LeRoy Homer was the first officer on United Flight 93, the doomed plane that was hijacked and crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11.
The second annual 9/11 LeRoy Homer 5K in Evesham on Sept. 7 raised funds for the aviation scholarship program at the foundation named for him.
Homer, a Marlton resident, was the first officer on United Flight 93, the doomed plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11. The mission of the LeRoy W. Homer Jr. Foundation is to create the next generation of pilots by encouraging and supporting young adults who wish to pursue careers in the field.
To date, it has offered 36 scholarships totaling more than $450,000.
“It’s a great cause, and we feel very proud of the efforts that have been made and the scholarships that have been given out, and the lives that we have been able to change,” said Jane Oswari, vice president of the foundation.
“Our goal as an organization is to carry out (Homer’s) passion for aviation … and to give out scholarships to help young adults become pilots.”
After working part-time jobs during school to pay for flying lessons, Homer completed his first solo flight at 16 and obtained his private pilot’s certificate in 1983, according to the foundation’s website. That fall, he entered the Air Force Academy and graduated with the Class of 1987, 31st Squadron.
With commendations, awards and medals he garnered during his military career, Homer joined United Airlines in May 1995. His first assignment was second officer on a B727. He then upgraded to first officer on the B757/767 in 1996, where he remained until 9/11.
That morning, United Flight 93 carried 37 passengers, Homer and fellow pilot Capt. Jason Dahl and five flight attendants for a trip from Newark to San Francisco. Forty-six minutes after takeoff, four hijackers aboard threatened to blow up the plane and took over the cockpit. As the cockpit door was breached, the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control center in Cleveland could hear Homer declaring mayday.
According to transcripts of the flight’s cockpit voice recorder, the plane turned toward Washington, D.C. It was later determined the aircraft was headed for the U.S. Capitol, according to the foundation’s website. The pilots put up a fight, then the crew and passengers – in a stunning show of bravery – breached the cockpit and wrestled the controls from the hijackers, forcing the plane to land instead in a Pennsylvania field.
There were no survivors.
“He (Homer) was quiet and soft spoken, and he had a great sense of humor, but when he did speak, I felt like he had a very strong presence,” Oswari said. “Overall, he was just a really nice guy … It’s been a very long road, the grief that everybody went through when everything first happened, but then to go ahead and try to transition into something good, was definitely a task, but it’s a mission that we’re all really proud of.
“We hope that he would be proud that we were able to bring something good out of something so tragic.”
