- United Airlines Boeing Aircraft, Along With UPS
And NASA 757s And 767s Utilized During Pre-9/11 GPS Tests
- Raytheon/FAA Controlled GPS Satellite Navigation Array Activated
13 Months Before 9/11 Attacks
- October, 2001 Pilot Override System Envisioned Use Of Satellite
Auto-Navigation Concept And Communications Termination
Because information collected after the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001 has raised questions about the alleged ability
and motivation of the people accused of piloting Boeing 757 and 767
planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, speculation has since lingered regarding
the covert use of technology to precisely self-navigate all 4
airliners into targets that day.
Government and aviation industry publications shed light on the
development and implementation of pre-9/11 state-of-the-art systems
capable of facilitating precise automated navigation of the Boeing
757 and 767 aircraft used during the 9/11 attacks, to a given
destination.
"WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) is an extremely accurate
navigation system developed for civil aviation. Before WAAS, the
U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) did not have the potential to
provide horizontal and vertical navigation for approach operations
for all users at all locations. With WAAS, this capability is a
reality ... WAAS provides service for all classes of aircraft in all
phases of flight - including en route navigation"
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_uni...
Just 13 months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, the WAAS
GPS satellite array was activated by the FAA and operated by
"Raytheon" on a preliminary basis.
AMENDED VERSION: Wide Area Augmentation System Signal Now Available
August 24, 2000
"WASHINGTON, DC — After a successful 21-day stability test of the
Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) signal in space, the U.S.
Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
declared that it is now available for some aviation and all
non-aviation uses ... The system demonstrated one to two meters
horizontal accuracy and two to three meters vertical accuracy
throughout the contiguous United States ... Raytheon will operate
the system for the FAA on a continuous basis"
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=5249
One member having served on Raytheon's Special Advisory Board is
"Project for the New American Century" signatory Richard Armitage.
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0900/ijpe/pj52bios.htm
Only 3 weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a
patent was applied for regarding a system that would override pilot
control from an autopilot equipped aircraft and redirect such an
aircraft to a predetermined destination via pre-programmed autopilot
settings. This patent cites the Differential Global Position
Satellite research and development conducted by Honeywell and NASA
during the mid-1990s.
""A method for ... deactivating on-board control of the autopilot
system; directing the autopilot system to fly the aircraft to a
landing."
"One optional feature of the invention disables the aircraft's
communications equipment."
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser
Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=...
Honeywell’s Differential GPS Satellite Landing System
July/August, 1995
"The Honeywell team participated in Boeing’s Category III-b flight
test evaluation program in July and August of 1995. NASA supplied
the 757 aircraft and flight test facility. Boeing supplied the
pilots, ground crew, maintenance, flight test personnel and
performed the aircraft modifications for the flight tests. The
flight tests were accomplished at NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia,
flight test facility. A total of 75 Category III-b automatic
landings were accomplished during this phase of flight testing. The
autopilot used the DGPS to guide the aircraft to a landing and ...
performance data of these flight tests showed that the Honeywell
DGPS landing system achieved the predicted system accuracy of one to
two meters."
http://www.bluecoat.org/reports/Lewison_96_DGPS.pdf
Getting To The Point In Pinpoint Landing
October, 1994
"A high-performance navigation system used primarily for automatic
aircraft touchdowns promises centimeter-level landing
accuracy.During a four-day period in October 1994, the idea was put
to the test on Runway 35 at NASA's Crows Landing Flight Facility in
California. Using signals from orbiting GPS satellites and the
ground-generated pseudolite signals, 110 autopilot-in-the-loop
landings of a United Airlines Boeing 737 were completed."
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff1998/t2.htm
FAA/Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center Partnership
December, 1998
"Ohio University's Avionics Engineering Center recently developed
and successfully flight-tested technology that increases the
availability and accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) ...
This technological breakthrough is the result of a 5-year aviation
research grant provided by the FAA to the Avionics Center to design,
implement, and test an advanced prototype GPS-based approach,
landing, and surface movement guidance system ... Pilots from United
Parcel Service (UPS) flight tested the new architecture in October
1994, using a UPS Boeing 757, completing a total of 50 automated
landings. During those tests, researchers integrated Differential
Global Positioning System into the Boeing 757 autoland system."
http://www.tc.faa.gov/logistics/grants/success/OU.pdf
FAA, ATA, UPS Test New Satellite Technology
August 13, 1999
"In the Atlantic City tests, a "UPS Boeing 767 flown by company
pilots will perform 40 approaches down to as low as 25 feet above
the runway. The pilots will fly some approaches manually; others
will be coupled to the aircraft's autopilot. The LAAS and GPS
signals will be processed by equipment specially installed aboard
the 767 for these tests. LAAS can tell pilots where their aircraft
is to an accuracy of less than one meter, and the system can be used
in all visibility conditions. It complements the Wide Area
Augmentation System (WAAS) that the FAA is now developing and
acquiring."
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=5052
On September 7, 1998, it was announced that American Airlines and
United Airlines selected Honeywell's new GPS capable "Pegasus"
Flight Management System (FMS) for use in their Boeing 757 and 767
aircraft.
http://www.aviationnow.com/shownews/farnday1/pressr15.htm
http://www.honeywell.com/sites/aero/Flight_Management_Systems3
_C1997B88E...
"A flight management system or FMS is a computerized avionics
component found on most commercial and business aircraft to assist
pilots in navigation, flight planning, and aircraft control
functions. It is considered to be composed of three major
components: FMC (Flight Management Computer), AFS (Auto Flight
System), and Navigation System including IRS (Inertial Reference
System) and GPS."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_management_system
NORAD Had Drills of Jets as Weapons
April 18, 2004
"In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American
Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating ...
hijacked airliners used as weapons ... NORAD, in a written
statement, confirmed ... "Numerous types of civilian and military
aircraft were used as mock hijacked aircraft "".
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-18-norad_x.htm