But conspiracy theorists assert that Flight 93 was destroyed by a heat-seeking missile from an F or a mysterious white plane. Some theorists add far-fetched elaborations: No terrorists were aboard, or the passengers were drugged.
The wildest is the "bumble planes" theory, which holds that passengers from Flights 11, , and 77 were loaded onto Flight 93 so that the U. CLAIM: At least six eyewitnesses say they saw a small white jet flying low over the crash area almost immediately after Flight 93 went down. Customs airplane reported to have been seen near the site minutes after Flight 93 crashed. Shortly thereafter, the FBI began to attack the witnesses with perhaps the most inane disinformation ever—alleging the witnesses actually observed a private jet at 34, [feet].
The FBI says the jet was asked to come down to [feet] and try to find the crash site. This would require about 20 minutes to descend.
They got down within [feet] of the ground when they circled. They saw a hole in the ground with smoke coming out of it. They pinpointed the location and then continued on. CLAIM: One of Flight 93's engines was found "at a considerable distance from the crash site," according to Lyle Szupinka, a state police officer on the scene who was quoted in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Offering no evidence, a posting on Rense. FACT: Experts on the scene told Popular Mechanics that a fan from one of the engines was recovered in a catchment basin downhill from the crash site. Jeff Reinbold, the National Park Service representative responsible for the Flight 93 National Memorial, confirms the direction and distance from the crash site to the basin: just over yards south, which means the fan landed in the direction the jet was traveling.
For something to hit the ground with that kind of energy, it would only take a few seconds to bounce up and travel yards. The flight left from Terminal A, Gate The scheduled departure time from the gate was am. There were forty-four people on board: 2 pilots, 5 flight attendants, 33 passengers and 4 hijackers.
There were 6 passengers and 4 hijackers in first class, and 27 passengers in coach. Some authorities believe that those planning the terrorist attacks purposely chose flights to hijack which were commonly low in passenger numbers so they would face less resistance when trying to take over the plane.
The other planes hijacked on September 11, were similarly low in passengers. After forty-six minutes of normal flight, at am, as the plane neared Cleveland, Ohio, terrorists broke into the cockpit, incapacitated the pilot and first officer, and took control of the plane, turning it southeast, on a path toward Washington D.
Cleveland Air Traffic Controllers, heard this transmission from the cockpit: "Mayday. Hey get out of here. Get out of here. According to one air traffic controller, the plane "started to [fly] erratically right after that. The plane's altitude suddenly dropped feet. I told the immediate supervisor who was within earshot that I think we have another one [hijacking]. The terrorist who was trained as a pilot, Ziad Jarrah, was from Lebanon.
The other three terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. According to one source, the terrorists were armed with "at least one box cutter that appeared to have been store-bought and another cutting device that seemed to be homemade-a piece of metal wrapped in tape. The FBI reported that 14 knives and parts of knives, including a box cutter, were found at the Flight 93 crash site. None of the blades were longer than 3.
Several of the passengers who made phone calls from on board the plane reported that one of the terrorists had a bomb strapped around his waist. Some of the callers expressed doubt about whether the bomb was real. No evidence of explosives was found at the crash site. Osama bin Laden began issuing statements calling for Muslims to kill Americans as early as In , Bin Laden warned that he was going to "move the battle to American soil. The men who would become the pilots of the four hijacked planes began working on the plot in , traveled to the US in , and enrolled in flight training schools.
The other three so-called "muscle hijackers" were identified and trained overseas in and arrived in this country on May 28, June 8, and June 27, We know that Flight 93 was destined for Washington D. Atta explained to Binalshibh his plan to have two of the planes hit the World Trade Center, one fly into the Pentagon, and one hit the Capitol Building. If any pilot could not reach his intended target, Atta said, he was to crash the plane.
Statements entered at the Moussaoui hearing in April also indicate that the Capitol Building was the most-likely target for Flight There is also evidence that the date of the attack was chosen to coincide with the return of both the House and Senate to session after the summer break.
However, at least one family member has indicated that she was told by the authorities that the plane was destined for the White House. The passengers and crew were forced to the back of the plane and told to sit down and be quiet. Using Airfones from the seat backs in the rear of the plane, they began calling their families, friends, and authorities to report the hijacking.
They soon learned the shocking news that other hijacked planes had struck the World Trade Center and quickly realized that Flight 93 was part of a larger attack on America. This realization led to a vote and a collective decision to fight back. Thirty-seven phone calls were made by 13 persons on board the plane between the time of the hijacking at am and the time of the crash at am. The house is silent.
As I walk back to the street, I see the living room shades drawn shut. The lamp is off. And they really never cared about us. I called Terry Shaffer. Each bureaucracy had staffs of people paid to speak with the press. In Shanksville, everybody called Terry Shaffer. Shaffer opens the door. He says nothing. My arrival annoys him, but it does not surprise him. He does not invite me inside. Rather he steps forward, latches the door behind him, and takes a seat on the porch.
He describes the journalists who bushwhacked uphill those first few days, when the smell of death hung heavy in the woods. They tried to evade the state troopers and see the crater for themselves. They were arrested.
When Shaffer saw them, a reporter was chasing them down the hill. They just want what they want. They want the nitty-gritty. Then Shaffer shares a dream that recurs in his mind. Just once, he says, he wants to walk into the fire hall alone, unrecognized. They sit together at a table and eat. The families lead. This is reciprocity. This feels good. It is people who experienced hell, trusting Terry Shaffer with their pain.
It is Shaffer listening, showing that he cares. No politicians. No clicking cameras. Leading up to September 11, I almost always have to deal with this. He waves his right hand to mean this interview. To mean me. Tomorrow, a man from The Washington Post will come to interview Shaffer with a big video camera.
By that first afternoon, half the town was there. The government vehicles flooring it everywhere. The utility men stringing phone lines and power up to the site. A satellite truck from Fox News.
Anderson Cooper. When he walked home, a bunch of kids followed him. Somebody put a plywood board out in the yard. People signed it with red and black markers, and wrote little notes. Our prayers are with you. God Bless Everyone. The board filled up within hours, so someone got another. Then another. And another. But in those first hours, it was all that anybody in Shanksville had. When the government left, the signature boards moved up to the crash site. A chain-link fence was erected, and the boards were lashed to the fence with wire.
The boards offered a little protection from the wind. Gradually the people of Shanksville imposed their rule on the place: Take what you need. Give what you can.
Nobody said this out loud. You just knew. Tourists left teddy bears and ribbons, police service patches, flags, blue plastic flowers, black stone markers, wooden crosses, hand-carved angels bolted to steel stakes, a flight attendant uniform, a firefighter jacket, a leather biker vest, T-shirts, baseball hats, fishing poles.
In those early years, people from Shanksville drove to the site all the time. Just leave town up the Lambertsville road and take the second right. Five minutes, max. Jayne Wagner and her husband Chuck used to invite the whole family home for Sunday dinner, then leave for the site and their joint shift as tour guides. Weekend afternoons being the busiest time of the week, and everybody knew that big quiet Chuck plus Jayne — confident, well-spoken, deep-feeling — were the right couple to handle the crowds.
The federal memorial rose slowly. It took years just to secure the land, 2, acres of homes, forest, farms and coal company tracts. Design proposals were hung from the fence. End-to-end, the posters stretched out for half a mile. Phase one of the memorial opened on Sept. The backroad entrance from Lambertsville closed. Nobody in Shanksville obeys the speed limit, and still the drive takes 20 minutes.
I visit the memorial late one summer afternoon, after the crowds have left. As my sneakers crush the gravel path, jays and black-capped chickadees burst from the weeds.
The path empties onto a broad black sidewalk bound by a low wall of black concrete. Beyond that a field, some deer, and a boulder that marks the site of impact.
The only sound is the wind spinning the hemlock leaves. A jetliner cruises safely and very far overhead. The story, asphyxiated from so many tellings, regains its breath. Forty hostages. Four terrorists, outnumbered, let the passengers use their phones. Their families relay the news. The towers are burning. Your plane is not going to land. You are riding a missile. United Flight 93 is twenty-seven minutes from the United States Capitol. The passengers and crew make a plan. Twenty-six minutes. They will fight.
They will re-take the plane. Locked inside the cockpit, two hijackers hear the hostages attack. They roll the plane across its wings, sweeping the passengers off their feet. The attack continues. The hostages reach the cockpit door. The terrorists have orders. They must not lose control. If they are unable to reach their target, they must crash the plane.
They flip the plane on its back to commence the dive. Out the cockpit window, the view turns from blue to green.
An air traffic controller in Cleveland watches Flight 93 disappear from primary radar. Shanksville trembles. A black cloud rises above the treeline. I stand at the black wall. I look at the boulder and bring my palms together at my chest.
0コメント