Twenty-five years ago, the September 11 Islamist terrorist attacks in the United States claimed almost 3000 lives and sent shockwaves far beyond its shores.
The first aircraft to fly into New York following the attacks was Australian, putting the crew of a RAAF C-130J Hercules at the centre of an unprecedented moment in history.
At the time, 37SQN was in the US conducting testing of the new C-130J’s Block 5.3 upgrade.
The aircraft, A97-442, was operating from Dobbins Air Base near Atlanta, Georgia, when the attacks occurred.
The crew included Flight Lieutenant, now Group Captain Paul Long.
“The whole of America stood still,” Group Captain Long said.
“I remember talking to people in the street, and they were in shock, but wanted to talk.
“After a day or two, almost every car was flying little US flags out their windows, and patriotism was front and centre.
“Then the shock turned to anger.”
Three days after the devastating attacks, the RAAF crew was asked to transport personnel and equipment from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to New York to investigate whether biological agents had been involved at the ground zero site.
On 14 September, the RAAF C-130J Hercules departed Atlanta.
Its arrival at LaGuardia Airport was unlike any flight the crew had experienced before – commercial aviation remained grounded, the weather was poor, and New York was confronting the devastation left by the collapse of the World Trade Center.
As the aircraft approached Manhattan, the crew could see the skyline through breaks in the cloud and the unmistakable absence where the Twin Towers had once stood.
Flight Lieutenant now Squadron Leader Michael Crooks later recalled the surreal sight of the gap in the skyline.
“Although 25 years have passed, the key lesson I have taken from 9/11 is that the world can change in an instant,” Squadron Leader Crooks said.
“When it does, being ready to adapt and respond is what we do.”
For the crew, their flight into New York in 2001 was not a combat mission or a headline-making operation, but something much simpler – delivering people and equipment where they were most needed – something 37SQN has continued to do in the years since.
For the RAAF, the story of A97-442 is a reminder that the role of military aviation is not always defined by conflict.
Sometimes it is about being ready to respond, to assist an ally,and to deliver help when circumstances are at their most uncertain.
The crew who flew that Hercules have continued their careers in different ways, with the experience remaining a small but enduring chapter in 37 SQN's history.
“Two years after that flight, I found myself on the first of many deployments over many years to the Middle East supporting the fight against terrorism,” Group Captain Long said.
September 11 is a day to remember those who lost their lives, those who responded and those whose lives were forever changed.
Twenty-five years on, we remember.
Acknowledgement: Flight Lieutenant Chloe Megson
