 Several planes from the aircraft carrier Enterprise , near Hawaii after a mission to Wake Island , arrived in the midst of the attack ; four were shot down by American air @-@ defense friendly fire . H. L. Young , commander of Enterprise air group , attempted to man the control tower to provide communications between the island , Enterprise , and the planes . However , he reported that although he attempted to communicate with Enterprise by radio from Ford Island , the communications systems there were inadequate , and he attributed the friendly fire to ineffective radio communications . After attempting to notify as many ships and anti @-@ aircraft batteries as possible , several planes from Enterprise and others from Ford Island 's complement were again airborne within hours to search for the attackers . Some of these search planes were again shot down on their return by friendly fire from the Ford Island defense , which was on high alert . 
