Local fighter pilot recounts being scrambled on 9/11

PORTLAND, Ore. - Col. Steve Beauchamp was on duty at the Portland Air Base on 9/11.

"About 6:30 in the morning, the Klaxon had gone off. I looked at the television and noticed there was a building on fire and smoking, and I looked at that (while) running full-speed to grab my gear," he said in a recent interview.

He and his wingman sat in their fully armed fighters wondering if the first airliner into a World Trade Center tower in New York was a plane gone off course. It would not be long before they had their answer.

The F-15 pilots began trying to decide how to use their traditional training, meant for taking on Soviet bombers and fighters, against jetliners full of innocent passengers.

Keep in mind that when not on duty with the Guard, Beauchamp's job was as a pilot for United Airlines. The terrorists used two United planes to carry out their attacks.

Around noon, Beauchamp brought his F-15 to life. The alarm had sounded again. This time the F-15s would launch from PDX.

"When that scramble horn went off, we both looked at each other," he said. "I know for me, my heart sank. You know that what you may have to do, although important for our national security, potentially a very unpleasant job. ... My heart was racing."

The two F-15s were looking for an Air China 747 flying toward the U.S./Canadian border.

Beauchamp, who’s a veteran of Middle East air conflicts, knows what it is like to be shot at, but this felt worse.

"The last thing I heard from our sector controller was (to) look for signs of duress."

Beauchamp, who's a husband and father of four, pulled his fighter as close as the jumbo jet’s turbulence would allow, but he couldn't communicate with the pilots because, before 9/11, military planes and commercial airliners didn’t use compatible radios.

"As I rejoined to his left wing, you see all these flashes coming from the side because now these people see (a fighter jet outside their plane), they're taking pictures. Here you have an armed F-15, and I’m sure those passengers were a little distraught."

The F-15s escorted the jumbo jet to Vancouver, British Columbia. The jet proved harmless. Beauchamp and his wingman returned to Portland. With all airplanes grounded, they had the skies to themselves.

"It was just a dead quiet, and that was very eerie," he said.

After 9/11, Beauchamp left his well-paying job at United to fly for the Air Guard full time. He, the other pilots and the hundreds of support staff put in 10 and 12 hour days for months on end, often taking a toll on their families.

In the decade that has passed, the hours have become more reasonable. The F-15s now have more sophisticated weapons and radios that allow military pilots to speak with those in commercial planes.

In a year, Beauchamp will go back to his old civilian job as a commercial pilot.

"Retiring and leaving that is going to be difficult, and I'll struggle with it. But all good things come to an end," he said.

The Oregon Air Guard has two F-15s ready to scramble all day, every day to intercept threats from California to Canada.

According to the Air National Guard, it does 35 percent of the Air Force’s overall missions around the world but with only six percent of the Air Force’s budget.