Posted on Sep 12, 2016
Air Combat Tactics - 9/11 Order To Unarmed Jet Fighters: What options were available to take down a commercial airliner?
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f 111 fuel dump burn off got a shock when I saw the plane on fire I thought there was a problem until I saw the airshow program and saw a photo of the plane ...
I am curious about whether the only available option was for the unarmed jet fighters to crash kamikaze style into the airliner's pilot's cabin and the tail.
(Option 1 of 4) Could the fighters have flown in front of the target aircraft engines and used their fuel dump -or- fuel dump and burn (dumped fuel ignited by the afterburner) mechanisms to disrupt the airflow into the target aircraft engines?
(Option 2 of 4) What about going to afterburner to disrupt air flow while flying close ahead of the target aircraft engines?
(Option 3 of 4) Could the fighters have popped and released their drag chutes in front of the target aircraft engines?
(option 4 of 4) Per David Thomas - fighters ram the target aircraft - pilots eject at last possible moment.
n.b. I think the F/FB-111 could dump and burn because the fuel dump probe was located between engine exhausts. I suspect more modern aircraft may not be capable of the dump and burn mechanism because the dump fuel probes are located somewhere in the middle of the wing or wing tips. Still, the fighters should be able to dump fuel into target aircraft engine intakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0cAvqSJBg
(Option 1 of 4) Could the fighters have flown in front of the target aircraft engines and used their fuel dump -or- fuel dump and burn (dumped fuel ignited by the afterburner) mechanisms to disrupt the airflow into the target aircraft engines?
(Option 2 of 4) What about going to afterburner to disrupt air flow while flying close ahead of the target aircraft engines?
(Option 3 of 4) Could the fighters have popped and released their drag chutes in front of the target aircraft engines?
(option 4 of 4) Per David Thomas - fighters ram the target aircraft - pilots eject at last possible moment.
n.b. I think the F/FB-111 could dump and burn because the fuel dump probe was located between engine exhausts. I suspect more modern aircraft may not be capable of the dump and burn mechanism because the dump fuel probes are located somewhere in the middle of the wing or wing tips. Still, the fighters should be able to dump fuel into target aircraft engine intakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0cAvqSJBg
9/11
155F: Jet Aircraft Pilot
Naval Flight Officer
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
I recently read about the two F-16 pilots that were sent unarmed to stop the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. Yes, they were ordered to stop it by any means necessary. Their plan was to ram the wings and eject if possible. Luckily for them, they never got there in time. Can you imagine the thoughts going through their heads? I almost had a midair once and it scared the shit out of me. I can't imagine intentionally trying to do it. You know it's a one-way mission. Odds of survival are very slim because wings are where the fuel is. Unless you hit it just right, you're likely to die horribly in the resulting explosion.
I would like to hear from some aviators from back in the day who flew these aircraft to see how feasible this course of action might have been. I never new anyone who flew the F-111. The fire trail was not that long and trying to maneuver so close to another aircraft would be pretty risky in itself possibly leding to a collision. It is likely such a contingency was never contemplated before 9/11. Certainly many more scenarios have been addressed in recent years which we won't be privy to. The initial article I believe stated the jets were scrambled before they had an opportunity to load ordnance. 1LT Sandy Annala
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