9/11 Commission to Question Air Defense Cutbacks

For its final public hearing on Thursday, the Sept. 11 Commission will focus on why U.S. air defenses were unprepared to stop an airborne attack on America, a topic that could raise questions about the decision by the Clinton administration to abolish the New Jersey Air National Guard wing that had been designated to protect New York City airspace.

When the Sept. 11 terrorists struck, the entire continent of North America was defended by just 20 fighter aircraft, arrayed in pairs in 10 locations, NORAD spokesman Lt. Col. Roberto Garza told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Of the U.S.-based fighters, two were in Massachusetts, two in Virginia and two in Florida.

But before Clinton-era military cutbacks, the nation's air defense system also included an Air National Guard fighter wing that was stationed in Atlantic City, which had two F-16s ready to scramble 24 hours a day.

Eleven days after the attacks, former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler told the New York Times that the Atlantic City base was shut down in 1999, leaving New York City airspace defenseless.

"Up until a few years ago we had an F-16 fighter wing here in New Jersey that would be capable of intercepting one of those planes that crashed into the World Trade Center," Schundler said in a follow-up interview with WABC Radio.

"They decreased the number of wings that were available to do that. So the result was that the closest fighter wing that had the capability to intercept one of those planes was in Massachusetts."

Two F-16s had scrambled out of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod after American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into World Trade Center Tower 1, but didn't arrive in New York airspace until 15 minutes after United Airlines Flight 175 hit WTC Tower 2.

"They couldn't get here in time," Schundler complained. "And that's why the second plane flew into the World Trade Center."

He pinned the blame for eliminating the air defenses that could have saved Tower 2 squarely on the Clinton administration, telling WABC, "The federal government in the last eight years cut down the resources. ... That's just a statement of fact."

The 9/11 Commission has not called Schundler to testify and it is not clear whether its probe will focus specifically on the Clinton administration's decision to abolish New York City's air defenses.

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