denverpilot
Tied Down
Most comprehensive set of FAA ATC and military Comms recordings of 9/11 I've yet run into.
As an Emergency Services Communicator, I've listened to many recordings of incidents and accidents. These recordings are significantly different.
The professionalism of most of those recorded remains high, but there are some mistakes and the usual levels of confusion. There's also frustration and some break-downs into cursing. Be advised.
Frankly, there's also sounds you may not wish to hear.
The portion of the ATC recording released from American Flight 93 is bone-chilling.
I mention it because even though this is the edited stuff, and there was more than this played for people cleared to hear it, what was left is truly awful and I don't want anyone surprised by it.
As pilots, put yourself in the seats of the other pilots on frequency (if you weren't already up there that day) and the controller's chair. Imagine controllers talking to supervisors in the silent gaps in their recordings and fellow controllers and supervisors plugging in at their stations.
The sound of these people's voices tells a story that otherwise might not be known.
Technical info: The FAA recordings include the in-line communication direct from the controller on the scopes and many recordings of back-lines between Center, TRACON, and Tower location's on-duty supervisors up their chain of command. If you're not used to hearing it, controllers have what are essentially telephone lines which can be patched to their headsets while working traffic, and they regularly use them for "point-outs" to adjacent sectors both above/below and laterally. Many of the initial procedures are exactly what you hear when an aircraft goes NORDO in the IFR system at first. It takes a while for everyone to figure out what's really going on.
As for the military unclassified recordings contained in this compilation, some are telephone conference bridges, some are radio loops (mainly the battle stations alert recordings for Otis and Langley), and at least one is digital comm direct with two flights of fighters judging by the audio. Folks with a military background may recognize some of these callsigns which were well-known at the time. (I'm not going to get into that... if you listen and think about the chain of command, you'll figure out close-enough who's who.)
In a former life, I stood not ten feet away from where one of the FAA guys is talking from on one of the conference calls, and installed the software and firmware in the conference bridge. I feel a small but noticeable personal connection to at least a couple of these recordings. That gear may or may not have still been in service by 2001, I honestly don't know. But I've stood there. In the room. I've heard that particular recording set before, but never in a large compilation put together in context with other recordings as close as possible.
Note: The timeline generally moves forward, but when certain recording times overlap others, time stamps jump backward when on the second and third recordings in some portions of this compilation.
There's also a few obvious audio gaps when censors dropped phone numbers, etc. and there's one section of about a minute later on that's dropped that appears to be an editing mistake.
I listen to these types of recordings both as preparedness for real incidents on any Comm watch I may hope to never have, and also as a reminder to honor those who perished. I do not post this for shock value or any agenda. Just as a pilot sharing some of the worst recorded audio I've ever encountered.
Some of you who work for airlines have heard worse recordings of this day, including telephone calls from aircraft and CVR recordings. These are edited with the worst of those removed. I have not heard those, nor do I care to.
Some of these recordings were used in various documentaries. I've not seen this many in one place, in chronological order in any of those documentaries, however. This is a very complete set.
With all of that said, this is a long set of recordings. It runs over an hour long. Please be advised before clicking on the link. It's a tough listen for all pilots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBhgEm3j7A
Thank you to all who served on that day, eleven years ago. And may those who perished, rest in peace.
As an Emergency Services Communicator, I've listened to many recordings of incidents and accidents. These recordings are significantly different.
The professionalism of most of those recorded remains high, but there are some mistakes and the usual levels of confusion. There's also frustration and some break-downs into cursing. Be advised.
Frankly, there's also sounds you may not wish to hear.
The portion of the ATC recording released from American Flight 93 is bone-chilling.
I mention it because even though this is the edited stuff, and there was more than this played for people cleared to hear it, what was left is truly awful and I don't want anyone surprised by it.
As pilots, put yourself in the seats of the other pilots on frequency (if you weren't already up there that day) and the controller's chair. Imagine controllers talking to supervisors in the silent gaps in their recordings and fellow controllers and supervisors plugging in at their stations.
The sound of these people's voices tells a story that otherwise might not be known.
Technical info: The FAA recordings include the in-line communication direct from the controller on the scopes and many recordings of back-lines between Center, TRACON, and Tower location's on-duty supervisors up their chain of command. If you're not used to hearing it, controllers have what are essentially telephone lines which can be patched to their headsets while working traffic, and they regularly use them for "point-outs" to adjacent sectors both above/below and laterally. Many of the initial procedures are exactly what you hear when an aircraft goes NORDO in the IFR system at first. It takes a while for everyone to figure out what's really going on.
As for the military unclassified recordings contained in this compilation, some are telephone conference bridges, some are radio loops (mainly the battle stations alert recordings for Otis and Langley), and at least one is digital comm direct with two flights of fighters judging by the audio. Folks with a military background may recognize some of these callsigns which were well-known at the time. (I'm not going to get into that... if you listen and think about the chain of command, you'll figure out close-enough who's who.)
In a former life, I stood not ten feet away from where one of the FAA guys is talking from on one of the conference calls, and installed the software and firmware in the conference bridge. I feel a small but noticeable personal connection to at least a couple of these recordings. That gear may or may not have still been in service by 2001, I honestly don't know. But I've stood there. In the room. I've heard that particular recording set before, but never in a large compilation put together in context with other recordings as close as possible.
Note: The timeline generally moves forward, but when certain recording times overlap others, time stamps jump backward when on the second and third recordings in some portions of this compilation.
There's also a few obvious audio gaps when censors dropped phone numbers, etc. and there's one section of about a minute later on that's dropped that appears to be an editing mistake.
I listen to these types of recordings both as preparedness for real incidents on any Comm watch I may hope to never have, and also as a reminder to honor those who perished. I do not post this for shock value or any agenda. Just as a pilot sharing some of the worst recorded audio I've ever encountered.
Some of you who work for airlines have heard worse recordings of this day, including telephone calls from aircraft and CVR recordings. These are edited with the worst of those removed. I have not heard those, nor do I care to.
Some of these recordings were used in various documentaries. I've not seen this many in one place, in chronological order in any of those documentaries, however. This is a very complete set.
With all of that said, this is a long set of recordings. It runs over an hour long. Please be advised before clicking on the link. It's a tough listen for all pilots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBhgEm3j7A
Thank you to all who served on that day, eleven years ago. And may those who perished, rest in peace.
Thanks for sharing.