The nation’s first military response to New York on that terrible day was the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s F-15 Eagle fighter jets, even though reports of the hijackings had not yet stopped trickling in amid the first turmoil and uncertainty
On the Massachusetts National Guard Facebook page, Sgt. Alfred Tripolone tells how, on September 11, 2001, the F-15C Eagle fighter jets, which are currently stationed at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts and assigned to the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, served as the first military response in the history of the nation to attack New York.
Eagles Flying over New York
Sgt. Alfred Tripolone
The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which were carried out by terrorists connected to the al Qaeda network, occurs today. They took over four commercial airline planes and turned them into manned cruise missiles, which resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 people in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, New York City, and Washington, DC.
In response, two F-15 Eagles were scrambled by members of the 102nd Fighter Wing (which has subsequently been reassigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing). The Massachusetts Air National Guard was the nation’s initial military reaction to New York on that terrible day, even though word of the hijackings had not yet stopped trickling in.
Within six minutes after getting onto their aircraft, Lt. Col. Tim Duffy and Maj. Dan Nash of the 102nd were 153 miles away in New York City.
“Right, so we got into the jets for battle stations, the green light went off to give us the scramble order,” said Nash.
“Duff taxied out as No.1 While we were taxiing out, I followed him and we got the words to climb to a certain altitude and a certain heading in the direction of New York City.”
The Federal Aviation Administration was providing them with fresh information as they traveled south. They discovered that American Airlines Flight 11 had crashed into the World Trade Center just as they were about to take off. Subsequently, there was news of another hijacking involving United Airlines Flight 175. More than halfway to New York City, where the F-15s were still en route, Flight 175 collided with the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
The hijackers turned off the electronic transponders that allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to identify commercial aircraft, which made it more difficult for Air National Guard weapons controllers to search for the hijacked aircraft due to the clogged airways in the Northeast Sector.
“They came back and told us we had a new mission to proceed direct to Manhattan and set up a combat air patrol,” said Duffy. “We’re just trying to make sure we can identify and escort to land or turn away (aircraft) or do whatever we need to do to keep it from happening again.”
After passing over New York City, Duffy and Nash launched a combat air patrol, which made all non-military aircraft avoid the area. When the FAA realized we were being attacked, they issued an order for civilian aircraft to land. When the second tower collapsed, Duffy and Nash were flying in formation right over it, attempting to visually determine its state.
“And as I’m looking at the square, the roof, it starts getting smaller. All of a sudden I saw the plume coming out of the bottom, it was falling away from me when we’re looking at it,” Duffy said.
101st Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotankers from Maine refueled the F-15s. Afterward, F-16s from the 177th Fighter Wing in New Jersey and the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont National Guard joined them, along with additional members of their unit. They escorted around 100 aircraft out of the area during their more than five-hour patrol over New York City before making their way back to Otis Air National Guard Base.
Through patrols and training exercises, the Massachusetts Air National Guard still defends the sovereignty of the nation’s airspace and the safety of its citizens.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
