Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
New York Post
Air Force F-16 pilot who prepared for 9/11 suicide mission to take down hijacked Flight 93 retires: ‘The training kicked in’
By Dana Kennedy,
28 days ago
An F-16 fighter pilot just retired after 40 years in the Air Force — only because a suicide mission he was prepared to undertake 23 years ago — on 9/11 — was aborted.
Marc Sasseville, now 61, and another pilot, Heather Penney, who was just 26 at the time , were ordered to scramble their jets after two hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center’s twin towers and a third hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
They were told to go after United Airlines Flight 93, which had been hijacked by four al-Qaida terrorists and was on track to hit Washington, DC. Both took off from Andrews Air Force Base without even knowing their mission.
“One of the memories that will stay with me forever is seeing the Pentagon on fire and being able to smell the fumes that were coming off of that,” Sasseville told ABC News .
“The burning concrete, the fuel from the airplane that it hit.”
Before they had to make that harrowing sacrifice, Sasseville and Penney found out that the passengers and crew of Flight 93 had wrested back control of the plane before it crashed in Shanksville, Pa., killing all 44 people on board.
“If those heroes on 93 — and by the way, those are the real heroes — if they hadn’t taken action and they hadn’t done what needed to be done, it would have been a very different outcome for me and my family,” Sasseville said.
Sasseville and Penney returned to Joint Base Andrews to refuel before escorting Air Force One back to DC with then-President George W. Bush on board.
Sasseville ultimately became a three-star general in the Air Force and the No. 2 officer in the National Guard.
“It has been a tremendous honor and a privilege to serve, and a truly rare opportunity for me and my family to make a difference,” he said during his retirement ceremony speech.
“Now, you have the watch. Thank you all.”
For top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0