Flight+93

=For the Greater Good = =By: Bry Sniadecki =

It has been said that the day of September 11, 2001 was, “a day of unprecedented shock and suffering in the history of the United States." This unfathomable attack soon engulfed a nation that was, at the time, unprepared. Four commercial US airliners were hijacked by terrorists. One plane hit the pentagon, while another two took down the colossal twin towers in just 90 minutes. In the midst of sheer terror one of the four hijacked planes did not carry out its original mission to its target. This was all because of the brave and relentless passengers on Flight 93.

 (The flight of Flight 93)

 When the passengers aboard Flight 93, a Boeing 757 aircraft, took off from Newark Airport on the clear morning of September 11, 2001 they were originally destined for San Francisco. Little did they know as they lifted off of the tarmac, they had just become chess pieces in the beginning of a terror plot that would shake the nation for years to come.  As the plane took flight things seemed relatively calm. It was then that the leader of the group of four terrorists on that plane, Ziad Jarrah, put his menacing plan into action. No passenger could have had any idea that Jarrah--settled into first class--had not only a full sized cardboard replica of the plane they were aboard at his Florida apartment, but he also had knives, a global positioning satellite, and three other men who were willing to give their lives to hijack that plane. The men put their plan into action, invading the cockpit and knifing the pilot, disguising their faces with red bandanas.

(Four men who hijacked Flight 93)

 One of the men then got on the loud speaker and told the passengers that he was the pilot and that the plane contained a bomb, therefore they were going to return to the airport. The passengers, not aware of the reality of their situation became rowdy. Men with knives exited the cockpit and herded passengers into the back of the plane as people frantically began to call their loved ones to say goodbye.

 [] (Excerpt from the movie Flight 93 of passengers calling their loved ones)

 As passengers called they learned of the other terror that was striking its way up and down the east coast of the United States. They learned that the looming Twin Towers were falling as they spoke, and also of the plane that ripped a giant hole right through the Pentagon. It was then that they realized they were the next plane to be sacrificed for the terroristic cause. They then took a vote, in which the majority favored to fight to take back the plane at all costs.

 Little known to the souls and soulless aboard Flight 93, when Jarrah made announcements over the loud speaker, they were not only heard by those on board. They were also heard by air traffic controllers. By this point, air traffic control had established plans to take down Flight 93 using heat seeking missiles. Fourteen minutes before these plans were to have been executed the passengers managed to take back the plane on their own. The plane crash-landed into a field in the Somerset County village of Shanksville, Pennsylvania fourteen minutes before the F16 heat seeking missiles would have found the plane. There were no survivors.

 (Wreckage of Flight 93)

 The day of September 11, 2001 claimed the lives of around 5,000 people and forever changed the nation of America. After this day the United States was ushered into a war that still rages on today. Though no matter how much time passes, the heroes aboard Flight 93 will never be forgotten for terminating the fourth and final terroristic plane.

Roddy, Dennis B. "Flight 93: Forty Lives, One Destiny." //Post Gazette//. PG Publishing, 28 Oct. 2001. Web. 29 Dec. 2011. .

Kean, Thomas H. "Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States." //National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States//. N.p., 21 Aug. 2004. Web. 30 Dec. 2011. <http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Exec.htm>.

<span style="color: #2806ba; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]

<span style="color: #2806ba; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]