Flashback: The Fighter Pilot Who Was Tasked With Taking Down Flight 93

Editor’s Note: This is an older TH post, revised for the 25^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

They died as heroes. The passengers on United 93 knew they would die if they did nothing; they were now part of the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history. They decided to act. Quickly and quietly, passengers Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett, Mark Bingham, and Jeremy Glick formed the core of the rebellion that saved lives. They charged the cockpit, struggling to regain control of the aircraft before it crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All were killed on board. 

Yet there was also a harrowing contingency plan, which The Washington Post covered about 15 years ago. Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney left Andrews Air Force Base that day with a brutal order: take down United 93. She recounted that she was to ram the aircraft if the brave passengers who stormed the terrorists on board hadn’t already done so (via WaPo):

Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base 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. 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 crystalline sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything at all to throw at a hostile aircraft.

Except her own plane. So that was the plan.

Because the surprise attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes, Penney and her commanding officer went up to fly their jets straight into a Boeing 757.

“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft,” Penney recalls of her charge that day. “I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot.”

For years, Penney, one of the first generation of female combat pilots in the country, gave no interviews about her experiences on Sept. 11 (which included, eventually, escorting Air Force One back into Washington’s suddenly highly restricted airspace).

It was a day when many made the ultimate sacrifice, and others were willing to do so to save others. If it meant kamikaze-like counterattacks to protect our skies, so be it. And Lt. Penney was ready to answer the call. In New York City, first responders, police, and firefighters had the same mindset. This is what they were trained to do. 

Their heroism, still astounding, remains at the forefront on the 25^th anniversary of this horrid day, which also revealed some of the best aspects of our nation as a resilient, compassionate, and united community that would not allow radical Islam to dictate our lives. The sense of security, thanks to two great oceans on either end, was shattered. And we were jostled and had to catch up with an enemy who had been at war with us long before we recognized it. 

Editor’s Note: We must never forget those lost on 9/11 and the American heroes who sacrificed their lives to save countless others.

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