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-Land of the Free
'Our only choice was to ram it': Air Force pilots recall knowing they had launched a SUICIDE mission to bring down United 93 on 9/11 because there was no time to arm their jets before takeoff
2021-09-11
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville and Heather Penney set out on a suicide mission to stop hijacked United Flight 93 headed to the capital on 9/11

  • The pilots took it upon themselves to immediately take off in their F-16s and didn't have time to arm their jet with missiles or complete a pre-flight check

  • 'Our only choice was going to be to ram the airliner,' Penney said, adding that Sasseville took the cockpit 'to aim at the terrorists' and she 'would take the tail'

  • 'I genuinely believed that was going to be the last time I took off. If we did it right, this would be it,' Penney said of the plan to use themselves as kamikazes

  • Unbeknownst to them when they took off, the passengers of Flight 93 had already fought back and drove the plane into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania

  • All 44 passengers on board Flight 93 were killed in the crash-landing and it was the only hijacked plane on 9/11 not to hit its intended target
Posted by:Skidmark

#4  If these aircraft are on standby to protect the capitol, then why are some of them not armed at all times. Exactly the same neglectful frame of mind behind the lack of preparedness by the US air defenses on Oahu 7 Dec. 1941. That day, IIRC, a Japanese reconnaissance plane flew over Pearl Harbor at 10000 feet quite a long time before the main Japanese attackers arrived. It was not spotted from below.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843   2021-09-11 13:48  

#3  If these aircraft are on standby to protect the capitol, then why are some of them not armed at all times. Serious question for some of you who know a helluva alot more than me about these sort of things.
Posted by: Chris   2021-09-11 11:06  

#2  ^ Complacency, Mike. Clinton-era leftover residue
Posted by: Frank G   2021-09-11 10:19  

#1  An act of superb and sublime bravery that never should have been necessary. To cover the entire perimeter of CONUS that morning we had 14 dedicated aircraft.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2021-09-11 10:16  

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