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Copyright 2001 Denver Publishing Company
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

October 6, 2001 Saturday Final Edition

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 4A

LENGTH: 706 words

HEADLINE: FAA CHANGE ANTICIPATED HIJACK SCENARIO

BYLINE: Burt Hubbard, News Staff Writer

BODY:
Three months before the Sept. 11 attacks, the FAA decided to change its security training to
add a scenario on hijackers with sophisticated aviation skills.

"It was a little too late, but eerie," said Bob Monetti, a member of the agency's Aviation
Advisory Committee.

The first new training manuals on hijackings for airlines, air traffic controllers and law
enforcement were to be distributed this fall, according to the transcripts of the June meeting
of the committee.

FAA officials refused to comment, citing national security concerns.

On June 21, Federal Aviation Administration official Mike Morse briefed committee
members on the changes in the FAA's and FBI's "The Common Strategy" to deal with
hijackings because the current plan needed updating, according to the transcripts.

"The last update was approximately 10 years ago," Morse told the committee meeting in
Washington, D.C. "Those training materials are out of date. They appear obsolescence
because they have old cockpits and old aircraft in them."

As part of the changes, the FBI and FAA were including two hijacking scenarios, he said. The
first would focus on a deranged hijacker.

But the second would update the plan to reflect recent incidents, he said.

"The other scenario will be one involving a team of highjackers with a higher degree of
sophistication and training," Morse said. "And that scenario will more replicate what we've
faced in some of the international hijackings abroad in recent years."

Then Morse told the committee about the timeline for the new manuals, which would include
training films.

"And we hope to have some new training materials out in the Fall," he said.

Later in the meeting, Michael Canavan, head of security for the FAA and chairman of the
committee, elaborated on the need for changes.

"But now's the time to update this thing because our new aircraft has different - has better
technology on board," Canavan told the committee. "We have to figure out how to deal with
that technology, especially if someone that took an airplane understood the technology and
they could use that technology against us."

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