9/11- a fighter pilot's story

[hornetguy]

http://community.seattletimes.nwsou...&id=2016162502&st_app=ip_news_lite&st_ver=1.2

On the Tuesday that changed everything, Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93.

The day's fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington, D.C. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.

The one thing she didn't have as she roared into the sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything to throw at a hostile aircraft.

Except her own plane. So that was the plan.

 

[patentesq]

And she launched her plane as instructed. Amazing sense of duty and commitment to selfless service. Thanks for sharing, hornetguy.

 

[Ohio2015Parent]

Amazing. Thank you for posting this link - forwarding to DS. That day one of the few things that truly made me cry was thinking of our pilots being ordered to bring down a commerical jet and what it would cost them, I never knew any of those aircraft took off unarmed. Amazing.

 

[BillSL]

Home of the brave.

Thank you very much for that link, hornetguy.