Twenty-two jets — seven C-17s, 11 KC-10s and four C-5Bs — took off in 36 minutes and 21 seconds in the biggest aircraft launch ever held at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., on the 12th anniversary of 9/11. The “Freedom Launch” was a remembrance of 9/11, with the first C-17 taking off at 8:46 a.m., the same time that American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower, according to an Air Force release. The aircraft took off for refueling and and to test operations support, aircraft maintenance, fuels and air traffic control capabilities.
