[Shortly after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, the following material was posted on the APCO Web site by member Stever Souder, administrator of the Arlington County (Virg.) Public Safety Emergency Communications Center, which handled the Pentagon terrorist attack. In April 2004 the contact telephone number was updated.

Considering the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and that several passengers on the hijacked planes made telephone calls from aboard the planes, the Arlington County, VA Public Safety Emergency Communications Center (PSECC) developed a procedure to handle 9-1-1 and other calls that may be received by the PSAP from a person aboard an airplane. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was asked to review and approve the procedure, which it did. The text of the procedure follows for any PSAP that may elect to replicate same. The telephone numbers listed in the procedure are to the FAAs National Operations Manager office located in Northern Virginia (Area Code 703), and are the numbers to call regardless of where in the United States the PSAP is located.

The toll-free telephone number to contact the FAA is: (703) 563-4230.

SUBJECT: 9-1-1, Etc. Calls Received From a Person Aboard An Airplane

Obtain:

• The name of the airline carrier the person is flying on, i.e. American, United, etc.
• The Flight #
• Where did the flight last depart from.
• What is the next destination of the flight.
• Do you know where the plane is now located, i.e. somewhere over West Virginia, approaching Baltimore, etc.
• What is the callers name.
• What seat are they in, i.e. 17-C, 29-F, etc.
• Are they calling from a wireless/cellular telephone or an on-board telephone.
• If a wireless telephone, what is the telephone number.
• What is the wireless telephone carrier, i.e. Cingular, Nextel, etc.
• What is the on-board emergency.

After this information is obtained, immediately advise the on-duty (your agency name) supervisor and call the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at (703) 563-4230 and report the information. Based on the information reported they will determine what if anything else should be done by your agency Name.

We hope we we'll never be confronted with this type situation, but if we are we have a procedure to handle it.

Steve Souder, Administrator
Arlington County, VA PSECC

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