The Gate 26/32 question, Where did AA 11 departure? Options

[woody]

Some of you may know that there are conflicting accounts regarding the departure gate of AA 11. Some sources say it was Gate 26, some say Gate 32.

I gathered the evidence here (my first 9/11 piece):

http://de.geocities.com/woody_box2000/TwinFlight.html

The 9/11 Commission Report was published half a year later and presented - in my eyes - confirmation for the oddities at Logan Airport. F.I. in the footnotes we learn that some of the passengers of Flight 11 boarded the plane after the push-back! Can any aviation expert tell me how this is possible? (IMG:http://pilotsfor911truth.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

9. See TSA report, "Selectee Status of September 11th Hijackers," undated. For boarding and seating information, see AAL record, SABRE information on Flight 11, Sept. 11, 2001.These boarding times from the American system are approximate only; for Flight 11, they indicated that some passengers "boarded" after the aircraft had pushed back from the gate. See AAL response to the Commission's February 3, 2004, requests, Mar. 15, 2004.

Chapter I, note 9

But there's more, even better:

6. For Flight 11, two checkpoints provided access to the gate. The second was opened at 7:15 A.M. The FAA conducted many screener evaluations between September 11, 1999, and September 11, 2001.At the primary checkpoints, in aggregate, screeners met or exceeded the average for overall, physical search, and X-ray detection, while falling below the norm for metal detection. No FAA Special Assessments (by "red teams") were done at Logan security checkpoints during the two years prior to September 11, 2001. See FAA briefing materials, "Assessment and Testing Data for BOS, EWR, and IAD," Oct. 24, 2001.

Chapter I, Note 6

I was wondering why two checkpoints provide access to one gate. I always thought one checkpoint provides access to multiple gates.

Loose Change member JackD has provided me with a nice map of the AA Terminal at Logan:

http://i.elias-savion.com/11/59/en-us/docu...boston_b_aa.pdf

Obviously, there is only one security checkpoint for Gate 32 (the gate favoured by the 9/11 Commission). But - and this is interesting - Gate 26 has to be entered through a different checkpoint.

Is that what the 9/11 Commission means? One checkpoint for each gate? But why don't they mention gate 26, and which of the planes was Flight 11, anyway?

Do multiple checkpoints for one gate make sense at all?

Anyone here familiar with Logan Airport?

[SwingDangler]

For those that missed the History Common's entry on Mr. Ogonowski....

John A. Ogonowski, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1951. John had a BS Degree in Nuclear Engineering and was an avid farmer. He had worked with the former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Gus Schumacher, to secure a plot of 150 acres of farmland on Marsh Hill Road in Dracut, through the APR Program.He was a pilot in the United States Air Force achieving rank of captain. He was a Vietnam veteran who went to pilot train-ing in Texas and was then assigned to Charleston AFBSC where he flew C-141. Captain John A. Ogonowski was a mem-ber of the Allied Pilot Association, and flew a Boeing 767 aircraft for American Airlines for 23 years. John was an active member in the Dracut Historical Society Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, and the Board of Direc-tors for the Dracut Land Trust, Inc. http://www.umass.edu/fruitadvisor/berrynotes/bn1713.htm

Twelve days a month, Mr. Ogonowski, 50, flew transcontinental flights. On off days, he tended the farm's peach orchard, with acres set aside for corn, pumpkins and hay. After supper he often sat in his favorite chair, reading agricultural journals late into the evening.
Mr. Ogonowski joined the Air Force at the height of the Vietnam War. He flew C-141 transport planes, taking equipment to Asia, and sometimes flying back to the States carrying the bodies of American soldiers. He became a commercial pilot in 1979, and met a pretty flight attendant named Peggy, whom he later married.
The morning of Sept. 11, he left his wife at home, still in bed. It was already dawn as he turned down the road in his dusty green Chevy truck, to start his drive to Boston and to Logan International Airport. As he passed his uncle's nearby house, he tooted his horn. Mr. Ogonowski was the captain of Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/03/national...3OGONOWSKI.html

Conflicting Reports-In this description, John DID NOT want to fly that day-

Ogonowski Legacy

TOOMEY: Last year we aired a story about a non-profit project that helps Southeast Asian refugees return to farming. One of the project's mentor farmers was the owner of White Gate Farm in Dracut, Massachusetts. His name was John Ogonowski. But he also had another job. He was a pilot for American Airlines. And on September 11th it was his plane, Flight 11, that struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Since that day, those involved in the farmer program say the work has been harder without John Ogonowski. But as Sean Cole of member station WBUR reports, they're determined to continue the project as a legacy to him.

COLE: John Ogonowski didn’t want to fly on September 11th. That was the day people were coming to tour the dozen acres of Asian crops flourishing amid the hay and pumpkins at White Gate Farm. Ogonowski and his wife, Peggy, had hosted such events before, and he told project director Hugh Joseph he would do his best to be around for this one.

JOSEPH (Ogonowski): Finally, I got a call the night before from Peggy saying, ‘Listen, John’s not back yet, but he got the final word that he has to fly tomorrow. [b]He can’t switch.[/b]’
[size="1"][/size]http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=02-P13-00037

And yet in this account, John DOES want to fly,

Georgetown Record reported: "American Airlines Captain Walter Sorenson of Groveland was scheduled to fly Flight #11 on Sept. 11, 2001. He was disappointed when he was replaced by Captain John Ogonowski, who had seniority over Sorenson and requested to fly that day. ... The last-minute change of pilots ... spared Sorenson's wife Sarah the untimely loss of a young husband."

Interesting to note that according to the Cole interview with John's family members...Joe, John's brother, is a full timer in the Air National Guard....

Jim Ogonowski, John’s brother, says it’s all he can do to keep the hay business in operation while maintaining his full-time job at the Air National Guard.

[Sergio]

The morning of Sept. 11, he left his wife at home, still in bed. It was already dawn as he turned down the road in his dusty green Chevy truck, to start his drive to Boston and to Logan International Airport. As he passed his uncle's nearby house, he tooted his horn. Mr. Ogonowski was the captain of Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center. NY Times, December 3, 2001

Great. I guess this was the report Woody was talking about above.
Now we can definitely conclude that John Ogonowski was not at the controls of Flight 198 coming from SFO on 9/11.

[DeanHartwell]

Here are some facts I uncovered about Flight 11 in my recent book:

Der Spiegel magazine wrote that eyewitnesses recalled passengers waiting near Gate 26 around 7:30 AM
Gate 26 was likely too far for passengers to get to in 15 minutes for the supposed take-off at 7:45 AM at Gate 32.
Gate 19 was close enough for these passengers to get to for a later flight (Flight 175)
Flight 11 was only sighted by the pilot of...Flight 175!
The debris at the World Trade Center has never been matched to Flight 11.

[JackD]

Here are some facts I uncovered about Flight 11 in my recent book:

Der Spiegel magazine wrote that eyewitnesses recalled passengers waiting near Gate 26 around 7:30 AM
Gate 26 was likely too far for passengers to get to in 15 minutes for the supposed take-off at 7:45 AM at Gate 32.
Gate 19 was close enough for these passengers to get to for a later flight (Flight 175)
Flight 11 was only sighted by the pilot of...Flight 175!
The debris at the World Trade Center has never been matched to Flight 11.

Great to hear about book.

Gate 26 and 32 are not terribly far apart in terminal B, unless numbering has been changed in last 10 years.
It is important to note your assertion "No debris from WTC matched to AA11 N334AA" -- which should raise eyebrows.
Still, the plane and alleged passengers are indeed gone -- and the mystery of which persons in fact did board AA11 is still unclear.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/whereWeFly/...erminal_BOS.jsp

[DeanHartwell]

Thank you, Jack.

The distance between Gates 26 and 32 is only part of the issue. The other part is how 69 passengers (and 9 crewmembers) could get from Gate 26 at 7:30 AM to Gate 32 and be completely seated on the plane for the take-off at 7:45 AM without attracting much attention.

Like the question of how Lee Harvey Oswald could have gotten from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building to the second floor in about ninety seconds, the “trier of fact” (us) must consider the details involved along the way. In the case at hand, it is hard to figure how so many people could hurry through the airport in such a short period of time when in all likelihood the people would all move at different speeds, there would be plenty of people in the way, the plane at Gate 32 would have to be ready to go, etc.

As for where the Flight 11 passengers went, I present ideas in my book. When I have made enough posts, I am considering starting a new topic for that.

Great to hear about book.

Gate 26 and 32 are not terribly far apart in terminal B, unless numbering has been changed in last 10 years.
It is important to note your assertion "No debris from WTC matched to AA11 N334AA" -- which should raise eyebrows.
Still, the plane and alleged passengers are indeed gone -- and the mystery of which persons in fact did board AA11 is still unclear.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/whereWeFly/...erminal_BOS.jsp

[DANDPT]

Thank you, Jack.

The distance between Gates 26 and 32 is only part of the issue. The other part is how 69 passengers (and 9 crewmembers) could get from Gate 26 at 7:30 AM to Gate 32 and be completely seated on the plane for the take-off at 7:45 AM without attracting much attention.

Like the question of how Lee Harvey Oswald could have gotten from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building to the second floor in about ninety seconds, the “trier of fact” (us) must consider the details involved along the way. In the case at hand, it is hard to figure how so many people could hurry through the airport in such a short period of time when in all likelihood the people would all move at different speeds, there would be plenty of people in the way, the plane at Gate 32 would have to be ready to go, etc.

As for where the Flight 11 passengers went, I present ideas in my book. When I have made enough posts, I am considering starting a new topic for that.

I am hoping to read comments from Woody on these posts. He has spoken to eyewitnesses who were at the terminal.