1.2) Any documents relating to the existence (or nonexistence) of these communications and/or the recordings of these communications.

2) Records relating to any signals, alarms, or any other form of nonverbal communication emanating from any of the above-mentioned planes during their flights on September 11, 2001.

3) Any other documents--whether in written or recorded form--having to do with communications from any of the above-mentioned planes during their flights on September 11, 2001.

From the Federal Aviation Administration's response:

1) The recordings of communications, transcripts and any documents relating to your request are part of an ongoing, sensitive investigation. Therefore, the contents of the investigative file are protected from mandatory disclosure under Exemption 7 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b) (7). Exemption 7(A) protects information to the extent that if disclosed it could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. Accordingly, your request for recordings of communications and any documents contained in the investigative file is denied.

2) There are no records or other correspondence relating to any signals, alarms, or any other form of noverbal communications emanating from the four hijacked flights.

3) There are no documents in written or recorded form having to do with communications from any of the four hijacked flights.

Let's take a look at what the FAA reveals in each section:

1) At least we have confirmation that the recordings of these communications exist.

2) This would seem to indicate that no form of nonverbal communication--signals, alarms, etc.--came from the planes. This conflicts with a transcript published by the New York Times of radio communications between the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center and several planes on the morning of 9/11. At 8:44 AM, US Air 583 tells the Control Center it received a signal from Flight 11: "I just picked up an ELT [emergency locator transmitter] on 121.5 it was brief but it went off." The Control Center acklowedges: "O.K. they said it's confirmed..." A minute later, another plane confirms the signal: "DAL2433 at 290 we picked up that ELT, too, but its very faint." [See the transcript]. No records of alarms or signals, indeed.

3) The real puzzler: There are no documents of any kind having to do with the communications. The recordings of the communications exist; we were told this in #1. Yet there are no documents regarding these recordings? No translations of portions in Arabic? No reports on the meaning or ramifications of what was said in these communications? No notes on technical matters (frequencies used, etc.)? No documents regarding follow-ups with relatives who received cellphone calls from passengers on the flights? This strikes me as inconceivable.

From the Federal Bureau of Investigation's response:

The material you requested is located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure pursuant to Title 5, United States Code, Section 552, subjection (b)(7)(A).

This exemption--the same one invoked by the FAA--covers "records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings..."

From the Central Intelligence Agency's response:

The information you seek falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or the Federal Aviation Administration. Should you wish to, you may direct your request to them at the following address: ...

I find it hard to think of a legitimate reason why such vital documents concerning a public nightmare should be withheld. If we've been told the complete truth about what happened onboard those flights, how would the release of these recordings jeopardize investigations into 9/11? The only answer that makes any sense is that the communications from the planes reveal things which we haven't been told.

If you're a starry-eyed Pollyanna who believes that the government is conducting a hard-hitting investigation into 9/11, then the recordings can't be released because they contain clues that investigators don't want their suspects to know they have.

If you're a hard realist who believes that the government simply is covering its ass about what happened that day, then the recordings can't be released because they reveal the truth, as opposed to the Official Version of Events which we've been fed.

Either way, it's obvious that the communications contradict the public line about 9/11. Otherwise, releasing them would be no big deal.

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