Fighter Pilot Recalls Mission To Stop United 93

[Gerard]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0...1_lnk2%7C95941

[Speedbagel_001]

I guess the obvious question is why those F-16s were sent on this mission without ammo? Were there no armed fighter jets on ready alert in the area?

[cancidas]

I guess the obvious question is why those F-16s were sent on this mission without ammo? Were there no armed fighter jets on ready alert in the area?

not sure what the doctrine was back then but every time i read or hear stories about fighter squadrons from that morning none of them were sitting armed. i'm sure that nowadays there are alert birds sitting armed and fueled all over the country. actually as i understand it there was some confusion about getting airplanes into the air to begin with.

[moose135]

Were there no armed fighter jets on ready alert in the area?

Why would there be? The Cold War was long over, there was no obvious threat of enemy aircraft penetrating our airspace to attack the United States, which was the only reason fighters had pulled alert in the past. And honestly, before that day, would anyone have seriously considered shooting down an airliner full of innocent passengers?

[Speedbagel_001]

Why would there be? The Cold War was long over, there was no obvious threat of enemy aircraft penetrating our airspace to attack the United States, which was the only reason fighters had pulled alert in the past. And honestly, before that day, would anyone have seriously considered shooting down an airliner full of innocent passengers?

Sure, the Cold War ended long ago and thankfully, they were able to retire SAC in the early 90's. But it seems odd to me that the government would have ZERO aircraft armed and ready to go in case of a major crisis or threat. Isn't that the reason they created the Air National Guard in the first place?

It's not like "terrorism" in this country didn't exist before 9/11/01. And the threat need not be in the form of a hijacked airliner! As we all know, the Towers themselves were bombed once before.

I'd like to think that with all the airbases and active fighter aircraft we have in this country, there should be a handful designated for the job of being "ready" at all times.

Perhaps all the "training exercises" they continuously do at Red Flag and Top Gun should be revamped as the enemies of the USA use tactics far different than in the past? (Maybe in light of 9/11 they have, I don't know).

With that being said, even if there were armed fighter jets in the air, I don't think they could have prevented or minimized what took place. The attacks were clearly well planned and executed. Nobody could have foreseen or expected such a well-orchestrated evil act being perpetrated on thousands of innocent people. It is abundantly clear from the audio recordings that there was a lot of confusion as to how many planes were involved and where they were all heading. By the time those F-16's were on their way, it was already too late.

Although the surrounding circumstances were a bit different, seeing the Towers burning with my own eyes, from just a few miles away made me think of what it might have been like to be at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

[megatop412]

It doesn't surprise me at all there were no armed aircraft. It seemed like our military had been in BRAC mode up to the events of 9/11, and I would think that it takes a lot of money to keep aircraft on armed alert. Events like the USS Cole bombing and Oklahoma City revealed that attacks wouldn't always be coming from the air. Growing up I remember when there were B-52's in the skies at all times, ready to head to their fail-safe points at a moment's notice. We'll never have that level of readiness again, not in this ecomony at least.