United Airlines Flight 93

For other uses of "Flight 93" and "United 93", see Flight 93.

United Airlines Flight 93

Crash Site Of United 93.
Occurrence
Date	September 11 2001
Summary	Hijacking resulting in crash
Site	near Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Aircraft type	Boeing 757-222
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	N591UA
Flight origin	Newark Liberty International Airport
Destination	San Francisco International Airport
Passengers	37 (including 4 hijackers)
Crew	7
Fatalities	44
Survivors	0

United Airlines Flight 93 was a scheduled flight from Newark International Airport (now Newark Liberty International Airport) in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport, then continuing on to Narita International Airport near Tokyo, Japan, on a different aircraft. On September 11, 2001, the United Airlines Boeing 757-222, registered N591UA, was one of four planes hijacked as part of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It did not reach its intended target, instead crashing in an empty field just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. The 9/11 Commission (through testimony, tapes of passengers' phone calls, and the flight data recorders recovered from the crash) determined that crew and passengers, alerted through phone calls to loved ones, had attempted to overpower the hijackers. The Commission concluded that the hijackers crashed the plane to keep the crew and passengers from gaining control.

Hijackers

United 93 flight path

The hijackers were reported to be the following:

• Ziad Jarrah (Lebanese), pilot
• Ahmed al-Haznawi (Saudi Arabian)
• Ahmed al-Nami (Saudi Arabian)
• Saeed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian)

Of these, Ahmed al-Haznawi was the only hijacker selected on United Airlines Flight 93 by CAPPS. His checked bags underwent extra screening for explosives, with no extra scrutiny required by CAPPS at the passenger-security checkpoint.

The other three flights hijacked on the same day involved five hijackers on each plane. As Flight 93 had only four, this has led to speculation of a twentieth hijacker who was not able to participate.

The flight

The plane was a Boeing 757-222 on a morning route from Newark International Airport (now known as Newark Liberty International Airport) in Newark, New Jersey, near New York City, to San Francisco International Airport near San Francisco, California (EWR-SFO). It had 182 seats but was carrying only 37 passengers (including the four hijackers) and seven crew members: two pilots, the captain Jason M. Dahl and his first officer, LeRoy Homer Jr.; and five flight attendants. Because one passenger had booked two seats, some early accounts said there were 38 passengers on board. The four hijackers were seated in first class.

File:Ewr flag2.jpg

A flag flies over Gate A17. United 93 pushed back from this gate at 8.01AM on September 11, 2001. Two hours later it crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

The aircraft was scheduled to depart at 8:00 a.m. but did not lift off until 8:42 due to routine heavy morning traffic. Had the flight departed on time, it would likely have been hijacked around the same time as the other flights, and there is little chance the passengers would have had time to organize a revolt.

By 9:02 a.m., the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. At 9:24 a.m. Flight 93 received from flight dispatch the warning "Beware any cockpit intrusion—two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center". At 9:26 a.m. the pilot asked for confirmation of the message. That was the last time flight dispatch heard from Flight 93.

At about 9:28 a.m., after both towers of the World Trade Center had already been hit, air traffic controllers in Cleveland Center overheard the pilot Jason Dahl yelling "Get out of here", along with commotion and possibly screaming from the cockpit. Forty seconds later, more screams were heard. During this time the aircraft dropped 700 feet (200 m). Air traffic controllers tried to contact the pilot and received no reply.

The cockpit voice recording, which was recorded on a 30 minute loop, began at 9:32 a.m. At 9:32 a man with an Arabic accent, probably Ziad Jarrah, transmitted to air traffic control the following: "Ladies and gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining seating. We have a bomb on board. So sit.." (It is likely that Jarrah was attempting to broadcast this over the plane's intercom, but did not understand that the message was transmitted to air traffic control instead.) The flight then reversed direction and began flying eastward at a low altitude. At 9:39 air traffic controllers overheard Jarrah saying, "Hi. Here's the captain. I would like to tell you all to remain seated. We have a bomb aboard, and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands. So, please remain quiet." There were no further transmissions.

Phone calls

Much of what happened on the plane has been reconstructed from the many phone calls made by passengers and crew, mainly through onboard Verizon airfones. Beginning at approximately 9:32 a.m., 50 minutes after the flight took off, passengers and crew began making phone calls. This was approximately the same time that Jarrah began making announcements to the passengers, "Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit." The hijackers were aware that passengers were making phone calls, but did not seem to care.

Ten passengers and two crew members were able to make calls that went through, providing information to family, friends, and others on the ground. This was in marked contrast to the other three planes, where few phone calls were made. It has thus been possible to assemble a detailed yet incomplete picture of what happened on board through these calls. All callers reported that there were three rather than four hijackers. This has been interpreted as meaning that one of them (probably Jarrah, who was seated in the front row [seat 1B] and who is accepted as being the pilot) entered the cockpit immediately and did not re-emerge. He was thus not seen by the others on the plane.

In the passenger cabin, three hijackers wearing red bandannas herded most of the passengers and crew to the back of the plane. Two were armed with knives. Passengers mentioned a third hijacker with a box that supposedly contained a bomb; One passenger expressed the belief that the bomb was fake. One male passenger was stabbed, probably before the herding started. This person was never named or described in the phone calls, but authorities believe it was Mark Rothenberg, the only first-class passenger who did not make a phone call. A flight attendant, most likely the purser, Deborah Welsh, was held in the cockpit and had been killed.

The passengers and crew became aware, through the phone calls, of what had happened to American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, the hijacked flights which crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers, and American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.

One first-class passenger, Tom Burnett, called his wife four times about the hijacking; she alerted the FBI. He described the death of the male passenger, asked about the other planes and stated at the end of the fourth call, "Don't worry. We're going to do something."

Another first-class passenger, Mark Bingham, called his mother on an airphone and reported that three hijackers had taken over the plane. He added that "they say they have a bomb". He gave little detail about the hijackers. Bingham was apparently cut off at the end of his brief call, and did not return any of the phone calls from friends and family.

First-class passenger 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. He reported hearing an explosion and seeing smoke coming into the bathroom from under the door, according to the 911 operator that spoke to him. The tape has since been seized as evidence and the person who took Felt’s call is not allowed to speak to the media.

A coach passenger, Jeremy Glick, called his wife in New York and reported that three men had hijacked the plane, one of whom had a red box strapped to his waist which they claimed to be a bomb. Jeremy asked his wife if it was true that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center, as he had heard from other passengers. He then stated that he was going to participate "in the charge (up the aisle to the cockpit)".

Linda Gronlund, who was traveling with her boyfriend, Joseph DeLuca, called her sister, Elsa. Gronlund told her about the hijacking, that the passengers knew about the World Trade Center, and had voted on a plan to take action.

Todd Beamer, another coach passenger, tried to place a credit card call through a phone located on the back of a plane seat but was routed to a customer-service representative instead, who passed him on to supervisor Lisa Jefferson. Beamer reported that one passenger was killed and, later, that a flight attendant had told him the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. He was also on the phone when the plane made its turn in a southeasterly direction, a move that had him briefly panicking. Later, he told the operator that some of the plane's passengers were planning to "jump on" the hijackers. According to Jefferson, Beamer's last audible words were "Are you guys ready? Let's roll." Beamer was one of the passengers that tried to retake the aircraft from the terrorists, with the intent of thwarting the terrorists' potential to use the aircraft as a weapon to kill civilians in Washington DC or elsewhere. This term would later become the war cry for those fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

United Airlines Flight 93 altitude profile

Honor Elizabeth Wainio called her stepmother, talking to her for 4 1/2 minutes. At the end of the call, she said that they were getting ready to break into the cockpit and she needed to hang up.

Other persons who made phone calls to relatives include flight attendants CeeCee Lyles and Sandra Bradshaw. Passenger Lauren Grandcolas called her husband, leaving him a message and telling him of the "problem on the plane". The flight attendants also made reference to using boiling water on the hijackers. What happened afterward is uncertain, but the black box recordings revealed that the passengers did not break into the cockpit before the pilot started aiming the plane down for a crash. Although there is no evidence that the passengers succeeded in entering the cockpit, their efforts likely thwarted the hijackers' intended goal.

Only two phone calls, one by Edward Felt and one by flight attendant CeeCee Lyles, came from cell phones — both at 9:58 a.m, shortly before the plane crashed. At this point, the aircraft was ~5,000 feet above sea level The field near Shanksville where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed is at 2,350 feet above sea level, and many Appalachian mountain ridges exceed 3,000 feet above sea level in Somerset and Westmoreland County. Both phone calls only lasted 1-2 minutes, and then were dropped. That coincides with a sudden ascent up to ~10,000 feet that the aircraft made before it then plummeted to the ground and crashed.

Crash

The plane crashed into a reclaimed coal strip mine in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, near Shanksville. Initial media reports and eyewitness accounts cited the time of the crash at 10:06 a.m. Subsequent media reports reported the time of impact as 10:03 a.m., as did 9/11 Commission Report based on when the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder stopped, along with analysis of radar data, infrared satellite data, and air traffic control transmissions.

Karl Landis, who was driving nearby, saw the plane as it "rolled slightly to the left and appeared to hit the ground at almost a 90-degree angle." Another witness, Eric Peterson, who was at a nearby auto shop, 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."

The aircraft impacted at approximately 563 mph (906 km/h), at a 40 degree angle. The impact left a crater about 115 feet (35 m) wide and 10 to 12 feet (about 3.5 m) deep. There were no survivors among the 44 passengers, crew and terrorists (all were killed by the impact or had been previously killed during flight).

The only known photograph of the smoke plume from the crash was taken by real estate agent Val McClatchey. Conspiracy theorists have accused her of manufacturing the photograph.

While sifting through the wreckage, investigators reported finding a serrated belt-clip knife, as well as a cigarette lighter with a concealed blade.

"Black Box" recorders

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered on the afternoon of September 13, buried 25 feet (8 m) deep at the impact site, but only transcripts have been released to the public. In April 2002, the FBI allowed the relatives of the Flight 93 victims to listen to the tapes from the cockpit voice recorder. Further details were released by the 9/11 Commission in July 2004.

The transcripts of the recording were made public as part of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, but the actual recording has not been released. At the start of the transcript, a woman is heard pleading for her life. This is thought to be the voice of a flight attendant.

The tape is reported to contain voices saying "Allahu Akbar," shouts in English that included "Let's get them!" and "We have to (muffled but probably "get") in the cockpit. If we don't, we'll die." Then, screaming and other sounds are heard, followed by silence. Sounds of crockery smashing have led to the conclusion that a service trolley was used as a battering ram to force open the cockpit door.

Some of the hijackers retreated into the cockpit prior to the charge; those that didn't were likely killed in the counterattack by the passengers. Those in the cockpit can be heard praying, reassuring one another, and discussing on separate occasions, in Arabic, whether to use a fire axe in the cockpit on those outside, or to cut off the oxygen to quell the charge. Jarrah said, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" Another hijacker replied, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." Jarrah later said, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" to which another hijacker replied, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down," then later "Pull it down! Pull it down!" Jarrah forced the plane downward. The plane rolled upside-down and the hijackers said their final words. "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" The recording stopped at 10:03:10 a.m.

The 9/11 Commission found from the recordings that, contrary to what many had believed, the passengers did not succeed in entering the cockpit.

Intended target

The hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 had turned the plane around and were heading towards Washington, D.C.. The United States Capitol Building and the White House are widely believed to have been possible intended targets. The 9/11 Commission Report cited the actions of the crew and passengers that prevented the destruction of the White House or the U.S. Capitol Building. According to an interview with captured Al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, as published in The New York Times on September 9, 2002, the target of Flight 93 was indeed the U.S. Capitol. Early speculation also mentioned Camp David, near the town of Thurmont in Frederick County, Maryland, as a possible intended target.

Orders to shoot down plane questioned

The 9/11 Commission reported that "authorities suggested that U.S. air defenses had reacted quickly, that jets had been scrambled in response to the last two hijackings and that fighters were prepared to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93 if it threatened Washington". In fact, the commission reported a year later, audiotapes from NORAD's Northeast headquarters and other evidence showed clearly that the military never had any of the hijacked airliners in its sights and at one point chased a phantom aircraft — American Airlines Flight 11 — long after it had crashed into the World Trade Center," according to CNN.com. Furthermore, the closest fighters were about 100 miles away and were unarmed. Fighters also went after a Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 which was suspected to be hijacked though it was later determined untrue and the plane was safe.

Aftermath

All those on board Flight 93 were nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2001 [4]. These awards have not been granted, but the crew and passengers of Flight 93 have been the subject of numerous other honors, including a government memorial passed on September 10, 2002. The permanent memorial is expected to be completed in 2010–11. On September 24, 2001, President George W. Bush held a special meeting for the families of Flight 93's victims at the White House.

After 9/11 an American flag was hung over gate 17A, from which Flight 93 departed at Newark airport. The flag still flies there today. There is also a private memorial to the crew in the United Airlines ramp agents' break room below the gate.

The flight route designation for future flights on the same route was renumbered from Flight 93 to Flight 81 in October 2001 out of respect for those who died. Among some of the passengers to fly this route was Lisa Beamer, widow of Todd Beamer, to prove to the hijackers that Americans would not stop flying because of what had happened. Melodie Homer, widow of LeRoy Homer, flew this route in order to complete the flight that her husband was unable to. Since then, United Airlines has renumbered all of its flights. As of December 10, 2007 the current flight number is 91 and uses an Airbus A319 aircraft, although in the past an Airbus A320 has also been used [5]. It is common for airlines to switch out aircraft, because of seasonal changes in passenger loads.

Todd Beamer's "let's roll" has become a national catchphrase, with President Bush himself using it in several speeches.

Neil Young penned and recorded a song entitled Let's Roll, which appeared on the studio album Are You Passionate.

Both Shanksville and Somerset County have become much better known as the result of the crash. Somerset County now has a special council, run by the Somerset County Flight 93 Coordinator, which handles Flight 93 matters such as visitors' gifts and memorial services.

Beamer, Bingham, Burnett, and Glick were posthumously awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2002.

The crash was commemorated in ceremonies, public and private, on September 11 2002 and 2003 at the field where the plane crashed.

After the crash 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. The Flight that Fought Back was a Discovery Channel docudrama of the events that occurred on United Airlines Flight 93. It premiered at 9 p.m. on the 4th anniversary of 9/11. Flight 93, a TV movie based on the events on Flight 93, was broadcast on 30 January 2006 on A&E. United 93, an Academy Award nominated and award-winning theatrical film based on the same events, was released on 28 April 2006. The film was made with the full cooperation of all the families of the passengers.

Flight 93 National Memorial

Wreath-laying ceremony near the site of the crash of Flight 93 on the first anniversary of its hijacking. George W. Bush and Laura Bush are visible in the picture.

Main article: Flight 93 National Memorial

A national design competition was held to create a public memorial in the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed. The winning design for the Flight 93 National Memorial is called the Crescent of Embrace. The site plan features a large crescent pathway with red maples and sugar maples planted along the outer arc.

The design has created some controversy because the terrorists who hijacked the airplane were Muslim fundamentalists. The crescent is a generally recognized symbol of Islam, and the Red Crescent is used as the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross. The crescent is represented on the flags of a number of countries with Muslim majorities. The architect asserts that there is no intent on referencing Muslim symbols (a sentiment that has been shared by several families of the victims) and is willing to discuss design modifications.

As of 2007, there is a temporary memorial at the crash site. People from around the world have left signs, flags, banners, license plates, and other items stitched to a fence. Numerous plaques from various officials and organizations have also been placed at the temporary memorial. Most notably, benches with the names of those who died face towards the location where the impact occurred.

United 93 temporary memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania

A memorial has also been built in Union City, California, home to the SFO-based United Airlines Flight Crew.

Miscellaneous

• Although there were a total of 44 people on board, passenger Lauren Grandcolas was three months pregnant at the time of her death, leading some to count 45 fatalities.
• Flight 93 also operated as a code-share flight with Air Canada as Flight AC4085.
• The L.A. Guns song "OK, Let's Roll" from the album Waking the Dead is about the passengers on this plane. [6]
• Rock musician Neil Young wrote a song dedicated to the passenger revolt on Flight 93 called "Let's Roll".
• The band dc Talk reunited to record the song "Let's Roll", which was written to honor the heroes of Flight 93.
• U.S. Route 219 was dedicated the "Flight 93 Memorial Highway" from Maryland to Cambria County, Pennsylvania on August 09, 2007 by State Department of Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler.
• Melissa Etheridge recorded a song "Tuesday Morning" in tribute to Flight 93 passenger Mark Bingham. It appears on her CD entitled, "Lucky".

See also

• USS Somerset
• See Casualties of the September 11, 2001 attacks: plane passengers for the flight manifest
• The Flight that Fought Back
• Flight 93 (TV film)
• United 93 (film)
• I Missed Flight 93
• Flight of Valor
• Flight 93 Memorial Highway, new designation of U.S. Route 219 in Pennsylvania

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 Middlebrooks. Called: Hello, This Is Mrs. Jefferson. I Understand Your Plane Is Being Hijacked. 9:45 A.M., 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 Schuster, 2002.

External links

Websites

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report
• Flight 93 Cockpit Tape Transcript.
• Flight 93 Memorial Project (official website).
• A video dedicated to the Heroes of Flight 93.
• National Park Foundation Flight 93 Memorial Site.
• Timeline of events on Flight 93
• September 11, 2001 archive of United Airlines site with condolences for deceased [7]
• Flight 93 Memorial Park in Union City, California

News articles

• MSNBC article 25-September-2001
• UA Flight 93: Minute by Minute.
• Air Traffic Control Recording of 9/11 Flight 93.
• Transcript/translation of Flight 93 cockpit voice recorder.

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