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| Details Emerge on Flight 93 |
| 2004-07-23 |
| by Matthew L. Wald, New York Times. EFL. LRR.* The 9/11 Commission Report includes the most detailed after-action report yet on the "93rd Volunteer Infantry." The idea of a hijacking on Sept. 11, 2001, was unbelievable, even to many of the people who could have responded in time to change the course of events. One of those was Capt. Jason Dahl of United Flight 93, which had taken off from Newark on a flight to San Francisco. . . . I'm not sure that lead is fair to Captain Dahl; as you read on, you find out that he really didn't have time to do anything. A United Airlines dispatcher near Chicago who knew that Flight 175 had been hijacked and crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center sent a message to the other planes he was following that morning, one of them United 93. In a text message, the dispatcher, Ed Ballinger, told Flight 93 at 9:23 a.m.: "Beware any cockpit intrusion two a/c hit World Trade Center." At 9:26, Captain Dahl sent a message back, in quick, abbreviated and slightly mistyped language: "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz Jason." Two minutes later, the hijackers attacked Captain Dahl and his first officer. Unlike the three other hijackings, Flight 93 continued transmitting over the radio during the struggle in the cockpit. The captain or first officer declared "Mayday," and 35 seconds later, one of them shouted, "Hey, get out of here get out of here get out of here." Later, passengers reported seeing two bodies outside the cockpit, injured or dead, probably the pilots. Once the hijackers were in control, they knew that passengers were using cell phones and seat-back phones to call the ground "but did not seem to care," according to the report. Yet clearly what the passengers learned in those phone calls inspired their counterattack on the cockpit. . . . "It might not have occurred to [the hijackers] that they [meaning the passengers] were certain to learn what had happened in New York, thereby defeating his attempts at deception," the report said. The report indicates that Mr. Jarrah, at the controls of United 93, did what many airline pilots have fantasized about since the hijackings: tried to maneuver the plane sharply, rolling and pitching, to keep control of the cockpit. It apparently did not work; the plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania. The report does not clarify whether the hijackers' goal for Flight 93 was the White House or the Capitol, but indicates that the hijackers tuned a cockpit radio to the frequency of a navigation beacon at National Airport, just across the Potomac River from the capital, erasing any doubt about the region of their intended destination. At three seconds after 10 a.m., Mr. Jarrah is heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying: "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" But another hijacker responds: "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." The voice recorder captured sounds of continued fighting, and Mr. Jarrah pitched the plane up and then down. A passenger is heard to say, "In the cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Then a passenger yelled "Roll it!" Some aviation experts have speculated that this was a reference to a food cart, being used as a battering ram. Mr. Jarrah "stopped the violent maneuvers" at 10:01:00, according to the report, and said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" "He then asked another hijacker in the cockpit, `Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?' to which the other replied, `Yes, put it in it, and pull it down.' " Eighty seconds later, a hijacker is heard to say, "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," according to the report, which seems to indicate that the hijackers themselves crashed the plane. "With the sounds of the passenger counterattack continuing, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C," according to the report. *Feel free to use the following: login = nytisfishwrap password = dowdsucksSPAN> |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #13 Anyone ever tries to mess with a plane I'm on, I know exactly what to do. We all do. The 9-11 atrocity forever changed my own hijacking protocol, Mike. I will snap the spine of anyone who ever tries to hijack a plane I am flying on, or die trying. I do not care if they are incapacitated, I will dance on their backbone until they cannot possibly present any further threat. It is ironic that I am now no longer allowed to carry my folding hunting knife on flights. Had I been on any of the hijacked 9-11 flights, I would have made sure to bury it in at least one hijacker's neck. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-23 8:57:30 PM |
| #12 I believe the passengers KNEW what happened to the other hijacked flights and KNEW they were dead men walking. Their lives were forfeit and only choice they had was the manner of their death. I believe they resolved to stop the flight no matter what. They were NOT going to be sheep going to the slaughter. They were NOT going to allow that plane to make a devastating attack. I believe when faced with certain death, these passengers decided to bring the plane down before the terrorists did. Choosing to die requires a higher calling. Their calling was their Love for America. I believe they charged the front of the cabin knowing they would all die and the only unwritten chapter was how. They decided, for the greater good, to die bringing that plane down. They are all heros, not victims. I think of them every day, hoping we other Americans can live up to their glorious actions in the opening battle of this great war of survival. Go with God, my friends. |
| Posted by: Brett_the_Quarkian 2004-07-23 5:59:30 PM |
| #11 I don't think the Commission report takes anything away from the Flight 93 passengers. They came heartbreakingly close to recapturing the cockpit, and thanks to their heroism, the plane hit an empty field instead of a city full of people. Anyone ever tries to mess with a plane I'm on, I know exactly what to do. We all do. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-23 5:44:49 PM |
| #10 I don't care what the 9/11 Commission says, that plane was brought down in that PA field by brave heroes who had formed themselves into our first 21st Century militia and it didn't hit the White House or the Capitol! While I believe quite firmly in Hell which is where the terrorist scum are, I equally believe our Flight 93 heroes and heroines are in Heaven where they should be! May Light Perpetual shine upon them as their example shines on us here in the homeland! Todd Beamer's "Let's Roll!" in the face of certain death still leaves me in awe. |
| Posted by: GreatestJeneration 2004-07-23 5:37:06 PM |
| #9 Mr. Jarrah "stopped the violent maneuvers" at 10:01:00, according to the report, and said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" As opposed to JHWH. Reminds me of that Victor Mordacai article from a few weeks ago. JerseyMike, well said. CiT thats cool with me, no stoning in these parts. I find talking to God a great blessing. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-23 1:44:59 PM |
| #8 #1, you're exactly right. Even if the terrorists in the first three planes met little resistance, it was because the citizenry was UNINFORMED. At that time, the assumption was that it would be a "normal hijacking/hostage situation", so doing nothing and following flight crew orders would be normal operating procedure. No more. The fatal misbelief of the Terrorists is that the average American is as flaccid, placid, compliant, and fearful as the average Iraqui, easily cowed. The American left agrees, knowing that that fact is true for themselves. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-07-23 10:54:24 AM |
#7 you'll forgive me I'm sure if I won't take your word for it.By all means don't. I'm just guessing anyway, but it seems logical (in a muslim terrorist way of thinking). I wouldn't want to be on the plane in any case. |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-07-23 10:02:09 AM |
| #6 CiT - you'll forgive me I'm sure if I won't take your word for it. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-07-23 9:12:06 AM |
#5 The Islamists' will never take over an American passenger plane that easily from that day forward.And that is why they won't even try. The next time they use planes, it is going to be to blow them up. Imagine if they pulled off several within minutes of each other? They wouldn't need to target any landmarks in order to enrage and cripple us at the same time. Their ultimate goal of "terrorizing" is waning though as time goes on. Each atrocity blunts the terrorizing effectiveness of the next atrocity. |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-07-23 8:41:36 AM |
| #4 #3. "...I hope they are rotting in hell." Well...since there isn't such a thing as "Hell", I doubt that they are. They, are merely dead. Small comfort for the lives ruined by their religion addled brains. CiT |
| Posted by: CiT 2004-07-23 8:17:57 AM |
| #3 The Islamists' will never take over an American passenger plane that easily from that day forward. I don't ascribe any higher motivation to the passengers actions other than the will to survive, in doing what they did though, they gave 300 million other Americans an example of selflessness and heroism. I truly hate those murderous Islamist scumbags, I hope they are rotting in hell. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-07-23 8:04:37 AM |
| #2 Gosh stories like this one just make me think that the 'slims have been getting a bad wrap. This really is a religion of peace. Or was it religion of piss? I can never remember. |
| Posted by: Victory Now Please 2004-07-23 7:57:36 AM |
| #1 The commentators have it exactly wrong when they say the terrorists got through every line of defense. As this indicates, they failed in at least this one case to get through the ultimate defense, an informed and prepared citizenry. One would hope that the TSA and Norm Mineta would take this lesson to heart. May God Bless the souls of all those heros on Flight 93. |
| Posted by: DanM 2004-07-23 7:19:34 AM |