Flight 93 Memorial Marks 25 Years Since 9/11, Honoring 40 Victims in Shanksville

Q: What desperate preparations did fighter pilots make on 9/11 that reveal the true magnitude of the disaster averted by Flight 93?

Fighter pilots defending Washington on 9/11 were prepared to carry out a suicide intercept because they did not have time to arm their jets. D.C. Air National Guard pilots Heather “Lucky” Penney and Marc Sasseville launched in F-16s without missiles, and Penney later said their only realistic option against a hijacked airliner was to ram it. Their plan was stark: Sasseville would drive his fighter into the cockpit to disable the hijackers and flight controls, while Penney would strike the tail to destabilize the aircraft and force it down. Both understood they were unlikely to survive. Penney said they had been given authority to use lethal force, but not the weapons needed for a conventional shootdown. That extraordinary preparation underscores what Flight 93’s passengers and crew prevented. Investigators concluded the plane was headed toward Washington, with the U.S. Capitol or White House considered likely targets. Before the military response could become operational, the people aboard Flight 93 fought back and brought the plane down in a Pennsylvania field. The contrast is the measure of the disaster averted: without the passengers’ revolt, the only immediate barrier left may have been unarmed American pilots ordered to sacrifice themselves over the nation’s capital.

3 articles · Updated · WTAE Pittsburgh · Sep 11

Two ceremonies at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville are marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, with officials reading the names of the 40 passengers and crew killed aboard Flight 93.
The morning observance at the Wall of Names began at 8:30 a.m. with the Bells of Remembrance, while a 1 p.m. ceremony features keynote speakers including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and ends with a wreath-laying.
The memorial commemorates how Flight 93 passengers and crew fought back against hijackers, disrupting plans to crash the plane into a federal building in Washington.
Across the United States, parallel 9/11 observances are being held at the attack sites in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, marking 25 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 2001 attacks.