In the flood of data from hearings about the four aircraft involved in the 9-11 tragedies, not enough attention is being paid to what a wrenching choice American fighter pilots may have to make in the event of new suicide attacks involving commercial aircraft.

Three terrorist groups guided planes into New York’s World Trade Center towers and a section of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane that apparently was intended to hit either the White House or the U.S. Capitol was re-hijacked by heroic passengers and crew and wound up in a Pennsylvania field. All died. It is difficult to imagine the unselfish courage it took for those who forced the crash to perform as they did. There are not enough medals of any kind to go around for the way they performed under pressure.

We learn that if the terrorists had been able to carry out their assault full-scale, there might have been at least six other planes aimed at high-profile targets to make whatever point our enemies are bent upon emphasizing. More because of the attackers’ errors than because of our preparation and retaliation, the other six strikes did not come off.

But suppose they had carried it out, and there had been time enough after the New York, Washington and Pennsylvania hits to deal with other ill-guided craft. The order would have been given to a number of fighter pilots to down planes carrying innocent people — a case of sacrificing a relative few to save many, perhaps thousands. Officials would have been terrified about the orders they had to give, but consider the mental state of the pilots who had to carry them out.

How many lives, and also property, could have been spared in New York and Washington if fighters had downed the suicide planes? Just imagine the grief and remorse those who made it happen would have been experiencing to this very hour and far beyond.

Yet, the public must realize that times may come in the months ahead that our fighters will have to deal with situations such as this. How cold-blooded must the officials and pilots be to carry out such assignments? Suppose the decision is to lose 200 on an airliner to prevent the prospects of 2,000 casualties at the targets.

There is also a tremendous element of terror in this kind of decision-making and it must be dealt with along with all the other heinous activities that have been and may still be thrust upon us.