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Viewing Single Post From: Monte Belger's interview with the Commission
Woody Box

Lots of interesting 9/11 Commission stuff has been published:

http://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/9-11/commission-memoranda.html

The interview with Monte Belger is here:

http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00054.pdf

I don't recognize the slightest hint that he was in contact with Mineta before the Pentagon crash. The first contact seems to have been established afterwards.

If he lies or suppresses being in contact before, he's a damned good liar. But I don't think he's lying. Why should he?

Quote:
 


Around 9:20 A.M. EDT he remembers discussion about a national ground stop (i.e.
no take-offs )-Herndon was making the same decisions about this independently.
Meanwhile the FAA was still trying to figure out which aircraft hit the WTC. While he
hadn't talked with the carriers by that time, he believes Garvey had been in touch with
them.

Between 9:20-9:45 there were many confusing reports about various aircraft being
unaccounted for. He heard of a crash on the Indiana/Kentucky border that was thought to
be AAL 77. By this point he believes he talked with Bob Baker and Russ Chew at AAL.
Jane Garvey talked to Don Carty.

Belger doesn't recall any discussion that morning about the need to contact aircraft in
the air about securing their cockpits, even though they were considering an order to land
all planes.

With regard to the Primary Net, Belger said he believes that Lee Longmire was in
charge. He had the impression that the military was on the line at some point and had
assumed that the proper contacts had been made. He had no knowledge about the
problem that Lee Longmire shared with the Commission that the NMCC was supposed to
be on the Net but was in fact absent for some undetermined length of time. Belger wasn't
aware of the NORAD response until after AAL 77 crashed (he subsequently learried that
Boston and New York Centers had called NORAD earlier)

Belger was told about UAL 93 after it crashed. He stressed that everyone was very
confused about which aircraft hit the Pentagon. UAL and AAL weren't sure what planes
hit where. He said that the carriers were searching for information from the FAA not
providing it. It took a long time to confirm what aircraft hit the Pentagon.
Belger believes that the "hijack coordinator" would have been the senior security
person present who was Lee Longmire. (SEE FAA PROTOCOL ON "Hijack
Coordinator).

Belger learned of the crash into the Pentagon shortly after it happened. He and
Garvey got on the phone with Norm Mineta who decided to bring everything down
(around 9:45) which was implemented. Belger continued to monitor the system as it
executed this order. All aircraft were down and the system grounded by 12:15 P.M.
Edited by Woody Box, Jan 21 2009, 12:46 PM.
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Monte Belger's interview with the Commission · Pentagon