That was how emergency services were being dispatched initially -- almost, if not 100%, verbatim. I hate playing armchair quarterback but I might guess that either the early info was incomplete or the message morphed when being passed from aviation authorities through state authorities to the county & local emergency services.
Jim
I can back him up on that..I have audio of a Franklin dispatch..word for word..
"County all Franklin Districts respond to your stations and stand-by for a possible airline crash. District 1 and District 3 respond to your stations and stand-by, a large commercial airplane, flying over Franklin,circling the county, a possible airline crash, losing fuel, very low altitude 11:44".. word for word.
The was definate belief in the initial stages that it was going to go down. Every department in the county was placed on stand by. Thank God this turned out okay. It flew over Somerville once heading out towards Branchburg and I shot some video. Then it came back heading northeast a second time towards Newark.