What really happened on Flight 93?

Enter Stage Right - A Journal of Modern Conservatism ^ | October 17, 2001 | Stuart Buck

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I know you probably can't answer the questions but I'm laughing at the neat package everyone has wrapped this in.

I guess if we have questions about government actions that don't make sense, we are automatically thrown into the "conspiracy nut" pot.

You are right. It doesn't really matter but I think withholding information sows seeds of doubt. My questions are just for discussion.

[BlueNgold]

OK, one more time ...

This plane was NOT, I repeat NOT, shot down by a missile. I am not sure how much information regarding AIM missile warhead types is public information so I will not go into the details here. However, one thing is certain, anyone within visual/hearing range of the crash would have seen or heard some things that are not consistent with the eye-witness reports. The low altitude of the plane when the reported pre-crash explosions took place also makes the possibility of a shoot down unlikely.

Any other Navy/USMC/AF vets out there that can at east give me an 'amen' on the mechanaics of an AIM intercept event not being consistent with a 'loud bump and some white smoke'.

[FGRobinson]

I agree with your theory, seems to me i remember a story that the planes speed was 580 mph at contact with the ground.

[PLMerite]

Gun, cannon, or missile, anything a fighter did do down the aircraft would leave tell-tale signs on the wreckage.

Is the NTSB going to piece the plane back together or will the remains of the plane just be quietly destroyed?

Maybe some conspiracy theorist needs to get a restraining order to keep any disposal from happening.

And just for the record (keeping in mind that first news reports are almost always wrong), what evidence does anyone have of a second debris field? Unless they've silenced all the locals it'd be kind of hard to cover up.

[BufordP]

<sarcasm>
"...After Todd Beamer was heard saying 'Let's Roll!', the passengers began rolling and cartwheeling as well as other tumbling acts down the middle of the aisle."
</sarcasm>

[Emily RN]

I was listening to the radio during the incident and heared multiple people call in from PA stating that they witnessed two low flying jets in the area subsequent to the plane going down. I have held since then that the plane was shot down. There was absolutley NO footage of the wreckage on TV or in the news. Seems a bit strange to me.

I've seen these reports, too. If they were shot down I don't think it serves any purpose for the govt. to admit it. Those people were heroes whether they accomplished it or missiles did; it only takes away from any comfort the family members may have taken in their heroic attempt.

[onehipdad]

You've been watching too much X-files. We've already established (after the fact) that it is now a matter of policy and procedure that a commercial aircraft will be shot down by our military resources if it presents a danger to life on the ground. It's ridiculous to suggest that we would shoot down the airliner, then deny it and fabricate a story about passengers attempting to take control.

[mystery-ak]

I do remember the interview with Linda Shepley....if Im not mistaken she was hanging her wash outside to dry when she heard the explosions, and saw the plane crash...she saw a fighter jet fly off.
I haven't seen her since on tv.
I've wondered about this ever since.
No matter what...the passengers and the pilot(fighter jet) are heros....Let the families have that as a memory.

[lonestar]

Didn't Beamer talk to a 911 supervisor? He asked her to call his wife after it was over. Didn't the supervisor pray with him? And the last thing that 911 supervisor heard was, "Ready guys? Let's roll!"

I'm not sure it was Beamer, but I have read it several places and it was one of the guys and it happened. The wife even talked about the call she received from the 911 spervisor.

[uncitizen]

Actually there's more evidence that supports a cover-up than anything else. We don't see any coverage of the PA crash for 10 hours. Then, we we finally do, all we get is a hole in the ground. When's the last time you saw pictures of a plane crash with no plane? We aren't allowed to know what was said in the 911 call. And we know that Pres Bush did authorize our Air Force to shoot down any planes that looked as though they would crash into the Capitol. All this evidence supports a cover-up. And there isn't much more evidence on this crash. I can't remember if the voice or data boxes were recovered and readable. Though, if they weren't i wouldn't be surprised.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Nor did the FBI allow the dispatcher who took the call to talk any further to the media.

This is BS. I saw her on one of the evening news magazines at length. Nothing is being hidden.

[Paradox]

Actually there's more evidence that supports a cover-up than anything else.

Uh, no, there isn't.. LOL, you can't prove a negative anyways.. this is ridiculous.. I saw pictures, I've seen interviews, I heard about the last words of the crew, etc. There is no "evidence" of a coverup unless you can produce data that has been covered up, but then, since its covered up, you can't produce it, so its an endless logical cycle.. which is why conspiracy theories are rationally weak at best in the first place.

Look, dont get me wrong, if they announced tommorrow that indeed the F-16 had shot it down, I wouldn't be surprised either, but at the moment, there isn't anything strong to make me think that way.

[BeAChooser]

I also remember a local newspaper reporting that wreckage was found as much as 8 miles away from the crash site.

Your time would be better spent asking a more productive question like this ... Back in 1994, why did both an AWACS and the Dubrovnik airport loose transponder contact with the Ron Brown plane when IT was still 8 miles from its crash site? Might it have something to do with the bullet holes that multiple pathologists observed (and x-rays confirmed) in Brown's head?

[BeAChooser]

Make that "hole" not "holes".

[M. Peach]

Funny you should mention Ron Brown. I was at Arlington Cementary about a week ago and saw his grave. An erie feeling of digust and sorrow overcame me as I thought about our government burying him there considering how he died...

[Robert A Cook PE]

OKay - Despite the fact the this call was from the "back" and in the bathroom .... so the observer couldn't really SEE what was going on forward behind the cokpit doors.....

There were 3-4 (maybe more) passengers who heard that other airplanes were hijacked, were flown into buildings, and were killing thousands on the ground.

These 3-4 people rushed the cockpit - and fought the 3-4 terrorists who were guarding the cockpit. There a fight between unarme dpassengers and armed terrrorists - it's going to take a few seconds to get through to the pilot's seat anyway.

The terrorists are armed also with a small plastic bomb or hand grenade sized explosive apckage .. in CASE this very thing happened.

The bomb blows up when the terrorist holding it lets go (they've been holding bombs like this before in many other hijackings), it or is set off deliberately.

Explosion . Cockpit all or partially blown to bits.. Plane dives and crashes.

What's the conspiracy? There was an explosion -

[xJones]

I would like to point out that at the moment a missile detonates an airliner, a passenger in the restroom is going to experience a hell ofa lot more than a puff of smoke.

Thank you, a voice of common sense.

[PISANO]

Heroes.....end of story.

I couldn't agree with you more. Perfectly said. This country needs 'real' heroes like Beamer-Bingham-Burnett and Glick. God Bless them and everyone like them!!