Reply #13: After 8:38?

[Bolo Boffin]

How do you explain the message from the hijackers that was broadcast over the ACC channel at 8:25?

Obviously the hijackers were in the cockpit much earlier than 8:38. Since the flight stopped responding to ACC messages at 8:14, that's the time the hijacking began (Flight 11 had been responding within six seconds until they stopped at 8:14). Ong reported at 8:19 that the cockpit wasn't answering her.

One of the things that Sweeney reports in her longest call (which started at 8:31) is that there was a bomb in the cockpit. Why would she say that if the hijackers weren't in there?

So once again, the article that you're relying on is wrong. The hijackers didn't "just" gain access after 8:38 - they'd been in there since probably the beginning of the hijacking.

A thought for a final rush: at 8:38, they were six minutes from impact. At that point, I'd speculate, the hijackers finally killed the pilot and took complete control of the plane. It's then that more erratic flying is reported, and the steep descent is mentioned. Perhaps any hijackers outside the cockpit rushed in to help dispose of the crew and take their front row seats, and it's that stampede that Sweeney interpreted as "just gaining access to the cockpit".

But as further facts bear out, it's clear that they were in there all along.