911+Logan

="Official says flights reported nothing unusual to Logan" =

**By Lisa Lipman, Associated Press, 09/11/01**

 BOSTON -- Crews of two airliners that left Boston and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York on Tuesday departed on time and had no unusual communications with the tower at Logan Airport, state transportation officials said. Authorities said they were investigating how the American Airlines and United Airlines flights were diverted from their routes to Los Angeles before crashing into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City on Tuesday morning. Based on the information we have at hand, we believe they were involved in the incident at the World Trade Center," said Joseph Lawless, director of public safety for the Massachusetts Port Authority. He said that the airport was not made aware of any hijacking attempt before the crash, and did not know that the flights had veered off course.  Everything seemed normal when they left Logan," he said. American Airlines Flight 11 left Boston at 7:59 a.m. with 92 people aboard. The airline has confirmed that the plane was one of the two that crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. United 175, a Boeing 767, left Boston at nearly the same time bound for Los Angeles. That aircraft carried 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants, the airline said. United's pilots union said Flight 175 crashed into the Trade Center. The airline did not immediately confirm that the flight was the second plane to crash in New York. United did confirm that Flight 93, a Boeing 757, from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed north of Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. There were 45 people on that flight. A fourth plane crashed into the Pentagon. Lawless said the authority had shut down and evacuated all security checkpoints, closed down all construction sites near the airport, urged people not to come to the airport and diverted incoming flights. Lawless said he considered Logan prepared for terrorist attacks, and said that he was "concerned, very concerned" that security had been breached. "I feel that Logan is a safe airport. I think we've taken a lot of measures to prevent (terrorism)," he said. Stranded and confused travelers were ordered out of the airport, where the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and state police were investigating the hijacking. Families of those believed to be on the plane were being taken to a nearby hotel. Mark Pratt, an Associated Press reporter, his wife and their infant son were waiting in an American Airlines plane on the tarmac at Logan International Airport when their flight to London was brought back to the gate shortly after the crashes in New York. "Immediately people started getting on their cellphones and the rumors started to fly. 'There's been a plane crash at the World Trade Center.' 'There was a hijacking.' That was going up and down the plane ... I think people were shocked at first," Pratt said. Passengers were taken off the plane but had trouble finding out what had happened. All the televisions in the American Airlines terminal had been shut off. "A few people started crying when they heard what happened. Most people were just in shock basically saying thank God it wasn't our plane," Pratt said. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica">State police came through the terminal and at least one dog was used to sniff for anything suspicious. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica">The American Airlines terminal was shuttered to keep people from entering, though security officials allowed two priests to enter. Outside, dazed passengers sat in silence in a restaurant, monitoring television screens and trying to reach loved ones by telephone. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica">"I think people are dumbfounded that it could happen with all the security in place," said Todd Hicks, who had hoped to return to his home in Eaton, Colo. Tuesday after visiting his fiance. "We take our security for granted in this country." <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica">Dan Weiland said he felt "shivers down his spine" after phoning home to Lewisville, Texas, to reassure worried children who knew only that he was scheduled to fly out of Boston on American on Tuesday. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica">"There's nothing in my life that comes close to what other people are facing today," Hicks said.