THE ONLY SKYHAWK IN THE NEW YORK SKY
CAP CREW TOOK FIRST AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS AFTER 9/11
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/september/10/the-only-skyhawk-in-the-new-york-sky?fbclid=IwAR39kQSNpg_NxNTrR4X8Jiw6I6y2weBMB3GmyUn0S9wi2eMaTTj1powYYRg
With armed U.S. Air Force F–15 Eagles circling above like angry hornets and a thick column of smoke rising from the wounded city, three officers aboard a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 172 were among the first to witness the terrible scope of the devastation wrought when hijacked airliners struck the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. Their memories remain vivid. The photographs they took helped shape the emergency response, informed the investigation, and demonstrated the capability of the U.S. Air Force auxiliary.
Awesome article. I knew some of this but not in the detail presented.
Great article. That night I was flying blood and medical supplies from Hanscom AFB to JFK (the AF only wanted Commercial and Instrument Rated aircrew, I was Observer/Co-Pilot on my sortie). By the time I got to Wing HQ at Hanscom they had already established our clearances, but when we tried to leave Taunton Municipal Airport, we had to get past the cop in the middle of the runway. I told him he was going to be getting a call in about 5 minutes, we had USAF authorization, and we were leaving with our 172. He looked at me like I had grown a second head, then he was told by his watch Commander to let us go. Very interesting and stressful 24 hours, but I still have our clearance strip in the back of my logbook.
I was in that plane a few years later. It was still white & tan.
PIC was NER Commander, Col Rick Greenhut, who had previously commanded NY Wing.
This wasn't simply RHIP, he was a very skilled pilot, with years of experience flying CAP missions, who was a "known quantity" to the various authorities clearing the flight.