Controllers Watched Sept. 11 Attacks

Sept. 6 -- Air traffic controllers across the United States were the first to realize the hijackers' deadly, coordinated mission on Sept. 11, leaving deep scars on people whose job requires total concentration and control.

Controllers at the Boston Center knew American Airlines Flight 11, which departed at 7:59 a.m. ET from Boston for its flight to Los Angeles, was hijacked 30 minutes before it crashed. They tracked it to New York on their radar scopes.

"I watched the target of American 11 the whole way down," said Boston controller Mark Hodgkins. But it was only when the television pictures of a burning World Trade Center tower came on, that he knew why the flight had disappeared from his scope.

For Doug McKay, a 20-year veteran at the Boston Center, the hijacked flights hit much closer to home.

Before he left for work on Sept. 11, he heard on radio and television that the World Trade Center's North Tower had been hit. As he was watching the news report, he saw the second flight slam into the South Tower.