Vermont Air National Guard pilot recalls flying above Manhattan on 9/11
General Daniel Finnegan, a Vermont Air National Guard pilot, shared vivid memories of flying above the wreckage of Manhattan on September 11, 2001.
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. —
As thousands of people across the country reflect on where they were 25 years ago during the 9/11 terror attacks, one Vermont pilot remembers each detail vividly — flying over the rubble in Manhattan.
General Daniel Finnegan was an F-16 pilot for the Vermont Air National Guard in 2001.
Finnegan was deployed to patrol the sky for additional threats. At the time, he said no one knew if or when the next attack was coming or how long it would take to recover.
Finnegan flew a fighter jet 20,000 miles above the smoke billowing over Manhattan. He said the vantage point gave him the first visuals of the wreckage before anyone else. Twenty-five years later, he can still recall the chaos on the ground.
“There was no wind. So the smoke during the day missions would go all the way up to 15, 16,000 feet and then just taper out,” Finnegan said. “You could see all the fire trucks. You could see the first responders down there, working to see if they could get any survivors out. You felt close to it because you could see it, but far away from it because we were up there.”
The Vermont Air National Guard will hold a traditional remembrance ceremony at the base in South Burlington today. It starts at 1 p.m.