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Summary

We issued a report on the results of our review from a referral made by the 9/11 Commission staff regarding certain inaccurate statements made by FAA officials regarding their notifications to DOD during the September 11 hijackings. Our investigation included examining whether FAA officials knowingly made any false statements. In brief, we did not find evidence to conclude that FAA officials knowingly made false statements, purposely omitted accurate information from any statement, or intentionally failed to correct an inaccurate statement after becoming aware of it. However, during our investigation we discovered that three FAA executives did not act to correct an erroneous FAA response to a Commission Question for the Record (QFR) after learning it was inaccurate. As a result, we have recommended to the FAA Administrator that FAA correct its QFR response and consider appropriate administrative action for two current executives. Our other recommendations to the Administrator include enhancing FAA's capability to respond to and report on hijacked or suspicious aircraft.