9/11 is a date that will forever live in infamy in the United States and the rest of the world. On this day in 2001, four suicide terrorist attacks were carried out by members of al-Qaeda. Four commercial airlines were hijacked by terrorists.
Two of them were deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, while another crashed into the Pentagon. The last one was meant to crash into a government building in Washington D.C., but it did not happen thanks to the bravery of the passengers and crew of the flight.
On the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we remember the heroism of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93.
United Airlines Flight 93: The Basics
United Airlines Flight 93, according to the National Park Service website, was a Boeing 757, which has the capacity of 182 passengers.
According to an article by History, Flight 93 "a regularly scheduled early-morning nonstop flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California." On the morning of September 11, 2001, it departed Newark at 8:42 a.m. after a 45 minute delay. It carried 33 passengers as well as seven crew members.
What they did not know at that time was that four hijackers have also been able to board the plane with knives as well as box cutters.
The Terrorists Take Overtake the Cockpit
By 9:28 a.m., around 46 minutes after the Flight 93 took off from Newark, the four terrorists successfully took control of the plane's cockpit. One of the hijackers had previously trained as a pilot.
Instead of heading to its original destination, the hijackers turned the plane southeast. United Airlines Flight 93 was now heading for Washington D.C.
The passengers and crew of the flight were all made to stay at the back of the plane. Using cell phones and airphones, they managed to inform their loved ones as well as the authorities that the flight has been hijacked.
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The Passengers, Crew Fight Back
The passengers and crew soon learned about the other 9/11 attacks and, according to History, a vote was taken and the group eventually decided to fight back against the hijackers of the plane.
"Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water," History narrates in its article. "Her last words to him were: 'Everyone's running to first class. I've got to go. Bye.'"
At 9:57 a.m., the plan of the passengers and crew were put into action. The hijakcers then decided to roll the aircraft and pitch the nose up and down in the hopes that it will stop the passengers and crew of Flight 93 from fighting back.
Unwilling to risk losing control of the cockpit, the terrorists chose to crash the plane into an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. No one survived the crash.
The Heroes of United Airlines Flight 93
It goes without saying that more people could have died had the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into the terrorists' intended target. The bravery of the passengers and crew, without a doubt, saved more lives.
Today, on the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we remember these heroes. According to the website of Friends of Flight 93, they are:
- Alan Anthony Beaven
- Andrew Garcia
- CeeCee Ross Lyles
- Christine Ann Snyder
- Colleen L. Fraser
- Deborah Jacobs Welsh
- Deora Frances Bodley
- Donald Arthur Peterson
- Donald Freeman Greene
- Edward Porter Felt
- Christian Adams
- Georgine Rose Corrigan
- Hilda Marcin
- Honor Elizabeth Wainio
- Jane C. Folger
- Jason M. Dahl
- Jean Hoadley Peterson
- Jeremy Logan Glick
- John Talignani
- Joseph DeLuca
- Kristin Osterholm White Gould
- Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas
- Linda Gronlund
- LeRoy Homer
- Lorraine G. Bay
- Louis J. Nacke II
- Mark Bingham
- Mark David Rothenberg
- Marrior R. Briton
- Nicole Carol Miller
- Patricia Cushing
- Patrick Joseph Driscoll
- Richard J. Guadagno
- Sandy Waugh Bradshaw
- Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
- Todd M. Beamer
- Toshiya Kuge
- Waleska Martinez
- Wanda Anita Green
- William Joseph Cashman
