Write Ash and Honor draws from the voices of people in the air and on and even below the ground, each of them making crucial, split-second decisions. Robinson takes readers into the cockpit of what was possibly “the fifth plane;” into the Burn Intensive Care Unit at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where one incredibly determined nurse cared for a man who, against the odds of 20-1 of him dying, remarkably saved his life; and onto Air Force One where accurate information was hard to come by – and at times, the commander in chief was dangerously incommunicado – as the agents and crew did all they could to protect the president.

He reveals what happened in a bunker five stories below the East Wing of the White House, where an illegal order was made to shoot down a civilian passenger jet; in a tense meeting in the National Military Command Center’s top-secret Air Threat Conference; and in NORAD’s underground Cheyenne Mountain, where a direct threat to NORAD was so menacing that the commanding General declared “Battle stations” deep inside and ordered the 30 ton hardened steel blast doors shut.

Ash and Honor is the definitive chronicle of the chaos and confusion, the turmoil and pandemonium, told by first-hand sources who guided America through one of its darkest days.

Pre-Attack Intelligence and Initial Confusion

· Ignored warnings: The CIA had warned President Bush at least four times that Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were planning a domestic attack, even suggesting the use of airplanes. However, Bush agreed with his National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that global terror was state-supported, causing these “worst-case scenario” warnings to go unheeded.

· Initial denial: When American 11 first hit the North Tower, many responders mistakenly believed it was either a light plane accident or part of an ongoing NORAD exercise. Even after the strike, NORAD and the Pentagon incorrectly believed American 11 was still flying and posed a threat.

· NORAD test exercises: The enormous confusion was exacerbated by a NORAD exercise designed to stress-test American-Canadian readiness for a Russian attack, which coincided with Vladimir Putin running an aggressive bomber and fighter exercise right up to the edge of NORAD airspace.

· “Ghost flights”: While there were four actual hijacked planes, the chaos led to dozens of suspected hijackings being reported, including non-existent “ghost flights.” One such phantom flight, supposedly flying from Madrid to Philadelphia, prompted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to get permission from Bush to shoot it down, though the plane had never actually taken off.

· Media misinformation: Sloppy and untrue reporting by experienced reporters claimed a mysterious, unidentified plane in the sky over Washington was the cause of the White House evacuation.

Air Force One and Presidential Security

· Outdated technology: Air Force One’s communication capabilities were so antiquated that the President was left completely incommunicado for long stretches of time.

· Evasive actions and threats: The pilot of Air Force One, Col. Mark Tillson, had to fly defensive maneuvers against perceived threats, remarking it was “time to be Tom Cruise.” Panic also erupted on the ground and in the air when the White House Situation Room received a message stating “Angel is next” (the Secret Service code word for the President’s plane), sparking fears of an inside plot to destroy the aircraft.

· Secret Service intervention: Despite Bush’s insistence on immediately returning to the White House from Florida, the head of his Secret Service detail firmly put his foot down and told the President “no” because the situation was still too volatile.

· Confusion on the ground: When Air Force One attempted to land at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana for fuel and food, the base initially refused the landing because they did not realize they were talking to the President’s plane.

Government Command Centers and Infrastructure Failures

· Operational breakdown: Throughout the day, the government’s response was crippled because none of the necessary command posts functioned as they were supposed to.

· The bunker problem: Inside the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), the Secret Service nearly ordered an evacuation because they worried they were running out of oxygen. At the Raven Rock complex—the “back-up Pentagon” deep inside a Blue Ridge Mountain bunker—Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz arrived to find the facility out of date and non-functional.

· The NMCC: The top-secret National Military Command Center inside the Pentagon began filling with smoke rapidly after American 77 hit. An evacuation of this global command hub was only prevented when an officer climbed onto the roof and opened a vent to restore fresh air.

Military Responses and Extreme Measures

· Illegal orders and lack of authority: Vice President Dick Cheney authorized fighter jets to shoot down United 93, which was an illegal order. Meanwhile, armed D.C. Air National Guard F-16s were not scrambled in time to intercept hijackers simply because no one could find an official with the proper authority to order the launch.

· Kamikaze missions: When two unarmed F-16s were finally scrambled to intercept United 93 (which had already crashed), the pilots agreed that their only option was a kamikaze mission, fully prepared to sacrifice their lives by crashing their jets into the hijacked airliner.

· The Sears Tower: Following a request from the Chicago Mayor’s office, the Pentagon agreed to place fighter jets over the Sears Tower to protect it. At NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Complex, paranoia regarding a convoy of unidentified vans caused the commander to seal the complex’s 30-TON, three-foot-thick blast doors for the first time in history.

Diverted Flights and Civilians

· Solo authority: On his very first day on the job, the FAA’s National Operations Manager, Ben Sliney, took unprecedented action. He unilaterally issued a ground stop and then ordered the skies cleared of all planes. He did this using his own authority without asking for permission.

· Misplaced credit: President Bush later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta for making those bold decisions regarding the airspace, despite the fact that Mineta actually knew nothing about them.

· The Canadian diversion: As US airspace closed, 238 commercial airliners carrying nearly 33,000 passengers were diverted to Canada. The Canadian Minister of Transportation, David Collenette, only learned about this massive influx when his deputy saw it on television.

· Stranded in Gander: Hundreds of flights originally bound for the US were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, and other remote Canadian airports. In Gander, an American woman and British man met, fell in love, and returned a year later for their honeymoon. In contrast, another mysterious woman on a diverted Paris flight was inexplicably allowed to fly out the next day while no one else was permitted to leave Canada.

International Incidents and Cooperation

· Korean Air 747: A South Korean 747 heading to Anchorage declared an inflight hijacking, prompting the NORAD commander in Alaska to scramble fighters. He warned the pilots not to take offensive action without his direct order.

· On the ground in the Yukon: As the Korean pilot was diverted to Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien took direct control, informing American pilots that only he would issue the order to shoot the plane down. The incident caused massive panic in Whitehorse, where curious residents lined the area next to the airport to see if the plane would land or crash into town.

· Putin reaches out: Later that afternoon, Vladimir Putin became the first world leader to telephone Air Force One to express his sympathies to President Bush regarding the attacks.