Heather Penney
Heather Renee Penney | |
---|---|
Born | |
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 |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | Air National Guard |
Years of service | 1998–2016 |
Rank | Major |
Unit | |
Battles/wars | Iraq War |
Heather Renee Penney (born September 18, 1974) is a defense policy expert at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in
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.[3]
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[4] of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, stationed at Joint Base Andrews.[5] In 2009, she transferred to the 201st Airlift Squadron,[6] which provides short notice worldwide transportation for the Executive Branch, Congressional Members, Department of Defense officials and high-ranking U.S. and foreign dignitaries.[citation needed]
September 11 attacks
Penney, who was a first lieutenant at the time, was ordered into the air in her
In the
Iraq War
She served two tours of duty in the Iraq war.[9]
Private sector
In 2006, Penney joined
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.[11] After leaving Lockheed in 2018, Penney joined the think tank, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies as a defense policy expert.[12][13]
Penney appeared as an air power analyst on the television documentary series Bullet Points.[14]
Awards and honors
In 2012, Penney received the Emerging Voice Award from the Purdue University College of Liberal Arts and the Purdue Alumni Association.
References
- ^ a b Penney, Heather (September 13, 2013). "Heather Penney, the 9/11 fighter pilot, says celebrating normalcy is a way to honor heroes". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ Washington Post.
- aol.com. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
- ^ "CAF Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Acquire Aircraft, Produce Film to Inspire Youth and Honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots". WarbirdsNews. November 1, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- ^ Culver, Christine (May 11, 2015). "The 9/11 Takedown That Never Happened". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- ^ a b "Heather Penney: 2012 Emerging Voice Award Recipient". Purdue University. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
- ISBN 0-16-072304-3. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Yang, Allie (September 10, 2021). "Fighter pilot reflects on would-be 9/11 suicide mission". ABC News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021 – via Yahoo! News.
- Dallas Morning News. Archived from the originalon April 30, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
- ^ "Leadership Conference: Major Heather "Lucky" Penney, ANG". United States Naval Academy. 2014.
- ^ "9/11 Perspectives". National Air and Space Museum. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
- ^ "Fighter pilot, a Purdue alumna, was prepared to sacrifice her life on 9/11". Purdue University. September 9, 2021.
- Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ "Bullet Points: Operation Desert Storm (Excerpt) - Military Channel".
- ^ "The Wings Club Foundation Announces Heather Penney As 2017 Outstanding Aviator Award Recipient". The Wings Club Foundation (Press release). March 9, 2017 – via PR Newswire.
External links
- O'Donnell, Norah (September 9, 2023). "Extended interview: F-16 pilots recall mission to intercept Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001". CBS Evening News. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023 – via YouTube.)
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link