Posted on 07/23/2004 12:50:22 AM PDT by kattracks
[snip]Relying on the cockpit recorder and flight data, the commission said terrorist-pilot Ziad Jarrah violently rocked the jet's wings and told another hijacker to block the door. With the sounds of fighting outside the cockpit, Jarrah asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?"
Another hijacker, who wasn't identified, replied, "No, not yet. When they all come, we finish it off."
Jarrah then began pitching the nose of the plane up and down to throw passengers off balance.
Seconds later, a passenger who wasn't identified yelled, "In the cockpit! If we don't, we die!" And 16 seconds later, another passenger yelled, "Roll it!" Investigators previously have said they believe passengers tried to use a food cart to break the cockpit door.
Jarrah said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!" and he asked his fellow hijacker, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?"
The other hijacker answered, "Yes, put it in, and pull it down."
Roughly 90 seconds later, the jet rolled onto its back and crashed into a Pennsylvania field at more than 580 mph, killing everyone aboard.
It was the only one of the four hijacked planes that day that did not kill anyone on the ground.
The commission concluded that the hijackers remained at the controls of the plane, "but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them."
The commission said the hijackers' destination was Washington. It praised the courage of the passengers and said their struggle "saved the lives of countless others, and may have saved either the Capitol or the White House from destruction."
[snip]
Passengers aboard the other planes also resisted the hijackers, but less has been made public about their bravery so as not to jeopardize the government's criminal case against the attack's organizers.
With Post Wire Services
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Well, there goes the myth that the passenger who was a pilot was just about to take control of the plane when our guys shot the plane down!
I never thought it was shot down. I pretty much thought they were fighting for the controls when it crashed. Not too far off I suppose.
Huh?
This certainly makes it sound as if they had a backup plan, in the event passengers DID try to stop them.
The passengers stopped the attack. This is the stuff of modern legend. A true tale of great courage and sacrifice to be told over and over, to our children, and their children. To sit quietly when faced by the enemy is to dishonor those who have gone before.
I'll second your "Huh?".
Huh?, indeed.
I had no idea about other struggles.
I agree with you. Yes, passengers did stop the attack on their primary target.
They were still successful at killing all on board the aircraft, which was probably their "Plan C". Plan A was to crash into White House (or whatever their primary target was). Plan B would have been to crash into any buildings or populated areas that were handy if they couldn't hit their primary target. Plan C was apparently to simply crash the plane and kill all on board.
My point was that the terrorists had thought out, in advance, and had a plan, as to what to do in the event passengers tried to stop them. i.e., The terrorists did not assume everything would go off without a hitch for every plane, so they had at least one (and probably more than one) backup plan.
But yes, those passengers were Heroes, we all agree on that.
I heard a news blurb this morning, someone who had listened to the cockpit recording, and she said the last words she heard were spoken in English with no accent, very close to the microphone, and it was "Pull it up." In her opinion, the passengers HAD taken over, but obviously didn't have enough time (knowledge?) to right the plane.
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