Hijacking drill tests U.S. response

DENVER -- Two jets packed with people took off from airports in the West on Tuesday in a twin hijacking drill designed to improve coordination among American and Canadian agencies.

About a dozen fighter jets from the North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled to respond to the simulated hijackings, and ran through several scenarios.

"We're prepared to do it, trained to do it, and ready to do it, but we'd much rather it be the source of last resort," said Marine Maj. Mike Snyder, a NORAD spokesman. "But make no mistake, we're ready to do it."

The scenario was planned before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but Snyder said the events that day helped officials fine-tune the exercise.

The exercise, involving over 1,500 personnel from the United States and Canada, began at about 7 a.m. One plane took off from Salt Lake City and was headed to Anchorage, Alaska. The other traveled from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station at Oak Harbor, Wash., to Vancouver International Airport.

Both were packed with military personnel pretending to be civilians. By mid-afternoon, the planes had landed and law enforcement officers on the ground began running through their own scenarios for dealing with the hijackers.

Snyder said the airborne portion of the scenario was a success but would not detail the specifics of the exercises. He hinted that fighter pilots simulated shooting down the planes.

"There was certainly a simulated response that might not be reflected in the aircraft landing," he said.

Such training exercises are held annually.