United Airlines Flight 93
Encyclopedia
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines
' scheduled morning transcontinental flight
across the United States from Newark International Airport
in Newark, New Jersey
, to San Francisco International Airport
in California
. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222
aircraft operating the route was hijacked by four al-Qaeda
terrorists as part of the September 11 attacks. It subsequently crashed into a field near Shanksville
in Stonycreek Township
in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
, during an attempt by some of the passengers to regain control.
The hijackers breached the aircraft's cockpit and overpowered the flight crew approximately 46 minutes after takeoff. Ziad Jarrah
, a trained pilot, then took control of the aircraft and diverted it back toward the east coast of the United States, presumably toward the United States capital of Washington, D.C.
(The specific target there – whether the United States Capitol
, the White House
, or possibly some other building – is not known.)
After the hijackers took control of the plane, several passengers and flight attendants were able to make telephone calls and learn that attacks had been made on the World Trade Center
in New York
and the Pentagon
in Virginia
. Some of the passengers then made an attempt to regain control of the aircraft. During the attempt, however, the plane crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township
, near Shanksville in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
, about 80 miles (128.7 km) southeast of Pittsburgh and 150 miles (241.4 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. All on board, including the four hijackers, were killed. A few witnessed the impact from the ground and news agencies began reporting the event within an hour.
Subsequent analysis of the flight recorder
s recovered from the crash site revealed how the actions taken by the passengers prevented the aircraft from reaching the hijackers' intended target. Of the four aircraft hijacked on September 11the others were American Airlines Flight 11
, American Airlines Flight 77
and United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 93 was the only one that failed to reach its hijackers' intended target.
A temporary memorial has stood on the site since the attacks; construction of the first phase of a permanent memorial
at the crash site was dedicated on September 10, 2011.
, a member of al-Qaeda
. Jarrah was born in Lebanon
to a wealthy family and experienced a secular
upbringing. He intended to become a pilot and moved to Germany in 1996, enrolling at the University of Greifswald to study German. A year later, he moved to Hamburg
and began studying aeronautical engineering
at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
. While living in Hamburg, Jarrah became a devout Muslim and associated with the radical Hamburg cell
.
In November 1999, Jarrah left Hamburg and went to Afghanistan
, where he spent three months. While there, he met with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
in January 2000. Jarrah returned to Hamburg at the end of January and obtained a clean passport in February by reporting his passport as stolen.
In May, Jarrah received a visa from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin
, and he arrived in Florida in June 2000. There, he began taking flying lessons as well as training in hand-to-hand combat. Jarrah maintained contact with his girlfriend in Germany and his family in the months preceding the attacks. This close contact upset Mohamed Atta
, the tactical leader of the plot, and al-Qaeda planners may have considered another operative, Zacarias Moussaoui
, to replace him if he backed out. Soon after the attacks, Jarrah's family asserted that he was an "innocent passenger" onboard the flight.
Three "muscle" hijackers trained to storm the cockpit and overpower the crew accompanied Jarrah on Flight 93. One of them, Ahmed al-Nami
, arrived in Miami, Florida, on May 28, 2001, on a six-month tourist visa with United Airlines Flight 175
hijackers Hamza al-Ghamdi
and Mohand al-Shehri
. Another Flight 93 hijacker, Ahmed al-Haznawi
, arrived in Miami on June 8 with Flight 11 hijacker Wail al-Shehri
. The third Flight 93 muscle hijacker, Saeed al-Ghamdi
, arrived in Orlando
, Florida, on June 27 with Flight 175 hijacker Fayez Banihammad
. The passports of Ziad Jarrah and Saeed al-Ghamdi were recovered from the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93.
The aircraft involved in the hijacking was a Boeing 757–222
, registration number
N591UA. The airplane had a capacity of 182 passengers; the September 11 flight carried 37 passengers and seven crew, a load factor of 20 percent, considerably below the 52 percent average Tuesday load factor for Flight 93. The seven crew members were Captain
Jason Dahl, First Officer LeRoy Homer, Jr., and flight attendant
s Lorraine Bay, Sandra Bradshaw, Wanda Green, CeeCee Lyles, and Deborah Welsh.
(CAPPS). His checked bag underwent extra screening for explosives, with no extra scrutiny required by CAPPS at the passenger-security checkpoint. None of the security checkpoint personnel reported anything unusual about the hijackers.
Haznawi and Ghamdi boarded the aircraft at 07:39 and sat in first class seats 6B and 3D respectively. Nami boarded one minute later and sat in first class seat 3C. Jarrah boarded at 07:48 and sat in seat 1B. The aircraft was scheduled to depart at 08:00 and pushed back from its gate A17 at 08:01. It remained delayed on the ground and did not take off until 08:42 because of airport congestion. The three other hijacked flights all departed within fifteen minutes of their scheduled time. By the time Flight 93 became airborne, Flight 11 had already been commandeered and Flight 175 was being hijacked; Flight 77 was climbing normally and would be hijacked in 9 minutes. By 09:02, the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 35000 feet (10,668 m). With the attacks unfolding, air traffic officials began issuing warnings through the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System
(ACARS). Ed Ballinger, the United flight dispatcher, began sending text cockpit warnings to United Airlines flights at 09:19, after he became aware of the second World Trade Center impact by Flight 175. As Ballinger was responsible for multiple flights, he did not send the message to Flight 93 until 09:23. Ballinger received a routine ACARS message from Flight 93 at 09:21. At 09:22, after learning of the events at the World Trade Center, LeRoy Homer's wife, Melody Homer, had an ACARS message sent to her husband in the cockpit asking if he was okay. At 09:24, Flight 93 received Ballinger's ACARS warning, "Beware any cockpit intrusion—two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center". At 09:26, the pilot sent an ACARS message back, "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz —Jason". At 09:27:25, the flight crew responded to routine radio traffic from air traffic controller
s. This was the last communication made by the flight crew before the hijacking.
! Mayday! Mayday!" over the radio amidst sounds of violence. A Cleveland Air Traffic Controller
replied, "Somebody call Cleveland?" but received no reply.
Thirty-five seconds after the first Mayday call, the crew made another transmission. Someone in the cockpit shouted, "Mayday! Get out of here! Get out of here!" The exact time at which Flight 93 came under the hijackers' control cannot be determined. Officials believe the hijackers assaulted the cockpit and moved the passengers to the rear of the plane at the same time to minimize any chance of either the crew or the passengers interfering with the attack. While the other hijacked flights were taken by five-man teams, Flight 93 had only four hijackers, leading to speculation of a possible 20th hijacker
. The 9/11 Commission
believes that Mohammed al Qahtani was the likely candidate for this role, but was unable to participate as he had been denied entry into the United States one month earlier. With many passengers saying in phone calls that they saw only three hijackers, the 9/11 Commission believes Jarrah remained seated until the crew were overpowered and then took over the flight controls out of sight of the passengers.
The cockpit voice recorder
began recording the final 30 minutes of Flight 93 at 09:31:57. At this moment, it recorded Jarrah announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen: here the captain, please sit down and keep remaining seating. We have a bomb on board. So sit." The controller understood the transmission, but chose to respond, "Calling Cleveland center, you're unreadable. Say again, slowly." A flight attendant being held captive is heard pleading, "Please, please, don't hurt me." Jarrah instructed the autopilot to turn the plane and head east at 09:35:09. The aircraft ascended to 40700 feet (12,405.4 m) and air traffic controllers immediately moved several aircraft out of Flight 93's flightpath. The flight attendant in the cockpit is heard to say, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die" followed by one of the hijackers saying in Arabic, "Everything is fine. I finished."
At 9:39 air traffic controllers overheard Jarrah say, "Hi, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands [inaudible]. Please remain quiet." Air traffic controllers did not hear from the flight again. Passengers and crew began making phone calls to officials and family members starting at 09:30 using GTE
airphones
and mobile phones. Altogether, the passengers and crew made 35 airphone calls and two cell phone calls from the flight. Ten passengers and two crew members were able to successfully connect, providing information to family, friends, and others on the ground. Tom Burnett
made several phone calls to his wife beginning at 09:30:32 from rows 24 and 25, though he was assigned a seat in row four. Burnett explained that the plane had been hijacked by men claiming to have a bomb. He also said that a passenger had been stabbed with a knife and that he believed the bomb threat was a ruse to control the passengers. During one of Tom Burnett's calls, his wife informed him of the attacks on the World Trade Center and he replied that the hijackers were "talking about crashing this plane ... Oh my God. It's a suicide mission." He ended his last call by saying, "Don't worry, we're going to do something." An unknown flight attendant attempted to contact the United Airlines maintenance facility at 09:32:29. The call lasted 95 seconds, but was not received as it may have been in queue. Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called the maintenance facility at 09:35:40 from row 33. She reported the flight had been hijacked by men with knives who were in the cabin and flight deck and had stabbed another flight attendant.
Mark Bingham
called his mother at 09:37:03 from row 25. He reported that the plane had been hijacked by three men who claimed to have a bomb. Jeremy Glick
called his wife at 09:37:41 from row 27 and told her the flight was hijacked by three dark-skinned men that looked "Iranian", wearing red bandanas and wielding knives. Glick remained connected until the end of the flight. He reported that the passengers voted whether to "rush" the hijackers. The United air traffic control coordinator for West Coast flights, Alessandro "Sandy" Rogers, alerted the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Herndon Command Center in Herndon
, Virginia, that Flight 93 was not responding and was off course. A minute later, the transponder
was turned off, but the Cleveland controller continued to monitor the flight on primary radar. The Herndon Center relayed information on Flight 93 to FAA headquarters. Joseph DeLuca called his father at 09:43:03 from row 26 to inform him the flight had been hijacked. Todd Beamer
attempted to call his wife from row 32 at 09:43:48, but was routed to GTE phone operator Lisa D. Jefferson. Beamer told the operator that the flight was hijacked and the pilots were on the floor dead or dying. He said one of the hijackers had a red belt with what looked to be a bomb strapped to his waist. A United employee in San Francisco, California, sent an ACARS message to the flight at 09:46, "Heard report of incident. Plz confirm all is normal." Linda Gronlund called her sister, Elsa Strong, at 09:46:05 and left her a message saying there were "men with a bomb".
Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles called her husband at 09:47:57 and left him a message saying the plane had been hijacked. Marion Britton called her friend, Fred Fiumano, at 09:49:12. Fiumano recalled, "she said, 'We’re gonna. They’re gonna kill us, you know, We’re gonna die.’ And I told her, 'Don’t worry, they hijacked the plane, they’re gonna take you for a ride, you go to their country, and you come back. You stay there for vacation.' You don’t know what to say—what are you gonna say? I kept on saying the same things, ‘Be calm.’ And she was crying and—you know—more or less crying and screaming and yelling." Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called her husband at 09:50:04 and told him she was preparing scalding water to throw at the hijackers. Passenger Lauren Grandcolas called her husband twice, once before takeoff and once during the hijacking. He missed both of her calls. She then passed her phone to Honor Elizabeth Wainio. Wainio called her stepmother at 09:53:43 and concluded, four and a half minutes later, by saying, "I have to go. They're breaking into the cockpit. I love you." Jarrah dialed in the VHF omnidirectional range
(VOR) frequency for the VOR navigational aid at Reagan National Airport
at 9:55:11 to direct the plane toward Washington, D.C. Bradshaw, on the phone with her husband, said "Everyone is running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."
During the hijacking, flight 93 passed within 1000 feet (304.8 m) (instead of the normal 2000 feet (609.6 m)) of a NASA KC-135 returning from a microgravity flight over Lake Ontario. NASA pilot Dominic Del Rosso recalled how odd the silence on the radio was that morning.
The passenger revolt on Flight 93 began at 09:57 after the passengers took a vote amongst themselves about whether to act. By this time, Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon and Flights 11 and 175 had struck the World Trade Center towers. The hijackers in the cockpit became aware of the revolt at 09:57:55, exclaiming, "Is there something? A fight?" Edward Felt dialed 9-1-1
from his cell phone from the lavatory of the aircraft seeking information. His call was answered by dispatcher John Shaw, and Felt was able to tell him about the hijacking before the call was disconnected. There were reports of Felt's hearing an explosion and seeing smoke coming into the lavatory from under the door. These reports were reported to be false in other sources. Lyles called her husband once more from a cell phone and told him the passengers were forcing their way into the cockpit. Jarrah began to roll the airplane left and right to knock the passengers off balance. He told another hijacker in the cockpit at 9:58:57, "They want to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold." Jarrah changed tactics at 9:59:52 and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault.
The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of crashing, screaming, and the shattering of glass. Jarrah stabilized the plane at 10:00:03. Five seconds later, he asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" Another hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." Jarrah once again pitched the airplane up and down. A passenger in the background cried, "In the cockpit. If we don't, we'll die" at 10:00:25. Sixteen seconds later, another passenger yelled, "Roll it!" Jarrah ceased the violent maneuvers at 10:01:00 and recited the takbir
several times. He then asked another hijacker, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" The other hijacker responded, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down." Nevertheless, the passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:23, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The airplane descended with the yoke
turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting the takbir. Amidst the continued sounds of the passenger counterattack, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Stonycreek
, Pennsylvania
, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C. The last entry on the voice recorder was made at 10:03:09. The last piece of flight data was recorded at 10:03:10. The 9/11 Commission Report
concluded that "the hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them". However, many of the passengers' family members, having heard the audio recordings, believe that the passengers breached the cockpit and killed at least one or all of the hijackers.
, Pennsylvania
, the plane crashed into a reclaimed coal
strip mine
in Stonycreek Township
in Somerset County
. The National Transportation Safety Board
reported that the flight impacted at 563 miles per hour (252 m/s) at a 40-degree nose-down, inverted attitude. The impact left a crater eight to ten feet deep (c. 3 m), and 30 to 50 feet wide (c. 12 m). All 44 people on board died. Many media reports and eyewitness accounts cited the time of the crash at 10:06 or 10:10, as did an analysis of seismographic data in the area, but which the 9/11 Commission report states was not definitive. Other media venues and the 9/11 Commission reported the time of impact as 10:03, based on when the flight recorders stopped, analysis of radar data, infrared satellite data, and air traffic control transmissions.
Kelly Leverknight was watching news of the attacks when she heard the plane. "I heard the plane going over and I went out the front door and I saw the plane going down. It was headed toward the school, which panicked me, because all three of my kids were there. Then you heard the explosion and felt the blast and saw the fire and smoke." Another witness, Eric Peterson, looked up when he heard the plane, "It was low enough, I thought you could probably count the rivets. You could see more of the roof of the plane than you could the belly. It was on its side. There was a great explosion and you could see the flames. It was a massive, massive explosion. Flames and then smoke and then a massive, massive mushroom cloud
." Val McClatchey had been watching footage of the attacks when she heard the plane. She saw it briefly, then heard the impact. The crash knocked out the electricity and phones. McClatchey grabbed her camera and took the only known picture of the smoke cloud from the explosion. Ten years after 9/11, a video of the rising smoke cloud filmed by Dave Berkebile (deceased by 2011) from his yard located eight miles away from the crash site was published on YouTube.
The first responders arrived at the crash site after 10:06. Cleveland Center controllers, unaware the flight had crashed, notified the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) at 10:07 that Flight 93 had a bomb on board and passed the last known position. This call was the first time the military was notified about the flight. Ballinger sent one final ACARS message to Flight 93 at 10:10, "Don't divert to DC. Not an option." He repeated the message one minute later. The Herndon Command Center alerted FAA headquarters that Flight 93 had crashed at 10:13. NEADS called the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center
for an update on Flight 93 and received notification that the flight had crashed.
At 10:37, CNN
correspondent Aaron Brown
, covering the collapse of the World Trade Center
, announced, "We are getting reports and we are getting lots of reports and we want to be careful to tell you when we have confirmed them and not, but we have a report that a 747 is down in Pennsylvania, and that remains unconfirmed at this point." He followed that up at 10:49 by reporting that, "We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning, north of the Somerset County Airport, which is in western Pennsylvania, not too terribly far from Pittsburgh, about 80 miles or so, a Boeing 767 jet. Don't know whose airline it was, whose airplane it was, and we don't have any details beyond that which I have just given you." In the confusion, he also erroneously reported a second hijacked plane heading for the Pentagon after the crash of the first.
. Other tiny aircraft fragments were found 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away at Indian Lake
, Pennsylvania. All human remains were found within a 70-acre (28 ha) area surrounding the impact point. Somerset County Coroner
Wally Miller was involved in the investigation and identification of the remains. In examining the wreckage, the only human body part he could see was part of a backbone. Miller later found and identified 1,500 pieces of human remains totaling about 600 pounds (272 kg), or eight percent of the total. The rest of the remains were consumed by the impact. Investigators identified four victims by September 22 and eleven by September 24. They identified another by September 29. Thirty-four passengers were identified by October 27. All the people on board the flight were identified by December 21. Human remains were so fragmented investigators could not determine if any victims were dead before the plane crashed. Death certificate
s for the 40 victims listed the cause of death as homicide and listed the cause of death for the four hijackers as suicide. The remains and personal effects of the victims were returned to the families. The remains of the hijackers, identified by the process of elimination, were turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) as evidence.
Investigators also found a knife disguised as a cigarette lighter. They located the flight data recorder
on September 13 and the cockpit voice recorder
the following day. The voice recorder was found buried 25 feet (8 m) below the crater. The FBI initially refused to release the voice recording, rejecting requests by congresswoman Ellen Tauscher
and family members of those on board. The FBI subsequently allowed the relatives of the Flight 93 victims to listen to the recording in a closed session on April 18, 2002. Jurors for the Zacarias Moussaoui
trial heard the tape as part of the proceedings and the transcript was publicly released on April 12, 2006.
The intended target of Flight 93 has never been decisively confirmed. Before the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden
, and Mohammed Atef
developed a list of potential targets. Bin Laden wanted to destroy the White House and the Pentagon. Sheikh Mohammed wanted to strike the World Trade Center and all three wanted to hit the Capitol. No one else was involved in the initial selection of targets. Bin Laden told 9/11 planner Ramzi bin al-Shibh to advise Mohamed Atta that he preferred the White House over the Capitol as a target. Atta cautioned bin al-Shibh that this would be difficult, but agreed to include the White House as a possible target and suggested they keep the Capitol as an alternate in case the White House proved too difficult. Eventually, Atta told bin al-Shibh that Jarrah planned to hit the Capitol. Atta briefly mentioned the possibility of striking a nuclear facility, but balked after the other attack pilots voiced their opposition. Based on an exchange between Atta and bin al-Shibh two days before the attacks, the White House would be the primary target for the fourth plane and the Capitol the alternate.
Immediately after the attacks, there was speculation that Camp David
was the intended target. According to testimony by captured al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah
, U.S. officials believed the White House was the intended target. A post-9/11 interview with Sheikh Mohammed and bin al-Shibh by Al Jazeera
reporter Yosri Fouda
revealed that Flight 93 was headed for the Capitol. The 9/11 Commission Report cited the actions of the crew and passengers that prevented the destruction of either the White House or the Capitol. According to another testimony by Sheikh Mohammed, bin Laden preferred the Capitol over the White House as a target and Sheikh Mohammed revealed that the interview to Fouda was a lie to make the 9/11 attacks seem larger than they were. Salim Hamdan, bin Laden's driver, told interrogators that he knew the flight was headed for the Capitol.
Two F-16 fighter jets from the 121st Fighter Squadron of the D.C. Air National Guard
were scrambled and ordered to intercept Flight 93; the pilots intended to ram it since they did not have time to arm the jets. They never reached Flight 93 and did not learn of its crash until hours afterwards.
NORAD insisted to the 9/11 Commission that fighters would have intercepted Flight 93 before it reached its target in Washington, D.C., but the commission disagreed, stating that "NORAD did not even know the plane was hijacked until after it had crashed" and concluding that had it not crashed it probably would have arrived in Washington by 10:23. The 9/11 Commission Report stated that NEADS fighters pursued Delta Air Lines Flight 1989
, a flight thought to be hijacked. The commission found that North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) and the FAA gave inaccurate testimony.
All passengers and crew on board Flight 93 were nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2001. Congressman Bill Shuster
introduced a bill to this effect in 2006, but as of 2008, these awards had not been granted.
Beamer's final words, "let's roll
", became a national catchphrase. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
changed the name of Newark's airport from Newark International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport. Flight 93 has been the subject of various films and documentaries including The Flight That Fought Back
, Flight 93
, and United 93
.
In keeping with standard airline practice after disasters, the flight number "93" was discontinued by United Airlines after the hijacking. United's early-morning nonstop from Newark to San Francisco is now Flight 421 using an Airbus A319
. It was reported in May 2011 that United was reactivating flight numbers 93 and 175 as a codeshare operated by Continental, sparking an outcry from some in the media and the labor union representing United pilots. United said the reactivation was a mistake and said the numbers were "inadvertently reinstated", and would not be reactivated.
Two years after the attacks, federal officials formed the Flight 93 National Memorial Advisory Commission responsible for making design recommendations for a permanent memorial. A national design competition
was held to create a public memorial in the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed. The winning design, "Crescent of Embrace," was selected out of a pool of 1,011 submissions on September 7, 2005. The site plan features a large crescent pathway with red maple
s and sugar maple
s planted along the outer arc. This design ran into opposition over funding, size, and appearance. Republican Congressman Charles H. Taylor
blocked $10 million in federal funds toward the project as he saw it as "unrealistic." Republican
Congressional leaders later persuaded him to acquiesce to political pressure and began approving some federal funds. The proposed design has also attracted critics who see Islamic symbolism in the crescent design. An important milestone was announced August 31, 2009, marking an agreement between the landowners and the National Park Service
to allow the purchase of land for around 9.5 million dollars. The memorial was dedicated on September 10, 2011, the day before the 10th anniversary of the crash of Flight 93.
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
' scheduled morning transcontinental flight
Transcontinental flight
In the United States the term Transcontinental flight is travelling by air coast-to-coast over the continental United States.-History:The first transcontinental flight across the United States was made by Calbraith Perry Rodgers to win the Hearst prize offered by publisher William Randolph Hearst...
across the United States from Newark International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States...
in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, to San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is a major international airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...
aircraft operating the route was hijacked by four al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorists as part of the September 11 attacks. It subsequently crashed into a field near Shanksville
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 245, as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is approximately 60 miles southeast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
in Stonycreek Township
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Stonycreek Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,221 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania,...
, during an attempt by some of the passengers to regain control.
The hijackers breached the aircraft's cockpit and overpowered the flight crew approximately 46 minutes after takeoff. Ziad Jarrah
Ziad Jarrah
Ziad Samir Jarrah was one of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93, crashing the plane into a field in a rural area near Shanksville—after a passenger uprising—as part of the coordinated attacks.After a wealthy and secular...
, a trained pilot, then took control of the aircraft and diverted it back toward the east coast of the United States, presumably toward the United States capital of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(The specific target there – whether the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, or possibly some other building – is not known.)
After the hijackers took control of the plane, several passengers and flight attendants were able to make telephone calls and learn that attacks had been made on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Some of the passengers then made an attempt to regain control of the aircraft. During the attempt, however, the plane crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Stonycreek Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,221 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, near Shanksville in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania,...
, about 80 miles (128.7 km) southeast of Pittsburgh and 150 miles (241.4 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. All on board, including the four hijackers, were killed. A few witnessed the impact from the ground and news agencies began reporting the event within an hour.
Subsequent analysis of the flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
s recovered from the crash site revealed how the actions taken by the passengers prevented the aircraft from reaching the hijackers' intended target. Of the four aircraft hijacked on September 11the others were American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California...
, American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
and United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
United Airlines Flight 93 was the only one that failed to reach its hijackers' intended target.
A temporary memorial has stood on the site since the attacks; construction of the first phase of a permanent memorial
Flight 93 National Memorial
The Flight 93 National Memorial is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, about north of Shanksville, and southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial was made to honor the passengers of Flight...
at the crash site was dedicated on September 10, 2011.
Hijackers
The hijacking of Flight 93 was led by Ziad JarrahZiad Jarrah
Ziad Samir Jarrah was one of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93, crashing the plane into a field in a rural area near Shanksville—after a passenger uprising—as part of the coordinated attacks.After a wealthy and secular...
, a member of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. Jarrah was born in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
to a wealthy family and experienced a secular
Secularity
Secularity is the state of being separate from religion.For instance, eating and bathing may be regarded as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them...
upbringing. He intended to become a pilot and moved to Germany in 1996, enrolling at the University of Greifswald to study German. A year later, he moved to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and began studying aeronautical engineering
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is an institution of higher education and applied research located in Hamburg, Germany. Formerly known as Fachhochschule Hamburg the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1970...
. While living in Hamburg, Jarrah became a devout Muslim and associated with the radical Hamburg cell
Hamburg cell
The Hamburg cell was, according to U.S. and German intelligence agencies, a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, Germany that included students who eventually came to be key operatives in the 9/11 attacks...
.
In November 1999, Jarrah left Hamburg and went to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where he spent three months. While there, he met with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
in January 2000. Jarrah returned to Hamburg at the end of January and obtained a clean passport in February by reporting his passport as stolen.
In May, Jarrah received a visa from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin
Embassy of the United States in Berlin
The Embassy of the United States in Berlin maintains diplomatic relations and represents United States interests in dealing with the German government. The U.S. Embassy in Germany has not always been in Berlin.-1797–1930:...
, and he arrived in Florida in June 2000. There, he began taking flying lessons as well as training in hand-to-hand combat. Jarrah maintained contact with his girlfriend in Germany and his family in the months preceding the attacks. This close contact upset Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, the tactical leader of the plot, and al-Qaeda planners may have considered another operative, Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...
, to replace him if he backed out. Soon after the attacks, Jarrah's family asserted that he was an "innocent passenger" onboard the flight.
Three "muscle" hijackers trained to storm the cockpit and overpower the crew accompanied Jarrah on Flight 93. One of them, Ahmed al-Nami
Ahmed al-Nami
A former law student and muezzin, Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Nami was one of four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks.Born in Saudi Arabia, Nami had served as a muezzin and was a college student...
, arrived in Miami, Florida, on May 28, 2001, on a six-month tourist visa with United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
hijackers Hamza al-Ghamdi
Hamza al-Ghamdi
Hamza al-Ghamdi was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks....
and Mohand al-Shehri
Mohand al-Shehri
Mohand Muhammed Fayiz al-Shehri was one of five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks....
. Another Flight 93 hijacker, Ahmed al-Haznawi
Ahmed al-Haznawi
Ahmed Ibrahim al-Haznawi was one of four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks....
, arrived in Miami on June 8 with Flight 11 hijacker Wail al-Shehri
Wail al-Shehri
Wail Mohammed al-Shehri was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
. The third Flight 93 muscle hijacker, Saeed al-Ghamdi
Saeed al-Ghamdi
Saeed Abdallah Ali Sulayman al-Ghamdi was one of four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks....
, arrived in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, Florida, on June 27 with Flight 175 hijacker Fayez Banihammad
Fayez Banihammad
Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad was one of five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks....
. The passports of Ziad Jarrah and Saeed al-Ghamdi were recovered from the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93.
Flight
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...
, registration number
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N591UA. The airplane had a capacity of 182 passengers; the September 11 flight carried 37 passengers and seven crew, a load factor of 20 percent, considerably below the 52 percent average Tuesday load factor for Flight 93. The seven crew members were Captain
Pilot in command
The pilot in command of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the "captain" in a typical two- or three-pilot flight crew, or "pilot" if there is only one certified and qualified pilot at the controls of...
Jason Dahl, First Officer LeRoy Homer, Jr., and flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
s Lorraine Bay, Sandra Bradshaw, Wanda Green, CeeCee Lyles, and Deborah Welsh.
Boarding
The four hijackers checked in for the flight between 07:03 and 07:39 Eastern Time. At 07:03, Ghamdi checked in without any luggage while Nami checked in two bags. At 07:24, Haznawi checked in one bag and at 07:39, Jarrah checked in without any luggage. Haznawi was the only hijacker selected for extra scrutiny by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening SystemComputer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System is a counter-terrorism system in place in the United States air travel industry...
(CAPPS). His checked bag underwent extra screening for explosives, with no extra scrutiny required by CAPPS at the passenger-security checkpoint. None of the security checkpoint personnel reported anything unusual about the hijackers.
Haznawi and Ghamdi boarded the aircraft at 07:39 and sat in first class seats 6B and 3D respectively. Nami boarded one minute later and sat in first class seat 3C. Jarrah boarded at 07:48 and sat in seat 1B. The aircraft was scheduled to depart at 08:00 and pushed back from its gate A17 at 08:01. It remained delayed on the ground and did not take off until 08:42 because of airport congestion. The three other hijacked flights all departed within fifteen minutes of their scheduled time. By the time Flight 93 became airborne, Flight 11 had already been commandeered and Flight 175 was being hijacked; Flight 77 was climbing normally and would be hijacked in 9 minutes. By 09:02, the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 35000 feet (10,668 m). With the attacks unfolding, air traffic officials began issuing warnings through the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System
Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System
Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System is a digital datalink system for transmission of short, relatively simple messages between aircraft and ground stations via radio or satellite. The protocol, which was designed by ARINC to replace their VHF voice service and deployed in 1978,...
(ACARS). Ed Ballinger, the United flight dispatcher, began sending text cockpit warnings to United Airlines flights at 09:19, after he became aware of the second World Trade Center impact by Flight 175. As Ballinger was responsible for multiple flights, he did not send the message to Flight 93 until 09:23. Ballinger received a routine ACARS message from Flight 93 at 09:21. At 09:22, after learning of the events at the World Trade Center, LeRoy Homer's wife, Melody Homer, had an ACARS message sent to her husband in the cockpit asking if he was okay. At 09:24, Flight 93 received Ballinger's ACARS warning, "Beware any cockpit intrusion—two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center". At 09:26, the pilot sent an ACARS message back, "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz —Jason". At 09:27:25, the flight crew responded to routine radio traffic from air traffic controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
s. This was the last communication made by the flight crew before the hijacking.
Hijacking
The hijacking on Flight 93 began at 09:28. By this time, Flights 11 and 175 had already crashed into the World Trade Center and Flight 77 was within minutes of striking the Pentagon. The hijackers on those flights had waited no more than 30 minutes to commandeer the aircraft, most likely striking after the seat-belt sign had been turned off and cabin service had begun. It is unknown why the hijackers on Flight 93 waited approximately 46 minutes to begin their assault. The flight suddenly dropped 685 feet (208.8 m) in half a minute. At 09:28:17, Captain Jason Dahl began shouting, "MaydayMayday (distress signal)
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....
! Mayday! Mayday!" over the radio amidst sounds of violence. A Cleveland Air Traffic Controller
Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center
Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center is located at 326 East Lorain Street, Oberlin, Ohio, United States, near the city of Cleveland. The Cleveland ARTCC is the busiest of the 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States...
replied, "Somebody call Cleveland?" but received no reply.
Thirty-five seconds after the first Mayday call, the crew made another transmission. Someone in the cockpit shouted, "Mayday! Get out of here! Get out of here!" The exact time at which Flight 93 came under the hijackers' control cannot be determined. Officials believe the hijackers assaulted the cockpit and moved the passengers to the rear of the plane at the same time to minimize any chance of either the crew or the passengers interfering with the attack. While the other hijacked flights were taken by five-man teams, Flight 93 had only four hijackers, leading to speculation of a possible 20th hijacker
20th hijacker
20th hijacker is a numeric metaphor concerning a possible additional terrorist in the September 11, 2001, attacks who was not able to participate....
. The 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
believes that Mohammed al Qahtani was the likely candidate for this role, but was unable to participate as he had been denied entry into the United States one month earlier. With many passengers saying in phone calls that they saw only three hijackers, the 9/11 Commission believes Jarrah remained seated until the crew were overpowered and then took over the flight controls out of sight of the passengers.
The cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
began recording the final 30 minutes of Flight 93 at 09:31:57. At this moment, it recorded Jarrah announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen: here the captain, please sit down and keep remaining seating. We have a bomb on board. So sit." The controller understood the transmission, but chose to respond, "Calling Cleveland center, you're unreadable. Say again, slowly." A flight attendant being held captive is heard pleading, "Please, please, don't hurt me." Jarrah instructed the autopilot to turn the plane and head east at 09:35:09. The aircraft ascended to 40700 feet (12,405.4 m) and air traffic controllers immediately moved several aircraft out of Flight 93's flightpath. The flight attendant in the cockpit is heard to say, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die" followed by one of the hijackers saying in Arabic, "Everything is fine. I finished."
At 9:39 air traffic controllers overheard Jarrah say, "Hi, this is the captain. I would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands [inaudible]. Please remain quiet." Air traffic controllers did not hear from the flight again. Passengers and crew began making phone calls to officials and family members starting at 09:30 using GTE
GTE
GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
airphones
Air-ground radiotelephone service
Air-ground radiotelephone service is a method of telephone communications used by aircraft pilots and passengers of commercial airline jets flying over the United States....
and mobile phones. Altogether, the passengers and crew made 35 airphone calls and two cell phone calls from the flight. Ten passengers and two crew members were able to successfully connect, providing information to family, friends, and others on the ground. Tom Burnett
Tom Burnett
Thomas Edward Burnett, Jr. was the vice-president and chief operating officer of Thoratec Corporation, a medical devices company based in Pleasanton, California. He resided in San Ramon, California....
made several phone calls to his wife beginning at 09:30:32 from rows 24 and 25, though he was assigned a seat in row four. Burnett explained that the plane had been hijacked by men claiming to have a bomb. He also said that a passenger had been stabbed with a knife and that he believed the bomb threat was a ruse to control the passengers. During one of Tom Burnett's calls, his wife informed him of the attacks on the World Trade Center and he replied that the hijackers were "talking about crashing this plane ... Oh my God. It's a suicide mission." He ended his last call by saying, "Don't worry, we're going to do something." An unknown flight attendant attempted to contact the United Airlines maintenance facility at 09:32:29. The call lasted 95 seconds, but was not received as it may have been in queue. Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called the maintenance facility at 09:35:40 from row 33. She reported the flight had been hijacked by men with knives who were in the cabin and flight deck and had stabbed another flight attendant.
| "Jack, pick up sweetie, can you hear me? Okay. I just want to tell you, there's a little problem with the plane. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I just want to tell you how much I love you." |
| Message left by pregnant passenger Lauren Grandcolas Lauren Grandcolas Lauren Grandcolas was one of the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, who made calls, providing information about the hijacking of the flight as part of the September 11 attacks... at 09:39:21. |
Mark Bingham
Mark Bingham
Mark Kendall Bingham was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001 he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93...
called his mother at 09:37:03 from row 25. He reported that the plane had been hijacked by three men who claimed to have a bomb. Jeremy Glick
Jeremy Glick (Flight 93)
Jeremy Logan Glick was one of the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked as part of the September 11 attacks. Aware of the earlier crashes at the World Trade Center, Glick and some of his fellow passengers attempted to foil the hijacking...
called his wife at 09:37:41 from row 27 and told her the flight was hijacked by three dark-skinned men that looked "Iranian", wearing red bandanas and wielding knives. Glick remained connected until the end of the flight. He reported that the passengers voted whether to "rush" the hijackers. The United air traffic control coordinator for West Coast flights, Alessandro "Sandy" Rogers, alerted the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) Herndon Command Center in Herndon
Herndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
, Virginia, that Flight 93 was not responding and was off course. A minute later, the transponder
Transponder (aviation)
A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation...
was turned off, but the Cleveland controller continued to monitor the flight on primary radar. The Herndon Center relayed information on Flight 93 to FAA headquarters. Joseph DeLuca called his father at 09:43:03 from row 26 to inform him the flight had been hijacked. Todd Beamer
Todd Beamer
Lisa Beamer was born on april 10, 1969 in Albany, New york.Lisa Beamer is the widow of Todd Beamer, a victim of the United Flight 93 crash as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
attempted to call his wife from row 32 at 09:43:48, but was routed to GTE phone operator Lisa D. Jefferson. Beamer told the operator that the flight was hijacked and the pilots were on the floor dead or dying. He said one of the hijackers had a red belt with what looked to be a bomb strapped to his waist. A United employee in San Francisco, California, sent an ACARS message to the flight at 09:46, "Heard report of incident. Plz confirm all is normal." Linda Gronlund called her sister, Elsa Strong, at 09:46:05 and left her a message saying there were "men with a bomb".
Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles called her husband at 09:47:57 and left him a message saying the plane had been hijacked. Marion Britton called her friend, Fred Fiumano, at 09:49:12. Fiumano recalled, "she said, 'We’re gonna. They’re gonna kill us, you know, We’re gonna die.’ And I told her, 'Don’t worry, they hijacked the plane, they’re gonna take you for a ride, you go to their country, and you come back. You stay there for vacation.' You don’t know what to say—what are you gonna say? I kept on saying the same things, ‘Be calm.’ And she was crying and—you know—more or less crying and screaming and yelling." Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called her husband at 09:50:04 and told him she was preparing scalding water to throw at the hijackers. Passenger Lauren Grandcolas called her husband twice, once before takeoff and once during the hijacking. He missed both of her calls. She then passed her phone to Honor Elizabeth Wainio. Wainio called her stepmother at 09:53:43 and concluded, four and a half minutes later, by saying, "I have to go. They're breaking into the cockpit. I love you." Jarrah dialed in the VHF omnidirectional range
VHF omnidirectional range
VOR, short for VHF omnidirectional radio range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a VHF radio composite signal including the station's identifier, voice , and navigation signal. The identifier is typically a two- or three-letter string in Morse code...
(VOR) frequency for the VOR navigational aid at Reagan National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
at 9:55:11 to direct the plane toward Washington, D.C. Bradshaw, on the phone with her husband, said "Everyone is running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."
During the hijacking, flight 93 passed within 1000 feet (304.8 m) (instead of the normal 2000 feet (609.6 m)) of a NASA KC-135 returning from a microgravity flight over Lake Ontario. NASA pilot Dominic Del Rosso recalled how odd the silence on the radio was that morning.
Resistance
| "Are you guys ready? Okay. Let's roll Let's roll "Let's roll" is a catchphrase that has been used extensively as a term to move and start an activity, attack, mission or project. After the September 11 attacks, the phrase, especially in the United States, has come to symbolize heroism, self sacrifice and initiative in a tough situation... !" |
| Todd Beamer Todd Beamer Lisa Beamer was born on april 10, 1969 in Albany, New york.Lisa Beamer is the widow of Todd Beamer, a victim of the United Flight 93 crash as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.... 's last words heard by operator Lisa Jefferson at 09:55. |
The passenger revolt on Flight 93 began at 09:57 after the passengers took a vote amongst themselves about whether to act. By this time, Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon and Flights 11 and 175 had struck the World Trade Center towers. The hijackers in the cockpit became aware of the revolt at 09:57:55, exclaiming, "Is there something? A fight?" Edward Felt dialed 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
from his cell phone from the lavatory of the aircraft seeking information. His call was answered by dispatcher John Shaw, and Felt was able to tell him about the hijacking before the call was disconnected. There were reports of Felt's hearing an explosion and seeing smoke coming into the lavatory from under the door. These reports were reported to be false in other sources. Lyles called her husband once more from a cell phone and told him the passengers were forcing their way into the cockpit. Jarrah began to roll the airplane left and right to knock the passengers off balance. He told another hijacker in the cockpit at 9:58:57, "They want to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold." Jarrah changed tactics at 9:59:52 and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault.
The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of crashing, screaming, and the shattering of glass. Jarrah stabilized the plane at 10:00:03. Five seconds later, he asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" Another hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." Jarrah once again pitched the airplane up and down. A passenger in the background cried, "In the cockpit. If we don't, we'll die" at 10:00:25. Sixteen seconds later, another passenger yelled, "Roll it!" Jarrah ceased the violent maneuvers at 10:01:00 and recited the takbir
Takbir
The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression...
several times. He then asked another hijacker, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" The other hijacker responded, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down." Nevertheless, the passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:23, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The airplane descended with the yoke
Yoke (aircraft)
A yoke, alternatively known as control column, is a device used for piloting in most fixed-wing aircraft.- Principle :The aviator uses the yoke to control the attitude of the plane, usually in both pitch and roll. Rotating the control wheel controls the ailerons and the roll axis...
turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting the takbir. Amidst the continued sounds of the passenger counterattack, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Stonycreek
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Stonycreek Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,221 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C. The last entry on the voice recorder was made at 10:03:09. The last piece of flight data was recorded at 10:03:10. The 9/11 Commission Report
9/11 Commission Report
The 9/11 Commission Report, formally named Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, is the official report of the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
concluded that "the hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them". However, many of the passengers' family members, having heard the audio recordings, believe that the passengers breached the cockpit and killed at least one or all of the hijackers.
Crash
At 10:03:11, near ShanksvilleShanksville, Pennsylvania
Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 245, as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is approximately 60 miles southeast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the plane crashed into a reclaimed coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
strip mine
Surface mining
Surface mining , is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed...
in Stonycreek Township
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Stonycreek Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,221 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in Somerset County
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania,...
. The National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
reported that the flight impacted at 563 miles per hour (252 m/s) at a 40-degree nose-down, inverted attitude. The impact left a crater eight to ten feet deep (c. 3 m), and 30 to 50 feet wide (c. 12 m). All 44 people on board died. Many media reports and eyewitness accounts cited the time of the crash at 10:06 or 10:10, as did an analysis of seismographic data in the area, but which the 9/11 Commission report states was not definitive. Other media venues and the 9/11 Commission reported the time of impact as 10:03, based on when the flight recorders stopped, analysis of radar data, infrared satellite data, and air traffic control transmissions.
Kelly Leverknight was watching news of the attacks when she heard the plane. "I heard the plane going over and I went out the front door and I saw the plane going down. It was headed toward the school, which panicked me, because all three of my kids were there. Then you heard the explosion and felt the blast and saw the fire and smoke." Another witness, Eric Peterson, looked up when he heard the plane, "It was low enough, I thought you could probably count the rivets. You could see more of the roof of the plane than you could the belly. It was on its side. There was a great explosion and you could see the flames. It was a massive, massive explosion. Flames and then smoke and then a massive, massive mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...
." Val McClatchey had been watching footage of the attacks when she heard the plane. She saw it briefly, then heard the impact. The crash knocked out the electricity and phones. McClatchey grabbed her camera and took the only known picture of the smoke cloud from the explosion. Ten years after 9/11, a video of the rising smoke cloud filmed by Dave Berkebile (deceased by 2011) from his yard located eight miles away from the crash site was published on YouTube.
The first responders arrived at the crash site after 10:06. Cleveland Center controllers, unaware the flight had crashed, notified the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) at 10:07 that Flight 93 had a bomb on board and passed the last known position. This call was the first time the military was notified about the flight. Ballinger sent one final ACARS message to Flight 93 at 10:10, "Don't divert to DC. Not an option." He repeated the message one minute later. The Herndon Command Center alerted FAA headquarters that Flight 93 had crashed at 10:13. NEADS called the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center
Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center
The primary responsibility of ZDC is the separation of overflights, and the expedited sequencing of arrivals and departures along STARs and SIDs for the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area, the New York Metropolitan Area, and Philadelphia among many other areas.Washington Center is the 3rd...
for an update on Flight 93 and received notification that the flight had crashed.
At 10:37, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
correspondent Aaron Brown
Aaron Brown
Aaron Brown is an American broadcast journalist most recognized for his coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks, his first day on air at CNN...
, covering the collapse of the World Trade Center
Collapse of the World Trade Center
The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks, in which terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, flying one into the North Tower and another into the South Tower...
, announced, "We are getting reports and we are getting lots of reports and we want to be careful to tell you when we have confirmed them and not, but we have a report that a 747 is down in Pennsylvania, and that remains unconfirmed at this point." He followed that up at 10:49 by reporting that, "We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning, north of the Somerset County Airport, which is in western Pennsylvania, not too terribly far from Pittsburgh, about 80 miles or so, a Boeing 767 jet. Don't know whose airline it was, whose airplane it was, and we don't have any details beyond that which I have just given you." In the confusion, he also erroneously reported a second hijacked plane heading for the Pentagon after the crash of the first.
Aftermath
Flight 93 fragmented violently upon impact. Most of the aircraft wreckage was found near the impact crater. Investigators found some very light debris including paper and nylon scattered up to eight miles (13 km) from the impact point in New Baltimore, PennsylvaniaNew Baltimore, Pennsylvania
New Baltimore is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 168 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:New Baltimore is located at ....
. Other tiny aircraft fragments were found 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away at Indian Lake
Indian Lake, Pennsylvania
Indian Lake is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 394 at the 2010 census, down from 450 in 2000...
, Pennsylvania. All human remains were found within a 70-acre (28 ha) area surrounding the impact point. Somerset County Coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
Wally Miller was involved in the investigation and identification of the remains. In examining the wreckage, the only human body part he could see was part of a backbone. Miller later found and identified 1,500 pieces of human remains totaling about 600 pounds (272 kg), or eight percent of the total. The rest of the remains were consumed by the impact. Investigators identified four victims by September 22 and eleven by September 24. They identified another by September 29. Thirty-four passengers were identified by October 27. All the people on board the flight were identified by December 21. Human remains were so fragmented investigators could not determine if any victims were dead before the plane crashed. Death certificate
Death certificate
The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...
s for the 40 victims listed the cause of death as homicide and listed the cause of death for the four hijackers as suicide. The remains and personal effects of the victims were returned to the families. The remains of the hijackers, identified by the process of elimination, were turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) as evidence.
Investigators also found a knife disguised as a cigarette lighter. They located the flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
on September 13 and the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
the following day. The voice recorder was found buried 25 feet (8 m) below the crater. The FBI initially refused to release the voice recording, rejecting requests by congresswoman Ellen Tauscher
Ellen Tauscher
Ellen O'Kane Tauscher is an American politician and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs...
and family members of those on board. The FBI subsequently allowed the relatives of the Flight 93 victims to listen to the recording in a closed session on April 18, 2002. Jurors for the Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...
trial heard the tape as part of the proceedings and the transcript was publicly released on April 12, 2006.
The intended target of Flight 93 has never been decisively confirmed. Before the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, and Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef was the alleged military chief of al-Qaida, although his role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years...
developed a list of potential targets. Bin Laden wanted to destroy the White House and the Pentagon. Sheikh Mohammed wanted to strike the World Trade Center and all three wanted to hit the Capitol. No one else was involved in the initial selection of targets. Bin Laden told 9/11 planner Ramzi bin al-Shibh to advise Mohamed Atta that he preferred the White House over the Capitol as a target. Atta cautioned bin al-Shibh that this would be difficult, but agreed to include the White House as a possible target and suggested they keep the Capitol as an alternate in case the White House proved too difficult. Eventually, Atta told bin al-Shibh that Jarrah planned to hit the Capitol. Atta briefly mentioned the possibility of striking a nuclear facility, but balked after the other attack pilots voiced their opposition. Based on an exchange between Atta and bin al-Shibh two days before the attacks, the White House would be the primary target for the fourth plane and the Capitol the alternate.
Immediately after the attacks, there was speculation that Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
was the intended target. According to testimony by captured al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi Arabian citizen, sentenced to death in Jordan and currently held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Not neutral: Arrested in Pakistan in March 2002, he has been in US custody for more than eight years, four-and-a-half of them spent incommunicado in solitary confinement...
, U.S. officials believed the White House was the intended target. A post-9/11 interview with Sheikh Mohammed and bin al-Shibh by Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
reporter Yosri Fouda
Yosri Fouda
Yosri Fouda , born in Egypt, is a journalist who initially worked for the BBC's short-lived Arabic-subsidiary covering the ongoing struggle in Bosnia with veteran reporter Martin Bell. He currently works for the independent Cairo-based ON TV, which is largely owned by Egyptian businessman Naguib...
revealed that Flight 93 was headed for the Capitol. The 9/11 Commission Report cited the actions of the crew and passengers that prevented the destruction of either the White House or the Capitol. According to another testimony by Sheikh Mohammed, bin Laden preferred the Capitol over the White House as a target and Sheikh Mohammed revealed that the interview to Fouda was a lie to make the 9/11 attacks seem larger than they were. Salim Hamdan, bin Laden's driver, told interrogators that he knew the flight was headed for the Capitol.
Two F-16 fighter jets from the 121st Fighter Squadron of the D.C. Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
were scrambled and ordered to intercept Flight 93; the pilots intended to ram it since they did not have time to arm the jets. They never reached Flight 93 and did not learn of its crash until hours afterwards.
NORAD insisted to the 9/11 Commission that fighters would have intercepted Flight 93 before it reached its target in Washington, D.C., but the commission disagreed, stating that "NORAD did not even know the plane was hijacked until after it had crashed" and concluding that had it not crashed it probably would have arrived in Washington by 10:23. The 9/11 Commission Report stated that NEADS fighters pursued Delta Air Lines Flight 1989
Delta Air Lines Flight 1989
Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 was a regularly scheduled flight offering nonstop morning service from Logan International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. On September 11, 2001, this flight was one of several flights considered by the U.S. Government as ...
, a flight thought to be hijacked. The commission found that North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
(NORAD) and the FAA gave inaccurate testimony.
All passengers and crew on board Flight 93 were nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2001. Congressman Bill Shuster
Bill Shuster
William Shuster is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a son of former Congressman Bud Shuster.-Early life, education and career:...
introduced a bill to this effect in 2006, but as of 2008, these awards had not been granted.
Beamer's final words, "let's roll
Let's roll
"Let's roll" is a catchphrase that has been used extensively as a term to move and start an activity, attack, mission or project. After the September 11 attacks, the phrase, especially in the United States, has come to symbolize heroism, self sacrifice and initiative in a tough situation...
", became a national catchphrase. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
changed the name of Newark's airport from Newark International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport. Flight 93 has been the subject of various films and documentaries including The Flight That Fought Back
The Flight that Fought Back
The Flight That Fought Back is a documentary film produced by the London-based company Brook Lapping Productions for the Discovery Channel about United Airlines Flight 93...
, Flight 93
Flight 93 (TV film)
Flight 93 is a 2006 made-for-TV film, directed by Peter Markle, which chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks...
, and United 93
United 93 (film)
United 93 is a 2006 fact-based historical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks...
.
In keeping with standard airline practice after disasters, the flight number "93" was discontinued by United Airlines after the hijacking. United's early-morning nonstop from Newark to San Francisco is now Flight 421 using an Airbus A319
Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
. It was reported in May 2011 that United was reactivating flight numbers 93 and 175 as a codeshare operated by Continental, sparking an outcry from some in the media and the labor union representing United pilots. United said the reactivation was a mistake and said the numbers were "inadvertently reinstated", and would not be reactivated.
Memorials
A temporary memorial formed from spontaneous tributes left by visitors in the days after the attacks at the crash site. Foundations across the country began to raise money to fund a memorial to the victims within a month of the crash.Two years after the attacks, federal officials formed the Flight 93 National Memorial Advisory Commission responsible for making design recommendations for a permanent memorial. A national design competition
Architectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
was held to create a public memorial in the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed. The winning design, "Crescent of Embrace," was selected out of a pool of 1,011 submissions on September 7, 2005. The site plan features a large crescent pathway with red maple
Red Maple
Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...
s and sugar maple
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...
s planted along the outer arc. This design ran into opposition over funding, size, and appearance. Republican Congressman Charles H. Taylor
Charles H. Taylor
Charles Hart Taylor is an American politician; a Republican, he represented North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He began serving in 1991 and continued through January 3, 2007....
blocked $10 million in federal funds toward the project as he saw it as "unrealistic." Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressional leaders later persuaded him to acquiesce to political pressure and began approving some federal funds. The proposed design has also attracted critics who see Islamic symbolism in the crescent design. An important milestone was announced August 31, 2009, marking an agreement between the landowners and the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
to allow the purchase of land for around 9.5 million dollars. The memorial was dedicated on September 10, 2011, the day before the 10th anniversary of the crash of Flight 93.
See also
- United 93United 93 (film)United 93 is a 2006 fact-based historical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks...
(film) - Flight 93Flight 93 (TV film)Flight 93 is a 2006 made-for-TV film, directed by Peter Markle, which chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks...
(TV film) - The Flight That Fought BackThe Flight that Fought BackThe Flight That Fought Back is a documentary film produced by the London-based company Brook Lapping Productions for the Discovery Channel about United Airlines Flight 93...
(TV film) - American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California...
- United Airlines Flight 175United Airlines Flight 175United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
- American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
Further reading
- Tonya Buell. The Crash of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. [for children]
- Lisa D. Jefferson and Felicia MiddlebrooksFelicia MiddlebrooksFelicia Middlebrooks is an American radio news broadcaster. She is the news anchor of WBBM in Chicago, Illinois.- Biography :...
. Called: Hello, This Is Mrs. Jefferson. I Understand Your Plane Is Being Hijacked. 9:45 am, Flight 93, September 11, 2001. Northfield Publishers, 2006. - Glenn J. Kashurba. Courage After the Crash: Flight 93 Aftermath: An Oral and Pictorial Chronicle. Saj Publishing, 2002.
- Jere Longman. Among the Heroes: The Story of Flight 93 and the Passengers Who Fought Back. Simon and SchusterSimon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, 2002.
External links
- United Airlines Flight #93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/images/04/12/flight93.transcript.pdf