Tough task: Heather Penney's mission on the morning of September 11 was to find United Flight 93 - and destroy it however she could. Daily Mail
F-16 Pilot Was Ready To Give Her Life On Sept. 11 -- Washington Post
Late in the morning of the Tuesday that changed everything, 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.”
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Hat Tip: Blackfive
My Comment: I posted this story a few years back .... and it still givers me the chills on how brave these people are.
1 comment:
There are times you know what has to be done and it means in doing it your number's probably up.
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