Posted on 10/05/2001 7:04:17 AM PDT by truther
WASHINGTON -- Cockpit voice recordings from United Airlines Flight 93 indicate that the hijacked jet's passengers attacked their captors and fought their way into the cockpit before the jet went down, according to data obtained Wednesday.
The account is based on an ongoing analysis of the cockpit voice recorder. It illustrates the passengers' heroic efforts to fight off the four terrorists who had commandeered the jet Sept. 11 on an apparent suicide mission to Washington.
The digital recording, according to officials with knowledge of its contents, picks up sounds of people shouting and screaming in the cabin and cockpit shortly before the crash. A high level of background noise has made it difficult for investigators to interpret exactly what was being said or done.
Also unclear is who was at the controls of the jet -- the hijackers or the passengers -- when it slammed into a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 44 aboard. A preliminary review of the flight data recorder indicated the jet turned on its back and flew straight into the ground, sources said.
An FBI official testified Wednesday that the tape proved what many suspected.
"I can confirm that the passengers engaged in a fight for their lives with their four hijackers and most likely saved the lives of unknown individuals on the ground," J.T. Caruso, deputy assistant FBI director for counterterrorism, said in testimony before a House intelligence subcommittee.
Three other teams of hijackers led attacks that day on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Several passengers aboard Flight 93 learned of the other hijackings via cellphone calls and knew that they had ended in suicide crashes.
Authorities have asked outside experts to analyze the recorder a second time for further details. The use of filters and other computer analysis of cockpit voice recorders is common after an accident.
The recorder is a modern digital model and produced a high-quality record of the last 30 minutes of the flight.
Voice recorders store sounds from microphones that pilots wear on their headsets and from a microphone embedded in the cockpit wall. Normally, it is easy to determine who is speaking on a recording because the voice can be linked to a specific headset. But sounds on the Flight 93 recording came primarily from the cockpit wall microphone, making it more difficult to decipher.
Investigators also are examining a tape of short radio broadcasts from the jet, apparently at the time hijackers took control of the cockpit. Sources who have heard the tape say it recorded a violent struggle.
Flight 93 was headed from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it was hijacked. Because the jet crashed more than 30 minutes after the hijacking, the recording did not capture the takeover of the cockpit.
This is the first I've heard of this. If true, can anyone please provide more information? Thanks.
I am sure that that ground at the impact point has already been 'hollowed'. Perhaps you mean 'hallowed'?
I sure hope this is true, but I must point out that nowhere in the article (unless I missed something) does it say that the hijackers themselves could be heard to be screaming.
Just says "people" were screaming. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Are you going to be asleep?
Knowing our illustrious congress, they are even now crafting a bill to ban coffee pots on commercial flights. Surely a pot of boiling water is more dangerous than a fingernail clipper.
You will, they have a name they are called Americans.
Because the jet crashed more than 30 minutes after the hijacking, the recording did not capture the takeover of the cockpit.
How expensive or problematic can it be to put more than 30 minutes of tape in those things? For heaven's sakes, this comes up all the time after crashes and the investigators lose crucial data because of the record-over function of the tapes.
I've seen this reported in several places. Here's one. Calls from Flight 93 Reveal Several Heroic Tactics
I would be very surprised if half the plane didn't charge the hijackers if this ever happens again.
The Friday after 9/11, there was a memoria at our church. After the service, a bunch of old vets and relatively new vets started discussing flight 93 versus the other 3 flights. At that time all we had was the interview on local tv of the UA male flight attendent (riding the plane and not working) with his mother. To us it was fairly obvious that the brave people had crashed that plane instead of allowing it to be another bomb!
Our senior vet, combat Navy WWII, and Air Force after WWII until he retired, at age 80 and still in great shape, said that he would be up there fighting till they dropped him. There was instant agreement with all but one young vet. He comes from a FDR demonicRat family and was mouthing mantras. His wife, said Honey, then you could sit and worry about being PC, I will go up and do the job for both of us!
Subsequent discussions have been in the same finding. Most guys would go up and do what ever. What is amazing is the women of all ages, who said that they would be right there, biting, scratching, kneeing and punching until the hijackers were dead not out, dead. Two women whom I would not want mad at me, said that women might be the best weapons against these women hating serial killers. The first hard blow, knee to the groin or bitten off ear might push them right over the edge into uncontrolled ineffectiveness. They hate women and if a woman/women were really hurting them, they would lose control of the situation.
Last but not least a senior flight attendant said to remember that in many planes the arm rests can be removed. Then they could be used to send the hijackers to their heaven with their 52 virgin camels! She said that most flight attendents would help lead any battle. Those who wouldn't may not get a whole lot of flights as others might refuse to fly with them. She said no Flag or No Fight beliefs will not be tolerated by the rest of the flight crew!
Apparently serious discussions are being held by each flight crew before the passengers start to get on. There is no place on a plane's flight crew after 9/11 for a pacifist and an America hater! As a senior flight attendent, she would call management to remove anyone who would not fight and hates America from that flight. All pilots have backed her up!
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