Two US fighter pilots took off on 9/11 knowing they might have to die to stop a hijacked passenger jet reaching Washington, even though their F‑16s carried no missiles.
First Lieutenant Heather 'Lucky' Penney, 26, and Lieutenant Colonel Marc Sasseville scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base as the attacks on New York and the Pentagon unfolded, preparing for a mission they believed could end with them ramming United Airlines Flight 93 if there was no other way to bring it down.
