Posted on 04/19/2002 5:30:23 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Ready to listen: Brothers Christ (left) and John Beaven, both of California, enter a Princeton, N.J., hotel Thursday to listen to a tape of the flight recorder from Flight 93. Their dad was killed on the plane that crashed Sept. 11 in Pennsylvania. -- DANIEL HULSHIZER / Associated Press
Victims' families hear tape of Flight 93 crash
Those who listened report hearing struggle, voices of loved ones who died in Pennsylvania.
By Sheila Hotchkin
The Associated Press
April 19, 2002
PLAINSBORO, N.J. -- With grief counselors on hand, relatives of those who died aboard United Airlines Flight 93 heard a cockpit recording Thursday that included "yelling and screaming" just before the hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field Sept. 11.
"There was an air of resignation, horrible sadness, pride all mixed up," Alice Hoglan said after listening to the chilling tapes with about 100 other relatives.
Hoglan, mother of passenger Mark Bingham, said hearing the tape was "excruciating" and "wonderful in a strange and odd way."
Some emerged saying they had recognized their relatives' voices amid the bedlam that ended the 31-minute cockpit voice recorder tape. The passengers are believed to have prevented a second hijacked plane from crashing into a Washington-area landmark by rushing the cockpit.
Martha Burnett O'Brien and Mary Jurgens said they heard their brother's voice. San Francisco Bay Area businessman Tom Burnett is believed to have been an organizer of the passenger revolt.
Her recognition "is based on 38 years of knowing him," O'Brien said. "My sister and I both straightened up when we heard that voice, and we looked at each other and mouthed, 'That was Tom.' That's what we did. It was good to hear his voice."
The listening session, held behind closed doors, marked the first time the government let relatives of any U.S. plane crash victims hear cockpit tapes. Most family members said nothing afterward.
"Today is a very bittersweet day," said Hamilton Peterson, whose father, Donald, died in the crash. "Obviously, the enormity of the tragedy is here, but it's a very proud moment."
Peterson said he learned things from the tape that he did not know before, but he declined to elaborate.
Parts of the tape were hard to follow, family members said after the four-hour session.
An aircraft noise like a whistling wind made it difficult to hear. But there were clear sounds of a battle at the end: dishes crashing in the passenger cabin and distinctly American voices rising over the commotion.
Flight 93 has taken on special meaning since Sept. 11. It was the only one of the four hijacked planes that day that didn't kill anyone on the ground, and there is evidence that those aboard tried to fight back after one, Todd Beamer of Cranbury, N.J., cried, "Let's roll!"
"The cockpit voice recording does indeed confirm that our loved ones died heroes," said Hoglan of Los Gatos, Calif.
Forty-four passengers and crew members were killed when the airliner, bound from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed in rural western Pennsylvania. Many have speculated that the passengers kept the hijackers from plunging the jet into a populated target.
Tom Burnett's wife, Deena, said federal officials told them the recording would be played at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is accused of being an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I think when you hear it this fall, it will confirm that the American spirit on September 11th was best represented on Flight 93," Burnett said.
The cockpit tape was played in the morning for families of the crew and in the afternoon for passengers' relatives, with time left for discussion and questions. No reporters were allowed.
The 31-minute tape recorded in a continuous loop, but officials have declined to offer details on its contents.
Before hearing the tapes, Hoglan said she had been told families would hear a woman pleading for her life, and the last five to seven minutes would be filled with violence and yelling in Arabic and English.
"Still, I feel compelled to listen. I owe it to the memory of Mark to learn all I can," the former United flight attendant said before she went inside.
Some relatives came but decided against listening to the tape. Among them was Mitchell Zykofski, whose stepfather, John Talignani, died in the crash.
"They said it was very graphic detail of what went on in the cockpit. They said it was horrifying," he said. "That was enough for me to decide that I didn't want to hear it."
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents, had never before allowed relatives to listen to cockpit tapes. Federal law bars the agency from giving out transcripts until most factual reports are complete.
FBI Director Robert Mueller approved the unprecedented listening sessions at the request of family members.
In phone conversations from the plane, Bingham and Burnett of San Ramon, Calif., and two other men spoke of fighting back against their suicidal kidnappers. The others were Beamer and Jeremy Glick of Hewlett, N.J.
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