Former President George W. Bush’s Air Force One Pilot Recounts the Day of the 9/11 Attacks

Welcome back. 25 years ago today, President George W. Bush was found. He was in that Florida classroom when he learned America was under attack. His first instinct was to get back to Washington, D.C. But with the country under attack and the threat still unclear, the immediate mission was different. It's to get the president airborne and keep him safe. And the man responsible for doing that, Colonel Mark Tillman. He was George W. Bush's Air Force One pilot on 9-11. And that morning, he was at the controls as the president and the country faced the unthinkable. Here's our conversation with Colonel Mark Tillman. Colonel, it's good to see you again. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Let's pick up with Sarasota, Florida, September 11th, 2001. What was the first communication or messaging you got about how your day had changed? You know, the entire trip was based on the education concept, No Child Left Behind, Jacksonville first, then Sarasota. Literally after the first plane hit the North Tower is when we started getting information. The radio operators were watching the Today Show, which was our standard source of information and news, mainly because the media could get you better information than our command and control. And what we heard from our command and control after that was, this is just an aircraft accident in New York. So we literally, you know, the pilots on board, we looked at what the footprint of the aircraft that crashed in the tower looked like, and we knew it wasn't a light aircraft. It was a large aircraft. I told everybody, expect more information. Plus, people have been killed, obviously. So we're going to be going to New York. So we started planning the trip to New York within the next couple of days, and then just went back to our duties, waiting for the president to arrive. And then the information changes, and it becomes clear we are now at war, and your mission that day changes. It is to get the president airborne. And that was no small task. There was threats being reported that morning there in Sarasota. Yeah, that's correct. The plan was to get him airborne, get him to a safe location. Continuity of government was critical as well. The vice secretary of defense, we couldn't get in touch with him, mainly because, you know, after the Pentagon got hit, he was outside. So it was tough to get communications. Sec State coming in from South America wasn't in contact with us either. So a lot of frustration by President Bush. So at that point, yes, we had to get airborne as quick as possible, just for safety's sake, and get the president back to Washington, D.C. And talk to me about how the rest of the day unfolds in terms of, first, instead of going to Washington, D.C., there's a decision to go to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The decision by the president as we're heading to Washington, D.C., you know, Dr. Rice, as well as the vice president, were asking him to loiter and to stay away from Washington until they could confirm it was safe for him to come back. How did the decision process go to move then from Barksdale to Offutt, from one base to another, before ultimately, at the end of the day, returning to Washington, D.C.? You know, after the president addressed the American public, the plan was then, okay, let's get him to a location where he can be safe, deep underground, where he can talk with the National Command Authority. He can, you know, take time where he's not worried. He's going to be safe. And we thought we'd be there maybe 10 to 12 hours. But, you know, as I joke, true Texans, you know, you got to get back to, you know, got to get into the fight. Sitting underground isn't what he wanted to do. So he came out of there within a couple hours, that being the president, came up to us in the plane and just literally said, hey, it's time to get home. And, you know, that was, that's what we did. Flew him home as fast as we could, got to get him to Washington. Is there one part of this story, September 11, 2001, that lives in your mind, flying Air Force One? Yeah, definitely. The threats on September 11th were all countered, and they were countered by first responders, military all over the world. But in the United States, I mean, the Rudy Giuliani calls, the firefighter calls, the police calls, all of them taking care of business. And, you know, a lot of people died that day. And, you know, so that was the afterthought. A lot of people died. There wasn't a lot we could do about it. But everybody in the United States of America that day and after came together, and we became America standing strong. And that's the biggest memory I've got of September 11th. And it's just incredible how President Bush took care of business and then brought the country together. So many decisions made in a confusing and threatening time. Those decisions being made from the back of an airplane, Air Force One. But almost every person I've spoken to that's involved, that was involved in the Bush administration, involved in what was happening that day has sung your praises, Colonel Tillman. They have, independent of my meeting, you said to me, the decisions being made at the front of Air Force One were just as important and incredible as anything else that day. We appreciate you. Thanks for sharing your story and for your service. Thank you very much.