Flight 93 timeline
On the morning of September 11, 2001, four groups of terrorists boarded four commercial airplanes. Their goal was to hijack the planes and then fly them into important, symbolic targets of the United States. Three of the planes hit their targets: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Only United Airlines Flight 93 failed, thwarted by the passengers who ultimately gave their lives in a struggle to regain control of the airplane. Realizing they were fighting a losing battle once the counter attack began, the terrorists opted to fly the plane into the ground, killing all on board.
For the terrorist’s plan to succeed, it was crucial that all planes hit their targets at nearly the same time so the U. S. military would not be able to mount a defense. American Airlines Flight 11 departed from Boston’s Logan International Airport at 7:45 AM. It’s target was the World Trade Center. American Airlines Flight 77 departed from Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 AM. It’s target was the Pentagon. United Airlines Flight 175 departed from Logan International at 8:14 AM. It’s target was also the World Trade Center. All hit their targets within an hour of each other. The World Trade Center was hit at 8:46 AM and 9:03 AM, while the Pentagon was hit at 9:37 AM.
United Flight 93 was scheduled to depart at 8 AM from the Newark International Airport. However, it was delayed for 42 minutes, finally taking off at 8:42 AM, just about the time that Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center. It crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 AM, so had it left on time it would have hit a target in Washington, D. C., around 9:30 AM. This delay allowed the passengers and crew on board the flight to learn about the other attacks. Realizing that their fate would be the same, the passengers voted to attack the terrorists in an attempt to take back control of the airplane.
A common question asked is how does anyone know what actually happened on United 93? As it turns out, after the hijacking took place at around 9:30 AM, the terrorists herded the passengers and crew to the back of the airplane. From this position the passengers were able to make in-flight phone calls to both family and authorities without the terrorists knowing about it. Thirteen people made thirty-seven calls from the time shortly after the hijacking until the plane crashed. They were able to learn about the other flights, and they told the people whom they talked to about their plan to try and retake the plane. Two passengers and one crew member ended a phone call so they could join in the attack.
The attack began at approximately 9:57 AM. The recovered cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds during this time. Ziad Jarrah, the terrorist who was piloting the plane, began to roll the plane left and right to throw the attackers off balance. At the last minute, one terrorist can be heard shouting, “Put it down! Put it down!” United 93 then turned upside down and flew straight into the ground, impacting at 10:03 AM. It was less than 20 minutes from Washington, D. C.
It may never be known for certain what the intended target of United 93 was, but experts believe it was the U. S. Capitol Building. Both the House and the Senate would be returning to work that day after a summer break. According to captured terrorist Ramzi bin al-Shibh, he and Mohammad Atta, the leader of the attack and the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, had met in Spain in July of 2001 to discuss the targets. Bin al-Shibh conveyed Osama bin Laden’s desire to make the White House one of the targets of the attack, but Atta felt it would be too hard to hit because it sat low to the ground compared to the Capitol Building, which sat on a hill. No definite plan was ever conveyed to Bin al-Shibh, so Atta’s final decision can only be speculated. CIA analysts agree that bin Laden himself most likely did not even know the target. It is known, however, that Ziad Jarrah dialed the navigational aid for the Washington-Reagan International Airport, which clearly indicated that he was flying the airplane to Washington.
Fire fighters, police, and emergency crews arrived at the crash site only minutes after it happened. Soon thereafter the FBI set up a headquarters to investigate the crash. The impact crater was excavated to 40 feet deep. Most of the debris found was the size of a notebook or smaller, though a few large pieces of the plane survived, as did personal items such as luggage and clothing. An ID card and credit card of one of the terrorists was found, which helped identify the four terrorists. Enough remains were found to positively identify all people on board. In early October 2001, when the investigation was concluded, the crater was filled in with dirt and grass was planted. A boulder now marks the general area of the impact.
United 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Flight 93 National Memorial
For those interested in a theatrical version of the subject matter, I can’t recommend enough the Paul Greengrass film United 93 (he is the director of the early Bourne films with Matt Damon). The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Editing in 2007. After listening to the audio commentary and reading the information panels at the Flight 93 National Memorial, plus reading transcripts of the passenger phone calls, these are like reading the script for the film. For those who say, “The plane crashes, what’s there to see?”(probably the same few who never saw Titanic because the “boat sinks, what’s there to see”), I have shown the film to three such people, all of who had nothing to say afterwards as they sat in stunned silence.
The film is a non-political, non-finger pointing look at what went on in real time from the departure of Flight 93 until it crashed. The film takes place in the air traffic control tower in New York, in NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector command center, and on the plane. Of course, what really went on in the plane is speculation, but every description from the real phone calls shows up in the film.
The guy playing the head of the Air Traffic Control is the real guy playing himself (he needs to quit and become an actor) and ten of the military personnel and air traffic controllers were the real people playing themselves, including Major James Fox who was present at the Northeast Air Defense Sector during the hijackings. A&E came out with a TV film, Flight 93, but I never could bring myself to see it, fearing nothing but disappointment after seeing Greengrass’s film.
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Last updated on October 11, 2024
