Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks claimed almost 3,000 lives, the remarkable role played by a Royal Australian Air Force crew from No. 37 Squadron is being remembered.
In the days after the attacks, when American airspace remained closed and commercial aircraft were grounded, an Australian C-130J Hercules was called upon to carry specialist personnel and equipment into New York.
According to the Department of Defence, the Hercules was the first aircraft to fly into New York following the attacks, placing its Australian crew at the centre of an extraordinary moment in modern history.
No. 37 Squadron, now based at RAAF Base Richmond, was in the United States at the time conducting testing of the new C-130J’s Block 5.3 upgrade.
Aircraft A97-442 was operating from Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Atlanta, Georgia, when terrorists hijacked four passenger aircraft on September 11, 2001.
Two aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York, a third struck the Pentagon in Virginia and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew attempted to regain control.
Among the Australian crew members was then Flight Lieutenant Paul Long, who is now a Group Captain.
“The whole of America stood still. I remember talking to people in the street and they were in shock, but wanted to talk,” Group Captain Long recalled.
“After a day or two, almost every car was flying little US flags out their windows and patriotism was at the forefront. Then the shock turned to anger.”
Three days after the attacks, the RAAF crew was asked to transport personnel and equipment from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to New York.
The CDC specialists were being sent to investigate whether biological agents had been involved at Ground Zero.
On September 14, the Australian Hercules departed Atlanta for LaGuardia Airport.
Its arrival was unlike any flight the crew had previously experienced.
Commercial aviation remained grounded, the weather was poor and New York was confronting the enormous loss and destruction caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center.
As the Hercules approached Manhattan, crew members could see the city skyline through breaks in the cloud and the unmistakable empty space where the Twin Towers had stood.
Flight Lieutenant Michael Crooks, now a Squadron Leader, was aboard the historic flight.
“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.”
The flight was not a combat mission and did not attract widespread public attention. The crew was simply delivering people and equipment to where they were urgently needed.
It was a task reflecting the work No. 37 Squadron and its Hercules aircraft have continued to perform in Australia and overseas: responding rapidly, transporting vital equipment and supporting communities and allies during times of crisis.
The events of September 11 also influenced the careers and lives of the Australian aviators aboard the flight.
“Two years later, 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.
“9/11 really was a generational, world-changing event.”
The attacks and the international response that followed reshaped defence, security and foreign policy across the world. Australia invoked the ANZUS Treaty for the first time and subsequently committed military personnel to operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
For the RAAF, the story of A97-442 is also a reminder that military aviation is not defined solely by combat.
Sometimes its role is to respond without fanfare, assist an ally and deliver help during moments of profound uncertainty.
The personnel who flew the Hercules into New York continued their careers in different roles, but the mission remains a small and enduring chapter in the history of No. 37 Squadron.
For the Hawkesbury, where RAAF Base Richmond and generations of Air Force families form an important part of the community, the anniversary carries particular meaning.
The squadron’s connection to one of the defining events of the 21st century is a reminder that aircraft and personnel associated with Richmond have supported humanitarian, disaster-relief and defence operations around the world.
A quarter of a century later, the flight offers a distinctly Australian perspective on the day that changed the world, and on the quiet acts of service that followed.
Above all, September 11 remains a day to remember those who lost their lives, those who responded and those whose lives were changed forever.
Twenty-five years on, we remember.
