The Air Traffic Control Response
To the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

By Richard Kettell
Senior Air Traffic Control Manager
Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center

Lima Town Hall
Monday, September 8, 2025 : 7PM

On September 11, 2001, Rick Kettell was the senior Federal Aviation Authority official in charge of Cleveland ARTCC—the busiest air traffic control facility in the world. When news of multiple hijackings reached him, Kettell established a command post at the facility and led the FAA response to the terrorist attack in the skies of US Airspace.  He witnessed firsthand the flight path and altitude changes of Flight 93 and shared radio messages mistakenly broadcast by the hijackers. He gave the order at Cleveland Center to shut down the airspace—an order never practiced or planned for.  Kettell has since retired from the FAA, but remains active in teaching managers at the FAA Learning and Leadership Institute.

Please come and hear this intriguing personal narrative of how FAA officials responded  to the terrifying events of the hijackings of 9/11, in particular, Flight 93 which ultimately crashed in Pennsylvania killing all the passengers and crew.