[Timesink]

To be published in Monday's PDN; this is an advance copy.

[Timesink]

By the way, the above article does not necessarily reflect my own personal views yadda yadda yadda. I'm merely offering fodder.

[gcruse]

Excellent. Congrats, mon.

[Fred Mertz]

But the FBI has clamped a tight lid of secrecy on the flight data recorder — which could best show how Flight 93 actually crashed — and on the cockpit voice recorder.

I agree with the author; the real story will never be told.

[EternalVigilance]

You're good, my friend.

Very well done.

[EternalVigilance]

You're good, my friend.

Very well done.

[LibWhacker]

Good work, sir! And thanks for the sneak peek.

[Timesink]

(I think I should add that I am not William Bunch. I'm just the reposter.)

[Jeff Head]

Congrats on your story being published.

I established my own record of events in the weeks following the 9-11 attack.

THE HEROES OF FLIGHT 93

All of it was based on news reports at the time.

I believe there is no doubt that the passengers attacked the terrorists. I believe there is no doubt that they were struggling with them for control of the aircraft at the end.

I also believe there is no doubt that military aircraft were aloft and had orders to not allow Flight 93 to reach Washington DC. Either way, that aircraft was not going to the Capitol.

The folks on the aircraft could not have known of the fighters IMHO or their orders. They acted on their own and they did fight those terrorists. That is enough for me as regards their status as heroes and their deserving a National Monumnet.

Best FRegards.

[Jeff Head]

Oops ... I see it is not your story. Well then, thanks for posting it here.

[sjeann]

My stepson just today was telling me the tail section of the plane was found 5 miles from the crash site. I have not heard this before. Anyone know if this is true?

[prisoner6]

Excellent read, thanks for the post.

It's been my opinion 93 was shot down, mainly because of the reported debris field. Remember the reports of a farmer finding a cargo door in a pond? That was several miles from the impact point. I might believe paper or insulation being carried on the wind after a crash and intense fire, but not a cargo door.

There were early reports, including video, of other plane parts found nearby as well. Mysteriously all those reports, along with the people who found debris, seem to have vanished.

There was also an early report, and noted in this article as well, of a phone conversation. The operator said the caller was near the tail of the plane and he was saying a group of passengers was going to storm the cockpit. But, BEFORE or JUST AS, the attack began there was a loud sound, the caller saying something abou the plane pitching and him seeing sky. The operator heard a rushing noise and the phone went dead.

Admittedly that was an early report, and I may have some of the details a bit wrong, but that's how I remember it.

prisoner6

[Sonny M]

This whole article is just a nice way of saying the plane was shot down, something dems have been claiming for awhile to try and make Bush and the party look bad and like liars. In some of there propoganda, they claim that the picture of him on the phone in the plane is him ordering the shoot down.

[the crow]

bump for later

[fone]

FYI

[GreyWolf]

* At 10:03, the hijackers — or possibly passengers and crew who were fighting to regain control of the plane — flipped a circuit breaker, or switch, that would cut off power to the cockpit voice recorder. Experts said this would explain why the tape ends abruptly, but they had no idea why the terrorists would do such a thing, especially so far along into their hijacking. And they noted the location of the switch in the cockpit makes it unlikely that it was struck accidentally during a struggle. “That would be a much tougher task than turning off the transponder,” said John Hansman, an aviation professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “You would have to know exactly which circuit breaker to pull.”

I am not sure this is still the case, but when I worked on DC-9s back in the 70s, the cockpit voice system did not have a breaker. This was intentionally designed this way to prevent crews from shutting off the mike in order to hold private conversations. In order to disable the recorder, power would have to be cut somewhere between the cockpit and the tail section, which is where the recorder is generally mounted for survivability reasons.

I tend to think the lapse is probably due to time sync of the system at pre-flight. I know for a fact that we used to set ours by our watches, although, I would think that in this modern age with GPS and other technology, that process would have been automated. On the other hand, it takes a long time for technology the make its way into design and implementation.

I'll keep my tinfoil hat off on this one for awhile but keep my antennae extended. After all, it doesn't hurt to have heros, and even if the aircraft was brought down by military defence mechnisms, I can't see putting the families through that briefing which would only intensify their grieving process. Better to follow the "Let's Roll" scenerio.

[jjm2111]

good story.

[Lancey Howard]

Great article. My son and I were talking about this flight back on the 9/11 anniversary when CNN showed the timeline of Cheney's day, including the meeting where he gave permission for our fighters to shoot down hijacked passenger jets.

I read the article in the Daily News this morning and went to post it and saw that you beat me to it. You did, however, have a slightly unfair advantage.
Great work, and congratulations.

[Lancey Howard]

bttt

[carenot]

I listened to the tape yesterday.

The controllers asking each other if they had heard the screaming, they all said yes.

Then you could hear from the plane something about a bomb and the controllers asking each other if they had heard that.

Then controllers talking about the plane climbing and then turning East.

Then asking each other if they had seen a "puff of smoke", they agreed they had.

Then the tape cut off.