Interview
with Maj. Dan Nash, 102
nd
Fighter Wing,
Massachusetts
Air National GuardConducted
by
Leslie Filson, Oct.
2,
2002
Maj.
Dan Nash, 102 FW, flying
F-15s
since 1996
Q:
WHAT
WAS
SEQUENCE
OF
EVENTS
ON
SEPT
11 2001?
A: On
9.11,
we got a Call at operations; the FAA had called the tower. Lt. Col.
Duffy
directed it to
command
post and the story I heard was that somebody called looking for for NEADS and that there wasa possible hijacking
Got
dressed
and
started going toward
the
jets
We
got the first call about the possible hijacking at 8:37 a.m.Started out to the jets and sometime thereafter, alarm went off for battle stations
As
soon
as we got
strapped
in got
scramble light
-
(told
to
scramble)Took
off on
runway
5 and
proceeded
on
heading
and
altitude that command post
got
from NEADS
Climbed
up to
29 000
feet toward New YorkProceeded toward NY, we knew we were trying to intercept American
11
but hadn't heard anything about
other
airplanes
We
got
airborne
within
like
three
or
four minutes
NEADS controller told them on the radio that a
second
one had hit but still under impression American
11
was
still
airborne
(we
were shocked because
we
didn't
know
the
first
one had
even hit)
Didn't
know American
had hit the
building
By
the
time
we
were 100 miles
out we
could
see the
smoke
from the fire
WERE
YOU FLYING AS FAST AS POSSIBLE TO GET THERE?
Yes,
but to be
honest,
I
didn't know
why we
were going
fast
because
we
hadn't been
told
anything
critical
was
going
on, but we
went
as
fast
as the
airplanes could
go
Day to day
scrambles
are
usually
a
false
alarm
so
when
we
heard
it was a
possible
hijacking
we
knew
it
was
more serious
Usually
get
scrambled
on
fish
spotters, doctors getting lost
When
we
heard
it was a
possible
hijacking,
Lt.
Col.
Duffy
wanted
to go
supersonic; NEADS just gave
us
altitude
and
heading
to flyWe
kept
flying
toward
it to see
what
was s
going
on
They
gave
us
clearance over
NY
immediately.
Went
to
whiskey
105
training space
- our
normal training space
Sometime
after
that, NORAD took control
of
airspace
and we did one
circle
in
Whiskey
105
and
told
them
we
would
cap
over Manhattan
And
from
there
we
spent
the
rest
of the day
directing
planes away
that
weren't helping
HOW LONG WAS THE MISSION THAT DAY?
Took off before 9 and landed at a quarter
after
two at Otis
YOU
MUST HAVE
HAD A
TANKER
TO
REFUEL
NCT 8
Had
a
tanker
from
Maine that
was scheduled to
refuel
the
training
mission
and he
pretty much
stayed over
the water and over KennedyKept
one
F15
over Manhattan
-
other
one
would
go
intercept small airplanes
and
helicopters
or go get gas
when
we needed toNormally stay in pairs but we kept one F15 over Manhattan the whole time just in caseWhen
the first
tower collapsed
we
were headed
away
from
Manhattan
over Kennedy
and
when
we
turnedaround there
was a
bunch
of
dust
and
debris
With
the second one, we were over New York at 10,000 feet
HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAW THE TOWERS COLLAPSE
It
was
disbelief. Shock.
Civilian
controller
told
us of
similar problems down
in
Washington
We
were pretty busy doing what we were doing, it wasn t like we had a lot of time to ponder what else wasgoing
on, we
were
just
trying to
make
sure it
didn t happen anymore that
day over New
York
After
a couple hours, two more F15s from Otis came and
joined
us; we capped around
10,000
feet and theystayed higher, around
18,000
feet
10,000
feet
was
dictated
- we
were
flying
as low as we
needed
to
as for other planes out there
...
some people were curious and wanted to take a look for themselves, news
helicopters,
etc.we would direct them away
if
they looked
to not be a
rescue
helicopter
we
had to make sure they were friendly
wanted
to keep everything away and mostly make sure everybody who was
flying
around there hadbusiness doing
it - it
would
become
congested
and we got closer to helicopters
than
we
normally would
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN
YOU GOT
BACK
TO
BASE
Got back to Otis, a bunch of
people
telling
us what was going on
A
crew
chief told
me
F
16s had
shot down
airliners
over
Pennsylvania.,
obviously that wasn t true,
so
there
were
lots
of
rumors
floating
around.
Had
to go to
intelligence shop
and
tell
them what we d done, lots
of
rumors about
other
hijacked airplanes
A
lot of security on ramp as airplanes being loaded
w/live
weapons
We
usually
keep
3 or 4 on
alert totally armed,
but had to arm
other
airplanes
AND WHEN YOU GOT HOME
Like
everybody,
I
watched
the
news
until
I had to go to bed and get up and fly the
next
day and the
next
day I
capped over
Boston
Never thought I d do CAPS over my own
countryWe
were doing CAPS 24/7
split
w/Syracuse.
we did
2
and
they
did 12 and
split
them up
every
4 hoursHad
to generate so many
jets
to do that, that s why we shared duty w/Syracuse
HOW DID IT AFFECT TRAINING
We weren t
as
sharp
as
we d
normally
be -
flying
caps
is
mind-numbing,
obviously
I m
glad nothing elsehappened,
but
flying
CAPS
is
mostly
boredom
NCT 68 6
A
YEAR HAS PASSED
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW
It's
mostly disbelief, my kids are pretty young, so we didn't really have to
talk
about it, but obviously w/thecaps it seems like we were working a lot moreI'm full-time
at the
wingStill
do
random
caps
but
mostly training getting ready
for
whatever
We did
everything
we
could
but
unfortunately
couldn't
stop
anything... even
if
we'd been
scrambled
15
min.
earlier
and
were
following
the
airplane,
I'm
99
percent sure
we
would have watched
the
airplanescrash into
the
towers.
Because
we had no
orders
to do so,
this
was not
part
of the
rules
at
that
point
in
timeand we didn't know the planes were hijacked for sure
A
civilian
controller told us we could shoot down, (but never got that order from
HEADS)
We
scrambled twice on suspected hijackings since then that turned out to be not hijackings
NCT 68 6
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