United 93: "It was Clear That We Would... Take the Aircraft Down"

CSPAN ^ | 5 SEPT 2011 | MAJ Heather Penny USAF

[Shalmaneser]

Major Heather Penney recounts the drama in the skies after District of Columbia Air National Guard pilots scrambled to intercept incoming hostile planes. She describes why F-16’s initially took off from Andrews Air Force Base unarmed – and what she was prepared to do to bring down a plane piloted by terrorists.

[Shalmaneser]

"It was clear that... as you said... we would take the aircraft down."

"We wouldn't be shooting it down. We would be ramming the aircraft.... because we didn't have weapons on board to be able to shoot the airplane down."

"Sass looked at me and said 'I'll ram the cockpit.'"

"I had made the decision that I would take the tail off the aircraft."

Harrowing minute-by-minute first-person recount of the planned intercept of UAL 93 on 11 September 2001.

[Shalmaneser]

“The people on Flight 93 were heroes... but they were going to die no matter what.”

[Loud Mime]

I remember finding it hard to believe what was happening on that day. To be in an aircraft that had been hijacked would be even more surreal. But the passengers on flight 93 came to the realization that there was something that needed to be done and they did it. God Bless every one of them.

Never again? I think most of the US has woken up concerning foreign threats. If a takeover of a plane is attempted again, I’m sure there will be a fight. I also believe the radical inspections by TSA is unnecessary.

I just wish our people would understand the enemies we have in our own nation....especially those who keep putting us in further debt.

[KittenClaws]

I just wish our people would understand the enemies we have in our own nation....especially those who keep putting us in further debt.

This is beyond debt.

No matter the PC blather that our supposed leaders and media try to lay on us.

I. WILL. NEVR FORGET

[Niuhuru]

“I think most of the US has woken up concerning foreign threats. “

Yes, it’s just a pity that our government refuses to do it’s job and deal with it in an actually effective manner.r

[D-fendr]

I wish I could remember who made this point:

Before 9/11 hijacked planes almost always had a chance of a hopeful end. They weren’t intended as weapons.

Osama relied on this. It worked until the passengers on United 93 learned what was up and took their courage action.

That ended Osama’s power with this tactic. The age of bin Laden ended with the words: “Let’s roll!”

[hamboy]

On Sept. 11, 2001, it was repeatedly said at KFI 640 Khz AM news talk radio in Los Angeles that USAF F-16 shot down flight 93.

[prisoner6]

In the recently released "new" video there still remains something I don't quite understand. Here's a grab from the video.

First of all I and many others recall seeing the video before. If it wasn't the video it was a still from it.

Secondly something seems wrong with the smoke trail. I can't put my finger on it but it seems quite a bit different from another crash I had seen live - flight 427 in Hopewell Township, near Pittsburgh.

Flight 427 crashed literally in the backyard of a very good friend. While I lived a good distance away I was able to see the smoke after climbing on my roof.

It didn't look anything like the flight 93 smoke. It was thinner and no "mushroom" from the impact.

Maybe it's the distances involved that create the discrepancy or maybe the weather conditions, I don't know.

I'm NOT claiming 93 was forced down. Instead I'm wondering if the air frame was stressed and the plane started breaking apart. Or maybe there was a bomb of some sort.

And one other thing that REALLY has me wondering about the entire incident. I work in news at a radio station and had just returned home from the overnight shift. The phone rang and because I live very close to the station - 3 actually - I was put on standby.

The next phone call came from a retired WWII air force Col friend who told me to turn on the TV, the US was under attack - from muslims. At that time I don't believe the media had said it was muslims. He never told me how he knew. He also warned me - and I later heard in the initial, ongoing coverage that a plane was spotted circling Pittsburgh and there were concerns it might be targeting the USX tower.

Hearing a plane I ran out onto my deck and saw a plane flying erratically, wings dipping and in a slip situation. PIA was not very far from our house and I used to sit on the deck and watch planes in the pattern. This plane was going in the exact OPPOSITE direction of the pattern at about 2 thousand feet and heading toward Pittsburgh, about 5 miles away.

After it passed it made a very sudden, "jerky" turn away from downtown and toward the southeast. Again not something I had EVER seen a plane in the pattern do. That direction is toward Somerset and the 93 crash site as well as DC.

Other people have mentioned seeing something similar in the same place and hearing the reports of a plane circling Pittsburgh BUT in the official flight recording at the time Flight 93 was over Pittsburgh it was supposed to have been at 35 thousand feet.

The only thing I can think of is that because all planes were under orders to immediately land, and because PIA was most likely very busy, a passenger jet was making for Allegheny County airport which is also in the same SE direction. I think it would be a stretch to land a plane that size at the county but not impossible.

In any case the reports of a plane circling Pittsburgh disappeared and except for this post I have pretty much dismissed it.

[prisoner6]

It didn't look anything like the flight 93 smoke. It was thinner and no "mushroom" from the impact.

Poor description. I should have added that the flight 427 smoke was rising at only a slight angle from my perspective.

It would be helpful to know what direction the camera is pointing in the Flight 93 video and what direction the plane was flying.

It seems to me the smoke is being moved by the winds at a fairly rapid rate but as I recall there was very little if any wind that day.

[EternalVigilance]

Worth every minute.

Wonderful lady. Great patriot. May God richly bless her and her family.

[Lancey Howard]

That was the story on plenty of radio and TV stations.
I have no doubt that plane was shot down.

[21twelve]

Thanks!!!

I sat in rapt attention to every, perfect, intelligent, and courageous word she spoke.

Unbelievable. I'm not sure I can get my kids to sit through this - but Maj. Heather “Lucky” Penney is one fine American.

Seriously - it is almost unbelievable how she comes across. She has it all.

[PLMerite]

“The people on Flight 93 were heroes... but they were going to die no matter what.”

Yeah, there weren’t any scenarios where people walked away from that one.

[dayglored]

Sorry to sound stupid here but.... I followed the link to the CSPAN page, but I can't figure out how to view the video of the interview. There doesn't seem to be a link to either a local embedded video, or a YouTube video, or anything.

I don't have a TV. Am I just S.O.L.?

[dayglored]

How did you view the video? Is there a link/URL you can share? (I don’t have a TV.) Thanks in advance...

[KittenClaws]

The age of bin Laden ended with the words: “Let’s roll!”

It sure did. Me and mine will uphod that - to the end.

[STARWISE]

http://www.c-span.org/Events/September-11th-Interview-Major-Heather-Penney-Fighter-Pilot/10737423885/

Click complete file on the right .. ;)

Worth watching, for sure. God bless you and all our incredibly professional and brave military.

Thank you for posting.

[holden]

Oh, come on! If the passengers had overpowered the muzzies and taken control of the airplane, they might've gotten on the radio and pled their case to controllers and their higher ups to bring 'em down in a safe place. I think the gov't./military would've been very sympathetic.

HF

[decisis]

I have always believed that plane was shot down as well. It seems there was time to respond to that one and it kind of makes sense that that is what would have been done with the luxury of time to decide. There were eyewitness account(s) of a fighter type jet swooping in out of nowhere and then leaving just as quickly. What was strange to me is that the liberal media never really questioned what happened to this flight; they just “accepted” the prevailing story of the heroic passengers bringing the flight down themselves. Maybe they thought that sounded good and better to perpetuate that version of things, even if it was a myth. I fully expected Congressional hearings and for the liberal media to say Bush shot the plane down and murdered all those innocent Americans (even though, if Bush did order the plane shot down most of America would understand but that shouldn’t have stopped certain leftist fringe elements of the media trying to paint Bush a murderer). It seems the media, as leftist as they are, got together and agreed that they weren’t going to touch this story, just leave it alone and let the passengers be American heroes. Another interesting element to the story was that back then the passengers could call and text from their cell phones on the plane, whereas now anyone doing that would technically be breaking the law. I think for a time you couldn’t even bring your cell phone on the plane, on your person or in carry on, does anyone remember if that was the case? Bush could have literally done anything he wanted after 9-11 and he should have bombed mecca; took over Saudi Arabia and their oil fields and pumped oil only for USA consumption, dropping the price of gasoline back down to 20 cents a gallon again; and, sent every muslim in the USA back to their country of origin, which would probably have bankrupted all of those countries. As far as public opinion, I think Americans would have been all in favor, especially when the economy would have gotten a huge boost from cheap oil and gasoline. As far as world opinion, eveny country hates the USA anyway, so the hell with what they think.

[Lancey Howard]

Another interesting element to the story was that back then the passengers could call and text from their cell phones on the plane

Well, there was no texting back then but yes, those calls revealed the story of the Flight 93 heroes. We know from those calls that some of the passengers took matters into their own hands. "Let's roll."

Interestingly, at least one of those cell phone calls also recorded a significant explosion. One caller who was on the phone at the time mentioned the blast. Speculation is that the explosion was a missle fired by a fighter jet, and that is probably what brought the plane down.

I fully expected Congressional hearings and for the liberal media to say Bush shot the plane down and murdered all those innocent Americans

Nope. Bush would have exposed the truth about the downing of Flight 800 off of Long Island during the Clinton regime. Sometimes, the scumbag liberals know when to keep their stinking mouths shut.