F-16 pilot Heather Penney was ordered to fly a suicide mission on Sept. 11, 2001 [View All]

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016162502_sept11pilot10.html

Originally published Friday, September 9, 2011 at 10:05 PM

Ex-fighter pilot recalls her 9/11 suicide mission

By Steve Hendrix

The Washington Post

F-16 pilot Heather Penney was ordered to fly a suicide mission on Sept. 11, 2001, to bring down United Flight 93. "I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot," she recalls 10 years later.

On the Tuesday that changed everything, Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93.

The day's fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington, D.C. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.

The one thing she didn't have as she roared into the sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything to throw at a hostile aircraft.