- 5 months ago
Disaster Transbian episode 4
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00:00At 9.26, pilot Jason Dahl, apparently puzzled by the message, responded,
00:05Ed, confirm latest message, please. Jason.
00:08At 9.27.25, the flight crew responded to routine radio traffic from air traffic control.
00:14This was the last communication made by the flight crew before the plane was hijacked.
00:19The cockpit was breached at 9.28, by which point,
00:23flights 11 and 175 had long since crashed into the World Trade Center.
00:28The North Tower had been burning for nearly 42 minutes in the South Tower for the past 25.
00:34The only other plane still in the air, Flight 77, was within 9 minutes of striking the Pentagon.
00:41The hijackers on those flights had waited no more than half an hour to commandeer the aircraft,
00:46most likely striking after the seatbelt sign had been turned off and cabin service had begun.
00:58If Air Canada continues this climb, can you take them climb to 35 or 39?
01:04Lock for an 89.
01:08Lock for an 89.
01:08Are you watching the tag 5-1 out there?
01:10Yes, I am. I guess we do the right hand.
01:11Right turn back. We'll just put them in back to St. Louis and they can put in whatever they want.
01:17If Air Canada continues this climb, can you take them climb to 35 or 39?
01:28Air American, 1060 with you for a 3-7-0.
01:30It doesn't look like it.
01:32No, it doesn't look like it.
01:33All right.
01:33Good.
01:33All right.
01:37Somebody call, please.
01:38Air American, 1060 with you.
01:41We're at 3-7-0. We're slowing due to the delays possible going eastbound.
01:48That's American, 1060.
01:50We are not here! We are not here! We are not here!
02:00Lorraine Patterson, 899.
02:04We are American, 1060.
02:05Yeah.
02:06We got United 93.
02:09United 93.
02:09South the Sharks now has descended.
02:11Lorraine Patterson, 899.
02:12What's that?
02:13I just say it looks like he descended there.
02:15I don't think so.
02:15United 93, verify 3.
02:17United 93, Cleveland.
02:19Do you have United 93, South the Sharks?
02:22We hear some funny noises. We're trying to get him.
02:24Do you have him?
02:25No.
02:27United 93, Cleveland.
02:29United 93, verify your deployable 3-5-0.
02:32Navy 116, Mike Fox, out of 39-8 for 4-1-0.
02:42Navy 116, Mike Fox, I'll roger.
02:44United 93, verify your level of 3-5-0.
02:49United 93, Cleveland.
02:5376, 33.
02:54United 93, if you hear Cleveland Center, I'd have, please.
02:57Hey, Dallas, I'm waiting for it.
02:58It's going to be 20 minutes.
03:00Looks like a 757, sir.
03:02A 757.
03:04Can you estimate his altitude?
03:05It looks like he's at go-altitude right now, sir.
03:09Go for 86, thank you.
03:11Go for 86, turn right, hitting 0-8-0.
03:13We're going to back to you for the traffic.
03:15Okay, 0-8-0, go for 0-6.
03:17It's good.
03:18Dallas, I'm keeping go for 0-6 with me for a while.
03:22I'm not watching it.
03:23Just go for 0-6.
03:24Go for 0-6, guys.
03:25This is an aircraft in town.
03:27He's in our 12 o'clock division.
03:29Looks like it's just to the north-west of the airfield at this time, sir.
03:34Go for 86, thank you.
03:35The Senate maintain 2,000.
03:37Okay, we're down to 2,000.
03:39And this is go for 0-6.
03:41It looks like that aircraft crafted in the Pentagon, sir.
03:45Go for 86.
03:46Go for 0-6, thank you.
03:48Oh, my goodness.
03:49Oh, my goodness.
03:50We're looking at a live picture from Washington, and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon.
03:57It would appear that there has been another major explosion, this one in the nation's capital.
04:03You are looking at a scene of apparent blast aftermath.
04:08Calling Cleveland Center, you're unreadable.
04:21Say again slowly.
04:22Yeah, that transmission, you said it was unreasonable.
04:24It sounded like someone said they have a bomb on board.
04:27That's what we thought.
04:27We just, we didn't get it clear.
04:29Hey, it's me.
04:34How are you?
04:37I'm just trying to get some information about what the plan is.
04:39We have photographs for you guys.
04:41These visuals are unbelievable.
04:43Are they doing a cut-in?
04:44What's the plan?
04:45Can you help me out?
04:54We are as close as we can to it.
04:56They will not allow us directly over it.
04:58They have banned us from the area.
04:59Police are asking that we stay back so they can do what they need to do.
05:03The initial guess out of the different air towers is that it was a 727 or a 737.
05:10It may even have possibly been two planes.
05:12We're not sure.
05:28The second plane hit while they were live on television.
05:31It is unknown why the hijackers on Flight 93 waited 46 minutes to storm the cockpit.
05:37The evidence is that they attacked the pilots by at least 9.28.05 because the flight dived
05:43dramatically at that point, 680 feet in 30 seconds.
05:48At 9.28.17, ATC employees at Cleveland and the pilots of aircraft in Flight 93's vicinity
05:56picked up on the unintelligible sounds of possible screaming or a struggle.
06:01A Cleveland air traffic controller replied,
06:04Somebody called Cleveland but received no response.
06:0735 seconds later, the aircraft made another transmission.
06:11In both calls, a man was shouting,
06:13Mayday! Mayday! Get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here!
06:19When Melody Homer and Sandy Dahl, Jason Dahl's wife, listened to the tape,
06:24Melody identified First Officer Leroy Homer as the man who was shouting.
06:28The aircraft dropped 685 feet in 30 seconds before the hijackers stabilized it.
06:36On the morning of September 11th, Flight 93 was the only hijacked aircraft to broadcast a distress call.
06:43It is likely that because the pilots had been made aware of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center
06:49and to be on alert for cockpit intrusion when they came under attack,
06:53they keyed the microphone so the struggle might be overheard by controllers on the ground.
06:59Cleveland Center air traffic controller John Wirth believed it was not just a call for help, but a warning.
07:05The exact time at which Flight 93 came under the hijackers' control cannot be determined.
07:13The hijackers killed Mark Rothenberg, assaulted the cockpit,
07:18and moved the remaining passengers and crew to the rear of the plane
07:22to minimize any chance that either the crew or the passengers would interfere with the attack.
07:27With many passengers saying in phone calls that they saw only three hijackers,
07:33the 9-11 Commission believed Jarrah remained seated until after the cockpit was seized
07:38and passengers were moved to the back of the aircraft
07:41and then took over the flight controls out of sight of the passengers.
07:46The cockpit voice recorder began recording the final 30 minutes of Flight 93 at 9-31-57.
07:53At this moment, it recorded Jarrah announcing,
07:56Ladies and gentlemen, here are the captain.
07:58Please sit down. Keep remaining seating.
08:01We have a bomb on board, so sit.
08:03The Commission believed Jarrah tried to make an announcement to the passengers
08:07but pressed the wrong button, sending the message to Cleveland controllers.
08:11Mohamed Atza had made the same error on Flight 11.
08:15The controller understood the transmission but responded,
08:18Calling Cleveland Center,
08:19You're unreadable. Say again, slowly.
08:22The flight recordings indicate that a wounded man, believed to be Dahl, was moaning in the cockpit.
08:29The man pleaded,
08:30No more. No more.
08:32Or,
08:32No!
08:33Repeatedly, as the hijackers shouted for him to sit down and stop touching something.
08:39Sandy believes that Dahl took actions to interfere with the hijackers,
08:43including possibly disengaging the autopilot and rerouting the plane's radio frequency
08:48so that Jarrah's attempt to communicate with the passengers were instead transmitted to air traffic controllers.
08:54A woman, thought to be first-class flight attendant Debbie Welsh,
08:58is heard being held captive in the background and is heard struggling with the hijackers and pleading,
09:04Please, please don't hurt me!
09:05Jarrah instructed the autopilot to turn the plane and head east at 9.3509.
09:12The aircraft ascended to 40,700 feet and air traffic controllers immediately moved several aircraft out of Flight 93's flight path.
09:21A woman in the cockpit is heard to say,
09:24I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
09:26Before being killed or otherwise silenced.
09:29Followed by one of the hijackers saying in Arabic,
09:32Everything is fine. I finished.
09:35At 9.39, two minutes after Flight 77 impacted the Pentagon,
09:40air traffic controllers overheard Jarrah say,
09:43Ah, here's the captain. I would like you all to remain seated.
09:46We have a bomb aboard, and we are going back to the airport.
09:49And we have our demands, so please remain quiet.
09:52Air traffic controllers did not hear from the flight again.
09:55We're at the turn heading of east, Exeter 986.
09:58Exeter 986, right.
10:00Hi, here's the captain. I would like you all to remain seated.
10:03We have a bomb aboard, and we are going to be able to have our demand.
10:08We remain quiet.
10:10Okay, it's United 93 calling.
10:15United 93, understand, have a bomb on board. Go ahead.
10:17And center, Exeter 956, that was the transmission.
10:35Okay, uh, so who called Cleveland?
10:42Exeter 956, did you understand that transmission?
10:45Affirmative, he said there was a bomb on board.
10:48And that was all you got out of it also?
10:51Affirmative.
10:51Roger.
10:53United 93, go ahead.
11:03United 93, go ahead.
11:05According to the commission, the hijackers could have learned of the successful attacks on the World Trade Center
11:13from messages being sent by United Airlines to the cockpits of its transcontinental flights,
11:20including Flight 93, warning of cockpit intrusion, and telling of the New York attacks.
11:25In the cockpit, the wounded man continued to moan and seemingly repeatedly disengage the autopilot as of 940.
11:35As at 940, there were horn sounds that indicated the hijackers were having trouble with the autopilot
11:41and were fiddling with a green knob.
11:43This green knob?
11:44One of the hijackers asked the other in Arabic.
11:47Another hijacker responded,
11:49Yes, that's the one.
11:50At 941.56, the wounded man, in a moaning tone, said,
11:54Oh, man.
11:57As the man continued moaning, the hijackers were heard to say,
12:00Inform them and tell him to talk to the pilot.
12:03Bring the pilot back.
12:04As the moaning man was thought to be dull,
12:07the hijackers might have possibly been referring to Homer,
12:10suggesting he was also still alive.
12:12A United employee in San Francisco sent an ACARS message to the flight at 946.
12:19Heard a report of incident.
12:21Please confirm all is normal.
12:22Passengers and crew began making phone calls to officials and family members starting at 930
12:28using GTE air phones and mobile phones.
12:32Altogether, the passengers and crew made 35 air phone calls and two cell phone calls from the flight.
12:38Ten passengers and two crew members were able to connect, providing information to family, friends, and others.
12:45This degree of communication with the outside world was yet another contrast from the other three hijackings,
12:50where no more than two or three hostages were able to get in touch with contacts on the ground.
12:55Tom Burnett made several phone calls to his wife, Dina, beginning at 930.32 from rows 24 and 25,
13:04though he was assigned a seat in row four.
13:06Burnett explained that the plane had been hijacked by men claiming to have a bomb.
13:10He also said a passenger had been stabbed with a knife and that he believed the bomb threat was a ruse to control the passengers.
13:18Burnett said the stabbed passenger was dead, having failed to exhibit signs of a pulse.
13:23The true nature of the mission came to light only six minutes after the hijacking commenced,
13:29when Burnett's wife informed him of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
13:32From there, Burnett was quickly able to piece together the hijackers' true intentions,
13:38replying that he had overheard the hijackers talking about crashing this plane
13:42before arriving at the shocked conclusion.
13:44Oh my god, it's a suicide mission.
13:47He began asking her for information about the attacks,
13:50interrupting her from time to time to tell other passengers nearby what she was saying.
13:55He then hung up.
13:56In his next call, Dina informed Burnett of the attack on the Pentagon.
14:01Burnett relayed this to the other passengers and told Dina he and a group of other passengers
14:05were putting together a plan to take control of the plane.
14:08He ended his last call by saying,
14:11Don't worry, we're going to do something.
14:13An unknown flight attendant attempted to contact the United Airlines maintenance facility at 9-32-29.
14:20The call lasted 95 seconds, but was not received as it may have been in queue.
14:25Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called the maintenance facility at 9-35-40 from row 33.
14:33She reported the flight had been hijacked by men with knives who were in the cabin and flight deck.
14:38And stabbed another flight attendant, possibly Debbie Welsh.
14:43It is believed that the murdered passenger mentioned by Burnett was Mark Rothenberg.
14:48Rothenberg was the only first class passenger who did not make a phone call after the hijacking.
14:54He was seated in 5-B and Hasnawi sat directly behind him in 6-B.
14:59On flight 11, Satam al-Sukami in seat 10-B attacked passenger Daniel Lewin, who was seated directly in front of him in 9-B.
15:09One assumption is that Hasnawi attacked Rothenberg unprovoked to frighten other passengers and crew into compliance.
15:16Alternatively, Rothenberg may have attempted to stop the hijacking and confront the hijackers.
15:22Jack, pick up, sweetie. Can you hear me?
15:25Okay. I just want to tell you there's a little problem with the plane.
15:29I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I just want to tell you how much I love you.
15:33Message left by pregnant passenger Lauren Grancolas at 9-39-21.
15:38Mark Bingham called his mother at 9-37-03 from row 25.
15:44He reported that the plane had been hijacked by three men who claimed to have a bond.
15:48Jeremy Glick called his wife at 9-37-41 from row 27 and told her the flight was hijacked by three dark-skinned men who looked Iranian, wearing red bandanas and wielding knives.
16:02Glick remained connected until the end of the flight.
16:05He reported that the passengers voted whether to rush the hijackers.
16:08The United Air Traffic Control Coordinator for West Coast Flights, Alessandro Sandy Rogers, alerted the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Herndon Command Center in Herndon, Virginia.
16:23That Flight 93 was not responding and was off course.
16:26A minute later, the transponder was turned off.
16:29The Cleveland controller continued to monitor the flight on primary radar.
16:34The Herndon Center relayed information on Flight 93 to FAA Headquarters.
16:39Joseph DeLuca called his father at 9-43-03 from row 26 to inform him the flight had been hijacked.
16:47Todd Beamer attempted to call his wife from row 32 at 9-43-48 but was routed to GTE phone operator Lisa D. Jefferson.
16:57Beamer told the operator the flight had been hijacked and that two people who he thought were the pilots were on the floor, dead or injured.
17:06He said one of the hijackers had a red belt with what looked to be a bomb strapped to his waist.
17:11When the hijackers veered the plane sharply south, Beamer briefly panicked, exclaiming,
17:15We're going down! We're going down!
17:17Linda Gronlund called her sister, Elsa Strong, at 9-46-05 and left her a message saying there were men with a bomb.
17:26Flight Attendant C.C. Lyles called her husband at 9-47-57 and left him a message saying the plane had been hijacked.
17:35Marion Britton called her friend, Fred Fiumano, at 9-49-12.
17:39Fiumano recalled, she said, We're going to die. They're going to kill us, you know. We're going to die.
17:45And I told her, Don't worry. They hijacked the plane. They're going to take you for a ride.
17:50You go to their country. You come back. You stay there for vacation.
17:53You don't know what to say. What are you going to say?
17:56I kept on saying the same things. Be calm.
17:58And she was crying and screaming and yelling.
18:01Flight Attendant Sandra Bradshaw called her husband at 9-50-04 and told him she was heating water to throw at the hijackers.
18:10Passenger Lauren Grancolis called her husband twice.
18:13Once before takeoff and once during the hijacking.
18:17He missed both her calls.
18:18Although it was thought that Grancolis lent her phone to honor Elizabeth Wainio.
18:23It was later determined to be Britain.
18:26Wainio called her stepmother at 9-53-43 and concluded four and a half minutes later by saying,
18:32I have to go. They're breaking into the cockpit. I love you.
18:35Jarrah 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.
18:52Bradshaw, on the phone with her husband, said,
18:55Everyone is running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye.
18:59Beamer told GTE phone operator Lisa Jefferson that he and a few passengers were getting together and were planning to jump the hijacker with the bomb.
19:09Beamer recited the Lord's Prayer in the 23rd Psalm with Jefferson, prompting others to join in.
19:15Beamer requested of Jefferson,
19:17If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them.
19:22After this, Jefferson heard muffled voices and Beamer answering,
19:27Are you ready? Okay, let's roll.
19:29These were Beamer's last words to Jefferson.
19:32During the hijacking, Flight 93 passed within 1,000 feet instead of the normal 2,000 feet of a NASA KC-135,
19:41returning from a microgravity flight over Lake Ontario.
19:45NASA pilot Dominique Del Rosso recalled how odd the silence on the radio was that morning.
19:52The passenger revolt on Flight 93 began at 9-57 after the passengers voted on whether to act.
20:00The plane left its Washington, D.C. course after the passengers revolted,
20:04and the hijackers began maneuvering the plane violently in response.
20:08The hijackers in the cockpit became aware of the revolt at 9-57-55,
20:14Jarrah exclaiming,
20:15Is there something? A fight?
20:17Edward Felt dialed 9-1-1 from his cell phone from the rear laboratory of the aircraft,
20:23seeking information at 9-58.
20:25His call was answered by dispatcher John Shaw,
20:28and Felt was able to tell him about the hijacking before the call was disconnected.
20:33Multiple news reports, originally based on a 9-1-1 supervisor's account after having overheard the call,
20:40asserted that Edward Felt reported hearing an explosion and seeing smoke from an undetermined location on the plane.
20:48These reports were not corroborated by Shaw or Felt's wife, Sandra, who listened to the recording afterwards.
20:55C.C. Lyles called her husband once more from a cell phone and told him the passengers were forcing their way into the cockpit.
21:01Jarrah began to roll the airplane left and right to knock the passengers off balance.
21:07He told another hijacker in the cockpit at 9-58-57,
21:11They want to get in here. Hold. Hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold.
21:16Jarrah changed tactics at 9-59-52 and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault.
21:23The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of crashing, screaming, and the shattering of glass of plates.
21:30Three times in a period of five seconds, there were shouts of pain or distress from a hijacker outside the cockpit,
21:38suggesting a hijacker who was standing guard outside the cockpit was being attacked by the passengers.
21:43The building fell. Are you there? The building fell.
22:00Hold on.
22:02Oh, my God. The building fell.
22:04Oh, my God. The building fell.
22:05Oh, my God. The building fell.
22:09Just down.
22:10Jarrah stabilized the plane at 10 o'clock, 03.
22:15Five seconds later, he asked,
22:17Is that it? Shall we finish it off?
22:19Another hijacker responded,
22:21No, no, not yet.
22:23When they all come, we finish it off.
22:25Jarrah once again pitched the airplane up and down.
22:28A passenger in the background cried,
22:30In the cockpit!
22:31If we don't, we'll die at 10 o'clock, 25.
22:3516 seconds later another passenger yelled roll it possibly referring to using the food cart
22:41the voice recorder captured the sound of the passengers using the food cart as a battering
22:47ram against the cockpit door jarrah ceased the violent maneuvers at 10.01 and recited the talk
22:53beer twice he then asked another hijacker is that it i mean shall we put it down the other
22:59hijackers wondered yes put it in and pull it down the passengers continued their assault and at
23:0510.02 17 a male passenger said turn it up a second later a hijacker said pull it down pull it down
23:12at 10.02 33 jarrah made a desperate plea in arabic repeatedly screaming give it to me possibly
23:19referring to the plane's yoke the hijackers inside the cockpit are heard yelling no over the sound of
23:26breaking glass the final spoken words on the recorder were a calm voice in english instructing
23:31pull it up the plane then crashed into an empty field in stony creek pennsylvania
23:37bank angle bank angle
23:54all
24:10you
24:17you
24:19There it goes! It's going! It's going down now! It's going down now! There it collapses.
24:44Oh! It just collapsed. Oh, those poor people. Oh, God! The second tower is gone!
25:13Both towers are gone!
25:20Oh, God!
25:31There is a disagreement among some family members of the passengers and the investigative officials as to whether the passengers managed to breach the cockpit or even break the cockpit door.
25:44The 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.
25:53Many of the passengers' family members, having heard the audio recordings, believed the passengers breached the cockpit and killed at least one of the hijackers guarding the cockpit door.
26:03Some interpreted the audio as suggesting that the passengers and hijackers struggled for control of the yoke.
26:09At 10-03-11 near Indian Lake in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the plane crashed into a field near a reclaimed coal strip mine known as the Diamond T Mine owned by PBS Coals in Stony Creek Township in Somerset County.
26:24The 757 had between 5,500 to 7,000 to 7,000 to 7,000 U.S. gallons of fuel remaining, which exploded and released a fireball that scorched a nearby hemlock grove.
26:36Far-flung debris that made up a third of the aircraft, including the cockpit, continued into the woods, demolishing trees on 163 acres owned by the Lambert family and damaging the nearby residents of Barry Hoover.
26:52The rest of the aircraft buried itself in dirt that had been transported to the abandoned strip mine for reclamation efforts in the 1990s.
27:00The fuselage and wings shattered as they burrowed into the earth.
27:04One of the engines ultimately ended up in a catchment pond just 2,000 feet away from the main impact site.
27:11The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the flight impacted at 563 miles per hour at a 40-degree nose-down inverted attitude.
27:22The impact left a crater 8 to 10 feet deep and 30 to 50 feet wide.
27:28The coroner ruled that everybody on board who was still alive at the time of the crash died instantly of blunt force trauma.
27:35Many media reports and eyewitness accounts said the time of the crash was 10.06 or 10.10.
27:41An initial analysis of seismographic data in the area concluded that the crash occurred at 10.06,
27:47but the 9-11 Commission report states that the analysis was not definitive and was retracted.
27:53Other media outlets and the 9-11 Commission reported the time of impact at 10.03 based on when the flight recorder stopped,
28:01analysis of radar data, infrared satellite data, and air traffic-controlled transmissions.
28:07The only known witness to the actual crash and the last one to see United 3 airborne
28:13was Stony Creek resident Nevin Lambert, who reported that he saw the plane upside down
28:19as it crashed to the ground in a 45-degree angled nosedive.
28:24Kelly Levernight, a local resident, was watching news of the attacks when she heard the plane.
28:28I heard the plane going over, and I went out the front door, and I saw the plane going down.
28:34It was headed toward the school, which panicked me, because all three of my kids were there.
28:38Then he heard the explosion, and felt the blast, and saw the fire and smoke.
28:43Another witness, Eric Peterson, looked up when he heard the plane.
28:47It was low enough. I thought you could probably count the rivets.
28:50You could see more of the roof of the plane than you could the belly.
28:53It was on its side. There was a great explosion, and you could see the flames.
28:57It was a massive, massive explosion.
29:00Flames, and then smoke, and then a massive, massive mushroom cloud.
29:05Val McClatchy had been watching footage of the attacks when she heard the plane.
29:10She saw it briefly, then heard the impact.
29:13The crash knocked out the electricity and phones.
29:16McClatchy grabbed her camera and took the only known picture of the smoke cloud from the explosion.
29:22In September 2011, shortly before the 10th anniversary of the attacks,
29:26a video of the rising smoke cloud filmed by Dave Berkebile, who had died the previous February from his yard on Bluebird Lane,
29:355.8 miles away from the crash site, was published on YouTube.
29:40The first responders arrived at the crash site after 10.06.
29:43Cleveland Center controllers, unaware the flight had crashed, notified the Northeast Air Defense Sector needs at 10.07
29:53that Flight 93 had a bomb on board and passed the last known position.
29:57This call was the first time the military was notified about the flight.
30:01Ballinger sent one final ACARS message to Flight 93 at 10.10.
30:05Don't divert to D.C. Not an option.
30:08He repeated the message one minute later.
30:10The Herndon Command Center alerted FAA headquarters that Flight 93 had crashed at 10.13.
30:16Needs called the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center for an update on Flight 93 and received notification that the flight had crashed.
30:25At 10.37, CNN correspondent Aaron Brown, covering the collapse of the World Trade Center, announced,
30:32We are getting reports, and we are getting lots of reports, and we want to be careful to tell you when we have confirmed them or not.
30:39But we have a report that a 7.47 is down in Pennsylvania, and that remains unconfirmed at this point.
30:45He followed that up at 10.49 by reporting,
30:48We have a report now that a large plane crashed this morning north of the Somerset County Airport, which is in western Pennsylvania,
30:55Not too terribly far from Pittsburgh, about 80 miles or so, a Boeing 767 jet.
31:02Don'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.
31:09In the confusion, he also erroneously reported a second hijacked plane heading for the Pentagon after the crash of the first.
31:17Flight 93 fragmented violently upon impact.
31:20Most of the aircraft wreckage was found near the impact crater.
31:23Investigators found very light debris, including paper and nylon, scattered up to 8 miles from the impact point in New Baltimore.
31:32Other tiny aircraft fragments were found 1.5 miles away at Indian Lake.
31:38All human remains were found within a 70-acre area surrounding the impact point.
31:44Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller was involved in the investigation and identification of the remains.
31:51In examining the wreckage, the only human body part he could see was part of a backbone.
31:57Miller later found and identified 1,500 pieces of human remains, totaling about 600 pounds, or 8% of the total.
32:06The rest of the remains were consumed by the impact.
32:11Investigators identified four victims by September 22nd and 11 by September 24th.
32:16They identified another by September 29th.
32:2034 passengers were identified by October 27th.
32:24All the people on board the flight were identified by December 21st.
32:28Human remains were so fragmented that investigators could not determine whether any victims were dead before the plane crashed.
32:37Death certificates for the 40 victims listed the cause of death as homicide
32:41and listed the cause of death for the four hijackers as suicide.
32:47The remains and personal effects of the victims were returned to the families.
32:52The remains of the hijackers, identified by the process of elimination,
32:56were turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as evidence.
33:01Investigators also found a knife concealed in a cigarette lighter.
33:05They located the flight data recorder on September 13th in the cockpit voice recorder the following day.
33:12The voice recorder was found buried 25 feet below the crater.
33:17The FBI initially refused to release the voice recording,
33:20rejecting requests by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher and family members of those on board.
33:25While access to voice recordings is usually restricted to government crash investigators and plane crash litigants,
33:32the FBI made an exception by allowing the relatives of Flight 93 victims to listen to the recording in a closed session on April 18th, 2002.
33:45Jurors for the Zacharias-Moussaoui trial heard the tape as part of the proceedings
33:50and the transcript was publicly released on April 12th, 2006.
33:56The audio recording has still not been released to the public per the requests of the victims' loved ones.
34:03The passengers, other than the hijackers and crew on board Flight 93,
34:08were nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal on September 19th, 2001.
34:13Congressman Bill Shuster introduced a bill to this effect in 2006,
34:18and they were granted on September 11th, 2014.
34:21The obverse of the medal is inscribed with a common field one day, a field of honor forever.
34:28And, Act of Congress, 2011.
34:30The reverse of the medal featured 40 stars in honor of each of the passengers and crew,
34:35a sentinel eagle clasping laurel branches,
34:39the western front to the U.S. Capitol,
34:41and the inscription,
34:43We honor the passengers and crew of Flight 93,
34:45who perished in a Pennsylvania field on September 11th, 2001.
34:49Their courageous action will be remembered forever.
34:53Beamer's final words,
34:55Let's roll,
34:55became a national catchphrase.
34:58The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
35:00changed the name of New York's airport
35:02from New York International Airport
35:04to New York Liberty International Airport,
35:06and a flag now flies over Terminal A, Gate A-17.
35:11Flight 93 has been the subject of various films and documentaries,
35:14including the flight that fought back, Flight 93,
35:18and the feature film, United 93.
35:21Flight number 93 was retired by United Airlines after the hijacking.
35:26It was reported in May 2011
35:27that United was reactivating flight numbers 93 and 175
35:32as a co-chair operated by Continental,
35:35sparking an outcry from some in the media
35:38and the labor union representing United pilots.
35:41United said the reactivation was a mistake
35:44and said the numbers were inadvertently reinstated.
35:47It would not be reactivated.
35:50The intended target of Flight 93
35:53has never been definitively confirmed,
35:55although investigators have stated
35:57that the primary candidates
35:59were the United States Capitol and the White House.
36:03The two setbacks the hijackers were forced to contend with,
36:06a total of 88 minutes combined,
36:09meant casualties on the ground would have been minimal
36:12even if the passengers had not decided to fight back.
36:16The crash into the Pentagon at 937
36:18made it obvious that the scope of the attacks
36:20extended beyond New York City
36:22and necessitated the immediate full-scale evacuation
36:24of all federal government buildings
36:27in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
36:29The Capitol and the White House
36:31were both emptied by 945,
36:3328 minutes before Flight 93's earliest projected arrival time
36:37of 10.13 a.m.
36:40Before the attacks,
36:41Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
36:43Osama bin Laden,
36:44and Mohammed Attef
36:45developed a list of potential targets.
36:48Bin Laden wanted to destroy the White House
36:50and the Pentagon.
36:52Sheikh Mohammed wanted to strike the World Trade Center,
36:55and all three wanted to hit the Capitol.
36:56No one else was involved
36:58in the initial selection of targets.
37:01Bin Laden told 9-11 planner
37:03Ramzi bin al-Sheib
37:05to advise Mohammed Attef
37:07that he preferred the White House
37:08over the Capitol as a target.
37:10Attef cautioned bin al-Sheib
37:12that this would be difficult,
37:14but agreed to include the White House
37:16as a possible target
37:17and suggested they keep the Capitol
37:19as an alternative
37:20in case the White House proved too difficult.
37:23Eventually, Attef told bin al-Sheib
37:26that Jorah planned to hit the Capitol.
37:29Attef briefly mentioned the possibility
37:31of striking a nuclear facility,
37:33but relented
37:34after the other attack pilots
37:36voiced their opposition.
37:37Based on the exchange
37:38between Attef and bin al-Sheib,
37:41two days before the attack,
37:43the White House would be the primary target
37:45for the fourth plane
37:46and the Capitol the secondary target.
37:48If any pilot could not reach
37:49his intended target,
37:51he was to crash the plane.
37:52Immediately after the attacks,
37:54there was speculation
37:55that Camp David
37:56was the intended target.
37:58According to testimony
37:59by captured Al-Qaeda member
38:01Abu Zubaydah,
38:03U.S. officials believe
38:04the White House
38:05was the intended target.
38:07A post-9-11 interview
38:08with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
38:09and bin al-Sheib
38:11by Al-Jazeera reporter
38:13Yosri Fowda
38:14said Flight 93
38:15was heading for the Capitol.
38:17The 9-11 Commission report
38:18cited the actions
38:19of the crew and passengers
38:21in preventing the destruction
38:22of either the White House
38:23or the Capitol.
38:24According to further testimony
38:26by Sheikh Mohammed,
38:27bin Laden referred to the Capitol
38:29over the White House
38:30as a target.
38:31Salim Hamdan,
38:32bin Laden's driver,
38:34told interrogators
38:35that he knew
38:35that the flight
38:36was heading for the Capitol.
38:39A temporary memorial
38:40formed from spontaneous tributes
38:42left by visitors
38:43in the days after the attacks
38:44at the crash site.
38:46Foundations across the country
38:47began to raise money
38:48to fund a memorial
38:49to the victims
38:50within a month of the crash.
38:52Two years after the attacks,
38:54federal officials formed
38:55the Flight 93
38:56National Memorial Advisory Commission
38:58responsible for making
39:00design recommendations
39:01for a permanent memorial.
39:03A national design competition
39:05was held to create
39:06a public memorial
39:07in the Pennsylvania field
39:08where Flight 93 crashed.
39:11The winning design,
39:12Crescent of Embrace,
39:14was selected out of a pool
39:15of 1,011 submissions
39:17on September 7, 2005.
39:21The site plan features
39:22a large crescent pathway
39:24with red maples
39:25and sugar maples
39:26planted along the outer arc.
39:29This design ran into opposition
39:30over funding,
39:32size, and appearance.
39:33Republican Congressman
39:34Charles H. Taylor
39:36blocked $10 million
39:37in federal funds
39:39toward the project
39:40as he saw it as unrealistic.
39:42Oh, but I bet, like,
39:43funding fucking billion-dollar
39:46fighter jets.
39:47That's not, like,
39:48unrealistic at all.
39:49Is it Charles H. Taylor,
39:52if that is your real name?
39:55The proposed design
39:56has also attracted critics
39:58who see Islamic symbolism
40:00in the crescent design.
40:02Oh, no!
40:03We don't want that!
40:04We don't want another
40:05Legend of Zelda
40:06Ocarina of Time incident,
40:08do we?
40:09On August 31, 2009,
40:11an agreement was announced
40:12between the landowners
40:13and the National Park Service
40:15to allow the purchase of land
40:17for $9.5 million.
40:19The memorial area,
40:20with a white marble wall of names,
40:23was dedicated on September 10, 2011,
40:26the day before
40:27the 10th anniversary of the crash.
40:29A concrete and glass visitor center
40:32was opened on September 10, 2015,
40:35on a hill overlooking the memorial,
40:37with both the visitor center
40:39and the wall of names
40:40being aligned with the flight path
40:42and the final piece,
40:43the Tower of Voices,
40:45was dedicated during a ceremony
40:47on September 9, 2018.
40:50C.C. Lyles was one of the flight attendants
40:53on board.
40:54In 2003, a statue of Lyles
40:56was unveiled in her hometown
40:57of Fort Pierce, Florida,
40:59which has since gained national recognition
41:01as one of the many monuments
41:02to the attacks.
41:03On August 9, 2007,
41:06a portion of U.S. 2019
41:07in Somerset County
41:09near the Flight 93 National Memorial
41:11was co-signed
41:13as the Flight 93 Memorial Highway.
41:15At the National September 11th Memorial,
41:18the names of the victims
41:19of the flight
41:19are inscribed
41:20on panels S-67
41:22and S-68
41:24at the South Pool.
41:26On June 21, 2018,
41:28the remaining wreckage
41:29of Flight 93,
41:31which had been stored
41:32in shipping containers
41:33in a warehouse
41:34since the crash
41:35was buried
41:36at the crash site
41:37in a private ceremony.
41:39Prior to the ceremony,
41:40the wreckage
41:41was hand-searched
41:42for personal effects
41:43and human remains
41:44that might have been missed
41:46in years prior.
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