General: Hijacked jets can be shot down

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2004 | by Tom Squitieri

COLORADO SPRINGS -- The commander of the forces that failed to intercept the four airliners al-Qaeda hijackers used in the Sept. 11 attacks now says "the procedure is in place" to shoot down any hijacked aircraft, and there are enough fighter jets on patrol to stop a hijacked plane before it can hit its target.

"We're prepared to do that," says Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). "We know if we don't do that, hundreds if not thousands on the ground are going to die. The people in the aircraft are going to die anyway. It is something we are prepared to do . . . and let all those other things sort out later."

NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canadian force charged with protecting North American airspace, came under heavy...