Posted on 09/10/2023 7:07:03 PM PDT by lasereye
A TWA pilot who narrowly averted collisions with hijacked planes headed to attack the World Trade Center and the US Capitol on Sept. 11, 2001, is being remembered 22 years later as an unsung hero.
The little-known incidents are buried in the history of 9/11 when 2,977 people were killed at the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and on the four planes commandeered by Islamic terrorists.
The pilot on TWA Flight 3 took “evasive action” twice before safely landing — first to avoid colliding with United Flight 175, which struck the World Trade Center, and then Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, according to a New York-based flight attendant who was on the crew.
“There were two near-misses,” she told The Post.
The unflappable pilot was never memorialized, or even publicly identified, in the 9/11 Commission Report or other accounts.
Yet to the passengers on that fateful flight, he is unforgettable.
“He saved our lives, without a doubt,” said retired FDNY Lt. Charlie Hubbard, who was one of them.
TWA’s Boeing 767 took off from JFK for St. Louis at 8:47 a.m. – almost exactly when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. — the first to strike the World Trade Center.
Commanding the cockpit was “George,” said the flight attendant, who could recall only his first name.
As the TWA jet ascended in the clear, blue sky, passengers spotted a shocking sight – the World Trade Center on fire.
Minutes later, the jet confronted United 175 as it headed toward NYC from Boston, the flight attendant said. “We were scissoring up and down,” she recalled, referring to a defensive maneuver.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The unnamed TWA pilot, seen here in a screenshot from a television news interview,
recalled how he “dodged” one of the doomed 9/11 flights.
ABC News report on the flight. It includes the mystery pilot and a couple of passengers describing what happened:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zSwXBFv7NAg
Most of the hijackers were Saudis...So we invaded Iraq.
And let the bin Laden family flee the country.
Had he not evaded he would have saved everyone in the South Tower, at the cost of himself and all the pax and crew on his plane.
The South Tower would have remained as a giant finger to islamic terrorists.
After 911 Bush allowed more Muslims to enter the U.S. than were allowed in the previous decade prior to 911.
The conventional “wisdom” was to negotiate with hijackers, so it seems ungenerous to question his choice to save his passengers and crew. Not being critical Nully.
Unknowable to him. It was my first thought that ironically, he might have prevented half of 9-11. But then again, the planes struck largely empty towers. If two planes collided in mid-Air over Manhattan, might the loss of life been even worse?
Had he known exactly what was happening. You’re monday morning quarterbacking.
It happened on Bush's watch. He should have been drummed out of the presidency for dereliction of duty.
Bush ultimately is an empty suit, another puppet of Davos, WEF, and the Deep State.
Close enough for government work.
It was personal. Saddam tried to kill his daddy.
And he never could get Bin Laden.
12/1/2001 TWA ceased operations after American Airlines acquired it. So, why are we only hearing of this almost 22 years later?
Bush was a fraud.
And don’t tell the Feds didn’t know all about it.
And we are just now hearing this?
And our first new president after 9-11 was a gay, black, communist muzzie.
Nor am I. There was simply no human way to foresee the best path.
I'm not certain I would have rammed even if I knew and I were the pilot. I'd venture that most of the pilots in Dad's squadron would, but a trained Marine on a mission is a far different animal (a teufelhund) than an ordinary pilot on an ordinary flight thrust into an unexpected emergency with no precedent and no chance of falling back on training or time to think.
dangus ~ Unknowable to him. It was my first thought that ironically, he might have prevented half of 9-11. But then again, the planes struck largely empty towers. If two planes collided in mid-Air over Manhattan, might the loss of life been even worse?
See what I mean? Yup you do...
ealgeone ~ Had he known exactly what was happening. You’re Monday morning quarterbacking.
No, just speculating on an alternative history.
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