So on the morning of September 11, when I got the first call about a jet hitting a building in New York, I assumed I would be heading up there with a GO Team. Within minutes, the second plane hit and I realized this was not likely to be an NTSB investigation. The FBI Director called and I went immediately to their headquarters, arriving just as the building was being evacuated and the Pentagon was reported hit. We received minute-by-minute bulletins of the plane in Pennsylvania. Then we heard it was down and the rumor was that it had been shot down.
I left to return to headquarters and assured FBI Director Mueller that we would assist in any way we could, but that it was obvious the disasters were not accidents. No sooner had I reached my office than he called and said, "Could you send us some people to help find the black boxes and help identify aircraft parts."