Page 17 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - September 2009

17 The Story of Flight 93 17 The Story of Flight 93 Passengers on Flight 93 hijacked plane might have been bound for the Washington. But passengers who managed to Passengers on Flight 93 May Have Struggled with Capitol or Camp David, the presidential retreat call out on cellular phones and on-board May Have Struggled with in Thurmont, Maryland, 85 miles southeast of airphones suggested they were about to thwart Hijackers the crash site. any such plan. Hijackers The participants "I know we're all going to die -- there's said newspaper September 12 2001 discussed a possible shoot- down of the aircraft. three of us who are going to do something about September 12 2001 But the congressional leaders soon learned that it,'' passenger Thomas Burnett told his wife SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (Reuters) - the plane had already crashed. Deena just before the crash, according to the Passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 may United Airlines said in a release posted San Francisco Chronicle. have struggled with hijackers aboard the only on its Web site that it would advance an initial He then said, 'I love you, honey,' and one of four hijacked airliners not to hit a U.S. sum of $25,000 to the families of victims on that was the end of conversation,'' the Burnett landmark during Tuesday's deadly assault on board two flights involved in Tuesday's tragedy. family's priest, Rev. Frank Colacicco, told the New York and Washington, a victim's relative [] newspaper. said on Wednesday. The National Transportation Safety Alice Hoglan of San Francisco said her FBI Does Not Rule Out Board was expected to conduct a flyover of the 31-year-old son, Mark Bingham, called her by scene to verify the full extent of the debris field, air-phone 15 minutes before the Boeing 757 Shootdown of Pennsylvania which was sealed off to outsiders and the media crashed and said the plane had been taken over Plane by an army of Pennsylvania state troopers. [] by three men claiming to have a bomb. "We have it from other people, another September 13 2001 man on the aircraft who called his wife, who Flight Data Recorder Found said he and some other passengers were hoping SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (Reuters) - at Pennsylvania Crash Site to get at these guys somehow,'' Hoglan, a United Federal investigators said on Thursday they September 13 2001 Airlines flight attendant who has been could not rule out the possibility that a United questioned by the FBI, told NBC's ''Today'' Airlines jetliner that crashed in rural western SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (Reuters) - A show. Pennsylvania during this week's attacks on New search crew found the flight data recorder on "This was the only flight of the four that York and the Pentagon was shot down. Thursday from the hijacked United Airlines did not reach its target, which they believed to "We have not ruled out that,'' FBI agent be Camp David, and that gives us reason to Bill Crowley told a news conference when plane that crashed in Pennsylvania after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the believe that perhaps Mark was able to help save asked about reports that a U.S. fighter jet may the lives of people on the ground.'' have fired on the hijacked Boeing 757. "We Pentagon, raising hopes of important new clues to what happened aboard the Boeing 757. Hoglan said her conversation with her haven't ruled out anything yet.'' son took place soon after three other jetliners "It's kind of a loaded question. We're quickly The so-called black box, which was National the to transported plowed into the World Trade Center in New basically at the infancy (of the investigation),'' York and the Pentagon near Washington. Crowley added. "We haven't certainly come to Transportation Safety Board in Washington for analysis, could shed light on what happened "The FBI asked us if we heard Mark that conclusion either.'' aboard San Francisco-bound Flight 93 before mention anything besides a bomb. He made no The Defense Department on Tuesday it crashed on Tuesday near a wooded area 80 mention of knives or box cutters or guns or any vigorously denied reports suggesting the U.S. miles southeast of Pittsburgh. other weapons,'' Hoglan said. military could have downed the hijacked flight All 45 people on board the flight lost "He was forward in the aircraft, could in an effort to prevent it from reaching a target, their lives. probably be in full view of everything that was perhaps in Washington. FBI agent Bill Crowley could not say going on, probably saw what happened in the United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed whether the data recorder was in working order. cockpit.'' with 45 people on board, had been en route to United's Flight 93, bound for San San Francisco fromNewark, New Jersey, when The device, discovered in the crash-impact Francisco from Newark, New Jersey, crashed it veered off course over northeastern Ohio and crater at about 4:20 p.m., is designed to monitor near a strip mine at 10:06 a.m. Tuesday in a headed back southeast toward Pittsburgh. It and record the operations of in-flight systems. The voice recorder, which investigators wooded section of Somerset County, about 80 crashed 80 miles southeast of that city. miles southeast of Pittsburgh, apparently killing Pennsylvania state police officials said hope will reveal conversations and events that occurred in the plane's cockpit, was still all 45 people on board. on Thursday debris from the plane had been Eight minutes earlier, emergency found up to 8 miles away in a residential missing. We're trying determine what to officials in neighboring Westmoreland County community where local media have quoted happened, and this development that just said they received a cell phone call from another residents as speaking of a second plane in the occurred is going to help a lot. I think it will passenger who said the plane had been hijacked. area and burning debris falling from the sky. answer a lot of questions,'' Crowley said. The impact was so powerful that police Crowley said authorities have not yet Meanwhile, search crews began moving investigators who cordoned off the site as a found the plane's crucial voice and flight data human remains from the debris field to a crime scene on Tuesday reported finding no recorders, but that teams were still searching. pieces of debris larger than a phone book, and "We've not located the black box,'' he said. makeshift morgue set up in a nearby armory. Every piece of tissue that's there will be no bodies. ''We're confident and we will keep working on it.'' given a unique number and put into the ALL-OUT SEARCH FOR FLIGHT DATA The wooded crash scene was likely to computer,'' said Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic RECORDERS provide investigators of Tuesday's deadly anthropologist from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and He was reluctant to say whether DNA Emergency officials said 150 FBI agents the Pentagon with their best chance of and a team from the National Transportation recovering working data recorders. analysis, dental records and fingerprints would identify everyone on board the flight, and noted Safety Board were due on Wednesday to mount The data recorders could provide an that identifying the remains of the hijackers an all-out search for the aircraft's voice and invaluable account of what occurred in the would depend on the availability of usable flight data recorders that may have recorded plane's cockpit after the flight turned southeast records. what happened on board the plane. on Tuesday morning. Families of the victims were expected to The so-called black boxes could include Flight 93, which crashed near a strip the voices of the alleged hijackers and provide mine, was the only one of four hijacked aircraft begin arriving soon in western Pennsylvania. Flight 93, which crashed soon after three evidence of who was flying the plane. not to hit a U.S. landmark. The Washington Post reported on Federal officials believe hijackers other jetliners slammed into the World Trade Wednesday that leaders of Congress were told planned to crash the plane into the Camp David Center and the Pentagon, was the only hijacked at a briefing by the Capitol Police that the presidential retreat in Maryland or a target in plane not to hit a U.S. landmark. That fact has brought intense speculation (Con’t Page 18)