Hijacker Crashed Flight 93 on 9/11

AP via Yahoo! ^ | 8/7/03 | TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

[Pukka Puck]

It is obvious that you are a dolt.

[cajun-jack]

this is "pc" b.s. as far as i'm concerned. can't have the terrorists thinking that ordinary citizens will fight back just when we have new reports that perhaps they are planning the same thing again.

[TomB]

They WERE successful in stopping the plane from hitting its target, unless you think the target was an empty field.

Read more carefully!

He's saying that the terrorist just happened to lose control of the plane, in straight and level flight, at the exact same time the passengers were making a little fuss in the back. It's all a big coincidence.

Makes a lot more sense now, doesn't it. :)

[Alberta's Child]

Nothing cynical about it. I've known for a long time that the passengers did not seize control of the plane, or even make it into the cockpit.

Some other folks here are speculating about the size of the debris field. I could add some fuel to that speculation, too.

[sinkspur]

US warplane shot down this plane. It is obvious but it is not what the public wants to hear. It was tragic but necessary to shoot the plane down. It explains why the wreckage was found spread about over several miles.

Wreckage was not spread out over several miles.

There is no evidence the plane was shot down. None.

In addition, that would be the secret too big to keep.

[Pukka Puck]

At least we agree.

[TomB]

If the aircraft crashed for some other reason

And what would that "reason be?

Remember, your post made the specific statement "The point is that they weren't successful."

So you obviously know more than we do. Please enlighten us.

[eno_]

There are a number of loose ends in the hijackings: Did at least one hijacker have a gun? Did the flight 93 hijackers have a small bomb, on the scale of the shoe-bomb? Etc.

Based on phone calls from the plane it is clear the passengers fought the hijackers. But it also looks like the outcome was "simplified" for public consumption.

[Silas]

Hey idiot did you know that the initial news reports (prior to the spin control and hero making) stated that US military planes shot down Flight 93? Did you know that?

[eno_]

We know our heroes....let's not denigrate our own by keeping back some truths that need to be known.

Precisely. We CAN handle the truth.

[Pukka Puck]

With a little bit of luck!

[TomB]

Hey idiot did you know that the initial news reports (prior to the spin control and hero making) stated that US military planes shot down Flight 93? Did you know that?

I live 20 miles from the impact site, and I know people who saw the intact plane go down, nobody saw it shot down.

[FixitGuy]

If this story is indeed true it's because the hijackers knew they were gonna get a major ass-kickin'!

Would like to have seen it.

[Silas]

Nobody saw an air to air missle strike at 30,000 feet in the middle of nowhere? Does that tell us anything?

[Alberta's Child]

When I said "they weren't successful" I meant that the passengers were not successful in entering the cockpit.

That plane crashed with an Islamic hijacker at the wheel. It did not crash with a gang of passengers pouring into the cockpit. It did not crash with Wesley Snipes throwing a hijacker out the door. It did not crash as a result of a passenger named MacGyver making a hand grenade out of his airline meal utensils and throwing it in the cockpit.

[hattend]

The maggot crashed the plane because the passengers were coming to kick his ass. It was still the passenger heroism that caused the mission to fail.

Screw the report, the passengers are still heroes.

[HighWheeler]

"I never belived the american 'lets roll' hero story and I still don't. I think its more likely we shot it down, or the scenario described in this article."

It isn't MORE likely we shot it down. In fact it's almost not likely at all. There isn't a shred of evidence anywhere to bolster your theory. In fact, the evidence ruins your theory. Both F-16's available near Chicago were unarmed and in a practice training.

Secondly, the story we know all fit together perfectly. The plane crashed shortly after Todd hung up, he hd just told the operator they were going to storm the cockpit, and he used a term, "Let's roll!", that fit him to a Tee.

Kind of sad that you have to fabricate a wild story in your attempt to take away the heroic actions of people who are far braver.

[rdb3]

This does not diminish the heroism of the passengers.

Damn straight. Let's roll.

[dpa5923]

Good recap.

[eno_]

Who knows what the real story is? Some of the possibilities are:

a) The hijackers had more weapons than just boxcutters. Some might have been placed aboard planes by co-conspirators.

b) The hijackers might have had a small bomb.

c) The plane might have been shot down.

I really don't care if any of these are true, or not. It takes nothing away from the heroism of the passengers that fought the hijackers. But I DO want to know just how bad security was before 9/11.