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Title: Flight 93 Ordered Shot Down
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URL Source: http://www.stthomas.edu/aquin/archive/041202/anaconda.html
Published: Apr 10, 2007
Author: By Dave Forster, Aquin editor
Post Date: 2007-04-10 12:07:19 by honway
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Views: 990
Comments: 12
UST grad guides bombers in war First Lieutenant Anthony Kuczynski, a 1998 St. Thomas alumnus, flew about 70 missions over Afghanistan in an E-3 Sentry like this one. Kuczynski helped direct fighter jets over combat zones. USAF/Getty Images By Dave Forster, Aquin editor Unlike most Americans on the morning of Sept. 11, St. Thomas graduate Anthony Kuczynski wasn't watching the news. He was flying toward Pittsburgh alongside two F-16 fighter jets. "I was given direct orders to shoot down an airliner", said Kuczynski, a first lieutenant in the Air Force and an E-3 Sentry pilot. "It was one of those things where it was an absolutely surreal experience." E-3 Sentries, also called Airborne Warning and Control Systems, are modified Boeing 707s with advanced radar and surveillance tools, technologies that Kuczynski and his crew use to direct fighter jets to their targets. Kuczynskiís E-3 Sentry was one of the few military planes in the sky during the opening moments of the terrorist attacks. "We were the only show in the air", said Kuczynski, a 1998 UST graduate. Less than four years after leaving St. Thomasí Air Force ROTC chapter, Kuczynski found himself in a six-month-long military deployment that began in defense of U.S. airspace, included hundreds of hours of combat missions, and ended with ìOperation Anaconda,î the deadliest mission for U.S. troops thus far in the war in Afghanistan. Just as Kuczynski and his crew were about to intercept United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, passengers on the hijacked plane apparently rushed the terrorists, and the airliner crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. From there, Kuczynski went to orbit an area near Washington, D.C., for the next 15 hours. Earlier that morning, when he first heard about the first World Trade Center crash, Kuczynski thought he was involved in a planned military simulation. It didnít take him long to realize it was real. ìWe sometimes do scenarios where weíre protecting the United States from bombers coming in from unknown areas,î he said. ìBut we never really thought that thereíd be a threat that was taking off from the United States.î Kuczynski heard a lot of rumors after Sept. 11 about how President Bush would respond to the attacks. He knew within days after the hijackings that the military would be called upon; on Sept. 25, Kuczynski was headed to Afghanistan. ìWe knew it was only going to be a select few who were going to get a chance to be part of the initial strike,î he said. Kuczynski said he got his chance by ìcomplete flukeî when a couple of people ahead of him got sick and werenít able to go. Only weeks before, he had returned from a tour in ìOperation Southern Watchî in Saudi Arabia, where he watched for Iraqi troops in the southern no-fly zone. Kuczynski was tired, and he wasnít looking forward to another long, grueling trip oversees so soon. "I was pretty burnt out," he said. Besides the lack of rest, Kuczynski had only four days to get his gear in order and to buy extra supplies he wanted to take with him. "Basically they told us to get ready for a 90-day deployment, and oh, by the way, you've got three days to do it" he said. Kuczynski couldnít tell his family where he was headed, although a lot of people could guess, he said. Before he left, he wrote rent checks for the next five months. He still cannot say where he flew from in Afghanistan. Kuczynskiís destination was a rustic, run-down airbase in the middle of a hilly Afghan desert. The base had ìno showers, no nothing,î he said, ìjust a runway with a couple of hangars on it.î One of his first tasks was to build the tent he would live in for the next three months. After that, Kuczynski helped turn the dilapidated base into a functioning command center for hundreds of troops. ìWe landed and the next thing we knew we set up a complete working airport,î he said. Temperatures at the base often reached 110 degrees, but Kuczynski tried to sleep during the day to work on the base at night. After most of the ground work was finished, Kuczynski and the other troops spent much of their time resting and caring for themselves personally, he said, ìwaiting for that day when weíd be tapped on our shoulders, and told that, ëHey, youíre on crew rest and in eight hours expect to be flying a combat mission over Afghanistan.í ì Kuczynski, who spent Thanksgiving Day at 35,000 feet over Kandahar, flew about 355 combat hours on 35 missions in his first rotation in Operation Enduring Freedom. He and his crew led bombing runs to clear the way for ground troops. Humanitarian aid, usually in the form of food or medicine dropped by C-130s, followed each of the missions, he said. Kuczynski returned home for Christmas, but two days after New Yearís he was on his way back to Afghanistan. He said he enjoyed the time with his parents but dreaded the thought of leaving again so soon. "I was living in a tent where you're dirty all the time and thereís sand every where, and then to go home to a nice house where you can shower every day and have really good food, and then to know that you're going back to really long hours and bad weather and bugs and insects, it shakes you up a little bit" Kuczynski said. Back in Afghanistan for Operation Anaconda, Kuczynski had a few close calls with al Queda forces who had spotted and targeted his plane, he said, but he never was seriously threatened. He said he likely was flying a mission during the March 4 battle in which seven U.S. troops were killed. Kuczynski spent most of his combat hours supporting special operations forces when al Queda or Taliban forces got too close. The United States sent only its best troops to Afghanistan, he said, and those he met were some of the smartest, most professional people he has ever seen. When Kuczynski returned to his home base in Oklahoma last month, one of his roommates took his place. "I have a lot of close friends who are still out there doing the job" Kuczynski said. Although he has little more insight than the average citizen into President Bushís plans, Kuczynski said it is ìdefinitely possibleî that U.S. troops could see action in other countries after Afghanistan. He said he probably would be back in Afghanistan if U.S. troops are still there nine months from now. For now, Kuczynski is trying to pay his bills and get caught up with friends he hasnít spoken to in six months. "I consider myself lucky to have been a part of [the war]" he said. Dave Forster can be reached at dmforster@stthomas.edu
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#6. To: honway, Christine, Brian S, Robin, Aristeides, Red Jones, Diana, Kamala, All (#0)
I'd be careful with this one. As nearly as I can tell, the shoot-down order was never actually relayed to a pilot in the air.
If an airliner crashed in Pennsylvania, then either a bomb exploded before it crashed or it was shot down. For debris to be recovered eight miles from the crash site required a compromise of the fuselage prior to impact.It was physically impossible for debris from the impact site to have travelled eight miles and be deposited in a relatively small, confined area.
No discovered "big pices" or evidence of burning jet fuel - no shot down airliner. The collection of pocket sized debris was scattered by a C-130, which magically flew over the Pentagon and the purported Flight 93 crash site.
#11. To: SKYDRIFTER (#10)
That explanation is certainly more believable than the government's claim debris travelled eight miles on a nine knot wind. The explanation you have provided is physically possible and does not require any laws of physics to be suspended.. The government's claim is not physically possible and requires basic laws of physics to be violated.
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#9. To: SKYDRIFTER (#6)
(Edited)
I'd be careful with this one. As nearly as I can tell, the shoot-down order was never actually relayed to a pilot in the air.
#10. To: honway, Christine, Brian S, Robin, Aristeides, Red Jones, Diana, Kamala, All (#9)
Replies to Comment # 10. The collection of pocket sized debris was scattered by a C-130, which magically flew over the Pentagon and the purported Flight 93 crash site
End Trace Mode for Comment # 10.