9/11 victims fought for plane

2003-08-08 21:38

Washington - Hijackers on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania during the September 11 attacks rammed the aircraft into the ground to quash a passenger uprising, according to a report recently submitted to Congress.

That conclusion, based on analysis of conversations involving the hijackers in the cockpit, casts doubt on previous theories about what brought the plane down, with the prevailing belief being that the plane crashed while passengers struggled to regain control of the aircraft.

This description of events, hidden on page 143 of the nearly 900-page report, was presented by FBI Director Robert Mueller during a closed-door hearing with congressional investigators.

"At the words, 'Let's roll,' passengers rushed forward. As described by the FBI director, the cockpit tape recorder indicates that a hijacker, minutes before Flight 93 hit the ground, 'advised (hijacker Ziad) Jarrah to crash the plane and end the passengers' attempt to retake the airplane,'" the document said.

The pilot and co-pilot were apparently knocked unconscious or killed by the hijackers when they seized control of the plane.

They were apparently lying on the floor in the first class section of the plane, as several passengers told loved ones in cell phone conversations from the aircraft, the report said.

There were four hijackers on board the aircraft.

United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark, New Jersey, near New York, at 12:42 on September 11, 2001, bound for San Francisco. It crashed at around 14:03 in Stoney Creek Township, Pennsylvania.

Of the three other planes hijacked on September 11, two were rammed into New York's twin World Trade Centre towers and a third tore a hole in the Pentagon, outside Washington. More than 3 000 people were killed in the attacks.

- SAPA