#3. Why were F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Langley Air Force Base directed to fly out over the ocean towards a military training area instead of being directed to fly towards Washington, D.C. to protect important assets?

In an unusual move by military commanders, three fighter jets were scrambled from Langley AFB in Virginia, about 130 miles south of Washington. What’s unusual was that the military unit’s SOF, or “Supervisor of Flight” was also ordered into the air with the two aircraft that would normally be launched under those circumstances. The SOF plays a critical role in any intercept mission by staying on the ground and coordinating the response to a perceived threat by communicating with the fighter aircraft and civilian air traffic controllers. The order for the SOF to fly the third aircraft was shocking to the pilots involved and was regarded as highly unusual. As a result of the confusion that followed, the three aircraft were directed to travel out over the ocean in an easterly direction taking them further away from the Washington, D.C. area when the Pentagon was attacked than they had been when they were first launched from Langley.