Here’s a story from 9/11 which has gone largely untold. Maj. Heather
Penney (one of the first female F-16 pilots) and Col. Marc Sasseville were on duty when word came that Flight 93 was headed toward Washington DC. They took to the air to bring Flight 93 down…but without any weaponry. It would have taken an hour to arm the planes.
“I’m going to go for the cockpit,” Sasseville told her as they geared up.
“I’ll take the tail,” Penney replied.
A suicide mission to end a suicide mission. Quite a story.
Of course, it wasn’t necessary for them to ram their F-16s into the Boeing 777. But the fact that they took off, totally expecting to not come back…very inspiring.
