Female fighter pilot to speak in Carmel about role during Sept. 11 attacks

Heather “Lucky” Penney has quite a story to share about her role in one of the darkest days in U.S. history.

She will be the keynote speaker at the Indiana Aviation Hall of Fame induction banquet at 6 p.m. Sept. 21 at the 502 Event Centre in Carmel.

Penney attended Purdue University and became a fighter pilot stationed at Andrews Air Force Base. She was the first and only woman in the 121st Fighter Squadron during her time flying the F-16. She was on alert on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial planes. Two flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, causing both buildings to collapse. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, outside Washington, D.C., and a fourth was being tracked as it, too, headed toward the nation’s capital.

“Every airplane was grounded, and then Penney was told there was another plane that was headed in the wrong direction,” said David Newill, a treasurer and historian for the Indiana Aviation Hall of Fame. “(The pilots) had to jump in their airplanes and they had no ammunition, no missiles and even worse than that, there was no confirmation to the Air Force base that they were allowed to take off. But they took off, anyway, with the intent to take down Flight 93 by ramming the plane. She was going to ram the tail, and her wingman was going to ram the cockpit. That was the intention before the passengers put it down in that big meadow (in Shanksville, Pennsylvania).”

Newill said Penney focuses on the courage and bravery of the Flight 93 passengers and how they took down the plane.

“She is going to speak about dedication to orders, just do that and not ask questions,” said Newell, a Zionsville resident.

Fishers resident Worthe S. Holt Jr. will be inducted in the Class of 2024. Holt was a major general in the United States Air Force and command pilot and flight surgeon.

Other class of 2024 members are Joseph P. (“Joe”) Allen IV, Crawfordsville; Wilbur A. (“Wil”) Davis, Gary; Larry Gross, Lafayette; John D. Riddle, Indianapolis; and Edmond Soliday, Valparaiso.

Allen is a former astronaut. Davis (Navy) and Riddle (Air Force) were both decorated Vietnam War pilots. Soliday was a U.S. Army veteran and professional pilot. Gross was Purdue Aviation educator and FAA pilot examiner.

For more, visit inahof.org.