by Frank Perry
increased while monitoring the un-manned air vehicles along with the conventional aircraft that might be in the same area. The Shadows were fitted with specialized day and night reconnaissance cameras that transmit video for locating and tracking of targets.
EC-130H Compass Call electronic eves-dropping aircraft were flown overnight from Tinker AFB to Hanscom AFB, in Bedford MA, near Boston. These aircraft are designed primarily to disrupt communications in combat, but they also have powerful “listening” and recording capability to collect any kind of radio signals.
Hanscom, the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, was located within twenty miles of Boston’s Logan Airport. It would serve as the base of operations while executing the plan. An important part of the deception was an announcement by United Airlines, aired on national news on Friday and through the weekend, that it was suspending eastern air operations except in Boston, Chicago and Washington, reportedly due to traveler cancellations at the other airports. Operation “Persistent Veil” launched Saturday morning.
Without consulting with Rachael, Peter placed himself in charge of the mission to capture the terrorists. For this, he requested a Ranger Platoon from Ft Bragg to be at Hanscom on Saturday. They were to be issued NVGs (Night Vision Goggles) and equipped for “light” operations, no machine guns, mortars, tents or other gear to weight them down. He arranged air assault capability and was assigned two MH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, which were also flown to Hanscom.
The final phase of the plan involved cooperation with Air Force Combat Command, Andrews AFB and United Airlines.
Across the Nation on Sunday Morning, United Airlines ran a full-page announcement in all major U.S. Newspapers and in their international hub cities. The headline was repeated throughout the day on television and radio news broadcasts. The announcement read:
UNITED AIRLINES CANCELS ALL FLIGHTS SUNDAY AND MONDAY. FLIGHTS WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY, OPERATING ONLY FROM BOSTON AND ALL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS. BOSTON WILL SERVE AS A HUB DESTINATION FOR ALL UNITED FLIGHTS ENTERING OR LEAVING THE U.S. ONCE ON U.S. SOIL, ALL PASSENGERS WILL BE RE-ROUTED ON OTHER AIRLINES...etc.
From a military and logistics viewpoint, the operation was planned flawlessly, but Peter had made one huge mistake by not consulting with Rachael before volunteering to lead the mission. He wasn’t accustomed to checking with others, and Rachael was now a very significant “other” person in his life. It was one thing to plan a mission, but she did not expect him to lead it.
Majiid was furious when he received the news regarding United’s decision. Did they not respect his warnings? Did they really think they can protect one airport adequately! His thoughts were clouded by rage throughout the day, but he was determined to show the Americans that he was controlling the airline, not the company executives. The missile attack would be carried out as promised.
An international flight offered added advantages because it would be carrying maximum fuel on departure, and only the largest wide-body airplanes flew over oceans. His plan was to make this a spectacular catastrophe. On Tuesday, he would certainly have the money transfer completed.
Sunday night, he met with his men and laid out the plan. It was more complex than the other attacks, but they had a good chance of success with courage and speed. On Monday, three vehicles were used to execute reconnaissance and minor purchases associated with the attack. The Internet would be used to monitor flight schedules and they would communicate in short messages using cellular phones.
The United flights originating from Boston were all scheduled during daylight hours, from about 11:00AM to the last departure at 4:40PM. Although it was riskier for an attack during daylight hours, it would be easier to identify the airline. This was important since the missile would be fired at a target of greater distance and higher altitude than before.
At about ten o’clock, three Middle Eastern men in a battered pickup truck with Florida license plates pulled a trailer with an open boat onto a dilapidated ramp in Hull, Massachusetts. The boat had visible fishing gear leaning against its sides. The location was about six miles south of Logan Airport. After launching the boat, one man stayed with the truck. With the large 225 horsepower engine, they would be in position fishing around Gallops Island in less than ten minutes.
It was a clear sunny day and already warm. The breeze and spray created by the boat was refreshing, but both men were perspiring as they scanned the area for indications of police boats or Coast Guard. They were planning to slow down behind the island until ten minutes before eleven o’clock then troll fishing lines slowly toward East Boston. United Airlines had a Boeing 747 flight to Europe departing at eleven. As they neared the island, they were pleased to see that flights were departing on runways 22L and 27, above them.
It took only a minute to deploy the fishing lines. They used lures that would attract striped bass or bluefish, and both joked nervously about catching a fish while shooting down a jet liner. As they idled out into the shipping channel toward the airport, one man began searching the tarmac with binoculars looking for the airplane. They had seen smaller United planes, but they were waiting for the “big fish.” A few minutes after they reached the center of the channel, about half a mile from the airport perimeter, the man in the bow spotted the 747 taxiing toward the end of the runway, about three miles away. The big airplane was distinguishable by its upper deck bubble on the forward fuselage. The United paint scheme was also very easy to spot. In the middle of the boat, the SAM missile was ready for immediate use.
Aboard the aircraft, the pilot was communicating with air traffic controller. He was following instructions pulling near the end of runway 22L and held position. Shortly after a small commuter jet landed, he was instructed to “take the runway” and was cleared for takeoff, as the smaller plane exited. The pilot began the takeoff roll, pushing the throttles forward to the stops. All three men in the cockpit were nervous. As the aircraft rushed forward, they passed the middle of the runway heading toward the water at the end. At 140 knots IAS (indicated air speed), the pilot pulled the controller back gently as the airplane lifted from the surface. Immediately, the co-pilot pushed the landing gear lever forward helping the airplane become streamlined, accelerating faster with a “cleaner” aerodynamic profile.
They were passing through one thousand feet at 170 knots IAS when audio alarms blared “Missile! Missile! Missile!” The pilot pushed the nose over to level flight allowing the aircraft to accelerate. Missile countermeasures had been activated before takeoff, and they now depended on the aircraft to defend itself.
After the missile fired, the launcher was thrown overboard along with the fishing poles. The boat driver pushed the throttle forward and turned southeast toward Hull, at top speed. The man in the bow was too busy to watch the missile flight for the first few seconds after launch. To his horror, the aircraft was passed overhead trailing flares and a chaff cloud (millions of thin metallized glass fibers), causing the missile to explode behind the airplane. He screamed, “This is impossible!” The driver looked up and could not believe what they were seeing. Commercial aircraft do not have such systems. “This cannot be happening!”
The preceding Friday through Sunday had been extremely busy with the Air Force and United Airlines cooperating to achieve something almost impossible. The Air Force had flown both Air Force Presidential airplanes to San Antonio facilities where United repaints its aircraft. The presidential fleet consists of two specially configured Boeing 747-200B's--tail numbers 28000 and 29000, with Air Force designation VC-25. When the president was aboard either aircraft, or any Air Force aircraft, the radio call sign was "Air Force One." Principal differences between the VC-25 and the standard Boeing 747, aside from interior configuration, are the classified navigation, electronics and communications equipment. They have self-contained baggage loaders, front and aft stairs, and capability for in-flight refueling. The Air Force also provided two C-32, modified Boeing 757-200 commercial intercontinental airliners, and two C-40B’s based upon the commercial Bo
eing 737-700 Business Jet. All the planes had automated missile defense systems.
It took Herculean effort to repaint all six aircraft to mimic United Airlines aircraft in three days. These six aircraft would fly wide oval patterns around Boston taking off and landing, simulating scheduled air traffic. The primary advantages over commercial jets and the decoys were the training of the Air Force crews and the defensive systems aboard the military planes. These fire dozens of magnesium flares, and chaff trails (millions of aluminum shards forming a cloud of metal in the sky) to defeat both heat-seeking and radar guided missiles. The 747 systems worked perfectly, causing the warhead to explode hundreds of yards behind the airplane.
Above Boston harbor, at both ends of the runway, a pair of Shadow aircraft flew remotely piloted patterns. Shadows can fly at 60 MPH for up to seven hours. Both LOS (Line-Of-Sight) and non-LOS data links provide command and sensor control. They were “flown” by pilots located on the ground at Hanscom.
When the missile alert happened, the southern-most shadows, flying at 5000 and 6000 feet respectively, sent video of the missile firing, on both infrared and
