Remembering 9/11 and RAAF’s role in its aftermath

Twenty-five years ago, the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States claimed almost 3000 lives and sent shockwaves far beyond its shores.

American airspace was promptly closed with all aircraft grounded.

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 FLTLT (now GPCAPT) Paul Long. 

“The whole of America stood still. I remember talking to people in the street and they were in shock, but wanted to talk,” GPCAPT Long said.

“After a day or two, almost every car was flying little US flags out their windows and patriotism was forefront. Then the shock turned to anger.”

Three days after the devastating attacks, the RAAF crew were 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 September 14, 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. FLTLT (now SQNLDR) 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. When it does, being ready to adapt and respond is what we do,” SQNLDR Crooks said.

For the crew, this was not a combat mission or a headline-making operation. It was something much simpler: delivering people and equipment where they were most needed, something 37SQN has continued to do in the years since.

The events of 9/11 influenced the careers of those Australian aviators on board the flight to New York.

“Two years later I found myself on the first of many deployments over many years to the Middle East supporting the fight against terrorism. 9/11 really was a generational changing world event,” GPCAPT Long said.

Twenty-five years later, the legacy of September 11 is still felt around the world. 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 the history of 37SQN.

A quarter of a century on, their story offers an Australian perspective on a day that changed the world and a reminder of the people, service and quiet acts of support that followed.

Above all, 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.