FBI: Flight 93

[southerngale]

This in no way diminishes the heroism of the passengers of that flight. They stormed the cockpit which caused the crash, thus saving the White House and many many lives. I will never forget!!

Investigators: Sept. 11 Hijackers, Not Passengers, Deliberately Crashed Flight 93

Friday, August 08, 2003
FOX NEWS

WASHINGTON — One of the hijackers in the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 ordered the terrorist-pilot Ziad Jarrah to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania because of a passenger uprising in the cabin, U.S. investigators now believe.

Thirty-three passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers died in the horrific, heroic crash.

The new theory, based on the government's analysis of cockpit recordings, discounts the popular perception of insurgent passengers grappling with terrorists to seize the plane's controls.

The government's findings -- laid out deep within the report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that was sent to Congress last month -- aim to resolve one of the enduring mysteries of the deadliest terror attacks in U.S. history: What happened in the final minutes aboard Flight 93?

The FBI strenuously maintains that its analysis does not diminish the heroism of passengers who -- with the words "Let's roll" -- apparently rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overtake the hijackers.

President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have regularly praised the courage of those aboard Flight 93, some of whom told family members by telephone they were planning to storm the cockpit.

"While no one will ever know exactly what transpired in the final minutes of Flight 93, every shred of evidence indicates this plane crashed because of the heroic actions of the passengers," FBI spokeswoman Susan Whitson said Thursday.

Citing transcripts of the still-secret cockpit recordings, FBI Director Robert Mueller told congressional investigators in a closed briefing last year that, minutes before Flight 93 hit the ground, one of the hijackers "advised Jarrah to crash the plane and end the passengers' attempt to retake the airplane."

Jarrah is thought to have been the terrorist-pilot because he was the only of the four hijackers aboard known to have a pilot's license. The congressional report describes the hijackers wearing bandanas and carrying knives, and several passengers reported seeing the captain and co-pilot lying on the floor of the first-class section, presumably dead.

Mueller's description was disclosed in a brief passage far into the 858-page report to Congress. Previous statements by FBI and other government officials have been ambiguous about what occurred in the cockpit.

The same cockpit recording was played privately in April 2002 for family members of victims aboard Flight 93, and the FBI also provided them with its best effort at producing an understandable transcript.

Some family members indicated afterward they were led to believe that passengers used a food cart as a shield and successfully broke into the cockpit.

"It is totally obvious listening to that flight recorder that they made it into the cockpit," said Deena Burnett, who lost her husband, Thomas E. Burnett Jr., on Flight 93.

"You cannot listen to the tape and understand it any other way," Burnett said Thursday in a telephone interview.

She declined to discuss specific things she heard on the tape because U.S. prosecutors have asked families not to describe the recording. She said she does remember hearing a hijacker telling Jarrah in Arabic to crash the plane deliberately, as Mueller described, and Jarrah refusing to crash it.

Burnett also said U.S. authorities, including Assistant U.S. Attorney David Novak, told families explicitly in April 2002 that the recording indicates passengers actually made their way into the cockpit.

The FBI has been loath to publicly put forward a contradictory theory out of sensitivity to the families and because of uncertainty about what happened.

People who have heard the recording describe it as nearly indecipherable, containing static noises, cockpit alarms and wind interspersed with cries in English and Arabic. Near the end of the tape, sounds can be heard of breaking glass and crashing dishes -- lending credence to the theory that passengers used the food cart to rush the jetliner's narrow aisle.

Separately, the data recorder showed the plane's wings rocking violently as the jet flew too low and too fast for safe flight.

Intelligence officials believe the likely target for Flight 93 was the White House, based on information from Abu Zubaydah, a senior Al Qaeda terrorist leader in U.S. custody who is believed to have played a key role in organizing the Sept. 11 attacks.

Prosecutors have sought a U.S. judge's permission to play recordings from Flight 93 during the terrorism trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only defendant in a U.S. case prosecutors have directly tied to the attacks. Moussaoui is accused of conspiring with the hijackers.

The government has said it can link Moussaoui to Jarrah, using a telephone number found on a business card recovered at the Shanksville, Pa., crash site. Prosecutors believe the card belonged to Jarrah and that Moussaoui had called the same number.

Moussaoui has acknowledged allegiance to Usama bin Laden and Al Qaeda but says he was not involved in the attacks.

[Lindaloo]

lol kelly.

i have let's roll across the top of my windshield. i also have a small 93 right above my inspection sticker. they are heroes, regardless of what the fbi says.

thanks for posting this sg.

[ameriwx2003]

Yes they are hero's indeed. The FBI had been playing down this report and this came out when the 9/11 report was issued. Still even if the Hijackers did crash the plane on purpose the reason appears to be because of the uprising from the passengers which resulted in the Terrorists not being able to complete their plan. The passengers of Flight 93 are heros:):)

[southerngale]

Flight 93 Families Dispute FBI's Theory

Aug 8, 4:17 PM (ET)
By TED BRIDIS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Families of passengers who rebelled against hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 said Friday the FBI theory that the terrorists deliberately crashed the plane into a Pennsylvania field was based on "limited and questionable interpretations" of the cockpit recording.

The theory - described by FBI Director Robert Mueller and disclosed deep within a congressional report on the Sept. 11 attacks - suggests insurgent passengers may not have successfully fought their way into the cockpit and grappled to seize the plane's controls, as has been popularly perceived.

"Without a doubt, the passengers breached the cockpit," said Randall Greene of New York, whose brother Donald, a pilot of smaller aircraft, was onboard. "I'm surprised by the theory attributed to the FBI director that the passengers did not take control of the aircraft."

In a joint statement by Families of Flight 93, relatives said they believe the passenger revolt primarily was responsible for the crash. U.S. officials have said they believe the hijackers intended to fly the Boeing 757 into the White House.


"Until someone can produce specific translations of these tapes that are more than theory then it appears there is sufficient evidence to support the heroic acts of the passengers and crew in bringing Flight 93 down," the families said.

The FBI has steadfastly maintained that its analysis isn't conclusive and doesn't detract from the heroism demonstrated by passengers, who are believed to have rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overwhelm the four hijackers.

In phone calls from the plane, four passengers said they and others decided to fight the hijackers after learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York that morning.

But the suggestion from the government that the hijackers in the cockpit decided to crash the plane - though under pressure from defiant passengers in the cabin - appears at odds with what families of some passengers have come to believe.

"I don't think the FBI got it right, what happened," said Tom Crowley of Atlanta, the uncle of Jeremy Glick, who died aboard the flight. He said Glick's widow, Elizabeth, was among family members permitted last year to listen to the cockpit recording and she believes she heard Glick delivering a judo strike to one hijacker.

"No question, any family member who listened to the tape will tell you the same thing, that they (passengers) were in the cockpit," said Crowley, who urged the government to make the recording public.

The plane went down far from the White House, in a field in the rural town of Shanksville, Pa. All 33 passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers died.

The cockpit recording was played privately in April 2002 for family members of victims, and the FBI also provided them with its best effort at producing an understandable transcript.

"In the cockpit! In the cockpit!" the passengers were heard yelling, according to Alice Hoglan of Los Gatos, Calif., who listened to the recording. Her son, Mark Bingham, died in the crash. She said the recording and a transcript the FBI provided to her and other families "doesn't leave very much doubt at all that passengers were able to get that cockpit door open."

Hoglan said the FBI's transcript quotes one hijacker after fighting breaks out in the cabin asking another hijacker in the cockpit in Arabic, "Finish her/it now?" She said she believed they were discussing whether to crash the plane. The response from the second hijacker, she remembered, was either "wait" or "not now."

Some family members indicated after hearing the tape that they were led to believe that passengers used a food cart as a shield and broke into the cockpit.

Hoglan said the hijackers inside the cockpit are heard yelling "No!" at the sound of breaking glass - presumably from the food cart - and that the final spoken words on the recorder seemed to be an inexplicably calm voice in English instructing, "Pull it up."

She said the English voice toward the end of the recording was so distinct that she believes it's evident the speaker was inside the cockpit.

Citing transcripts of the still-unreleased cockpit recordings, Mueller told congressional investigators in a closed briefing last year that, minutes before Flight 93 hit the ground, one of the hijackers "advised Jarrah to crash the plane and end the passengers' attempt to retake the airplane."

Ziad Jarrah is thought to have been the terrorist-pilot because he was the only of the four hijackers aboard known to have a pilot's license.

The chief executive of a foundation named for Todd M. Beamer, the passenger from New Jersey who said "Let's roll" just before the passengers revolted, said the FBI analysis doesn't diminish the heroism of the passengers. He said he had not spoken to Beamer's widow, Lisa, about the analysis, but said family members know "their loved ones on board did not sit idly by. There was a consensus to act."

"The result is that the terrorists failed in their attempt, and I truly believe the passengers had some role in that," Douglas A. MacMillan said.

[Lindaloo]

why does the fbi want to try to come out smelling like a rose now, question mark.

[Rainband]

why does the fbi want to try to come out smelling like a rose now, question mark.

Because them and the rest of our government..screwed up the intelligence that could of prevented 911 from happening in the first place..They worry too much about party lines and agencies that should work together don't..bottom line they could have done more..they didn't .case closed!! Another thing..wasn't it touching to see all the politicians singing god bless america on the steps of the capitol after 911...that was the first and last time dems and republicans worked together on anything

[Lindaloo]

i agree 100 percent rainband. you posted it perfectly. nuff said.