Flight 93 National Memorial History
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States of America. They crashed two into the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Most children will have learned about this in school, and most adults will be able to tell you where they were and what they were doing that day. In addition, the media images from that day, especially the ones of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, are known the world over.
Flight 93, carrying thirty passengers and seven crew members, for a total of forty was hijacked by four terrorists somewhere over Ohio on its way from Newark, NJ to San Francisco, CA. The flight had been delayed for twenty-five minutes, then flew a normal flight on course for California for forty-six minutes. One of the signs at Memorial Plaza informs readers that "Air traffic controllers in Cleveland, Ohio, hear the pilot or first officer shouting, 'Mayday! Get out of here!'" After that the hijackers clearly gained control, because the flight changed course.
It turned back toward Washington, DC, heading for the Capitol Building, though the target was not known at that time. Eighteen minutes before it would have crashed into the Capitol Building, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania, near Shanksville, killing everyone on board. The explosion from the fuel sent up a black metallic cloud, and the photos of locals definitely make an impression. There was also a giant crater at the site of impact.
Evidence gathered from the plane's black box, phone calls from passengers and crew to people on the ground, and the wreckage and remains discovered at the crash site, has created a pretty clear picture of what happened that day. There's a museum at the Visitor Center that has a lot of exhibits and there are informational signs down at the Memorial Plaza. In addition, there is also an audio tour that you can access from anywhere (so go ahead and call 814-619-2065 and press 93 to get started).
