Official NEADS Tapes Transcript: Sketchy and misleading

According to 9/11 Commission staffer Miles Kara, the NEADS tapes transcripts were accomplished by Alderson Reporting, a "professional transcribing organization", based on the audio files provided to them by the Department of Defense.

I myself have already transcribed parts of the tapes here. But comparing the very first sample - Channel 21, 1:10:30 - to the "professional" version has produced an unsettling insight: the official transcripts, however professional they are supposed to be, are sketchy, misleading, and not to be trusted.

Here's the transcript of Alderson Reporting:

MALESPEAKER 2: (inaudible) range 53. All right, 288 for (inaudible)

MALE SPEAKER 3: 288 (inaudible)

MALE SPEAKER 2: (inaudible)

FEMALE SPEAKER 1: I have a 288 for (inaudible). I have a 287 for 97. Yup. Yup. (inaudible) I do. I have two real close to go, so (inaudible). One has a code of 7112, the one right next to them.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14142026/NYC-Box-3-Neadsconrnorad-Fdr-Transcript-Atcscc-Channel-21-Tt-Op-010

And here's my transcript:

9:41:05 Another one. (Inaudible) I hear someone going from Boston going to Las Vegas - another one

9:41:11 As before is one missing. Start a search. (Inaudible) range out of 53

9:41:35 A 288 for 92 miles search only. 92 miles? 288 miles for 92 search only

9:41:46 I have a 280 for 97

9:41:58 I have a 287 for 97. Yup.Yup. What did I do -

9:42:23 The two real close together. Here we go you see. One used - one has a code of 7112 - the one we are next to 'em

As I've learned, transcribing noisy radio transmissions is not an easy job to do, and I never would condemn someone for a petty misinterpretation. But the official transcript omits significant and clearly understandable information:

- another one is reported going from Boston to Las Vegas

- A search is started (start a search)

- A position information is reported as 280 for 97

I'm not talking of odds and ends here. The omissions are crucial for the Delta 89 case, as I will show in a coming blog entry.

Request for the reader: Don't believe me blindly. Please check the audio file for yourself to verify these omissions!

Channel 21, 1:10:30

This part on Channel 21 is the first one where I checked the veracity of an official NEADS transcript, but this example shows that there is the need to review all other channels, too.

The official NEADS tapes transcripts are not to be trusted.