Benedict L. Sliney (born October 12, 1945) is an American retired lawyer, air traffic controller, and former

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA) National Operations Manager. His first day in this position was on September 11, 2001, and he was responsible for ordering a National Ground Stop across

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

airspace in response to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Biography

Benedict Sliney was born on October 12, 1945, in Medford,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He graduated from Hope High School in Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

in 1963. He joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

from 1964 to 1968 and received training as an air traffic controller. He married Irene Lynch Ahern in 1966. He began with the

in 1969, working at several air traffic control stations in the New York area. He briefly served as Airspace Branch Manager at the FAA Eastern Region headquarters. He received his Bachelor of Science from

Dowling College Dowling College was a private college on Long Island, New York. It was established in 1968 and had its main campus located in Oakdale, New York on the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirle ...

in 1974, and received his law degree from St. John's University Law School in 1978. He left the FAA in 1982 to practice law full-time in New York State. He retired from law practice in July 2000 and rejoined the FAA at the Command Center.

Actions on September 11, 2001

After

American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic Airline, passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijacked airliner was deliberately crashed into ...

and

United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as ...

crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and

American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. The Boeing 757-200 aircraft serving the flig ...

into

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, Sliney gave the order to land every plane in the air over the US at the time (implementing the SCATANA plan), effectively shutting down US airspace. There were roughly 4,200 aircraft in flight. This was an unprecedented act, which the 9/11 Commission later denoted as an important and decisive moment in that morning's chaos. While Sliney decided on his initiative, he had the advice of an experienced staff of air traffic controllers and traffic managers.

Personal life

Sliney is married to Irene Lynch Ahern. They have three children, Anne, Susan and John. , he is retired and lives in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Portrayals in films and television

Sliney was initially involved in the 2006 film '' United 93'' in an advisory role. He was then cast in a small role as an

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

. Later, the film's writer and director, Paul Greengrass, offered him the opportunity to play himself, which he accepted. Sliney also had a small role in Greengrass's 2010 film ''

Green Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...

''. He also took part in the documentary '' Seconds from Disaster''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sliney, Ben 1940s births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American male actors Air traffic control in the United States Air traffic controllers American lawyers American male film actors Dowling College alumni Federal Aviation Administration personnel Living people People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Sandwich, Massachusetts St. John's University School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)