United Airlines Flight 93

From Debunk911myths

United Airlines Flight 93

Hijackers

Ziad Jarrah Saeed al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Haznawi Ahmed al-Nami 20th hijacker?
Ziad Jarrah Saeed al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Haznawi Ahmed al-Nami  ?

Timeline

Flight 93 departed from gate 17 of Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport
Flight 93 departed from gate 17 of Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport

Between 7:03 and 7:39, Saeed al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Nami, Ahmad al-Haznawi, and Ziad Jarrah checked in at the United Airlines ticket counter for Flight 93, going to Los Angeles. Two checked bags; two did not. Haznawi was selected by CAPPS. His checked bag was screened for explosives and then loaded on the plane.

Security checkpoint

The four men passed through the security checkpoint, owned by United Airlines and operated under contract by Argenbright Security. Like the checkpoints in Boston, it lacked closed-circuit television surveillance so there is no documentary evidence to indicate when the hijackers passed through the checkpoint, what alarms may have been triggered, or what security procedures were administered. The FAA interviewed the screeners later; none recalled anything unusual or suspicious.

Boarded aircraft

The four men boarded the plane between 7:39 and 7:48. All four had seats in the first-class cabin; their plane had no business-class section. Jarrah was in seat 1B, closest to the cockpit; Nami was in 3C, Ghamdi in 3D, and Haznawi in 6B.

On the morning of 9/11, there were only 33 passengers on United 93, plus the 4 hijackers, and 7 crew members. This was below the norm for Tuesday mornings during the summer of 2001. But there is no evidence that the hijackers manipulated passenger levels or purchased additional seats to facilitate their operation.

Departure

Scheduled to depart the gate at 8:00, the Boeing 757's takeoff was delayed because of the airport's typically heavy morning traffic. At 8:42, United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark (New Jersey) Liberty International Airport bound for San Francisco.

The aircraft was piloted by Captain Jason Dahl and First Officer Leroy Homer, and there were five flight attendants. Thirty-seven passengers, including the hijackers, boarded the plane. As Flight 93 left Newark, crew members were unaware of the hijacking of American 11. By all accounts, the first 46 minutes of Flight 93's cross-country trip proceeded routinely. Radio communications from the plane were normal. Heading, speed, and altitude ran according to plan.

At 9:23, a text warning to United 93, "BEWARE ANY COCKPIT INTROUSION.. TWO AIRCRAFT IN NY, HIT TRADE CNTER BUILDS". The message was received in the cockpit. Within two minutes, at 9:26, the pilot, Jason Dahl, responded with a note of puzzlement: "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz-Jason."

Hijacking

The hijackers attacked at 9:28. While traveling 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio, United 93 suddenly dropped 700 feet. Eleven seconds into the descent, the FAA's air traffic control center in Cleveland received the first of two radio transmissions from the aircraft. During the first broadcast, the captain or first officer could be heard declaring "Mayday" amid the sounds of a physical struggle in the cockpit. The second radio transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated that the fight was continuing. The captain or first officer could be heard shouting:" Hey get out of here-get out of here-get out of here."

The terrorists who hijacked three other commercial flights on 9/11 operated in five-man teams. They initiated their cockpit takeover within 30 minutes of takeoff. On Flight 93, however, the takeover took place 46 minutes after takeoff and there were only four hijackers.

At 9:32, a hijacker, probably Jarrah, made or attempted to make the following announcement to the passengers of Flight 93:"Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit." The flight data recorder (also recovered) indicates that Jarrah then instructed the plane's autopilot to turn the aircraft around and head east.

The cockpit voice recorder data indicate that a woman, most likely a flight attendant, was being held captive in the cockpit. She struggled with one of the hijackers who killed or otherwise silenced her.

At 9:39, the FAA's Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center overheard a second announcement indicating that there was a bomb on board, that the plane was returning to the airport, and that they should remain seated.

While it apparently was not heard by the passengers, this announcement, like those on Flight 11 and Flight 77, was intended to deceive them. Jarrah, like Atta earlier, may have inadvertently broadcast the message because he did not know how to operate the radio and the intercom. From what the 9/11 Commission knew, none of them had ever flown an actual airliner before.

Listen to ATC communications

Jason Dahl, the pilot is heard in the first to clips, as the hijackers make an assault on the cockpit to take over the plane. Click on the "More Audio" link to hear two more clips -- these are announcements that Ziad Jarrah made, intending them for the cabin. But, these were instead transmitted to Air Traffic Control.

Phone calls

Main article: United Airlines Flight 93 - Phone calls
See also: Cell phones for information about use of cell phones on the aircraft

Shortly after 9:32, the passengers and flight crew began a series of calls from GTE airphones, with Ed Felt making a call to 9-1-1 from his cell phone a few minutes before the plane crashed.

Laurel Hill (2,684 ft), ~14 miles to the west of the crash site, at the Westmoreland-Somerset County border
Laurel Hill (2,684 ft), ~14 miles to the west of the crash site, at the Westmoreland-Somerset County border
This cell tower (on the left) is 329 ft tall, located somewhat higher than the road, at 2701.9 ft. Altogether, the tower has an overall height of 3060 ft.
This cell tower (on the left) is 329 ft tall, located somewhat higher than the road, at 2701.9 ft. Altogether, the tower has an overall height of 3060 ft.

These calls between family, friends, and colleagues took place until the end of the flight and provided those on the ground with firsthand accounts. They enabled the passengers to gain critical information, including the news that two aircraft had slammed into the World Trade Center.

At least two callers from the flight reported that the hijackers knew that passengers were making calls but did not seem to care. It is quite possible Jarrah knew of the success of the assault on the World Trade Center. He could have learned of this from messages being sent by United Airlines to the cockpits of its transcontinental flights, including Flight 93, warning of cockpit intrusion and telling of the New York attacks. But even without them, he would certainly have understood that the attacks on the World Trade Center would already have unfolded, given Flight 93's tardy departure from Newark. If Jarrah did know that the passengers were making calls, it might not have occurred to him that they were certain to learn what had happened in New York, thereby defeating his attempts at deception.

At least ten passengers and two crew members shared vital information with family, friends, colleagues, or others on the ground. All understood the plane had been hijacked. They said the hijackers wielded knives and claimed to have a bomb. The hijackers were wearing red bandanas, and they forced the passengers to the back of the aircraft.

Callers reported that a passenger had been stabbed and that two people were lying on the floor of the cabin, injured or dead-possibly the captain and first officer. One caller reported that a flight attendant had been killed.

One of the callers from United 93 also reported that he thought the hijackers might possess a gun. But none of the other callers reported the presence of a firearm. One recipient of a call from the aircraft recounted specifically asking her caller whether the hijackers had guns. The passenger replied that he did not see one. No evidence of firearms or of their identifiable remains was found at the aircraft's crash site, and the cockpit voice recorder gives no indication of a gun being fired or mentioned at any time. We believe that if the hijackers had possessed a gun, they would have used it in the flight's last minutes as the passengers fought back.

Passengers on three flights reported the hijackers' claim of having a bomb. The FBI told us they found no trace of explosives at the crash sites. One of the passengers who mentioned a bomb expressed his belief that it was not real. Lacking any evidence that the hijackers attempted to smuggle such illegal items past the security screening checkpoints, we believe the bombs were probably fake.

Listen to an excerpt of CeeCee Lyles call

Passenger assault on cockpit

During at least five of the passengers' phone calls, information was shared about the attacks that had occurred earlier that morning at the World Trade Center. Five calls described the intent of passengers and surviving crew members to revolt against the hijackers. According to one call, they voted on whether to rush the terrorists in an attempt to retake the plane. They decided, and acted.

At 9:57, the passenger assault began. Several passengers had terminated phone calls with loved ones in order to join the revolt. One of the callers ended her message as follows: "Everyone's running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."

The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of the passenger assault muffled by the intervening cockpit door. Some family members who listened to the recording report that they can hear the voice of a loved one among the din. We cannot identify whose voices can be heard. But the assault was sustained.

In response, Jarrah immediately began to roll the airplane to the left and right, attempting to knock the passengers off balance. At 9:58:57, Jarrah told another hijacker in the cockpit to block the door. Jarrah continued to roll the airplane sharply left and right, but the assault continued. At 9:59:52, Jarrah changed tactics and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault. The recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts, and breaking glasses and plates. At 10:00:03, Jarrah stabilized the airplane.

Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" A hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." The sounds of fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose of the aircraft up and down. At 10:00:26, a passenger in the background said, "In the cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled, "Roll it!" Jarrah stopped the violent maneuvers at about 10:01:00 and said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" He then asked another hijacker in the cock-pit, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" to which the other replied, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down."

The passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:23, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" The hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them. The airplane headed down; the control wheel was turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting "Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest." With the sounds of the passenger counterattack continuing, the aircraft plowed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C.

Crash witnesses

Main article: Flight 93 witnesses

Eyewitnesses saw the Boeing 757-200 flying low and then suddenly falling from the sky, resulting in a huge fireball and a 10-by-20-foot crater.[1]

Tom Fritz

"When it decided to drop, it dropped all of a sudden -- like a stone," said Tom Fritz, 63. Fritz was sitting on his porch along Lambertsville Road, about a quarter-mile from the crash site, when he heard a sound that "wasn't quite right" and looked up in the sky. "It was sort of whistling," he said. "It was going so fast that you couldn't even make out what color it was."[1]

Rose Goodwin

Rose Goodwin, a freshman at Shanksville Stony Creek High School, was watching the television news in class when Flight 93 went down. "We felt it. We thought something must have landed on the roof," she said. "It was like, 'Oh my gosh, what was that?' We looked out the window and saw a black cloud. Everyone started screaming."[2]

Bruce Grine

"It shook the whole station," said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine's Service Center in Shanksville, about 2 1/2 miles from the crash.[3]

Rick King

He 'sat in his modest gray clapboard house watching the disaster coverage on television and talking with his sister on the telephone. "Rick," said his sister, Jody Walsh. "I hear a big plane. . . . I think it's going to crash!" The words seemed implausible to King, the assistant chief of the volunteer fire department. What did Shanksville have to do with any of this? But he dashed to the porch to get a look for himself, and now his sister was more insistent. The plane was nosediving, falling like a stone. "Oh, my God, Rick . . . it's going to crash!" King heard a shattering boom in his right ear, over the phone, and in his left ear, he heard the rumblings from four miles distant, where Flight 93 fell.'[4]

Knoll and Nevin Lambert

“It was coming right at me, but something happened,” Lambert said. “I don't know what happened on the plane. It was going upside down and all at once it made the 45-degree angle and it went right down (where that big tree is).[5]

Karl Landis

Karl Landis, 58, saw the crash from about a half-mile away while driving his pickup. "It came in, rolled slightly to the left and appeared to hit the ground at almost a 90-degree angle," he said. "It seemed like an eternity, but it must have been only a few seconds. It evaporated into a huge fireball that turned into black smoke."[3]

Anna McBride

Anita McBride looked out her kitchen window in Lambertsville and watched in horror as United Airlines Flight 93 disappeared over a line of trees.[2]

Eric Peterson

Eric Peterson of Lambertsville was working with a friend in his auto shop this morning. They heard a plane and looked up and saw a large aircraft close to the ground. "I actually thought it was going to hit a house here in town," said Peterson. It blew out windows of a nearby farmhouse when it crashed. As it went over started going end over end, Peterson said, and then dropped below a tree line and exploded. Peterson saw a flash and then a mushroom cloud of smoke. The plane went down on a strip mine field. Peterson and his friend rushed to the field and looked for bodies, but couldn't find any. They called out, but heard nothing. There was a crater in the ground that was really burning. There were pieces of fuselage and clothing all over the area, burning, said Peterson. He said he didn't see any debris longer than a couple of feet long.[6]

Eric Peterson of Lambertsville looked up when he heard the plane. "It was low enough, I thought you could probably count the rivets," Peterson said. "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." Peterson called 9-1-1 and ran to the crash site but found only burning jet parts, pieces of clothing, and seat cushions.[2]

Lee Purbaugh

He was working at the Rollock Inc. scrapyard on a ridge overlooking the point of impact, less than half a mile away. "I heard this real loud noise coming over my head, I looked up and it was Flight 93, barely 50ft above me. It was coming down in a 45 degree and rocking from side to side. Then the nose suddenly dipped and it just crashed into the ground. There was this big fireball and then a huge cloud of smoke."

But did he see another plane? "Yes, there was another plane," Lee said. "I didn't get a good look but it was white and it circled the area about twice and then it flew off over the horizon."[7] [this was a Falcon 20 business jet; it's pilot was asked to check on Flight 93 and get coordinates of the crash site]

Viola Saylor

Viola Saylor of Lambertsville was outside talking to her sister. "We didn't hear that plane coming until it was right on top of us," she said. "Then there was a roar." She said the plane appeared to be gliding into the ground. "All at once it just stopped. There was no engine noise, nothing. Someone hollered, 'Oh my God!' and then there was a real loud thud."[2]

John Walsh

John Walsh, 72, saw the immediate aftermath of the crash from his nearby home in Lambertsville. "I looked out my window when I heard the explosion and saw this big orange ball of fire," Walsh said. "When it hit it looked like an atomic bomb went off. It was just terrible." Walsh said he leapt into his truck and drove to within 300 yards of the crash site. "I wanted to see if I could help anybody. But there was just burning parts, that's all. I looked down the hill and saw nothing but a big crater. You could not tell it was an air crash, the debris was so widely scattered."[3]

Joe Wilt

The ensuing firestorm lasted five or 10 minutes and reached several hundred yards into the sky, said Joe Wilt, 63, who also lives a quarter-mile from the crash site. "The first thing I thought it was, was a missile," Wilt said. The impact shattered a window in his basement and knocked down household objects from a shelf.[1]

FAA and NORAD response

NEADS was notified about United Airlines Flight 93 at 10:07 a.m., after it already had crashed.

At 9:27, after having been in the air for 45 minutes, United 93 acknowledged a transmission from the Cleveland Center controller. This was the last normal contact the FAA had with the flight.

Less than a minute later, the Cleveland controller and the pilots of aircraft in the vicinity heard "a radio transmission of unintelligible sounds of possible screaming or a struggle from an unknown origin."

The controller responded, seconds later: "Somebody call Cleveland? "This was followed by a second radio transmission, with sounds of screaming. The Cleveland Center controllers began to try to identify the possible source of the transmissions, and noticed that United 93 had descended some 700 feet. The controller attempted again to raise United 93 several times, with no response. At 9:30, the controller began to poll the other flights on his frequency to determine if they had heard the screaming; several said they had.

At 9:32, a third radio transmission came over the frequency: "Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board." The controller understood, but chose to respond: "Calling Cleveland Center, you're unreadable. Say again, slowly." He notified his supervisor, who passed the notice up the chain of command. By 9:34, word of the hijacking had reached FAA headquarters.

FAA headquarters had by this time established an open line of communication with the Command Center at Herndon and instructed it to poll all its centers about suspect aircraft. The Command Center executed the request and, a minute later, Cleveland Center reported that "United 93 may have a bomb on board. "At 9:34, the Command Center relayed the information concerning United 93 to FAA headquarters. At approximately 9:36, Cleveland advised the Command Center that it was still tracking United 93 and specifically inquired whether someone had requested the military to launch fighter aircraft to intercept the aircraft. Cleveland even told the Command Center it was prepared to contact a nearby military base to make the request. The Command Center told Cleveland that FAA personnel well above them in the chain of command had to make the decision to seek military assistance and were working on the issue.

Between 9:34 and 9:38, the Cleveland controller observed United 93 climbing to 40,700 feet and immediately moved several aircraft out its way. The controller continued to try to contact United 93, and asked whether the pilot could confirm that he had been hijacked. There was no response.

Then, at 9:39, a fourth radio transmission was heard from United 93:

Ziad Jarrah: Uh, this is the captain. 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 [unintelligible]. Please remain quiet.

The controller responded: "United 93, understand you have a bomb on board. Go ahead." The flight did not respond.

From 9:34 to 10:08, a Command Center facility manager provided frequent updates to Acting Deputy Administrator Monte Belger and other executives at FAA headquarters as United 93 headed toward Washington, D.C. At 9:41, Cleveland Center lost United 93's transponder signal. The controller located it on primary radar, matched its position with visual sightings from other aircraft, and tracked the flight as it turned east, then south.

At 9:42, the Command Center learned from news reports that a plane had struck the Pentagon. The Command Center's national operations manager, Ben Sliney, ordered all FAA facilities to instruct all aircraft to land at the nearest airport. This was an unprecedented order. The air traffic control system handled it with great skill, as about 4,500 commercial and general aviation aircraft soon landed without incident.

At 9:46 the Command Center updated FAA headquarters that United 93 was now "twenty-nine minutes out of Washington, D.C."

At 9:49, 13 minutes after Cleveland Center had asked about getting military help, the Command Center suggested that someone at headquarters should decide whether to request military assistance:

FAA Headquarters: They're pulling Jeff away to go talk about United 93.
Command Center: Uh, do we want to think, uh, about scrambling aircraft?
FAA Headquarters: Oh, God, I don't know.
Command Center: Uh, that's a decision somebody's gonna have to make probably in the next ten minutes.
FAA Headquarters: Uh, ya know everybody just left the room.

At 9:53, FAA headquarters informed the Command Center that the deputy director for air traffic services was talking to Monte Belger about scrambling aircraft. Then the Command Center informed headquarters that controllers had lost track of United 93 over the Pittsburgh area. Within seconds, the Command Center received a visual report from another aircraft, and informed headquarters that the aircraft was 20 miles northwest of Johnstown. United 93 was spotted by another aircraft, and, at 10:01, the Command Center advised FAA headquarters that one of the aircraft had seen United 93 "waving his wings." The aircraft had witnessed the hijackers' efforts to defeat the passengers' counterattack.

United 93 crashed in Pennsylvania at 10:03:11, 125 miles from Washington, D.C. The precise crash time has been the subject of some dispute. The 10:03:11 impact time is supported by previous National Transportation Safety Board analysis and by evidence from the Commission staff's analysis of radar, the flight data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder, infrared satellite data, and air traffic control transmissions.

Five minutes later, the Command Center forwarded this update to headquarters:

Command Center: O.K. Uh, there is now on that United 93.
FAA Headquarters: Yes.
Command Center: There is a report of black smoke in the last position I gave you, fifteen miles south of Johnstown.
FAA Headquarters: From the airplane or from the ground?
Command Center: Uh, they're speculating it's from the aircraft.
FAA Headquarters: Okay.
Command Center: Uh, who, it hit the ground. That's what they're speculating, that's speculation only.

The aircraft that spotted the "black smoke" was the same unarmed Air National Guard cargo plane that had seen American 77 crash into the Pentagon 27 minutes earlier. It had resumed its flight to Minnesota and saw the smoke from the crash of United 93, less than two minutes after the plane went down. At 10:17, the Command Center advised headquarters of its conclusion that United 93 had indeed crashed.

Despite the discussions about military assistance, no one from FAA headquarters requested military assistance regarding United 93. Nor did any manager at FAA headquarters pass any of the information it had about United 93 to the military.

Military Notification and Response

NEADS first received a call about United 93 from the military liaison at Cleveland Center at 10:07. Unaware that the aircraft had already crashed, Cleveland passed to NEADS the aircraft's last known latitude and longitude. NEADS was never able to locate United 93 on radar because it was already in the ground.

At the same time, the NEADS mission crew commander was dealing with the arrival of the Langley fighters over Washington, D.C., sorting out what their orders were with respect to potential targets. Shortly after 10:10, and having no knowledge either that United 93 had been heading toward Washington or that it had crashed, he explicitly instructed the Langley fighters: "negative- negative clearance to shoot" aircraft over the nation's capital.

The news of a reported bomb on board United 93 spread quickly at NEADS. The air defenders searched for United 93's primary radar return and tried to locate other fighters to scramble. NEADS called Washington Center to report:

NEADS: I also want to give you a heads-up, Washington.
FAA (DC): Go ahead.
NEADS: United nine three, have you got information on that yet?
FAA: Yeah, he's down.
NEADS: He's down?
FAA: Yes.
NEADS: When did he land? 'Cause we have got confirmation-
FAA: He did not land.
NEADS: Oh, he's down? Down?
FAA: Yes. Somewhere up northeast of Camp David.
NEADS: Northeast of Camp David.
FAA: That's the last report. They don't know exactly where.

The time of notification of the crash of United 93 was 10:15. The NEADS air defenders never located the flight or followed it on their radar scopes. The flight had already crashed by the time they learned it was hijacked.

Crash scene

Flight 93 crashed into the ground, into a field that was a reclaimed strip mine.

State trooper, Tom Spallone said the plane was still smoldering at 12:30. He said officials were trying to keep people from scene and confirmed that there are no survivors. He said the "debris field spread over an area size of a football field, maybe two footballs fields." The impact of the crash was so severe that the biggest piece of debris he has seen there is no bigger than 2 feet.[6]

The plane left a crater 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep, churning up chunks of deep brown earth and scorching trees in the nearby woods. State Police sealed off a 15-square-mile area around the crash site as a crime scene. All that was visible to reporters escorted near the site were metal plane parts that glinted in the late-afternoon sun. "The biggest pieces were no larger than a phone book," said Pennsylvania State Police Cmdr. Frank Monaco.[2]

Debris

'"In a crash like this we can expect extreme fragmentation," said Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist and professor at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., who was part of one of several search teams combing the site. Most of the pieces that remain of the jet are small. The biggest are the size of a telephone book, said Ed Persuhn, a member of the nearby Hooversville Volunteer Fire Department, which responded to the crash. Many of the smaller fragments - those the size of a dime or smaller - are covered by the dirt left from a huge cloud created by the plane's impact. Most of the airliner debris is contained within a 100-square-yard area around the crater. A secondary debris field stretches for a square mile beyond that. Two days after the crash, investigators broadened their search to a community eight miles away, where residents found bits of wreckage. That wreckage probably was spread by the cloud created when the plane crashed and dispersed by a 10 mph southeasterly wind, Crowley said. Some smaller pieces and papers belonging to passengers might have been carried even farther, Crowley said National Transportation Safety Board officials have told him.'[8]

  • The flight data recorder was found on September 13, around 4:50 p.m, in the main crater at the crash site.[9][10]
  • On September 14, the cockpit voice recorder was located, buried 12 feet in the ground.[11]

Most of the debris at the crash site was very small. Pieces found include an engine part.

Tim Lambert, who owns the land (164 acres total) where the plane crashed, lived in Harrisburg and came to Shanksville after the crash. He described his first visit there as "overwhelming and heartbreaking." He was absorbing the devastation when his escort, Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller, held up a quarter-size piece of metal. "As soon as he did that, you saw plane parts everywhere," Lambert says. Now, he can't help searching the ground every time he visits. "I don't notice the trees, the beauty of the land, the grass, or the snow," he says. "I just notice plane parts."[12]

Identification of victims

From WTAE-TV4, Victims Remembered As Black Box Search Resumes:

A morgue has been established at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory in Friedens, Pa., about 10 miles southwest of the crash site. Experts from as far away as Texas will help identify the bodies, using X-ray and DNA and dental analysis. The equipment was hauled to the armory in a tractor-trailer. The equipment includes high-tech mortuary equipment. "We've been going through this area inch by inch. The remains are beginning to come," said Somerset County coroner Wallace Miller. "It will be quite some time until we can identify whoever a person might be." A forensic archaeologist from Mercyhurst College has arrived to help with the identification process.

A year later, Wally Miller explained that "All that debris, and the fact that only 8 percent of the human remains could be recovered, mean the site is, essentially, a cemetery".[13]

Plane shot down?

Claim

Debris from the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 was found 2 miles away around Indian Lake, as well as some debris 8 miles away in New Baltimore. Some people believe such wide scatter of debris indicates the plane was shot down by the military.

What debris was found?

See also: Indian Lake - More details on debris found and other questions

The debris found in New Baltimore consisted of very light materials, including paper, thin nylon, and other things that would, if in the air with the wind, would easily blow. At the time of the crash, the wind was blowing at 9 knots in the direction towards Indian Lake and New Baltimore.[9] The debris in New Baltimore included charred pages of in-flight magazines, papers from a pilot's manual, a map showing the Guadalajara, Mexico, airport, and copies of stock portfolio monthly earnings reports. It also included some black webbing, from insulation lining the belly of the jetliner, which was a flexible material where it hadn't burned, and crisp where it had.[14]

Jim Brant, owner of Indian Lake Marina, said he rushed outside Tuesday morning when he heard the roar of jet engines overhead, then saw a fireball rise into the air. The wind was strong that morning, Brant said, and within minutes debris from the crash was "falling like confetti."[15]

Nearby planes?

There were two other planes flying nearby in the area, at the time that United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.

Falcon 20

A Falcon 20 business jet, owned by VF Corp. of Greensboro, N.C., was spotted as it headed to the Johnstown-Cambria airport. The plane in descent to land at the airport and was at 3000 to 4000 ft altitude at the time.[16] Its pilot, Yates Gladwell, was directed to help locate the crash site.[17] This is the white plane that some people spotted after Flight 93 crashed. It was simply there to confirm the crash and get the coordinates of the crash site.

Dassault Aviation Falcon 20F-5
Dassault Aviation Falcon 20F-5


A number of witnesses saw the "white plane":

  • Tom Spinelli was working at Indian Lake Marina, a mile and a half away. "I saw the white plane," he said. "It was flying around all over the place like it was looking for something. I saw it before and after the crash."[18]

Other planes in the area

C-130

A C-130 military cargo plane was also in the area where Flight 93 crashed. This was the same plane that had come from Washington and witnessed Flight 77 crash at the Pentagon.

Pennsylvania air traffic control made contact with O'Brien and asked if they could spot another aircraft, Flight 93. After glancing in all directions outside the windows, smoke was detected barreling from an open field at the left hand side of the airplane.

Piper

A few minutes before the crash Bill Wright, piloting a single-engine Piper, could see Flight 93 three miles away, but was suddenly told to turn away and land immediately without explanation.[19]

Cessna

"WTAE-TV reported that the mystery pilot in the white plane may have been an area farmer. James K. Will, a Berlin, Pa., farmer who pilots a white Cessna with red stripes and who has an airstrip near his farm, told Team 4 reporter Paul Van Osdol that he circled the scene about 45 minutes after the crash. Will said he had just returned from Altoona and, when he'd heard about the crash, flew to the site to take photos of the wreckage. Pennsylvania State Police said that his plane may have been the one that many saw. Will's flight was intercepted by a state police helicopter and was escorted to the Johnstown-area airport. His plane was searched and he was released."[20]

Other questions

Intended target?

Jarrah's objective was to crash his airliner into symbols of the American Republic, the Capitol or the White House. He was defeated by the alerted, unarmed passengers of United 93.

A radical Islamist who had past access to Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders, said in October 2002 that "New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol as the targets of the aircraft attacks because they're symbols of, respectively, America's financial, military and political power."[21]

In 2002, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh were interviewed by Al Jazeera journalist, Yosri Fouda. In the interview, the two admitted their involvement in organizing and extecuting the attacks, with approval from Bin Laden.[22] They also said during the interview that the U.S. Capitol was the intended target for United Airlines Flight 93, and not the White House.[22]

Fifth hijacker?

See also: 20th hijacker

The operative likely intended to round out the team for this flight, Mohamed al Kahtani, had been refused entry by a suspicious immigration inspector at Florida's Orlando International Airport in August. A number of other people had also been considered for the 9/11 plot, but for various reasons dropped out or were refused visas.

Cleveland

Claim

United Airlines Flight 93 landed safely in Cleveland, as reported by WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.

Fact

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jetliner Was Diverted Toward Washington Before Crash in Pa. The Washington Post September 12, 2001
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Pennsylvania crash carries horror into small towns Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) September 12, 2001
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Passenger's frantic call preceded jet crash near Pittsburgh USA TODAY September 12, 2001
  4. ↑ >Maraniss, David. "Portrait of a Day That Began in Routine and Ended in Ashes", The Washington Post, September 16, 2001.
  5. ↑ "Memories Of Flight 93 Remain Vivid", KDKA-TV, September 11, 2006.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Debris Field Spread Over an Area Size of a Football Field..., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 2001
  7. ↑ "9/11 - One Year On: What Did Happen to Flight 93? Richard Wallace, US Editor, Examines Riddle of Hijacked Jet as he Visits Crash Site", The Mirror, September 12, 2002.
  8. ↑ Billington, Mike. "Rural Pa. residents reach out to investigators", The News Journal (Wilmington, DE), September 16, 2001.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "'Black box' from Pennsylvania crash found", CNN, September 13, 2001.
  10. ↑ Gibb, Tom, James O'Toole and Cindi Lash. "Investigators locate 'black box' from Flight 93; widen search area in Somerset crash", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 13, 2001.
  11. ↑ Eggen, Dan and Amy Goldstein. "FBI Names 19 Men as Hijackers; Some Lived in U.S. For Several Years", The Washington Post, September 15, 2001.
  12. ↑ Levine, Samantha. "In the sky, a heroic struggle aboard hijacked United Flight 93", U.S. News & World Report, September 2002.
  13. ↑ Levine, Samantha. "In the sky, a heroic struggle aboard hijacked United Flight 93", U.S. News & World Report, September 2002.
  14. ↑ Roddy, Dennis. "A year after explosive discord, town still seeks harmony", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 2002.
  15. ↑ "Victims Remembered As Black Box Search Resumes", WTAE-TV-4, Pittsburgh Channel, September 13, 2001.
  16. ↑ Popular Mechanics
  17. ↑ Heltzel, Bill, Tom Gibb (September 16, 2001) "2 planes had no part in crash of Flight 93", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  18. ↑ "9/11 - One Year On: What Did Happen to Flight 93? Richard Wallace, US Editor, Examines Riddle of Hijacked Jet as he Visits Crash Site", The Mirror, September 12, 2002.
  19. ↑ "9/11 - One Year On: What Did Happen to Flight 93? Richard Wallace, US Editor, Examines Riddle of Hijacked Jet as he Visits Crash Site", The Mirror, September 12, 2002.
  20. ↑ FBI Explains Other Planes At Flight 93 Crash, WTAE-TV, September 15, 2001.
  21. ↑ Walcott, John (October 7, 2002) "Source talks of more attacks;Islamic radical says 'dirty bomb' was among 2 other strikes planned by al-Qaida", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Watson, Jeremy. "Bin Laden Aides Reveal Role in US Attacks", Scotland on Sunday, September 8, 2002.

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