Air Force pilot ordered to stop hijacked 9/11 plane from reaching Washington, D.C., retires
“If these heroes of (hijacked Flight) 93…had not acted…it would have been a very different outcome for me and my family,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville .
U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. David J. Fenner
A military pilot responsible for preventing one of the planes hijacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001 from reaching its targets has retired.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville told ABC News that one of his most notable missions took place during the terrorist attacks more than two decades ago.
He had been an F-16 fighter pilot and received the order at the time, alongside another F-16 pilot. Heather Penneyto locate and prevent United Airlines Flight 93 from reaching its target in Washington, D.C.
“My challenge was how do you eliminate this very unique threat, a civilian airliner…full of people, full of civilians?” Sasseville recalled to the point of sale.
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U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. David J. Fenner
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc H. Sasseville poses for an official photo at the Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Aug. 11, 2020. Official photo produced by the Air National Guard Office of Public Affairs Air National Guard.
Explaining that his and Penney’s planes were not equipped with missiles when they took off from Joint Base Andrews, near Washington, D.C., this prompted them to hatch a plan to eventually ram the hijacked plane with their own planes to redirect it, which would have been a suicide mission, Sasseville told ABC News.
“The training has started,” he added. “I felt like I was on autopilot.”
Although he had a wife and two young children, then ages five and three, at home, Penney said Sasseville “didn’t ask anyone else to lead this mission,” adding, “He didn’t would ask no one else to give what it was. does not want to give. »
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The two men ultimately did not have to carry out the maneuver, as the passengers of Flight 93 fought to regain control of the flight from the hijackers. The plane eventually crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board.
“If these heroes of 93 – and by the way, they are the real heroes – if they had not acted and had not done the right thing, the outcome would have been very different for me and my friends,” Sasseville told ABC News.
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Sasseville further explained that when he and Penney returned to base, they were given another mission: to escort Air Force One with then-President George W. Bush on board as it returned to Washington, DC to deal with the aftermath of the attacks.
Sasseville said the “event and everything that has happened since” had been “a motivating imperative” that pushed him to “look forward and prepare for future challenges.”
He eventually became a three-star general and the number two officer in the National Guard, according to ABC News.
After 40 years of military service, Sasseville made his final flight in an F-16 on May 15 from Joint Base Andrews.
On May 29, he celebrated this honor with his wife and their three children. “It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve, and a truly rare opportunity for me and my family to make a difference,” Sasseville said during his speech, according to ABC News. “Now you have the watch. Thank you all.”
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