terri biggio? he's also back from iraq. and he too has been promoted at the faa. to his dream job, overseeing the busiest air traffic control center in the nation, atlanta. his office filled with reminders of 9/11, memories of his father, a former air traffic controller, and a baseball bat from his brother, former houston astro greg biggio. >> i knew when i was about ten years old what i wanted to be. i wanted to be an air traffic controller. and i accomplished that. and i have absolutely no regrets. as an athlete, a former athlete, it would have been cool. but there's nothing like work airplanes. there's nothing like being involved in our air traffic control system it's the greatest in the world. >> are you glad you were working that morning? >> i was. you know, we wonder -- at points in time depending on your views of religion, why has god put me here? in part for me, i'd like to think that 9/11 was why i was here. >> the united airlines dispatcher, ed ballinge are, left the airline after 44 years. he has thought about but has not talked to the relatives of thos

at boston's air traffic center, terry biggio and his controllers know something is wrong.on't think you immediately thought hijacking. >> absolutely not. i've been in the agency at the time about 20 years. had never seen a hijack. we thought, okay. we have a catastrophic failure of some sort with the aircraft. they can't talk to us. we'll clear the airspace away from them and let them fly to wherever they're going to fly. >> reporter: as the plane turn south, the 9/11 commission report believes the hijackers tried to talk with passengers on-board but did not know how to use the intercom. instead the messages in middle eastern accents began transmitting to air traffic control. >> we had a series of three transmissions. first one about 8:25 and the transmission was -- the first portion was not intelligible to the controller. >> reporter: biggio asks a specialist named robert jones to pull the tape, review it, and report back. >> i made sure i had those words exact. this is such an important event that i didn't want to misinterpret what was said. >> we had had a hijack in pro

terry biggio is also back from iraq and he, too, has been promoted at the f.a.a.n the nation, atlanta. his office, filled with reminders of 9/11, memories of his father, a former air traffic controller and a baseball bat from h his brother, former houston astrogreg biggio. >> i knew when i was 10 i wanted to be an air traffic controller. i accomplished that and i have absolutely no regrets, you know, as an athlete -- a former athlete, it would have been cool. but there's nothing like working airplanes. you know, there's nothing like being involved in our air traffic control system. it's the greatest in the world. >> reporter: are you glad you were working that morning? >> i was. we wonder at points in time depending on your views of religion why has god put me here. i would like to think 9/11 is why i was here. >> reporter: the united airlines dispatcher, ed ballinger left after 44 years. he's thought about but has not talked to the relatives of those who died on united flight 93, the flight he tried to warn to say he was sorry. 9/11 commission investigators say t

terry biggio, footnote, 102. normal routine. working the morning push.e faa center in new york. he spent the past weekend celebrating his 45th birthday with his family in the city. >> we spent the weekend in manhattan. that was my son's first visit. to the world trade center. >> you went to the trade center, like a lot of tourists do. >> to the base of the south tower, i had him stick his toes, you look up in the sky, you get that sense of vertiggo that you can only get in a city like new york. mccormick and biggio would face the biggest challenges of their careers. eight 8:14 a.m., american airlines 11, a plimp was climbing to 26,000 feet. and would make the last transmission to air traffic control. then, 16 seconds later, it goes silent. >> bost an's air traffic center, terry biggio and his controllers know something is wrong. >> i don't think you immediately thought hijacking. >> absolutely not. i have been in the agency at the time 20 years. had never seen a hijack. we have a catastrophic failure with the aircraft. we will clear the air space and let