ABC News takes an exclusive look inside the Transportation Security Operations Center, a top secret facility where the government keeps an eye on every plane in the sky in an effort to keep travelers safe.
(ABC News)
Airport personnel across the country communicate with the center using the Domestic Events Network, a secure audio bulletin that alerts the center to rapidly unfolding emergencies.
"Headquarters, Chicago," a radio squawked during one such situation Thursday.
"I've got a medical emergency for you," the Chicago caller said.
"The medical emergency is a possible heart attack. He is going into Milwaukee. It was originally off of Philadelphia."
Other critical information includes the possible targets of a plane that is in trouble, or worse, hijacked by terrorists. Those sites could include chemical or nuclear power plants.
"We want to know what else is out there, meaning if we are tracking an aircraft of interest, what critical infrastructure might be along the path of that aircraft," Zimmerman said.
The secret facility has several visible reminders to workers of why their mission is so critical: a twisted steel beam from the World Trade Center, a piece of United Flight 93's wreckage and fuel-stained granite from the Pentagon.
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