Flight 93 Comes Under Attack
United Airlines Flight 93, a regularly scheduled early-morning nonstop flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, departed Newark International Airport at 8:42 a.m., just minutes before the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center. The flight’s takeoff had been delayed for about 25 minutes because of heavy air traffic.
The plane carried seven crew members and 33 passengers, less than half its passenger capacity. Also on the flight were four hijackers who had boarded with knives and possibly box cutters. The plane’s late departure had disrupted the hijackers’ timeline for launching their attack; unlike the hijackers on the other three planes, they did not attempt to gain control of the aircraft until about 46 minutes into the flight. Meanwhile, Ed Ballinger, a flight dispatcher for United Airlines, was taking steps to warn his flights of possible cockpit intrusions.
At 9:19 a.m., Ballinger informed pilots of the attacks on the World Trade Center; Flight 93 received his transmission at 9:23 a.m. Captain Jason Dahl responded at 9:26 a.m. to request clarification. At roughly 9:28 a.m., the hijackers stormed the plane’s cockpit, and air traffic controllers heard two radio transmissions that included sounds of a struggle and a voice calling “Mayday.” At 9:32 a.m., a hijacker, later identified as Ziad Jarrah, a trained pilot, was heard over the cockpit voice recorder directing the passengers to sit down and stating that there was a bomb aboard the plane. Flight data show that Jarrah then reset the autopilot, turning the plane around to head back east.
Flight 93's Passengers Fight Back
Huddled in the back of the plane, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 made a series of calls using Airfones and cellphones, informing family members and officials on the ground of the plane’s hijacking. When they learned what had happened to the three other hijacked flights in New York City and Washington, D.C., the passengers realized that their plane was involved in a larger terrorist plot and would likely be used to carry out another attack on U.S. soil.
After a brief discussion, the passengers decided to fight back against their hijackers, informing several people on the ground of their plans. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett Jr., told his wife over the phone, “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.”
Another passenger, Todd Beamer, was heard over an open line saying, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were: “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.”
At 9:57 a.m., the passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 began their counterattack, as recorded by the cockpit voice recorder. In response, the hijacker piloting the plane began to roll the aircraft, pitching it up and down to throw the charging passengers off balance. Worried that the passengers would soon break through to the cockpit, the hijackers decided to crash the plane before reaching their target. At 10:02 a.m., a voice was recorded saying, “Yes, put it in it, and pull it down.” The airplane then rolled onto its back and crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at about 580 mph.
Flight 93’s intended target is not definitively known, but the 9/11 Commission concluded that the hijackers were likely targeting either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The passengers and crew members who fought back are credited with averting additional deaths on 9/11.
