“We got it. We got the tapes. Boston Center got the tapes pulled.”
Why it's great
Short repeated beats turn a tense wait into one hard fact: the tapes are in hand.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
We got it. We got the receipt from the supplier.
00:00 / 02:29
00:00 / 02:29
FAA Pulls the Tapes, Scrambles Jets, Explained
United 93 · 2006
Chapter 6 of 17 · 2'29"
The command center finally gets proof: Boston Center pulled the tapes, and the recording says, "We have some planes." A southbound 767 then vanishes near Manhattan, and the room shifts from tracking a target to asking for permission to put fighters in the air.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:23–0:45
Boston Center Pulls the Tapes
22s
FAA Pulls the Tapes, Scrambles Jets, explained
What happens
As the hijackings unfold, the FAA and military command centers struggle to keep up. Boston Center pulls the cockpit tapes and confirms the chilling words: "We have some planes." A southbound American 767 loses contact, disappears near Manhattan, and the room asks for scramble authority to get Otis fighters airborne.
What's really going on
The chapter is about information arriving too slowly to be useful. Controllers chase a target across screens, radios, and phone lines, and the one hard fact they get is a recording: "We have some planes." From there the scene turns into a race between two kinds of authority - the air traffic side asking Kennedy and Newark if anyone has him, and the military side needing permission before it can launch. The target vanishes near Manhattan, and the room's language switches from tracking to weapons: Otis at battle stations, scramble authority, birds in the air. Nobody in the room yet says the word attack. They still talk like air traffic controllers, because that is the only vocabulary they have for what is happening, and the gap between their calm procedure and the catastrophe is the whole point.
Key lines & what they mean
- “We got it. We got the tapes. Boston Center got the tapes pulled.”
- The command center finally has the cockpit recording in hand - Boston Center retrieved it - and the tape is treated as the first hard evidence of the hijacking.
- “Whatever information they got, they got to give it to us right away.”
- A demand that any agency holding information pass it up the chain immediately, reflecting how far the response has fallen behind events.
- “They said, "We have some planes." Hold on.”
- The chilling words recovered from the recording: the hijackers claim to have more than one plane, which is why the room goes quiet.
- “He's southbound, 767. Nobody's talking to him.”
- A controller reports an American 767 heading south with no one in contact with it - a target that cannot be reached.
- “It was right there. It just disappeared.”
- The moment the blip drops off the screen near Manhattan; the plane simply stops existing for the people tracking it.
- “We've got Otis. Have the battle ready.”
- An order confirming that Otis Air Base is ready and should hold at battle stations until a launch is authorized.
Theme
- Duty — Controllers and officers stay inside their procedures, tracking targets and requesting clearances even as the crisis outruns them.
- Power — Every action needs authority, from calling other towers to launching fighters, and the chain of command slows the response.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“Whatever information they got, they got to give it to us right away.”
Why it's great
A firm but fair demand: whatever they know has to be shared, and shared now.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Whatever details you got, you got to send them to us right away.
“They said, "We have some planes." Hold on.”
Why it's great
A quoted transmission followed by a stalled "Hold on" freezes the moment disbelief sets in.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
He said, "We have a problem." Hold on.
“He's southbound, 767. Nobody's talking to him.”
Why it's great
Heading, type and silence packed into one report: a whole aircraft that will not answer.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
She's northbound, and nobody's talking to her.
“It was right there. It just disappeared.”
Why it's great
Two flat sentences make an impossible thing sound simple, and that is what chills.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
My keys were right there. They just disappeared.
“We've got Otis. Have the battle ready.”
Why it's great
Half confirmation, half order; the whole room snaps to readiness in six words.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
We've got the crew. Have the gear ready.
Up next · 07a bad feelingThe scene: First Reports of Smoke Over ManhattanTakeaways
What you walk away with- A missing backup shows how thin the desk really is.
- The tapes turn a rumor into a recorded fact.
- A target vanishes and the room dials every tower.
- Jargon here is not decoration; it is the job.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhat do the pulled tapes reveal?
They contain the hijackers' transmission, in which a voice says, "We have some planes." That single line is the first hard evidence the command center has, and it changes how the room reads the day.
Why does the command center ask for scramble authority?
Because launching military fighters requires permission from higher up. The controllers can track a target and put Otis on alert, but they cannot send jets into the air until that authority is granted.
What does 'squawking' refer to?
It is pilot slang for a plane's transponder sending a signal to radar. When a controller says nothing is squawking, it means the target has stopped showing up on their scopes.
What happens to the American 767?
It is last seen flying south with no one talking to it, then it disappears near Manhattan. Controllers suspect it may have dropped below radar coverage, and they start calling other towers to find it.
Why do they call Kennedy and Newark towers?
To see whether either tower still has the plane on its scopes. The target vanished from their own radar, so they widen the search and ask other facilities if they are still tracking it.