Heather Penney
{{short description|United States Air Force officer}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Heather Renee Penney
| image = Major Heather “Lucky” Penney.jpg
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, U.S.
| death_date =
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| nationality =
| other_names = Heather "Lucky" Penney
| occupation = United States Air Force pilot
| years_active = 1998–2016
| known_for = Flying a ramming mission to prevent United Airlines Flight 93 from reaching Washington, D.C. during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
| module = {{Infobox military person
| embed = yes
|allegiance = United States
|branch = Air National Guard
|branch_label =
|serviceyears = 1998–2016
|serviceyears_label =
|rank = Major
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|unit = {{plainlist|
}}
|commands =
|battles = Iraq War
}}
}}
Heather Renee Penney (born September 18, 1974) is a defense policy expert at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Arlington, Virginia. She is best known for her role as a USAF lieutenant who was one of two F-16 pilots who flew their unarmed planes in an attempt to ram and down United Airlines Flight 93 before it reached Washington, D.C., during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.{{cite news |last=Hendrix |first=Steve |title=F-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-16-pilot-was-ready-to-give-her-life-on-sept-11/2011/09/06/gIQAMpcODK_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 8, 2011}}
Early life
Heather Penney majored in literature at Purdue University. Her father was retired Air Force Col. John Penney (born 1947), who served from 1970 to 1979 during the Vietnam War and joined United Airlines in 1979 and served until his retirement in 2007.{{cite web |last=Gorman |first=Ryan |title=On 9/11, this fighter pilot was sent on a kamikaze mission to possibly kill her father |url=http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/11/on-9-11-this-fighter-pilot-was-sent-on-a-kamikaze-mission/20960925/ |website=aol.com |access-date=6 December 2015 |date=September 11, 2014}}
Career
=Air National Guard=
Penney was the "only woman in her fighter pilot training class and the only woman in her fighter squadron", the 121st Fighter Squadron{{cite web |url=http://www.warbirdsnews.com/uncategorized/caf-launches-kickstarter-campaign-acquire-aircraft-produce-film-inspire-youth-honor-women-airforce-service-pilots.html |title=CAF Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Acquire Aircraft, Produce Film to Inspire Youth and Honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots |work=WarbirdsNews |date=November 1, 2016 |access-date=7 September 2017}} of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, stationed at Joint Base Andrews.{{cite web |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/911-takedown-never-happened-180955222/ |title=The 9/11 Takedown That Never Happened |magazine=Air & Space/Smithsonian |date=May 11, 2015 |access-date=7 September 2017 |last=Culver |first=Christine}} In 2009, she transferred to the 201st Airlift Squadron,{{cite web |url=https://www.cla.purdue.edu/alumni/awards/past%20recipients/2012/EVA%20Heather%20Penney%20bio.html |title=Heather Penney: 2012 Emerging Voice Award Recipient |work=Purdue University |access-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009172629/https://www.cla.purdue.edu/alumni/awards/past%20recipients/2012/EVA%20Heather%20Penney%20bio.html |url-status=dead }} which provides short notice worldwide transportation for the executive branch, members of Congress, Department of Defense officials and high-ranking U.S. and foreign dignitaries.{{fact|date=November 2023}}
=September 11 attacks=
Penney, who was a first lieutenant at the time, was ordered into the air in her F-16 fighter jet alongside Marc H. Sasseville's aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base as the terrorist attacks were unfolding on September 11, 2001. They were ordered to down United Flight 93 before it reached the Washington, D.C. airspace, but because of the urgency, there was not enough time to outfit their aircraft with live ammunition other than the minimal 100 rounds of ball ammunition always carried to maintain trim. The mission could only have been accomplished by ramming the plane with their respective fighter jets. Penney and Sasseville were never able to intercept United 93, as it had crashed at least 35 minutes before they took off, and likely would have reached Washington 15 minutes prior to their being airborne.{{verify source | reason = probably covered in the citation for the following paragraph? |date=April 2025}}
In the Washington Post, Penney described her willingness to down Flight 93 without using live ammunition, saying that "there are things in this world that are more important than ourselves. […] We belong to something greater than ourselves. As complex and diverse and discordant as it is, this thing, this idea called America, binds us together in citizenship and community and brotherhood".{{cite news |last=Penney |first=Heather |title=Heather Penney, the 9/11 fighter pilot, says celebrating normalcy is a way to honor heroes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/heather-penney-the-911-fighter-pilot-says-celebrating-normalcy-is-a-way-to-honor-heroes/2013/09/13/a97a4bc8-1c8f-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2 December 2020 |date=September 13, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.yahoo.com/gma/fighter-pilot-reflects-9-11-180343760.html |first=Allie |last=Yang |date=September 10, 2021 |title=Fighter pilot reflects on would-be 9/11 suicide mission |work=ABC News |via=Yahoo! News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911072928/https://www.yahoo.com/gma/fighter-pilot-reflects-9-11-180343760.html |archive-date=2021-09-11 |url-status=dead}}
=Iraq War=
She served two tours of duty in the Iraq war.{{cite web |last1=Cummings |first1=Tommy |title=Air Force pilot ordered to take down Flight 93 to speak at Rep. Johnson's veterans ceremony |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20151106-air-force-pilot-ordered-to-take-down-flight-93-to-speak-at-rep.-johnson-s-veterans-ceremony.ece |newspaper=Dallas Morning News |access-date=6 December 2015 |date=November 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430054714/http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20151106-air-force-pilot-ordered-to-take-down-flight-93-to-speak-at-rep.-johnson-s-veterans-ceremony.ece |archive-date=2016-04-30 |url-status=dead}}
=Private sector=
In 2006, Penney joined Lockheed Martin as director of USAF Air Superiority Programs, Aviation Systems, Lockheed Martin Washington Operations{{cite web |url=https://www.usna.edu/LeadershipConference/Archive/2014/Panelist%20-%20Penney.php |title=Leadership Conference: Major Heather "Lucky" Penney, ANG |work=United States Naval Academy |year=2014}} while still serving part-time with the Air National Guard. During her time at Lockheed Martin, she spent a great deal of time working on the F-35 project.
On September 7, 2017, Penney and her father, Col. John Penney, gave a lecture, titled, “9/11 Perspectives” at National Air and Space Museum, as part of the GE Aviation Lecture Series.{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/events/911-perspectives |title=9/11 Perspectives |work=National Air and Space Museum |access-date=7 September 2017 |date=September 7, 2017}} After leaving Lockheed in 2018, Penney joined the think tank Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies as a defense policy expert.{{cite web |url=https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/stories/2021/stories-at-purdue/fighter-pilot-a-purdue-alumna-was-prepared-to-sacrifice-her-life-on-911.html |title=Fighter pilot, a Purdue alumna, was prepared to sacrifice her life on 9/11 |date=September 9, 2021 |work=Purdue University}}{{cite news |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/education/heather-lucky-penney-911-pilot-widener-commencement-speaker-20180506.html |title=On 9/11, this Air Force pilot faced a suicide mission. Everyone needs a 'courage muscle,' she now tells students |newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=May 7, 2018 |first=Susan |last=Snyder}}
Penney appeared as an air power analyst on the television documentary series Bullet Points.{{cite web | url=https://vimeo.com/182252198 | title=Bullet Points: Operation Desert Storm (Excerpt) - Military Channel }}
Awards and honors
In 2012, Penney received the Emerging Voice Award from the Purdue University College of Liberal Arts and the Purdue Alumni Association. She was given the 2017 Outstanding Aviator Award from The Wings Club Foundation and the International Aviation Women's Association.{{cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-wings-club-foundation-announces-heather-penney-as-2017-outstanding-aviator-award-recipient-300419961.html |title=The Wings Club Foundation Announces Heather Penney As 2017 Outstanding Aviator Award Recipient |work=The Wings Club Foundation |via=PR Newswire |date=March 9, 2017}}
References
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External links
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- {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H1JHVI7kCo|publisher=CBS Evening News|via=YouTube|title=Extended interview: F-16 pilots recall mission to intercept Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001|author=O'Donnell, Norah|language=en-US|url-status=bot: unknown|date=September 9, 2023|archive-date=November 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106212414/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H1JHVI7kCo|access-date=November 6, 2023}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penney, Heather}}
Category:21st-century American military personnel
Category:21st-century American women
Category:American women aviators
Category:Lockheed Martin people
Category:Military personnel from Arizona
Category:Purdue University alumni
Category:United Airlines Flight 93
Category:United States Air Force officers
Category:United States Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)