The 33 passengers and 7 crew members of United Airlines Flight 93 were already aboard the Boeing 757 for the morning trip from Newark International to San Francisco International when the terror began….when United Airline Flights 11, 77 and 175 were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists and slammed into both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
A little over 45 minutes after take-off, four terrorists took over the cockpit, with the struggling pilot Jason Dahl able to de-activate the autopilot before he and First Officer LeRoy Homer, Jr were murdered.
Jason wasn’t supposed to fly that day.
He rearranged his September 11 flight with the scheduled pilot, so he and his wife could travel to London to celebrate their upcoming fifth wedding anniversary.
When he boarded Flight 93 that morning he carried with him, as he had for years, a small box of rocks that his son collected and gifted to his father.
Leroy was a native New Yorker, who received his private pilot's license when he was just 16. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1987, he served in both Desert Shield and Desert Storm and afterwards he volunteered to fly many humanitarian missions to and in Somalia.
He and his wife were preparing celebrations for their only childs first birthday.
They stabbed and killed one passenger and then made flight attendant Debbie Welsh kneel.
Debbie often delivered leftover airline meals and warm winter clothing to homeless people in the Manhattan neighborhood where she and her husband lived.
Her last words were, "Don't, don't. Please, I don't want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die."
They killed her anyway, in front of the first class passengers.
Many wanted to fight back, but were kept at bay by a terrorist with what he claimed was a bomb, attached to his torso, holding a button at the end of a wire.
They had little reason to doubt it.
The passengers knew the plane was turned around and heading back East.
It was then, through phone calls with loved ones, that they heard the news, and the true gravity of the situation became clear.
Their plane was going to be used as a weapon….as a traveling bomb….to be crashed somewhere.
To murder, maim and destroy.
Deena Burnett received a phone call from her husband 38 year old, 6’ 2” Tom.
“We’re waiting until we’re over a rural area.
We’re going to take back the airplane.
If they’re going to crash this plane... It's up to us. I think we can do it. Don't worry, we're going to do something.
I love you.”
Passenger and National Judo champion 31 year old 6’2” Jeremy Glick called his wife Lyzbeth.
Recounts Lyzbeth...
“Jeremy said there were three other guys as big as him, and they were going to jump on the hijacker with the bomb and try to take back the plane. He asked if I thought that was a good idea.’
‘We debated a little bit. He said that they were going to take a vote and asked what did I think he should do. I said, “You need to do it.”’
Bravery and sacrifice abounded that day.
‘He was joking, “I have my butter knife from breakfast.” Despite everything, he was able to be a little bit humorous. Then he said, “OK, I’m going to put the phone down. I’ll be right back.
I love you.”’
32 year-old Todd Beamer was to fly on an earlier flight to his business meeting but decided to spend an extra few days with his family, his wife Lisa being pregnant with their third child.
He had a conversation with Verizon operator Lisa Jefferson, choosing not to speak with his wife.
He didn’t want to upset her.
Together, the two recited the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm, with other passengers joining in.
By that time, FBI agents were on the call.
Todd told them the details, the weapons, the dead amongst passengers and crew.
He then implored Lisa a last request.
"If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them."
She told him that of course she would.
She then heard him talking with his fellow passengers, and his last words…
"Are you ready?
Okay.
Let's roll."
The fourth man who would be in the lead of storming the cockpit was 31 year old Mark Bingham, who on his off-time played for the gay-inclusive rugby team San Francisco Fog RFC.
All 6’4” and 235 pounds of him.
He got through to his aunt.
“This is Mark.
I want to let you guys know that i love you, in case i don’t see you again.”
Right in the scrum was Flight Attendant CeeCee Ross Lyles.
CeeCee worked as a cop for the Fort Pierce P.D. for six years, going from patrol officer to detective in that time, before leaving it all behind to work for United.
She was also known for chasing down and tackling criminals in a full sprint.
She called her husband Lorne before they charged the cockpit.
From PPG...
CeeCee dialed home twice on a cell phone to tell Lorne of the hijacking and of her love for him and their four boys. Calmly, she prayed to see her husband's face again, then beseeched God to forgive and welcome her home -- along with everyone else on the plane.
27-year-old Honor Elizabeth Wainio got her unusual, but incredibly apt name, from her nickname for her grandma.
She was a district manager for the Discovery Channel and was, amongst many things, the captain of her field hockey team.
Elizabeth was a die-hard Orioles fan who wore O's gear even after moving to the New York area, "just to irritate" the Yankees fans.
She was also a top motivator, and she was amongst the group that planned the taking back control of the plane, and taking back control of their destiny.
She got a hold of her stepmother, who recalls her last words, “They're getting ready to break into the cockpit. I have to go. I love you. Good-bye. I'm gonna be with grandma."
From wikipedia....
Beamer, along with Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, and Jeremy Glick, formed a plan to take the plane back from the hijackers.[9] They were joined by other passengers, including Lou Nacke, Rich Guadagno, Alan Beaven, Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Linda Gronlund, and William Cashman, along with flight attendants Sandra Bradshaw and Cee Cee Ross-Lyles, in discussing their options and voting on a course of action, ultimately deciding to storm the cockpit and take over the plane.[1] Beamer told Jefferson that the group was planning to "jump on" the hijackers and fly the plane into the ground before the hijackers' plan could be followed through.
They knew they were going to die….but there was always that possibility.
That small chance of survival.
But better they crash the plane into a field then let the plane reach it’s deadly intended destination.
They charged as if their life, and the life of others, depended on it.
Men and women.
They neutralized the two terrorists outside the cockpit.
The bomb was a fake.
They broke into the cockpit.
They partially tore the steel door off with their hands, and rammed it over and again with a trolly
They neutralized one terrorist and fought for control of the plane with the last of them.
The cockpit recorder recorded Tom saying, “I’m injured.”
According to the 9/11 Commission Report, after the plane's voice data recorder was recovered, it revealed pounding and crashing sounds against the cockpit door and shouts and screams in English. "Let's get them!" a passenger cries. A hijacker shouts, "Allahu akbar". Jarrah repeatedly pitched the plane to knock passengers off their feet, but the passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:17, a male passenger said, "Turn it up!" A second later, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" At 10:02:33, Jarrah was heard to plead, "Hey! Hey! Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me."
Even though a re enactment….this is hard to watch.
Desperate brothers and sisters are fighting for their lives.
The filmmakers used everything at their disposal for accuracy.
So, this is pretty much how it played out.
35 minutes from the start of the hijacking…...five minutes since the passengers attacked back….
...the plane crashed into a rural field in Stonycreek Township, Penn.
They were only 130 miles away from Washington, DC.
Less than five minutes.
It would have been so so much worse.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of more lives lost.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of more lives saved.
The very very best of us.
*A promise kept.*
From the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette…..
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At the entrance to the Flight 93 National Memorial, at the spot of the crash, stands a 93-foot tower.
It holds 40 wind chimes, one for each passenger and crew member on the plane. Each chime is 5- to 9-feet long and each has a different tone.
"It's a way to hear their voices," said Honor’s father Ben.
"You listen to those bells and you can pick out one sound and say, 'that's my daughter. Or that's my husband,' or whoever your loved one was.
It's keeping them alive."
We cherish the memory of those who died resisting, and those who died in terror.
Forgive my not honouring each and every person on that flight, as is their due.
They all certainly well deserve it.
Maybe for next year, God willing.
A somber day of remembrance, friends.
Maybe like all these brothers and sisters did in their last moments…..may i suggest considering making a call to someone special, and telling them that you love them?
Be safe.
And be well.