9/11 Attacks: Former Fighter Pilot Heather Penney Recalls Suicide Mission to Protect Washington | Today’s news

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 plunged the US into fear and uncertainty, but they also prompted extraordinary acts of courage. Among them was the story of Heather Penney, a young F-16 pilot who was prepared to sacrifice her life to defend Washington, DC.

Penney was 26 years old and serving as a first lieutenant in the D.C. Air National Guard when the attacks occurred. After watching the hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center, she and the other airmen realized that Washington might be the next target.

“We knew the world had changed and we knew we needed to get on the air,” Penney recalled, ABC7 News reported.

But the fighter pilots had to wait for orders before taking off. By the time the Pentagon was hit, Penney said frustration was growing among those who knew they needed to protect the capital.

“Shortly after the Pentagon was hit, we finally got a call from the Secret Service to get airborne,” she said.

Penney and Sasseville had no rockets

Penney and her flight leader, then-Colonel Marc Sasseville, scrambled to their F-16s. Jet planes, however, were not armed with missiles.

Penney said the lack of ready aircraft was partly a result of changes made after the end of the Cold War, when many U.S. standby units were grounded.

Their mission was to search for an airliner that could potentially be heading toward Washington at low altitude.

“We would do whatever was necessary to protect and defend,” Penney said.

The pilots were preparing for a suicide mission

With no missiles available, Penney and Sasseville came up with a desperate plan: use their fighters to intercept and destroy the hijacked plane by crashing into it.

“(Sasseville) would hit the nose of the plane with the nozzle and I would hit mine on the tail,” Penney recalled.

At the time, the pilots did not know the details of United Flight 93 or what happened to the passengers on board.

“If (Sasseville) and I were successful, it would be a suicide mission. And you’re willing to do that,” Penney said.

Flight 93 has already crashed

Penney remained in the air for about three hours, but did not know the flight number or the fate of United 93.

It was only after landing that she learned the plane had crashed in Pennsylvania before she and Sasseville were ordered to take off.

“By the time (Sasseville) and I got the order to go, it would have been too late,” she said. “Flight 93 crashed maybe half an hour, 20 minutes before we took off.

The passengers of Flight 93 resisted the hijackers and ultimately prevented the plane from reaching its intended destination.

Penney remembers the heroes of 9/11

One of the pilots who later flew to assist Penney over Washington was Dan Caine, who became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Later that day, Penney and her flight leaders escorted Air Force aircraft back to Washington as President George W. Bush prepared to address the nation.

Now retired from the Air Force as a major, Penney says the real heroes of 9/11 were the passengers who fought back aboard Flight 93.

“What we (Sasseville) and I were willing to do is what the passengers of Flight 93 actually did,” she said.

‘Remember the best we can be’

Twenty-five years after the attacks, Penney said Americans should remember not only the tragedy, but also the unity and courage that emerged after the attacks.

“It’s also to remember how we came together as a nation,” she said, urging Americans to remember “the best of who we can be” and carry that legacy forward in honor of those killed on 9/11.

ABC7 News reported on Penney’s memories as the US approaches the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

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