sherpa

Four days. I got out of San Francisco to LA and the all nighter to Dulles on Friday night/Sat morning. Sat next to Mike Wilbon, (Pardon the Interruption), from LA to Dulles. Not impressed with his view of the magnitude of this.

They did have locks on the cockpit door, and they were always locked in flight. The doors were designed to be able to open with about 50 pounds of force. Not a lot. This was done to ensure that if a mishap occurred, people could get in without super effort. Things are vastly different now. The way entry was made varies in each of the four instances. There were no "orders" on how to handle attempted hijackings. There were protocols but it is at the discretion of the captain.

I was a 767 check captain. In that position you train new captains and first officers and certify them on regular passenger flights before they start actually flying schedules. I left New York the afternoon prior and was in San Francisco. We left San Francisco on the return leg at 6am. I had just finished the mandatory “seat belt” announcement when you reach cruise altitude, and were just east of Fallon Nevada. I saw the printer start printing a message. The company communicates in flight through a data link system that prints their messages. The message said: “Numerous cockpit incursions. Do not allow the door to be opened.” Pretty strange message, so I read it and put it away without saying anything to the new co-pilot I was with. A few minutes later, I got another message that said: “Numerous cockpit incursions. Defend the cockpit at all cost. Suggest divert.” I had been based in San Francisco my years as a first officer, and one of my old friends was going to NY so I told him to come up when we hit cruise so I could check up on old friends. He had just arrived and was sitting in the jumpseat. I told him something is going on, and asked him to listen to an AM station. The airplane has the ability to hear the am freq range. He told me that they were saying there had been multiple hijackings and suicide hits on the World Trade Center, and they thought there were more to come. 767’s and 757’s, the two planes I was a check captain on. There is a way to get all the flight attendants on the phone at the same time, so I did that and explained the situation and had them block the cockpit door with service carts and two males guard the area, jumpseater behind me with the crash axe and fire extinguisher to get anyone trying to get in. Told air traffic that we needed to divert to San Francisco, turned the thing around and started back. Fortunately, I was a west coast Navy pilot while in the military, so I knew all the bases and airports available in case something happened. Pushed the airplane up to max speed, .85 mach and started back. Absolutely nothing from air traffic control. In fact the only other airplane I heard was a TWA who was heading back to Sacramento. There was an undercast that day, so when we got under it I made an announcement to the passengers, who clearly knew something was up that we were over the Sacrament Valley returning to SFO, there was nothing wrong with the airplane and an agent would explain once we landed. During this twenty five mins or so, I received a bunch of messages from the company verifying it was actually me flying the airplane, including one where they asked for a password I had no idea they had knowledge of. I finally sent them a message saying I was too busy to respond anymore. There is a lot of stuff involved in a wide body diversion. Lots of flight guidance inputs to change routes and destination. With a co-pilot on his first flight in the 767, I was basically solo. Anyway, got to San Francisco approach control and they cleared me for the usual noise abatement approach, an arrival longer than necessary as it avoids high population, noise sensitive communities in the East Bay. I told them I wasn’t flying that arrival, that I was going to point the thing directly at the end of runway 28L and land. I also added that if anybody comes through our door I was going to put it in the Bay. They said “OK.” Came over the San Mateo Bridge and noticed what looked like 30 emergency/police vehicles on the parallel taxiway. I landed, they all chased me to the gate and a bunch of them with weapons drawn were below us on the ramp. Got to the hotel and found out that along with the other three crashes, American 77, Dulles to LA, a trip that I had flown for two years just prior to taking the check airman position had hit the Pentagon. Knew all of them. Got a call from the FBI in the early afternoon asking me if I saw any unusual passengers as they de-planed. I told them I wasn’t watching. A true horror story.

It's the Bill Belichick/Nick Saban connection. They've been working it for years.

Really good beef on weck is not that hard to do at home. I used to make Eckl's in Orchard Park a must visit every time I went back for various family functions. I made it a personal challenge to recreate that product at home, and I think I have.

Having served as an officer in the US Navy, I am ashamed of the performance of our president, SecDef, and Chairman Joint Chiefs. This is a gross waste of what has been built over the decades since Viet Nam.

I'm up there too. One of my two sons, who join me every Sunday afternoon for Bills games at our house, asked me a poignant question about five years ago. He said, "Dad, you have done everything you ever wanted to do. What are you going to do if they actually ever win one?" I told him I was going to go up on the roof of my house, and using the last quote from Jesus, state "It is finished," then step off.

Perhaps the most bizarre post I have read, but I admit I have not read them all. Go back to the mountains? I'm not sure what that means or how it applies.

Are you serious? Do you think that media reports contain accurate information on who intel agencies are aware of? You are clearly confused. Goodness, this isn't high school.

I am not "upset" about anything. You post relatively strong views from a political stance. That draws attention. When you post a ridiculous claim, someone who might know something about that kind of stuff might notice. What you posted is silly. Much less "mad" than I was when Clinton did what Clinton did along the same lines, or when Carter crafted the disaster in Iran. Totally stupid. I'm just interested in getting the facts right, which you did not. Enjoy your day.

You haven't answered the question. What carrier was it? By the way, all offensive launches are filmed. On aircraft carriers, all operations are filmed. Again, what ship was that? And of course you know that, as you knew it was launched from a carrier. This crap gets annoying. People who know nothing about any of this posting nonsense based on their political leanings. Know why Trump, Obama, and Biden have trouble living up to their campaign promises about "ending" wars, reducing troop deployments and a host of other things? Because once they actually get in the seat and are faced with reality, they make appropriate judgements. Usually, they are the right choices. This Biden thing is the exception, in my view. Absolutely stupid to say we are going to do something by Aug 31. But, that's my view, as opposed to posting nonsense about things that didn't happen. By the way, the US doesn't launch Tomahawks from aircraft carriers.

Evidently you could not provide the answer, so I'll do it for you. The missile launch was from the USS Porter, a guided missile destroyer. It was not from an aircraft carrier, per your claim, and it was in response to another event. People pay attention to false claims.

I'm not interested in the target. I'm interested in your claim that missiles were launched from a carrier. I can't recall that, and I am interested to know.

When did this occur? Not saying it didn't, but what carrier?

I am quite sure you have no knowledge of what you speak. Not worth responding to.

Just guessing, but probably none, since it wasn't Taliban. Or to stroke a Dem talking point, probably all 5000.

Really? I was reading reports that stated intel that there was an imminent attack two days before this, on of all things, social media. This wasn't an intel failure. This was a leadership failure.

I really think the reaction to this, while valid, is missing the point, and the only solution. Folks are blaming bad behavior by inhuman punks on politicians in the US. Of course it could have been handled better, and I did not vote for Trump, Clinton, or Biden. Still, the point isn't that those folks screwed up. The point is that fundamentalist lunatics in the Muslim faith are getting support and supplies from somebody else. They are incapable of producing military hardware, or in this case, simplistic weapons. It seems the focus is on ISIS Khorasan, known as Isis K. This is Pakistan supported. There are two countries who support this kind of madness, not as a national posture, but under the sheets. Iran and Pakistan. That is where the international community needs to bring to accountability. You can run one US president after another up the flagpole and it isn't going to matter. The solution lies in eliminating support.

I am sorry for you. We beat the hell out of them. You are a pathetic idiot.

We beat the hell out of them, at every level, unlike the Soviets. What we didn't do is eliminate them. Elimination means eliminating support. The Taliban/ISIS does not provide military equipment support. Other operators do. When we are ready to eliminate that support, we will end the problem. One man's view.

There is certainly something you can do to respond to those attacks. These are funded and supplied. I am quite certain those that fund them are known. Respond with deadly force. We are over trying to win a political game. If the specifics are wrong, so be it. The effect is the same. This cannot go unresponded to.

I don't know. I'm less connected than I used to be. I am certain that if this is not responded to, and I'm sure it will, that eventuality will occur.

This clearly bothers me, but doesn't surprise me. I offer my opinion as a guy who sat in a ready room on an aircraft carrier with the ability to deliver unspeakable harm to the enemies of the US. Nothing gets the juices going like knowing there are troops on the ground that are being hit. There is no better mission than protecting American soldiers in the dirt. Did the TopGun thing. Taught it. It's fun, but protecting troops on the ground is like protecting your daughter from assault. It is the single most motivating mission you can do, worth giving your life for, and watching Marines die while you could have stopped it is vomit inducing. This has to be responded to, quickly, or this administration will lose the military.

I know. I get you. If true, this simply cannot go unresponded to, and with undeniable force.

Again, I don't know if it's true. But.... If US troops were killed during a "negotiated" withdrawal, there absolutely has to be a response. It must be strong and it must come quick. Sorry, but that is the reality.