| Author | Message | | Anglo Thug | | Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:42 pm Post subject: Flight 93 |
| Flight 93
Everything related to the alleged hijacking and destruction of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on 11/9/01.
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Please sign the petition to prosecute War Criminal Tony Blair | |  | | Cowboy | | Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:05 am Post subject: |
| Remains of 2 Sept. 11 hijackers identified
New York medical examiners using DNA samples have identified the remains of two of the 10 suicide hijackers who crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, officials said Thursday.
The FBI provided the medical examiners' office with DNA profiles of the 10 hijackers, said Ellen Barakove, a spokeswoman for the New York Medical Examiner's office. Examiners "a few days ago" matched two of the profiles to remains collected after the twin towers' collapse, she told CNN.
Examiners could not say which of the hijackers' remains had been discovered because the FBI did not identify which of the DNA samples belonged to which hijacker, she said.
The samples came from items recovered from locations such as the scene of the crashes, a hotel or other places where the hijackers stayed, said a law enforcement official.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/27/hijackers.remains/index.html | | | | Cowboy | | Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:10 am Post subject: |
| http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/26/national/main502203.shtml
Flight 93 Remains Returned
SOMERSET, Pa., Feb. 26, 2002
(AP) The remains and belongings of 40 people who died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a western Pennsylvania field Sept. 11 will be returned to their survivors, the county coroner said.
The remains of all but the plane's four hijackers will be placed into caskets. The first sets of remains were shipped Monday and the rest will be delivered when the victims' survivors are contacted, Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller said.
"Everybody's concerned about remains that they can have a memorial for," Miller said.
Officials identified remains through fingerprints, dental records and DNA. They had been stored at a temporary morgue in Somerset.
The hijackers' remains will stay in the county, Miller said, and may eventually be turned over to FBI investigators.
Relatives of most of the victims of the Sept. 11 crash met with Miller on Saturday at an Iselin, N.J., hotel to discuss what to do with the remains and personal effects.
Flight 93, bound from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, was one of four planes hijacked on the day of terror that saw the World Trade Center and the Pentagon struck. Some passengers made phone calls indicating they were going to fight off the terrorists. All 44 people were killed when the plane - believed by officials to have been headed for a Washington, D.C., target - went down in a field about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
About 400 volunteers searched the crash site, but Miller said he isn't sure that all remains have been recovered. Officials may search the site again in the spring, he said.
The crash site, which is now guarded by county deputies, could become a national memorial, said Susan Hankinson, the county's coordinator of post-crash affairs. | | | | DanielDives | | Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:40 am Post subject: |
| The Following is a Center for Cooperative Research projet
I put this up here as a reference point. This is the best [and extremely well documented] time-line I’ve found/seen to date. In order to check all the links the CFCR provides, please visit their web site @ http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&day_of_9/11=ua93
Complete Timeline of United Airlines Flight 93
8:01 a.m.: Flight 93 Is Delayed for 41 Minutes
Flight 93 is delayed for 41 minutes on the runway in Newark, New Jersey. It will take off at 8:42 a.m. The Boston Globe credits this delay as a major reason why this was the only one of the four flights not to succeed in its mission. [Boston Globe, 11/23/2001; Newsweek, 9/22/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001] Apparently, Flight 93 has to wait in a line of about a dozen planes before it can take off. [USA Today, 8/12/2002]
(8:42 a.m.): Flight 93 Takes Off 41 Minutes Late
Flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport, bound for San Francisco, California. It leaves 41 minutes late because of heavy runway traffic. [MSNBC, 9/3/2002; Newsweek, 9/22/2001; Associated Press, 8/19/2002; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
(9:00 a.m.): Northern Vigilance Exercise Canceled; False Radar Blips Purged from Radar Screens
A soldier monitors a NORAD radar screen. [Source: National War College]
Deep below Cheyenne Mountain at NORAD headquarters in Colorado, NORAD is at “full battle staff” levels for a major annual exercise, Operation Northern Vigilance, which tests every facet of the organization. This military exercise, which began two days earlier, deploys fighters to Alaska and Northern Canada to monitor a Russian air force exercise in the Russian arctic. Canadian Captain Mike Jellinek is one hour into his shift, overseeing the Colorado Command Center, when he learns the FAA believes there is a hijacking in progress and is asking NORAD for support. Northern Vigilance is called off. As the Toronto Star reports, “Any simulated information, what’s known as an ‘inject,’ is purged from the [radar] screens.” [NORAD, 9/9/2001; Toledo Blade, 12/9/2001] Therefore, many minutes into the real 9/11 attack, there may have been false radar blips causing confusion. Additional details, such as whose radar screens had false blips, or from when to when, are unknown. According to Jellinek, the Northern Vigilance is canceled just a minute or two before the second WTC crash at 9:03 a.m. The Russians, having seen the second WTC crash on television, quickly communicate that they are canceling their Russian arctic exercise. [Toledo Blade, 12/9/2001; National Post, 10/19/2002]
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Operation Northern Vigilance, Mike Jellinek
(After 9:00 a.m.): Flight Dispatcher Sends Warning to All United Flights, Including Flight 93
Ed Ballinger, a flight dispatcher for United Airlines, is continuing to send messages one by one to the 16 transcontinental flights he is covering, warning them of the first WTC crash. He is handling both Flights 175 and 93, and 175 has failed to respond to his message. A few minutes after 9:00, he sends a message to Flight 93. The exact content of the message is not known, but apparently it doesn’t advise the pilots to bar the cockpit door. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; New York Observer, 6/17/2004] Another flight controller at the Cleveland tower in charge of Flight 93 at the time later recalls, “I saw controllers step up to the plate and start warning flight crews. This was totally by the seat of their pants. It’s not because they’re directed to by anybody. It’s just, OK, everybody’s on alert right now.” [MSNBC, 9/11/2002] Ballinger later says, “One of the things that upset me was that [the FAA and United Airlines headquarters] knew, 45 minutes before [Flight 93 crashed], that American Airlines had a problem. I put the story together myself [from news accounts]. Perhaps if I had the information sooner, I might have gotten the message to [Flight] 93 to bar the door.” [New York Observer, 6/17/2004] Ballinger will send Flight 93 a second, more detailed warning that does warn to bar the door. It will reach Flight 93 at 9:24 a.m., shortly before the flight is hijacked.
Entity Tags: United Airlines, Federal Aviation Administration, Ed Ballinger
9:03 a.m.: Flight 175 Crashes into WTC South Tower; Millions Watch Live on Television
Flight 175 hits the South Tower of the World Trade Center (Tower Two). Seismic records pinpoint the time at six seconds before 9:03 a.m. (rounded to 9:03 a.m.). [CNN, 9/17/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001; New York Times, 9/12/2001; CNN, 9/12/2001; Associated Press, 8/19/2002; USA Today, 9/2/2002; New York Times, 9/11/2002; USA Today, 12/20/2001] Millions watch the crash live on television. The plane strikes the 78th through 84th floors in the 110-story building. Approximately 100 people are killed or injured in the initial impact; 600 people in the tower eventually die. All but four of those killed work above the crash point. The death toll is far lower than in the North Tower because about two-thirds of the South Tower’s occupants have evacuated the building in the 17 minutes since the first tower was struck. [USA Today, 12/20/2001] The combined death toll from the two towers is estimated at 2,819, not including the hijackers. [Associated Press, 8/19/2002]
Entity Tags: World Trade Center
(After 9:03 a.m.): Boston Controllers Give Cockpit Security Alert to New England Planes and Asks FAA to Issue Nationwide Warning; FAA Fails to Do So
“Within minutes of the second impact,” Boston flight control’s Operations Manager instructs all flight controllers in his center to inform all aircraft in the New England region to monitor the events unfolding in New York and to advise aircraft to heighten cockpit security. Boston asks the FAA Command Center to issue a similar cockpit security alert to all aircraft nationwide. The 9/11 Commission concludes, “We have found no evidence to suggest that Command Center managers instructed any centers to issue a cockpit security alert.” [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] United Airlines flight dispatchers give their pilots a cockpit warning about 20 minutes later.
Entity Tags: Boston flight control, Federal Aviation Administration, United Airlines
(9:16 a.m.): NORAD’s Original Claim Flight 93 Is Hijacked at This Time Is Apparently Wrong; One Hijacker May Have Snuck Into Cockpit Early
According to a NORAD timeline from a week after 9/11, NORAD claims that Flight 93 may have been hijacked at this time. The timeline inexplicably fails to say when the FAA told them about the hijack, the only flight for which they fail to provide this data. [CNN, 9/17/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001] However, there may be one explanation: There are media reports that “investigators had determined from the cockpit voice recorder from United Airlines Flight 93 ... that one of the four hijackers had been invited into the cockpit area before the flight took off from Newark, New Jersey.” Cockpit voice recordings indicate that the pilots believed their guest was a colleague “and was thereby extended the typical airline courtesy of allowing any pilot from any airline to join a flight by sitting in the jumpseat, the folded over extra seat located inside the cockpit.” [Fox News, 9/24/2001; Herald Sun (Melbourne), 9/25/2001] However, this account has not been confirmed. The 9/11 Commission asserts the hijacking begins around 9:28 a.m. (see (9:28 a.m.)) [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Note that during the 9/11 Commission hearings in May 2003, NORAD officials stated that the FAA informed NEADS at 9:16 a.m. that United Flight 93 was hijacked. According to a commission report in 2004, “this statement was incorrect.” No further explanation is offered for NORAD’s incorrect timeline. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: Northeast Air Defense Sector, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Aviation Administration
(9:18 a.m.): FAA Command Center Warns Flight Controllers Nationwide to Watch for Suspicious Aircraft
The FAA Command Center finally issues a nationwide alert to flight controllers to watch for planes disappearing from radar or making unauthorized course changes. [Washington Post, 11/3/2001]
Entity Tags: Indianapolis flight control, Federal Aviation Administration
(9:20 a.m.): FAA Sets Up Ineffectual Hijacking Teleconference
The FAA sets up a hijacking teleconference with several agencies, including the Defense Department. This is almost one hour after the FAA’s Boston flight control notified other flight control centers about the first hijacking at 8:25 a.m. (see 8:25 a.m.). Yet even after this delay, FAA and Defense Department participants in the teleconference later claim it plays no role in coordinating the response to the hijackings. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration, US Department of Defense
(9:27 a.m.): Flight 93 Passenger Tom Burnett Calls Wife, Mentions Bomb, Knife, and Gun
Tom Burnett. [Source: Family photo]
Tom Burnett calls his wife, Deena, using a cell phone and says, “I’m on United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. The plane has been hijacked. We are in the air. They’ve already knifed a guy. There is a bomb on board. Call the FBI.” Deena connects to emergency 9-1-1. [ABC News, 9/12/2001; Longman, 2002, pp. 107; MSNBC, 7/30/2002; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001] Deena wonders if the call might have been before the cockpit was taken over, because he spoke quickly and quietly as if he was being watched. He also had a headset like phone operators use, so he could have made the call unnoticed. Note that original versions of this conversation appear to have been censored. The most recent account has the phone call ending with, “We are in the air. The plane has been hijacked. They already knifed a guy. One of them has a gun. They’re saying there is a bomb onboard. Please call the authorities.” [Longman, 2002, pp. 107] The major difference from earlier accounts, is the mention of a gun. The call wasn’t recorded, but Deena’s call to 9-1-1 immediately afterwards was, and on that call she states, “They just knifed a passenger and there are guns on the plane.” [Longman, 2002, pp. 108] Deena Burnett later says of her husband: “He told me one of the hijackers had a gun. He wouldn’t have made it up. Tom grew up around guns. He was an avid hunter and we have guns in our home. If he said there was a gun on board, there was.” [London Times, 8/11/2002] This is the first of over 30 phone calls by passengers inside the plane. [MSNBC, 7/30/2002] Passengers are told what happened at the WTC in least five of the phone calls. Five calls show an intent to revolt against the hijackers. [San Francisco Chronicle, 7/23/2004]
Entity Tags: Tom Burnett, Deena Burnett
9:28 am (or Before): Erratic Flight 93 Movements Noticed by Cleveland Flight Controller
Cleveland flight controller Stacey Taylor has been warned to watch transcontinental flights heading west for anything suspicious. She later recalls, “I hear one of the controllers behind me go, ‘Oh, my God, oh my God,’ and he starts yelling for the supervisor. He goes, ‘What is this plane doing? What is this plane doing?’ I wasn’t that busy at the time, and I pulled it up on my screen and he was climbing and descending and climbing and descending, but very gradually. He’d go up 300 feet, he’d go down 300 feet. And it turned out to be United 93.” (Note the time of this incident is not specified, but presumably it is prior to when Cleveland controllers note Flight 93 descends 700 feet at 9:29 a.m. (see (9:29 a.m.))) [MSNBC, 9/11/2002]
Entity Tags: Cleveland flight control, Stacey Taylor
(9:28 a.m.): Cleveland Flight Control Hears Sounds of Struggle as Flight 93 Is Hijacked
Jason Dahl. [Source: Publicity photo]
Flight 93 acknowledges a transmission from a Cleveland flight controller. This is the last normal contact with the plane. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] According to the 9/11 Commission, less than a minute later, the controller, and pilots of aircraft in the vicinity, hear “a radio transmission of unintelligible sounds of possible screaming or a struggle from an unknown origin...” [Newsweek, 11/25/2001; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004; Guardian, 10/17/2001] Someone, presumably pilot Jason Dahl, is overheard by controllers as he shouts, “Mayday!” [New York Times, 7/22/2004] Seconds later, the controller responds: “Somebody call Cleveland?” Then there are more sounds of screaming and someone yelling, “Get out of here, get out of here.” [MSNBC, 7/30/2002; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004; Observer, 12/2/2001; Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001; Newsweek, 9/22/2001] Then the voices of the hijackers can be heard talking in Arabic. The words are later translated to show they are talking to each other, saying, “Everything is fine.” [Newsweek, 11/25/2001] Later passenger phone calls describe two dead or injured bodies just outside the cockpit; presumably these are the two pilots. [New York Times, 7/22/2004]
Entity Tags: Cleveland flight control, Jason Dahl, 9/11 Commission
(9:29 a.m.): Confirmation of Strange Sounds Coming from Flight 93; NORAD Not Notified
Shortly after hearing strange noises from the cockpit of Flight 93, Cleveland flight controllers notice the plane has descended about 700 feet. They try to contact the plane several times, but get no answer. At 9:30 a.m., a controller asks other nearby flights on his frequency if they’ve heard screaming; several say that they have. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] However, despite these disturbing sounds and lack of contact with the plane, Cleveland doesn’t notify anyone else about it.
Entity Tags: Cleveland flight control
(9:29 a.m.): Pentagon Command Center Begins High Level Conference Call
The National Miilitary Command Center, inside the Pentagon. [Source: National Military Command Center]
Captain Charles Leidig is in command of the National Military Command Center (NMCC), “the military’s worldwide nerve center.” [CNN, 9/4/2002] Telephone links are established with the NMCC located inside the Pentagon (but on the opposite side of the building from where the explosion will happen), Canada’s equivalent Command Center, Strategic Command, theater commanders, and federal emergency-response agencies. An Air Threat Conference Call is initiated and it lasts for eight hours. At one time or another, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, key military officers, leaders of the FAA and NORAD, the White House, and Air Force One are heard on the open line. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/2002; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] NORAD command director Captain Michael Jellinek claims this happens “immediately” after the second WTC hit. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/2002] However, the 9/11 Commission concludes it starts nearly 30 minutes later, at approximately 9:29 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Brigadier General Montague Winfield, who later takes over for Leidig, says, “All of the governmental agencies that were involved in any activity going on in the United States at that point, were in that conference.” [ABC News, 9/11/2002] The call continues right through the Pentagon explosion; the impact is not felt within the NMCC. [CNN, 9/4/2002] However, despite being in the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld doesn’t enter the NMCC or participate in the call until 10:30 a.m. (see (10:30 a.m.)).
Entity Tags: Donald Rumsfeld, Mike Jellinek, National Military Command Center, Charles Leidig, Federal Aviation Administration, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Montague Winfield, George W. Bush
9:30 a.m.: United Flights Are Instructed to Land Immediately; American Follows Suit
United Airlines begins landing all of its flights inside the US (Note: All planes nationwide were already ordered down at 9:26 a.m. (see (9:26 a.m.)) and told to land in a reasonable amount of time. Now they’re told to land immediately.) American Airlines begins landing all of their flights five minutes later. [Wall Street Journal, 10/15/2001]
Entity Tags: United Airlines, American Airlines
(9:30 a.m.): Clarke Asks Cheney’s Bunker for Air Force One Fighter Escort and Shootdown Authorization; Neither Happen for Some Time
As President Bush begins a speech in Florida, counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke orders all US embassies overseas closed and orders all military bases to an alert level named Combat Threatcon. Over the next few minutes, Clarke discusses with aides where Bush should go from Sarasota, Florida. He telephones PEOC, the command bunker containing Vice President Cheney and National Security Adviser Rice, and says, “Somebody has to tell the president he can’t come right back here [to Washington]. Cheney, Condi, somebody, Secret Service concurs. We do not want them saying where they are going when they take off. Second, when they take off, they should have fighter escort. Three, we need to authorize the Air Force to shoot down any aircraft—including a hijacked passenger flight—that looks like it is threatening to attack and cause large-scale death on the ground. Got it?” [Clarke, 2004, pp. 5-7] However, when Bush departs on Air Force One about half an hour later, there are no fighter escorts, and none appear for an hour or so. In addition, if Clarke requests authorization for a shootdown order at this time, it is apparently ignored; neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney give shootdown authorization for at least another 30 minutes (see (Between 10:00-10:15 a.m.)).
Entity Tags: Secret Service, Richard A. Clarke, George W. Bush, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Condoleezza Rice
(9:30 a.m.): FAA Emergency Operations Center Is Finally Operational
The FAA’s Emergency Operations Center gets up and running, five minutes after the FAA issues an order grounding all civilian, military, and law enforcement aircraft. [Time, 9/14/2001] This center’s role in the crisis response remains unclear.
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration
(9:30 a.m.): Delta Flight Mistakenly Suspected by Cleveland Flight Control
Flight controllers mistakenly suspect that Delta Flight 1989, flying west over Pennsylvania, has been hijacked. The controllers briefly suspect the sound of hijackers’ voices in Flight 93 is coming from this plane, only a few miles away. USA Today reports the flight “joins a growing list of suspicious jets. Some of their flight numbers will be scrawled on a white dry-erase board throughout the morning” at FAA headquarters. Miscommunications lead to further suspicion of Flight 1989 even after the source of the hijackers’ message is confirmed to come from Flight 93. At some point, the Cleveland Airport flight control tower is evacuated for fear Flight 1989 will crash into it. Flight 1989 lands in Cleveland at 10:10 a.m. Eventually, about 11 flights will be labeled suspicious, with four of them actually hijacked. [USA Today, 8/13/2002; MSNBC, 9/11/2002] The 9/11 Commission later has another explanation as to why Flight 1989 is suspected. They claim that at 9:41 a.m., Boston flight control identifies Flight 1989 as a possible hijacking strictly because it is a transcontinental 767 that had departed from Logan Airport. Although NEADS never loses track of the flight, it launches fighters from Ohio and Michigan to intercept it soon after 10:00 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration, Logan Airport, Cleveland flight control, Unocal
(Between 9:30-10:00 a.m.): Cockpit Voice Recording Begins
Apparently, the only cockpit voice recording recovered undamaged from any of the 9/11 crashes is from Flight 93. It recorded on a 30-minute reel, which means that the tape is continually overwritten and only the final 30 minutes of any flight is recorded, though in practice sometimes the tape is slightly longer. Flight 93’s recording lasts 31 minutes and begins at this time. [CNN, 4/19/2002; Longman, 2002, pp. 206-207; Hartford Courant, 4/19/2004] According to one account, it begins seconds before the plane is hijacked. [Washington Post, 11/17/2001] However, the version of the tape later played for the victims’ relatives begins “too late to pick up the sounds of the hijackers’ initial takeover.” [MSNBC, 4/18/2002]
(After 9:31 a.m.): Flight 93 Attendant Is Stabbed
Flight attendant Debbie Welsh is apparently stabbed. [Source: Family photo]
A few minutes after 9:31 a.m., a hijacker on board Flight 93 can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder ordering a woman to sit down. A woman, presumably a flight attendant, implores, “don’t, don’t.” She pleads, “Please, I don’t want to die.” Patrick Welsh, the husband of flight attendant Debbie Welsh, is later told that a flight attendant was stabbed early in the takeover, and it is strongly implied it was his wife. She was a first-class attendant, and he says, “knowing Debbie,” she would have resisted. [Longman, 2002, pp. 207]
Entity Tags: Debbie Welsh, Patrick Welsh
(9:32 a.m.): FAA Notifies United Airlines About Flight 93
The FAA notifies United Airlines’ headquarters that Flight 93 is not responding to radio calls. This lack of response, combined with the plane’s turning to the east, causes United to believe, by 9:36 a.m., that the plane has been hijacked. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 456]
Entity Tags: United Airlines, Federal Aviation Administration
(9:32 a.m.): Flight 93 Hijacker Tells Passengers Bomb Is Onboard; Flight Controllers Overhear
A hijacker says over the radio to Flight 93’s passengers: “Ladies and gentlemen, here is the captain, please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb aboard.” Apparently, Cleveland flight controllers can understand about a minute of screams, before a voice again says something about a “bomb on board.” A hijacker says in broken English that they are returning to the airport. [Newsweek, 9/22/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; MSNBC, 9/3/2002] According to the 9/11 Commission’s account, the hijacker’s voice says, “Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board.” The controller understands, but chooses to respond, “Calling Cleveland [flight control], you’re unreadable. Say again, slowly.” Apparently there’s no answer. The controller notifies his supervisor, who soon passes the notice to FAA headquarters. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: 9/11 Commission, Cleveland flight control, Federal Aviation Administration
9:33 a.m.: Planes Warned Away from Washington
The BBC reports that pilot Major Dean Eckmann gets a message as he’s flying from Langley, Virginia. “They said—all airplanes, if you come within (I believe it was) 30 miles of Washington, D.C., you will be shot down.” [BBC, 9/1/2002] It’s not clear who “they” are and what authority they have. However, fighters are not actually given shootdown orders until later, if at all.
Entity Tags: Dean Eckmann
9:35 a.m.: Flight 93 Attendant Warns United Airlines About Hijacking; Account Spreads but Not to NORAD
The San Francisco United Airlines maintenance center receives a call from an unnamed flight attendant on Flight 93 saying that the flight has been hijacked. The information is quickly passed on. [9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004] Within ten minutes, “everyone” in the United Airlines crisis center “now [knows] that a flight attendant on board had called the mechanics desk to report that one hijacker had a bomb strapped on and another was holding a knife on the crew.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/15/2001]
Entity Tags: United Airlines
(9:35 a.m.): Silent Flight 93 Climbs and Drops; NORAD Still Not Notified
When Flight 93 is over Youngstown, Ohio, Stacey Taylor and other Cleveland flight controllers see it rapidly climb 6,000 feet above its assigned altitude of 35,000 feet and then rapidly descend. The plane drops so quickly toward Cleveland that the flight controllers worry they might be the target. Other accounts say the climb occurs around 9:35 a.m. Controllers continue to try to contact the plane but still get no response. [Guardian, 10/17/2001; USA Today, 8/13/2002; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: Stacey Taylor, Cleveland flight control
Before 9:36 a.m.: Officials Claim NORAD is Monitoring Flight 93
According to one account given by NEADS Commander Robert Marr, some time before around 9:36 when it changes direction, while it is still flying west, Flight 93 is being monitored by NEADS. Marr describes how, “We don’t have fighters that way and we think [Flight 93 is] headed toward Detroit or Chicago.” He says he contacts a base in the area “so they [can] head off 93 at the pass.” Not only does NORAD know about the flight, but also, according to NORAD Commander Larry Arnold, “We watched the 93 track as it meandered around the Ohio-Pennsylvania area and started to turn south toward DC.” (This change of direction occurs around 9:36 a.m.) [Filson, 2004] This account completely contradicts the 9/11 Commission’s later claim that NEADS is first notified about Flight 93 at 10:07 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: Northeast Air Defense Sector, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Robert Marr, Larry Arnold
(9:36 a.m.): Flight 93 Turns Around, Files a New Flight Plan
Flight 93 files a new flight plan with a final destination of Washington, reverses course and heads toward Washington. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Guardian, 10/17/2001; MSNBC, 9/3/2002; Longman, 2002, pp. 219] Radar shows the plane turning 180 degrees. [CNN, 9/13/2001] The new flight plan schedules the plane to arrive in Washington at 10:28 a.m. [Longman, 2002, pp. 78]
(9:36 a.m.): Cleveland Flight Control Wants NORAD Notified; FAA Command Center Says People Are Working on It
According to the 9/11 Commission, at about this time Cleveland flight control specifically asks the FAA Command Center whether someone has requested the military to launch fighters toward Flight 93. Cleveland offers to contact a nearby military base. The Command Center replies that FAA personnel well above them in the chain of command have to make that decision and are working on the issue. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Cleveland overheard a hijacker say there was a “bomb on board” at 9:32 a.m. and passed the message to FAA higher ups.
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration, Cleveland flight control
9:37 a.m.: Flight 77 Crashes into Reinforced Section of the Pentagon
The Pentagon explodes. [Source: Donley/ Sipa]
Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. Approximately 125 people on the ground are later determined killed or missing. [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001; CNN, 9/17/2001; Guardian, 10/17/2001; USA Today, 8/13/2002; ABC News, 9/11/2002; CBS News, 9/11/2002; Associated Press, 8/19/2002; MSNBC, 9/3/2002] Flight 77 strikes the only side of the Pentagon that had recently been renovated—it was “within days of being totally [renovated].” [US Department of Defense, 9/15/2001] “It was the only area of the Pentagon with a sprinkler system, and it had been reconstructed with a web of steel columns and bars to withstand bomb blasts. The area struck by the plane also had blast-resistant windows—two inches thick and 2,500 pounds each—that stayed intact during the crash and fire. While perhaps, 4,500 people normally would have been working in the hardest-hit areas, because of the renovation work only about 800 were there...” More than 25,000 people work at the Pentagon. [Los Angeles Times, 9/16/2001]
Entity Tags: US Department of Defense, Pentagon
9:37 a.m.: Langley Fighters Still Short of Washington; Where and Why Is Not Clear
Accounts differ as to how far from Washington the F-16 fighters scrambled from Langley are when Flight 77 crashes. The Langley, Virginia, base is 129 miles from Washington. NORAD originally claimed that, at the time of the crash, the fighters are 105 miles away, despite having taken off seven minutes earlier. [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001] The 9/11 Commission claims that at 9:36 a.m., NEADS discovers that Flight 77 is only a few miles from the White House and is dismayed to find the fighters have headed east over the ocean. They are ordered to Washington immediately, but are still about 150 miles away. This is farther away than the base from which they took off. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] The F-16 pilot codenamed Honey (who is apparently Captain Craig Borgstrom) offers a different explanation. As previously mentioned, he says they are flying toward New York, when they see a black column of smoke coming from Washington, about 30 or 40 miles to the west. He is then asked over the radio by NEADS if he can confirm the Pentagon is burning. He confirms it. He says that the mission of the Langley pilots at this time is clear: to keep all airplanes away from Washington. The F-16s are then ordered to set up a defensive perimeter above Washington. [Longman, 2002, pp. 76; New York Observer, 2/11/2004; Filson, 2004, pp. 66] The maximum speed of an F-16 is 1,500 mph. [Associated Press, 6/16/2000] Had the fighters traveled straight to Washington at 1,300 mph, they would have reached Washington at least one minute before Flight 77. Furthermore, at the time the Pentagon is hit, according to Craig Borgstrom, he and the other Langley pilots are hearing a lot of chatter over their radios, but nothing about airliners crashing into buildings. He says they are “all three on different frequencies � and [are] getting orders from a lot of different people.” [Filson, 2004, pp. 66]
Entity Tags: Pentagon, Craig Borgstrom, Northeast Air Defense Sector
9:37 a.m.: United Flights Are Told to Bar Cockpit Entry
Captain Jim Hosking, piloting United Flight 890 from Japan to Los Angeles, is sent a warning message to his cockpit printer. It reads, “There has been a terrorist attack against United Airlines and American Airlines aircraft. We are advised there may be additional hijackings in progress. Shut down all access to the flight deck. Unable to elaborate further.” He tells his first officer, “Get out the crash axe.” Other pilots are receiving similar messages around this time. [USA Today, 8/13/2002]
Entity Tags: Jim Hosking
(9:37 a.m.): Flight 93 Passenger Jeremy Glick Describes Hijackers, Bomb
Jeremy Glick. [Source: Family photo]
Jeremy Glick calls his wife, Lyz, from Flight 93. He describes the hijackers as Middle Eastern- and Iranian-looking. According to Glick, three of them put on red headbands, stood up, yelled, and ran into the cockpit. He had been sitting in the front of the coach section, but he was then sent to the back with most of the passengers. Glick says the hijackers claimed to have a bomb, which looked like a box with something red around it. Family members immediately call emergency 9-1-1 on another line. New York State Police are patched in midway through the call. Glick finds out about the WTC towers. Two others onboard also learn about the WTC at about this time. Glick’s phone remains connected until the very end of the flight. [Longman, 2002, pp. 143; MSNBC, 7/30/2002; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001]
Entity Tags: Jeremy Glick
(After 9:37 a.m.): Andrews Pilots Aware of Crisis but Still on Ground
After the Pentagon is hit, fighters at nearby Andrews Air Force Base are still preparing to launch. At some unknown point, flight squad commander Lieutenant Colonel Marc Sasseville assembles three F-16 pilots and gives them a curt briefing. He recalls saying, “I have no idea what’s going on, but we’re flying. Here’s our frequency. We’ll split up the area as we have to. Just defend as required. We’ll talk about the rest in the air.” All four of them dress up and get ready. One officer at Andrews recalls, “After the Pentagon was hit, we were told there were more [airliners] coming. Not ‘might be’—they were coming.” Meanwhile, a “flood” of calls from the Secret Service and local FAA flight control centers pour into Andrews, as the fighter response is coordinated. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9/9/2002] However, the loading of missiles onto the fighters is very time consuming, and when these fighters finally take off nearly an hour later, they will launch without the missiles installed.
Entity Tags: Andrews Air Force Base, Federal Aviation Administration, Secret Service, Marc Sasseville
(9:39 a.m.): Flight 93 Hijacker Again Warns of Bomb on Board, Flight Controllers Again Overhear; NORAD Still Not Notified
The Flight 93 hijackers (probably inadvertently) transmit over the radio: “Hi, this is the captain. We’d like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board. And we are going to turn back to the airport. And they had our demands, so please remain quiet.” [Boston Globe, 11/23/2001; MSNBC, 9/3/2002; Longman, 2002, pp. 209; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] The controller responds, “United 93, understand you have a bomb on board. Go ahead,” but there is no response. There was a very similar “bomb on board” warning from the same flight at 9:32 a.m. (see (9:32 a.m.)). The 9/11 Commission indicates that these are separate incidents. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Cleveland flight control apparently continues to wait for FAA superiors to notify NORAD. Earlier in the morning, Boston flight control directly contacted NORAD (see (8:37 a.m.)) and local air force bases when they determined Flight 11 was hijacked.
Entity Tags: North American Aerospace Defense Command, Cleveland flight control, Federal Aviation Administration
(9:40 a.m.): Flight 93 Transponder Signal Turned Off; Flight Still Closely Tracked
The transponder signal from Flight 93 ceases. [MSNBC, 9/3/2002; MSNBC, 9/11/2002; CNN, 9/17/2001; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] However, the plane can be—and is—tracked using primary radar by Cleveland flight controllers and at United headquarters. Altitude can no longer be determined, except by visual sightings from other aircraft. The plane’s speed begins to vary wildly, fluctuating between 600 and 400 mph before eventually settling around 400 mph. [Longman, 2002, pp. 77, 214; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: United Airlines, Cleveland flight control
(9:40 a.m.): FAA Command Center Identifies Ten Possible Hijacked Planes
Newark, New Jersey, flight controller Bob Varcadapane is talking on the phone with the FAA Command Center. He is told that the Command Center is still suspicious of at least ten planes for one reason or another, all possible hijackings. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002]
Entity Tags: Bob Varcadapane, Federal Aviation Administration
(Between 9:40 and 10:00 a.m.): Johnstown Airport Control Tower is Evacuated Following Reports of Approaching Plane
At some time shortly before 10 a.m.—as early as 9:40 a.m. according to one report—air traffic manager Dennis Fritz, in the control tower at Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, 70 miles east of Pittsburgh, receives a call from Cleveland Air Traffic Control reporting a large, suspicious aircraft about 20 miles south of them, descending below six thousand feet. Despite the clear day, Fritz and his colleagues can see no plane approaching through binoculars. Soon afterwards, in response to another call from Cleveland, Fritz orders trainees and custodial staff to evacuate the tower, yet he is still unable to see any plane approaching. Less than a minute later, though, Cleveland calls a third time, saying to disregard the evacuation: The plane has turned south and they have lost radar contact with it. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/12/2001; Knight Ridder, 9/13/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Longman, 2002, pp. 197] Flight 93 crashes around 10:03 a.m. or soon thereafter (see (10:03-10:10 a.m.)), going down in a field just 14 miles south of Johnstown. [Washington Post, 9/13/2001]
Entity Tags: Dennis Fritz
9:41 a.m.: Flight 93 Passenger Birtton Reports Two Killed
Flight 93 passenger Marion Birtton calls a friend. She tells him two people have been killed and the plane has been turned around. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001]
Entity Tags: Marion Birtton
(9:41 a.m.): FBI Agent Already Aware of Flight 93 Hijacking
Newark, New Jersey, flight controller Greg Callahan is talking on the phone to an FBI agent. The agent says about Flight 93: “We suspect that this aircraft has now been taken over by hostile forces.” The agent describes the sharp turn it has made over eastern Ohio and that it is now heading back over southwestern Pennsylvania. Callahan says he could tell the plane is on a course for Washington. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002] The FBI has been in contact with Deena Burnett and informed of what her husband, Flight 93 passenger Tom Burnett, has been saying since at least 9:34 a.m. (see 9:34 a.m.) [Longman, 2002, pp. 110] It is unclear where in the chain of command details of these Flight 93 calls reach, and the 9/11 Commission has not clarified the issue of what the FBI knew and when.
Entity Tags: Deena Burnett, Greg Callahan, Tom Burnett, Federal Bureau of Investigation
9:42 a.m.: Passenger Mark Bingham Tells of Bomb Threat on Flight 93
Mark Bingham. [Source: Family photo]
From Flight 93, Mark Bingham calls his mother and says, “I’m on a flight from Newark to San Francisco and there are three guys who have taken over the plane and they say they have a bomb.” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001] In an alternate version, he says, “I’m in the air, I’m calling you on the Airfone. I’m calling you from the plane. We’ve been taken over. There are three men that say they have a bomb.” [Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001; Boston Globe, 11/23/2001]
Entity Tags: Mark Bingham
9:44 a.m.: NMCC Conference Thinks Flight 1989, Not Flight 93, Is Fourth Hijack
NORAD briefs the NMCC teleconference on the possible hijacking of Delta Flight 1989. Four minutes later, a representative from the White House bunker containing Vice President Cheney asks if there are any indications of other hijacked planes. Captain Charles Leidig, temporarily in charge of the NMCC, mentions the Delta Flight and comments, “that would be the fourth possible hijack.” Flight 1989 is in the same general Ohio region as Flight 93, but NORAD doesn’t scramble fighters toward either plane at this time. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004]
Entity Tags: National Military Command Center, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Charles Leidig, Richard ("Dick") Cheney
9:45 a.m.: Tom Burnett Says Flight 93 Passengers Are Making Plans to Defeat Hijackers
Tom Burnett calls his wife, Deena, for the third time. She tells him about the crash at the Pentagon. Tom speaks about the bomb he’d mentioned earlier, saying, “I don’t think they have one. I think they’re just telling us that.” He says the hijackers are talking about crashing the plane into the ground. “We have to do something.” He says that “a group of us” are making a plan. [Longman, 2002, pp. 111] This indicates there would have been at least 19 minutes advance notice that a passenger takeover was likely, if the contents of these phone calls are being passed on to the right authorities. Note that by Burnett’s second call at 9:34 a.m., the FBI was already listening in. [Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001]
Entity Tags: Tom Burnett, Deena Burnett, Federal Bureau of Investigation
9:45 a.m.: FBI Listens as Passenger Todd Beamer Describes Flight 93 Take Over Plan
Todd Beamer. [Source: Family photo]
After having some trouble getting authorization to use an Airfone to call his family, passenger Todd Beamer is able to speak to Verizon phone representative Lisa Jefferson, with the FBI listening in. He talks for about 15 minutes. Beamer says he has been herded to the back of the plane along with nine other passengers and five flight attendants. A hijacker, who says he has a bomb strapped to his body, is guarding them. Twenty-seven passengers are being guarded by a hijacker in first class, which is separated from the rest of the aircraft by a curtain. One hijacker has gone into the cockpit. One passenger is dead (that leaves one passenger unaccounted for—presumably the man who made a call from the bathroom, thought to be Edward Felt). The two pilots are apparently dead. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/16/2001; Newsweek, 9/22/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Boston Globe, 11/23/2001] A conflicting version states that 27 passengers were in the back, and that Beamer saw four hijackers instead of just three. [Boston Globe, 11/23/2001] It is not clear if Tom Burnett’s first class section group is in contact with Todd Beamer’s coach section group or if there are two independent plans to take over the plane.
Entity Tags: Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lisa Jefferson
(9:46 a.m.): Flight 93 Hijackers Bring the Pilot Back In
According to the later-recovered Flight 93 cockpit voice recording, around this time one hijacker in the cockpit says to another, “Let the guys in now.” A vague instruction is given to bring the pilot back in. It’s not clear if this is a reference to an original pilot or a hijacker pilot. Investigators aren’t sure if the original pilots were quickly killed or allowed to live. [Longman, 2002, pp. 208]
(9:47 a.m.): Passenger Jeremy Glick Tells of Vote to Take Over Flight 93
On Flight 93, Jeremy Glick is still on the phone with his wife, Lyz. He tells her that the passengers are taking a vote if they should try to take over the plane or not. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001] He later says that all the men on the plane have voted to attack the hijackers. [Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001] When asked about weapons, he says they don’t have guns, just knives. This appears to contradict an earlier mention of guns. His wife gets the impression from him that the hijacker standing nearby, claiming to hold the bomb, would be easy to overwhelm. [Longman, 2002, pp. 153-154]
Entity Tags: Jeremy Glick, Lyz Glick
9:49 a.m.: Pittsburgh Flight Control Tower Evacuates
The FAA orders the Pittsburgh control tower evacuated. Shortly before the order, Cleveland flight controllers called Pittsburgh flight control to say that a plane is heading toward Pittsburgh and the pilot refuses to communicate. The plane is Flight 93. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/23/2001] Also, around this time, while Flight 93 is heading east, NEADS Commander Robert Marr hears that the FAA is evacuating its Cleveland Center. [Filson, 2004, pp. 73]
Entity Tags: Cleveland flight control, Pittsburgh flight control, Federal Aviation Administration
9:49 a.m.: FAA Headquarters Continues to Delay Decision on Contacting NORAD About Flight 93
According to the 9/11 Commission, the FAA Command Center has just twice warned FAA headquarters that United 93 is now “29 minutes out of Washington, D.C.” Someone at headquarters says to someone at the Command Center, “they’re pulling Jeff [last name unknown] away to go talk about United 93.” Command Center replies, “Uh, do we want to think about, uh, scrambling aircraft [NORAD fighters]?” FAA headquarters replies, “Uh, God, I don’t know.” Command Center says, “Uh, that’s a decision somebody’s gonna have to make probably, in the next ten minutes.” FAA headquarters answers, “Uh, ya know, everybody just left the room.” [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] This is 13 minutes since Cleveland flight control had asked the Command Center in vain to contact NORAD about Flight 93.
Entity Tags: North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Aviation Administration
9:49 a.m.: Fighters Ordered to Scramble Nationwide
In the words of the 9/11 Commission, the commander of NORAD (General Ralph Eberhart) directs “all air sovereignty aircraft to battle stations fully armed.” [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Apparently, this means all fighters with air defense missions are to be armed and ready to scramble. This may be connected to counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke’s claim that after the Pentagon is hit, he orders an aide, “Find out where the fighter planes are. I want Combat Air Patrol over every major city in this country. Now!” (see (Between 9:37-9:45 a.m.)) Another account says calls to bases to scramble don’t begin until about 10:01 a.m. (see 10:01 a.m.). [Toledo Blade, 12/9/2001] It has not been explained why this order wasn’t given much earlier. Calls from Air Force bases across the country offering to help had started “pouring into NORAD” shortly after 9:03 a.m. (see (After 9:03 a.m.)), when televised reports made an emergency situation clear. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/2002] With a couple of exceptions, other fighters do not actually start taking off until about 11:00 a.m.
Entity Tags: North American Aerospace Defense Command, Ralph Eberhart
9:50 a.m.: Sandy Bradshaw Tells of Preparations to Fight Three Guys with Knives
Sandra Bradshaw. [Source: Family photo]
Sandy Bradshaw calls her husband from Flight 93. She says, “Have you heard what’s going on? My flight has been hijacked. My flight has been hijacked with three guys with knives.” [Boston Globe, 11/23/2001] She tells him that some passengers are in the rear galley filling pitchers with hot water to use against the hijackers. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001]
Entity Tags: Sandy Bradshaw
9:53 a.m.: NSA Intercepts al-Qaeda Phone Call Predicting Fourth Attack
The National Security Agency (NSA) reportedly intercepts a phone call from one of bin Laden’s operatives in Afghanistan to a phone number in the Republic of Georgia. The caller says he has “heard good news” and that another target is still to come (presumably, the target Flight 93 is intended to hit). [CBS News, 9/4/2002] The caller is also supposed to say that the attackers are following through on “the doctor’s program.” This is said to be a reference to al-Qaeda’s number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has a doctorate in medicine. [New Yorker, 9/9/2002] Since the 9/11 crisis began, NSA translators have been told to focus on Middle Eastern intercepts and translate them as they are received instead of oldest first, as is the usual practice. This call is translated in the next hour or two, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld hears about it just after noon. [CBS News, 9/4/2002; Bamford, 2004, pp. 54]
Entity Tags: National Security Agency, Donald Rumsfeld, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda
9:53 a.m.: Hijackers Fear Passenger Retaliation
According to Flight 93’s cockpit voice recording, the hijackers grow concerned that the passengers might retaliate. One urges that the plane’s fire axe be held up to the cockpit door’s peephole to scare the passengers. [Longman, 2002, pp. 209-210]
9:53 a.m.: FAA Headquarters Still Only Talking About Telling NORAD of Flight 93 Hijack
According to the 9/11 Commission, FAA headquarters informs the FAA Command Center that the deputy director for air traffic services is talking to Deputy Administrator Monty Belger about scrambling aircraft after Flight 93. Yet in interviews with the commission, neither Belger nor the deputy director recall this discussion, and Belger subsequently e-mails the commission saying he does not believe the conversation took place. However, tape recordings reveal a staff person from headquarters at this time telling the Command Center, “Peter’s talking to Monte now about scrambling.” FAA headquarters is also informed that the flight is 20 miles northwest of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Incredibly, FAA headquarters has known since 9:34 A.M. about hijackers talking about a bomb on board the flight, and more evidence has since been passed on confirming a hijacking in progress. Still, reportedly, no one tells NORAD anything about the plane.
Entity Tags: Federal Aviation Administration, Monty Belger
9:54 a.m.: Tom Burnett Calls for Fourth Time; Details Plan to Take Control of Plane
Tom Burnett calls his wife, Deena, for the fourth and last time. In early reports of this call, he says, “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it.” [Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001; Boston Globe, 11/23/2001] However, in a later, more complete, account, he sounds much more upbeat. “It’s up to us. I think we can do it.” He adds, “Don’t worry, we’re going to do something.” He specifically mentions they plan to regain control of the airplane over a rural area. [Longman, 2002, pp. 118]
Entity Tags: Deena Burnett, Tom Burnett
(9:55-10:15 a.m.): Langley Fighters Finally Reach Washington; Accounts of Timing Are Contradictory
The three F-16s scrambled after Flight 77 from Langley, Virginia, at 9:30 a.m. finally reach Washington and the burning Pentagon. The 129 mile distance could theoretically be covered by the fighters in six minutes, but they’ve taken a wide detour over the ocean. The exact time they arrive is very unclear. NORAD originally claimed they arrive as soon as 9:49 a.m., but the 9/11 Commission implies they don’t arrive until shortly after 10:00 a.m., though no exact time is specified. [CNN, 9/17/2001; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/18/2001; New York Times, 9/15/2001; CBS News, 9/14/2001; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Press accounts of when the first fighters reach Washington are highly contradictory. Early news accounts of fighters arriving from Andrews Air Force Base “within minutes,” “a few moments,” or “just moments” after the Pentagon crash appear to have been accounts of these Langley fighters, since they apparently arrive before Andrews fighters do. [Daily Telegraph, 9/16/2001; Denver Post, 9/11/2001; ABC News, 9/11/2002] Yet other newspaper accounts inaccurately deny fighters from Andrews were deployed [USA Today, 9/16/2001] , and some deny Andrews even had fighters at all. [USA Today, 9/16/2001] Defense officials initially claimed, “There were no military planes in the skies over Washington until 15 to 20 minutes after the Pentagon was hit” —in other words, 9:53 a.m. to 9:58 a.m. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/14/2001] ABC News reports that by 10:00 a.m., “Dozens of fighters are buzzing in the sky” over Washington. [ABC News, 9/11/2002] Whereas the New York Times reports, “In the White House Situation Room and at the Pentagon, the response seemed agonizingly slow. One military official recalls hearing words to the effect of, ‘Where are the planes?’” The Pentagon insists it had air cover over its own building by 10 a.m., 15 minutes after the building was hit. However, witnesses, including a reporter for the New York Times who was headed toward the building, did not see any until “closer to 11.” [New York Times, 9/16/2001] It is likely, though not completely certain, that fighters would have reached Washington before Flight 93 did, had the plane not crashed.
Entity Tags: Pentagon
(After 9:55 a.m.): Langley Fighters Receive Vague Order to Protect White House
The Langley F-16s headed to Washington are told that all planes in the US have been ordered to land (that command was given at 9:45 a.m.). According to the New York Times, at some point after this, someone from the Secret Service gets on the radio and tells the pilots, “I want you to protect the White House at all costs.” [New York Times, 10/16/2001] F-16 pilot Honey (who is apparently Captain Craig Borgstrom) gives a similar, though less dramatic, account. At some point after the F-16s had set up a defensive perimeter over Washington, the lead pilot (again, Borgstrom) receives a garbled message about Flight 93 that isn’t heard by the other two pilots. “The message seemed to convey that the White House was an important asset to protect.” Honey says he is later told the message is, “Something like, ‘Be aware of where it is, and it could be a target.’” Another pilot, codenamed Lou, says Honey tells him, “I think the Secret Service told me this.” [Longman, 2002, pp. 76] Both Lou and Honey state they are never given clear and direct orders to shoot down any plane that day. [Longman, 2002, pp. 222]
Entity Tags: Craig Borgstrom, Secret Service
(After 9:56 a.m.): Bush and Cheney Confer on Actions to Be Taken
After flying off in Air Force One, President Bush talks on the phone to Vice President Cheney. Cheney recommends that Bush authorize the military to shoot down any plane under control of the hijackers. “I said, ‘You bet,’” Bush later recalls. “We had a little discussion, but not much.” [Newsday, 9/23/2001; USA Today, 9/16/2001; Washington Post, 1/27/2002; CBS News, 9/11/2002] The 9/11 Commission claims that Cheney tells Bush three planes are still missing and one has hit the Pentagon. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Bush later says that he doesn’t make any major decisions about how to respond to the 9/11 attacks until after Air Force One takes off [Wall Street Journal, 3/22/2004] , which fits with this account of Bush approving shootdown authorization shortly after take off.
Entity Tags: Richard ("Dick") Cheney, George W. Bush
9:57 a.m.: Passengers Begin Attempt to Regain Control of Flight 93
One of the hijackers in the cockpit asks if anything is going on, apparently meaning outside the cockpit. “Fighting,” the other says. [Longman, 2002, pp. 210] An analysis of the cockpit flight recording suggests that the passenger struggle actually starts in the front of the plane (where Mark Bingham and Tom Burnett are sitting) about a minute before a struggle in the back of the plane (where Todd Beamer is sitting). [Observer, 12/2/2001] Officials later theorize that the Flight 93 passengers reach the cockpit using a food cart as a battering ram and a shield. They claim digital enhancement of the cockpit voice recorder reveals the sound of plates and glassware crashing around 9:57 a.m. [Newsweek, 11/25/2001]
Entity Tags: Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham
(9:57 a.m. and After): Passengers and Hijackers Struggle in the Flight 93 Cockpit
“In the cockpit! In the cockpit!” is heard. The hijackers are reportedly heard telling each other to hold the door. In English, someone outside shouts, “Let’s get them.” The hijackers are also praying “Allah o akbar” (God is great). One of the hijackers suggests shutting off the oxygen supply to the cabin (which apparently would not have had any effect since the plane was already below 10,000 feet). A hijacker says, “Should we finish?” Another one says, “Not yet.” The sounds of the passengers get clearer, and in unaccented English “Give it to me!” is heard. “I’m injured,” someone says in English. Then something like “roll it up” and “lift it up” is heard. Passengers’ relatives believe this sequence proves that the passengers did take control of the plane. [MSNBC, 7/30/2002; Daily Telegraph, 8/6/2002; Newsweek, 11/25/2001; Observer, 12/2/2001; Longman, 2002, pp. 270-271]
9:58 a.m.: Todd Beamer Ends Call; He and Others in Rear of Plane Join Takeover Attempt
Todd Beamer ends his long phone call with a Verizon phone company representative saying that they plan “to jump” the hijacker in the back of the plane who has the bomb. In the background, the phone operator already could hear an “awful commotion” of people shouting, and women screaming, “Oh my God,” and “God help us.” He lets go of the phone but leaves it connected. His famous last words are said to nearby passengers: “Are you ready guys? Let’s roll” (alternate version: “You ready? Okay. Let’s roll”). [Longman, 2002, pp. 204; Newsweek, 9/22/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001] Sounds of fighting in the back of the plane where Beamer is can be heard about a minute after such sounds in the front. [Observer, 12/2/2001]
Entity Tags: Todd Beamer
9:58 a.m.: CeeCee Lyles Cries they’re Doing It; Strange Sounds Follow
CeeCee Lyles. [Source: Family photo]
CeeCee Lyles says to her husband, “Aah, it feels like the plane’s going down.” Her husband Lorne says, “What’s that?” She replies, “I think they’re going to do it. they’re forcing their way into the cockpit” (an alternate version says, “they’re getting ready to force their way into the cockpit”). A little later she screams, then says, “they’re doing it! they’re doing it! they’re doing it!” Her husband hears more screaming in the background, then he hears a “whooshing sound, a sound like wind,” then more screaming, and then the call breaks off. [Longman, 2002, pp. 180; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001]
Entity Tags: CeeCee Lyles
9:58 a.m.: Flight 93 Passengers Run to First Class
Sandy Bradshaw tells her husband, “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.” She had been speaking with him since 9:50 a.m. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Boston Globe, 11/23/2001]
Entity Tags: Sandy Bradshaw
9:58 a.m.: Ed Felt Said to Describe Explosion and White Smoke from Bathroom Call
Edward Felt. [Source: Family photo]
A man dials emergency 9-1-1 from a bathroom on the plane, crying, “We’re being hijacked, We’re being hijacked!” [Toronto Sun, 9/16/2001] The operator reports, “He heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane and we lost contact with him.” [ABC News, 9/11/2001; ABC News, 9/11/2001; Associated Press, 9/12/2001] One minute after the call begins, the line goes dead. [Pittsburgh Channel, 12/6/2001] Investigators believe this was Edward Felt, the only passenger not accounted for on phone calls. He was sitting in first class, so he probably was in the bathroom near the front of the plane. At one point, he appears to have peeked out the bathroom door during the call. [Longman, 2002, pp. 193-194, 196] The mentions of smoke and explosions on the recording of his call are now denied. [Longman, 2002, pp. 264] The person who took Felt’s call is not allowed to speak to the media. [Mirror, 9/12/2002]
Entity Tags: Edward Felt
9:58 a.m.: Fighters to New York City Possibly Scrambled 56 Minutes Late, According to Giuliani and Early Reports
According to New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s 9/11 Commission testimony in 2004, about one minute before the first WTC tower falls, he is able to reach the White House by phone. Speaking to Chris Henick, deputy political director to President Bush, Giuliani learns the Pentagon has been hit and he asks about fighter cover over New York City. Henick replies, “The jets were dispatched 12 minutes ago and they should be there very shortly, and they should be able to defend you against further attack.” [9/11 Commission, 5/19/2004] If this is true, it means fighters scramble from the Otis base around 9:46 a.m., not at 8:52 a.m., as most other accounts have claimed. While Giuliani’s account may seem wildly off, it is consistent with reports shortly after 9/11. In the first few days, acting Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers, and a NORAD spokesman, Marine Corps Major Mike Snyder, claimed no fighters were scrambled anywhere until after the Pentagon was hit. [US Congress, 9/13/2001; Boston Globe, 9/15/2001] This story only changed on the evening of September 14, 2001, when CBS reported, “contrary to early reports, US Air Force jets did get into the air on Tuesday while the attacks were under way.” [CBS News, 9/14/2001]
Entity Tags: Richard B. Myers, Chris Henick, Mike Snyder, Pentagon, Rudolph ("Rudy") Giuliani
9:59 a.m.: White House Finally Requests Continuity of Government Plans, Air Force One Escort, and Fighters for Washington
The 9/11 Commission Reports, “An Air Force Lieutenant Colonel working in the White House Military Office [joins] the [NMCC] conference and state[s] that he had just talked to Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. The White House request[s]: (1) the implementation of Continuity of Government measures, (2) fighter escorts for Air Force One, and (3) the establishment of a fighter combat air patrol over Washington, D.C.” [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke gave the Continuity of Government orders a few minutes before from inside the White House (see (Between 9:45-9:55 a.m.)). This is consistent with Bush’s claim that he doesn’t make any major decisions about the 9/11 attacks until shortly before 10:00 a.m.
Entity Tags: Stephen J. Hadley, Richard A. Clarke, National Military Command Center
10:00 a.m.: Flight 93 Transponder Gives Brief Signal
The transponder for Flight 93 briefly turns back on. The plane is at 7,000 feet. The transponder stays on until about 10:03 a.m. It is unclear why the transponder signal briefly returns. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; Guardian, 10/17/2001]
(10:00 a.m.): Elizabeth Wainio Says they’re Rushing the Cockpit
Elizabeth Wainio. [Source: Family photo]
Flight 93 passenger Elizabeth Wainio says to her stepmother, “Mom, they’re rushing the cockpit. I’ve got to go. Bye,” then hangs up. This may have been a delayed reaction to events, since her stepmother says that in their 10-minute call, Elizabeth was in a trancelike state, appeared to have resigned herself to death, was breathing in a strange manner, and even said she felt she was leaving her body. The timing for this call is also approximate, and variously reported as taking place just before or just after 10:00 a.m. [MSNBC, 7/30/2002; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001]
Entity Tags: Elizabeth Wainio
10:00 a.m.: Hijackers Respond to Passenger Revolt
According to the 9/11 Commission, the hijacker pilot, presumably Ziad Jarrah, has been rolling the plane sharply to the left and right in an attempt to prevent passengers from reaching the cockpit. At this time, he stabilizes the plane and asks another hijacker, “Is that it? Shall we finish it off?” Another voice answers, “No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off.” The pilot starts pitching the nose of the airplane up and down. A few seconds later a passenger’s voice can be heard saying, “In the cockpit. If we don’t we’ll die!” Another voice says, “Roll it!” which some speculate could be a reference to pushing a foot cart into the cockpit door. By 10:01, the pilot stops the pitching and says, “Allah o akbar! Allah o akbar!” (“God is great”), then asks, “Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?” Another hijacker responds, “Yes, put it in it, and pull it down.” [New York Times, 7/22/2004; San Francisco Chronicle, 7/23/2004]
Entity Tags: Ziad Jarrah
(Between 10:00-10:06 a.m.): Flight 93 Cell | | | | Cowboy | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:26 am Post subject: |
| 
So we are faced with your theory vs hard evidence....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/26/national/main502203.shtml
Flight 93 Remains Returned
SOMERSET, Pa., Feb. 26, 2002
(AP) The remains and belongings of 40 people who died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a western Pennsylvania field Sept. 11 will be returned to their survivors, the county coroner said.
The remains of all but the plane's four hijackers will be placed into caskets. The first sets of remains were shipped Monday and the rest will be delivered when the victims' survivors are contacted, Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller said.
"Everybody's concerned about remains that they can have a memorial for," Miller said.
Officials identified remains through fingerprints, dental records and DNA. They had been stored at a temporary morgue in Somerset.
The hijackers' remains will stay in the county, Miller said, and may eventually be turned over to FBI investigators.
Relatives of most of the victims of the Sept. 11 crash met with Miller on Saturday at an Iselin, N.J., hotel to discuss what to do with the remains and personal effects.
Flight 93, bound from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, was one of four planes hijacked on the day of terror that saw the World Trade Center and the Pentagon struck. Some passengers made phone calls indicating they were going to fight off the terrorists. All 44 people were killed when the plane - believed by officials to have been headed for a Washington, D.C., target - went down in a field about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
About 400 volunteers searched the crash site, but Miller said he isn't sure that all remains have been recovered. Officials may search the site again in the spring, he said.
The crash site, which is now guarded by county deputies, could become a national memorial, said Susan Hankinson, the county's coordinator of post-crash affairs. | | | | Cowboy | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:29 am Post subject: |
| | Above was accidently duplicated in this string. I got here via "search" and did not realize it was in the 9/11 string. | | | | Nobody | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:04 am Post subject: |
| Would you care to explain just why the Hjers weren't picked up on the very heavy CCTV surveillance at the airports and just why the BBC would admit to this without retracting the article? I mean, let's face it, it's the most hideous attack on US soil and they don't take the link down........why?
Sunday, 23 September, 2001, 12:30 GMT 13:30 UK
Hijack 'suspects' alive and well
Waleed Al Shehri left the US a year ago, he says.
Another of the men named by the FBI as a hijacker in the suicide attacks on Washington and New York has turned up alive and well.
The identities of four of the 19 suspects accused of having carried out the attacks are now in doubt.
Saudi Arabian pilot Waleed Al Shehri was one of five men that the FBI said had deliberately crashed American Airlines flight 11 into the World Trade Centre on 11 September.
His photograph was released, and has since appeared in newspapers and on television around the world.
Now he is protesting his innocence from Casablanca, Morocco.
He told journalists there that he had nothing to do with the attacks on New York and Washington, and had been in Morocco when they happened. He has contacted both the Saudi and American authorities, according to Saudi press reports.
He acknowledges that he attended flight training school at Daytona Beach in the United States, and is indeed the same Waleed Al Shehri to whom the FBI has been referring.
But, he says, he left the United States in September last year, became a pilot with Saudi Arabian airlines and is currently on a further training course in Morocco.
Full BBC article here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stm
So,
1 - Where's the airport videos?
2 - Why haven't the BBC retracted this very important article?............ | | | | Cowboy | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 3:31 am Post subject: |
| | Quote: | | Would you care to explain just why the Hjers weren't picked up on the very heavy CCTV surveillance at the airports |
Actually they were where there was CCTV coverage. There was not the same coverage pre-9/11 that there is now.
| Quote: | | and just why the BBC would admit to this without retracting the article? |
Why they do not retract is irrelevant. It was simply a case of the BBC claiming the equivalent of that just because they found a "John Smith" somewhere, "John Smith" could not have died in an auto accident where a fatality was cerified to be "John Smith". | | | | DanielDives | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:28 am Post subject: |
| Cowboy,
There is no theory. The entire time-line is based upon verifiable facts.
The debris field of a crash is only wide if the airplane breaks up in the air. | | | | Nobody | | Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:30 am Post subject: |
| | Quote: | | Why they do not retract is irrelevant. |
1 - Irrelevant? Pray, please explain.
2 - This is not John Smith, we're told that the the perpetrators of the murder of 3,000 people and the unleashing of the US & UK's military slaughter machine on the people's of Afghanistan and Iraq resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and maiming. Plus not forgetting the draconian laws which have been installed since that event.
'Irrelevant' is a definite misnomer.
3 - The Pentagon had 45 camera's on its walls, where's the footage of any plane coming in?
4 - What happened to the missile defence?
5 - Why were video tapes confiscated and never handed back by the feds from a nearby garage and hotel?
6 - Where are the black boxes? | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
