The U.S. Navy officer who asked Dick Cheney for authority to shoot down hijacked airliners on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, has described that chilling moment in his first ever interview about the attacks. Commander Anthony Barnes recalled that he had to ask the vice president for authorization twice, saying: “For me, being a military member and an aviator—understanding the absolute depth of what that question was and what that answer was—I wanted to make sure that there was no mistake whatsoever about what was being asked. Without hesitation, in the affirmative, he said any confirmed hijacked airplane may be engaged and shot down.” The interview was held for the forthcoming book The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11. It also contains recollections from the pilots tasked with ramming Flight 93. Lt. Heather Penney said: “The real heroes are the passengers on Flight 93 who were willing to sacrifice themselves.” Fellow pilot Lt. Col. Marc Sasseville added: “They made the decision we didn’t have to make.”