Air Force One pilot visits Macon, recounts protecting President Bush on September 11
Retired Col. Mark Tillman described making a steep takeoff to avoid a possible runway threat with President George W. Bush aboard.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Retired Col. Mark Tillman, who piloted Air Force One on September 11, 2001, visited Middle Georgia Thursday to share how he helped protect President George W. Bush during the attacks and reflect on his 30-year Air Force career.
Tillman was responsible for keeping President George W. Bush safe during the attacks and later flew a covert mission in 2003 to bring Bush to dine with deployed troops overseas for Thanksgiving.
Speaking at Middle Georgia State University’s Jennings Family Distinguished Lecture Series, Tillman described one of the tensest moments of September 11: navigating a potential threat at the end of the runway just as he was preparing to take off with the president aboard.
“Someone had just pulled up at the end of the runway,” he said. “They weren’t sure whether he had a long gun, but he took something out of the back of his vehicle. We just didn’t have time to analyze it. So at the same time I’m taxiing down, the Secret Service is running down to the end of the runway apparently. Then at that point I have to make a decision, so I decided I’m going to take off over the top of him, extremely steep, so if he does have a long gun he wasn’t going to be able to shoot at us. In the end it wasn’t a threat whatsoever.”
Tillman also discussed the changes that came out of that day, including safer protocols among pilots and crew and a complete overhaul of Air Force One’s emergency communications systems.
He drew a comparison between September 11 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, saying that remembering and discussing such days is important not only to honor those who were lost, but to remain vigilant about what could happen in the future.
