Michael Canavan
 Michael Canavan     | |
|---|---|
September 11th, 2001
As a 9-11 commissioner, Richard Ben-Veniste asked General Michael Canavan "What is your understanding of the first time FAA notified NORAD of the fact that this was a possible hijack or that it had deviated from course, or that there was some anomaly about Flight 77 in the context of everything else that was going on that day?"
Michael Canavan: "Here’s my answer — and it’s not to duck the question. Number one, I was visiting the airport in San Juan that day when this happened. That was a CADEX airport, and I was down there also to remove someone down there that was in a key position. So when 9/11 happened, that’s where I was. I was able to get back to Washington that evening on a special flight from the Army back from San Juan, back to Washington. So everything that transpired that day in terms of times, I have to—and I have no information on that now, because when I got back we weren’t—that wasn’t the issue at the time. We were— when I got back it was, What are we going to do over the next 48 hours to strengthen what just happened?"
Since Ben-Veniste did not follow up, as of October 2015, there was no official narrative about who was actually serving in the critical role of hijack coordinator on 9/11.[1]
