Wow Jack thank you for telling your experience about that horrific day. I’m a corporate pilot myself and I can tell you as a fellow aviator, hearing you’re testimony made the hairs on my neck stand. We will never forget! Amen!
Crazy stuff. I was 18 and had been in the Air Force for 4 months. I was in Biloxi MS training to be an air traffic controller. 9/11 was my first day on the simulator for tower. I joined the Air Force because I was obsessed with aviation and it was a peace time military, no big deal. 4 months later the country is under attack. Bad timing for me. Had 9/11 happened before I enlisted, I would have gone straight to college instead. Dream always was to be a pilot. Never worked out.
Thanks Marian. It was a time I will never forget. Amazing how our Lord was looking out for those kids in the midst of the biggest one day tragedy we suffered as a nation in the 9/11 attacks.
I feel privileged to have found your testimonial. AWE85 means something to me. Now that last flight out of DCA finally has a face. Thank you, Captain !
Thank you Connie. Even in the midst of all the tragedy that the attacks brought to our country, the Lord was still at work in the lives of many people. Jack
@@jackjessup-Pilot I wholeheartedly agree with you, Jack ! You couldn't have said it any better. Some people were angels and might not even know that. Who knows, maybe you're an angel, too. The three UMs were safely in your hand, when they needed you. Let me generally thank you for taking so many many people safely from A to B during your career. I wonder whether you would allow me to ask you a few questions. Having found your channel is indeed a privilege. I have visualized the first segment your flight for years. Approx 30 minutes, from the Gate to Linden VOR. I see you puling into the Block on C during the chaos on the ground, I see your t/o roll, I see the aircraft rotate in real time, and I see you airborne, in 3D, your climb, every change of heading, and I hear your radio transmissions. And I also see the other traffic around you, including the attacker, in 3D. So I already knew part of your story here. I'm retired ATC from the snow up north, and my heart is with those who were personally affected, and with your nation that got traumatized. Any chance for a short exchange to help me better understand your flight until LDN, Captain ? Ideally not necessarily here. Thank you.
@@mzrcnn Hi Connie, Your working in ATC explains how you correctly used AWE 85. I pretty much covered our experience that day, but if you have any questions, I would be happy to address them. Since it has been nearly 21 years, my memory probably has not improved. The radar picture I have included here is a screen shot that was included on the Smithsonian channel Air Disasters attack on the Pentagon. One thing that happened that I don’t know if I included was that our dispatcher gave me the option of diverting into CMH (Columbus) or Indy. I picked Indy mainly because it was further west and would allow us to get below Max Landing weight. I was not aware that the UMs had uncles who lived there. After we had already committed to Indy, it became apparent it was not for just a few hours and I regretted not picking CMH because I have a cousin who lives there. Obviously, the Lord knew the kids would be better off going to Indy and He had me make that decision even though I was ignorant of the real reason when we made our choice.
@@jackjessup-Pilot Thank you very much, Jack. Well, let me tell you that I consider US commercial pilots as highly professional people, most of them, and your memory also appears to be excellent after almost 21 years. I can fully confirm your account, as it matches other records. What you're telling is surprisingly accurate from the very beginning when taxiing out, even in details. This is why, I'm so enchanted. And this makes me want to learn some more small details, and I trust that it's somewhere in your memory. Thing is that the events of that day had some impact on myself, and so I want to know as much as ever possible, and simply can't let go. In the ideal case, I'd love to sit down with you, let you close your eyes, and walk with you once again through your experience. Certainly no chance for that. This here is not the ideal format, but let me try ... Question #1 - I conclude that you were the Pilot Flying and Preston (?) monitoring, is that correct ? You say: "It took a couple of calls to Departure Control before he answered, and when he did, it was with a quivering voice." Even your observation "quivering voice" is very accurate. It was. What intrigues me is the "couple of calls" it took, as you say, and I believe you. Do you recall when exactly Preston called Departure for the first time? He would have reported your altitude in his call. Did Preston possibly mention to you that he hadn't correctly keyed the mic ? Or did you encounter radio trouble during any moment of that flight ? Departure had been waiting for your call. He saw your flight being tracked on radar, with the correct tag, and he had the Flight Progress Strip for AWE85 on his board, only waiting for your call. And he responded promptly without any hesitation, clearing you up to 11,000 feet. On the ATC tapes, there is no indication of a couple of calls, no indication of any delay either. Nobody seems to be blocked by other transmissions, nobody's over-speaking another station. However, yes I do believe your word, and I trust your observation. Preston had indeed plenty of time during your climb from say 1,000 feet to 2,200 to call-in at least once, or even twice, but there was about 35 seconds of radio silence on DEP frequency after your lift-off, with just a clean decent carrier wave audible in the background. So what happened to your attempted calls ? -tbc-
@@jackjessup-Pilot Question #2 - "We were climbing to 5,000 ft, when an American 7-57 passed closed by us, in a descent going east ..." This is also an accurate observation, however, Jack, how many 'American' 7-57 did you actually see ??? I'm asking because there were two 'American' 7-57 which you could have had visually from your cockpit. The first one was an American Trans Air 7-57 for landing at National, followed by the Intruder American 7-57 as Number Two, heading for the Pentagon. Almost in trail when near you, though not exactly. At 5,000 feet and climbing, in your left turn to heading 270, you would have probably perceived the AMT133 7-57 on Radial 113 AML. They had crossed AML at approx 8,500 coming from 15,000 and were still descending to 8,000 and then briefly leveling, and coming closer in your direction, though separation was ensured by ATC at all times. At this point with you at 5,000 feet just about to turn heading 270, the Intruder 7-57 was approaching Manassas on heading 060 approx, and primitively leveling at approx 7,000 (FDR data), manually without Autopilot. But it would have looked like a kinda roller-coaster ride, above 7,000, below, above. At first glance, this traffic wouldn't have been a factor for you, but one could have visually mistaken the Intruder for a Visual Approach RWY 01L Dulles, slightly higher than normal when turning base abeam Manassas. He was sneaking in, with only a weak blip on the radar screen. When you passed by the ATA 7-57, at your 9 o'clock position 3 to 4 miles, you saw him still on R-113 at 8,000, and you were then turning left heading 240 at approx 9,500 feet, behind him. Direct Linden came later. Your following encounter was with the Intruder 7-57. For a brief moment when you turned left 240, you were almost on an opposite course, but having him lower and your 7-57 the nose up. When you eventually had him at your 9 o'clock position 3 to 4 miles, you still on heading 240, you were at 11,000 feet and climbing, and he had been turning to the right, was heading east on 090° at almost exactly 7,000 at that moment, and he was climbing again, once you had him in your back. What intrigues me is ... did you visually perceive both 7-57 ? Ironically, the old ATA livery looked fairly similar to American Airlines back then. Everything a little different from close, but similar from a certain distance. I also trust your memory: "As we passed 10,000 ft ... (Preston) listened for about 15 seconds ..." That would mean that your Pilot Monitoring was actually listening to the radio, and then briefed you about the events in New York, after you had safely passed by the ATA 7-57, at the time when the Intruder 7-57 was at your 9 to 10 o'clock position, about 4,000 feet lower. You don't mention either the unusual kinda roller-coaster ride of the Intruder aircraft, which you certainly had visually perceived. Did you have both 7-57 visually ? You mention TCAS and no advisory, but the Intruder was not supposed to pop up on TCAS. On the other hand, your observation that the Intruder was not following the normal traffic flow is also very accurate. He deviated from the FINKS Arrival Route in 2001 after passing the CLLEG waypoint and took the shortcut, but as he flew heading 090, he eventually almost intercepted R-113 AML once he was in your back. On the other hand, they changed the Radial outbound AML a couple of years ago from R-113 then to R-130 now, so you now possibly remember R-130 as normal. After all, I trust in your memory, in your experience, and your observations appear to be very accurate. So I'm very curious ... On a side note : I noticed in one of your videos that you apparently have been a CACTUS Pilot throughout your career, maintaining your CACTUS call-sign even when you flew for USAir and later American. That's nice. I have lots of sympathy for America West, and you had some of the most beautiful planes in the sky. Again, thank you for sharing your experience, and if you can help me completing my picture of that horrible day, that would even more be appreciated. Thank you also once again for doing such a safe job at the throttles over so many years. I feel honored, Jack, having met you here. Connie
Hey Jack - Jim Hogan here. Not sure if you remember me - I was a UNT student at Mather 1979-1980, and in Row and Wanda's group with you. Many thanks for the touching memory. It brought tears to my eyes and chills to my spine...you see, I was in the Pentagon on 9/11. Let's connect - God Bless!
Hey Jim! I do remember you. Sherrie and I live in Arizona and I have been retired almost 5 years. I’ll bet you had a lot more trauma being in the pentagon than I did flying past it. I still exchange Christmas cards with Wanda and I heard Row passed away about two years ago.
Hi, Jack. I’m not sure if you are aware of the existence of this recording, but I found a radio transmission between your flight that day (Cactus 85) and ATC. Here is the link to the video: ruclips.net/video/P0GI-1gja5Q/видео.html Skip to 4:16 to hear the first transmission. You may be able to find your airplane on the radar, although I couldn’t.
Jack - for some strange reasons my comments, when they include a link to my 9/11 oral history, they get deleted. We need to connect via email or text. I've posted my email address in a reply, too, but it got deleted. Any ideas?
I recall your video every 9/11. I hope you are safe & sound captain. Blessings to you and family
I am doing well and enjoy being retired now. Thanks for your comment.
Wow. Thank you for sharing
It was a day that changed all of our lives.
Wow Jack thank you for telling your experience about that horrific day. I’m a corporate pilot myself and I can tell you as a fellow aviator, hearing you’re testimony made the hairs on my neck stand. We will never forget! Amen!
Thanks. It was a day like no other I have ever experienced.
So impressed with you sir. I've enjoyed your videos very much, and to see you quote scripture is so refreshing and timely. Thank you for posting.
Thank you. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways and He deserves the credit. I am content.
Crazy stuff. I was 18 and had been in the Air Force for 4 months. I was in Biloxi MS training to be an air traffic controller. 9/11 was my first day on the simulator for tower. I joined the Air Force because I was obsessed with aviation and it was a peace time military, no big deal. 4 months later the country is under attack. Bad timing for me. Had 9/11 happened before I enlisted, I would have gone straight to college instead. Dream always was to be a pilot. Never worked out.
Thanks for your service Joe! I am also retired from the Air Force and I feel a debt of gratitude to the Air Force.
I love people like you! I am terrified of flying but I would have loved to fly with you! God bless you!
Thanks Marian. It was a time I will never forget. Amazing how our Lord was looking out for those kids in the midst of the biggest one day tragedy we suffered as a nation in the 9/11 attacks.
Wow, Jack, you told me that story a couple of times. It still tears me up. Little did we know that we would later fly American Airlines 757s.
I feel privileged to have found your testimonial. AWE85 means something to me. Now that last flight out of DCA finally has a face. Thank you, Captain !
Thank you Connie. Even in the midst of all the tragedy that the attacks brought to our country, the Lord was still at work in the lives of many people.
Jack
@@jackjessup-Pilot I wholeheartedly agree with you, Jack ! You couldn't have said it any better. Some people were angels and might not even know that. Who knows, maybe you're an angel, too. The three UMs were safely in your hand, when they needed you. Let me generally thank you for taking so many many people safely from A to B during your career.
I wonder whether you would allow me to ask you a few questions. Having found your channel is indeed a privilege. I have visualized the first segment your flight for years. Approx 30 minutes, from the Gate to Linden VOR. I see you puling into the Block on C during the chaos on the ground, I see your t/o roll, I see the aircraft rotate in real time, and I see you airborne, in 3D, your climb, every change of heading, and I hear your radio transmissions. And I also see the other traffic around you, including the attacker, in 3D. So I already knew part of your story here. I'm retired ATC from the snow up north, and my heart is with those who were personally affected, and with your nation that got traumatized. Any chance for a short exchange to help me better understand your flight until LDN, Captain ? Ideally not necessarily here. Thank you.
@@mzrcnn
Hi Connie,
Your working in ATC explains how you correctly used AWE 85. I pretty much covered our experience that day, but if you have any questions, I would be happy to address them. Since it has been nearly 21 years, my memory probably has not improved. The radar picture I have included here is a screen shot that was included on the Smithsonian channel Air Disasters attack on the Pentagon. One thing that happened that I don’t know if I included was that our dispatcher gave me the option of diverting into CMH (Columbus) or Indy. I picked Indy mainly because it was further west and would allow us to get below Max Landing weight. I was not aware that the UMs had uncles who lived there. After we had already committed to Indy, it became apparent it was not for just a few hours and I regretted not picking CMH because I have a cousin who lives there. Obviously, the Lord knew the kids would be better off going to Indy and He had me make that decision even though I was ignorant of the real reason when we made our choice.
@@jackjessup-Pilot Thank you very much, Jack. Well, let me tell you that I consider US commercial pilots as highly professional people, most of them, and your memory also appears to be excellent after almost 21 years. I can fully confirm your account, as it matches other records. What you're telling is surprisingly accurate from the very beginning when taxiing out, even in details. This is why, I'm so enchanted. And this makes me want to learn some more small details, and I trust that it's somewhere in your memory. Thing is that the events of that day had some impact on myself, and so I want to know as much as ever possible, and simply can't let go.
In the ideal case, I'd love to sit down with you, let you close your eyes, and walk with you once again through your experience. Certainly no chance for that. This here is not the ideal format, but let me try ...
Question #1 - I conclude that you were the Pilot Flying and Preston (?) monitoring, is that correct ? You say: "It took a couple of calls to Departure Control before he answered, and when he did, it was with a quivering voice."
Even your observation "quivering voice" is very accurate. It was. What intrigues me is the "couple of calls" it took, as you say, and I believe you.
Do you recall when exactly Preston called Departure for the first time? He would have reported your altitude in his call. Did Preston possibly mention to you that he hadn't correctly keyed the mic ? Or did you encounter radio trouble during any moment of that flight ?
Departure had been waiting for your call. He saw your flight being tracked on radar, with the correct tag, and he had the Flight Progress Strip for AWE85 on his board, only waiting for your call. And he responded promptly without any hesitation, clearing you up to 11,000 feet. On the ATC tapes, there is no indication of a couple of calls, no indication of any delay either. Nobody seems to be blocked by other transmissions, nobody's over-speaking another station.
However, yes I do believe your word, and I trust your observation. Preston had indeed plenty of time during your climb from say 1,000 feet to 2,200 to call-in at least once, or even twice, but there was about 35 seconds of radio silence on DEP frequency after your lift-off, with just a clean decent carrier wave audible in the background. So what happened to your attempted calls ? -tbc-
@@jackjessup-Pilot Question #2 - "We were climbing to 5,000 ft, when an American 7-57 passed closed by us, in a descent going east ..." This is also an accurate observation, however, Jack, how many 'American' 7-57 did you actually see ???
I'm asking because there were two 'American' 7-57 which you could have had visually from your cockpit. The first one was an American Trans Air 7-57 for landing at National, followed by the Intruder American 7-57 as Number Two, heading for the Pentagon. Almost in trail when near you, though not exactly.
At 5,000 feet and climbing, in your left turn to heading 270, you would have probably perceived the AMT133 7-57 on Radial 113 AML. They had crossed AML at approx 8,500 coming from 15,000 and were still descending to 8,000 and then briefly leveling, and coming closer in your direction, though separation was ensured by ATC at all times.
At this point with you at 5,000 feet just about to turn heading 270, the Intruder 7-57 was approaching Manassas on heading 060 approx, and primitively leveling at approx 7,000 (FDR data), manually without Autopilot. But it would have looked like a kinda roller-coaster ride, above 7,000, below, above. At first glance, this traffic wouldn't have been a factor for you, but one could have visually mistaken the Intruder for a Visual Approach RWY 01L Dulles, slightly higher than normal when turning base abeam Manassas. He was sneaking in, with only a weak blip on the radar screen.
When you passed by the ATA 7-57, at your 9 o'clock position 3 to 4 miles, you saw him still on R-113 at 8,000, and you were then turning left heading 240 at approx 9,500 feet, behind him. Direct Linden came later.
Your following encounter was with the Intruder 7-57. For a brief moment when you turned left 240, you were almost on an opposite course, but having him lower and your 7-57 the nose up. When you eventually had him at your 9 o'clock position 3 to 4 miles, you still on heading 240, you were at 11,000 feet and climbing, and he had been turning to the right, was heading east on 090° at almost exactly 7,000 at that moment, and he was climbing again, once you had him in your back.
What intrigues me is ... did you visually perceive both 7-57 ? Ironically, the old ATA livery looked fairly similar to American Airlines back then. Everything a little different from close, but similar from a certain distance.
I also trust your memory: "As we passed 10,000 ft ... (Preston) listened for about 15 seconds ..." That would mean that your Pilot Monitoring was actually listening to the radio, and then briefed you about the events in New York, after you had safely passed by the ATA 7-57, at the time when the Intruder 7-57 was at your 9 to 10 o'clock position, about 4,000 feet lower. You don't mention either the unusual kinda roller-coaster ride of the Intruder aircraft, which you certainly had visually perceived. Did you have both 7-57 visually ? You mention TCAS and no advisory, but the Intruder was not supposed to pop up on TCAS.
On the other hand, your observation that the Intruder was not following the normal traffic flow is also very accurate. He deviated from the FINKS Arrival Route in 2001 after passing the CLLEG waypoint and took the shortcut, but as he flew heading 090, he eventually almost intercepted R-113 AML once he was in your back. On the other hand, they changed the Radial outbound AML a couple of years ago from R-113 then to R-130 now, so you now possibly remember R-130 as normal.
After all, I trust in your memory, in your experience, and your observations appear to be very accurate. So I'm very curious ...
On a side note : I noticed in one of your videos that you apparently have been a CACTUS Pilot throughout your career, maintaining your CACTUS call-sign even when you flew for USAir and later American. That's nice. I have lots of sympathy for America West, and you had some of the most beautiful planes in the sky.
Again, thank you for sharing your experience, and if you can help me completing my picture of that horrible day, that would even more be appreciated. Thank you also once again for doing such a safe job at the throttles over so many years. I feel honored, Jack, having met you here.
Connie
Hey Jack - Jim Hogan here. Not sure if you remember me - I was a UNT student at Mather 1979-1980, and in Row and Wanda's group with you. Many thanks for the touching memory. It brought tears to my eyes and chills to my spine...you see, I was in the Pentagon on 9/11. Let's connect - God Bless!
Hey Jim! I do remember you. Sherrie and I live in Arizona and I have been retired almost 5 years. I’ll bet you had a lot more trauma being in the pentagon than I did flying past it. I still exchange Christmas cards with Wanda and I heard Row passed away about two years ago.
wow, this is amazing. thank you for sharing your story.
I was happy to share my experience. Even in the midst of tragedy and shock, the Lord was working to provide comfort.
Never forget. I know I won't.
Captain, thank you so much for sharing your 9/11 story.
It was a national tragedy, but the LORD still showed His grace to so many that day.
Yes sir, I couldn’t agree more.
@British Airways Boeing 747-436 It changed things in a way that we had never imagined. We all live different because of those attacks.
Please make more videos they are great!
This is absolutely amazing !!👏🏻👏🏻
A day I will never forget
@@jackjessup-Pilot hopefully all those victims are resting in a beautiful place in the heaven🙏🏻
@@impactzone269 Amen
Hi, Jack. I’m not sure if you are aware of the existence of this recording, but I found a radio transmission between your flight that day (Cactus 85) and ATC. Here is the link to the video: ruclips.net/video/P0GI-1gja5Q/видео.html Skip to 4:16 to hear the first transmission. You may be able to find your airplane on the radar, although I couldn’t.
I just want to make sure you were able to hear it. It was that flight, right?
Jack - for some strange reasons my comments, when they include a link to my 9/11 oral history, they get deleted. We need to connect via email or text. I've posted my email address in a reply, too, but it got deleted. Any ideas?