For the family members of Flight 93, there is some relief in knowing their loved ones were the first to declare war on terrorism. Lisa Beamer is proud of her husband Todd. Just to know that, um, some of those unanswered questions that I never thought that I would ever have answers to on this earth anyway, to know, um, what he did, to know that he was still the person that I knew and loved. The people of Flight 93 were not your average travelers. Many were business people, three women on the flight were emergency medical technicians. Another had a pilot's license. They had a lot of varied skills that might have, you know, come to the fore in this incident. Jere Longman has written "Among the Heroes" an account of the passengers and crew of United Flight 93. You had people who were trained to be calm in times of stress. Flight 93 left Newark Airport the morning of September 11th, bound for San Francisco. Lisa Beamer had been following the news of the attacks on the World Trade Center in Pentagon. When she heard about a plane crashing in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. When I saw that crash, I didn't feel good and they came by, and a little while later and said that it was a United Flight from New York to San Francisco. And I didn't know what Todd was flying that morning. I knew he was bound for San Francisco. And as soon as I heard that news, I knew that he was gone. But not before a brave fight. The plane was hijacked at 9:28 AM and turned to head towards Washington. Not long after, passengers began phoning loved ones. Lauren Green calls her husband and said, "Honey, pick up, are you there?" and, you know, okay, we're having, you know, a little problem on the plane now. And, you know, I'll talk to you soon. Goodbye. Her husband, Jack Renkollas, said if you didn't know what was going on, you would think she was across the street ordering pizza. There was a complete lack of panic in her voice. In the calls, passengers learned about the trade center attacks and were plotting their own revolt. Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw told her husband, "He's boiling water to throw at the hijackers." and said, "Everyone's rushing forward. They're doing it. They're going forward." Todd Beamer uttered the now famous, "Let's roll." From the American voices heard on the cockpit recorder, family members believe passengers finally got inside the cockpit, perhaps by using a food cart to break in. The voices are only in the cockpit are very, very close to the cockpit and certainly affecting the course of the plane. 9:58, five minutes before the crash, this final struggle for control of the plane begins. You can hear yelling and screaming in English and Arabic, crashing sounds, which appear to be dishes and plates that are either being hurled or, um, the wings of the plane were waggling back and forth and some investigators believe that the hijackers were trying to, you know, to rock the wings to keep the passengers from coming forward. The plane hit nose down and disappeared into a 35-foot hole. But the brave legacy of the passengers who fought lives on. Loved ones took comfort that some were able to say a last goodbye. Esther, who is the stepmother, talked to her. "I've got my arms around you and Elizabeth says, I can feel them and they just, you know, uh, they talk, um, you know, uh, Esther said, we don't know how this is going to turn out so let's be in the moment." and, uh, they talked, um, you know, uh, Esther said, "I'm so sad this is going to be harder on you than it is on me." The passengers finally did get inside the cockpit, perhaps by using a food cart to break in. The voices are only in the cockpit are very, very close to the cockpit and certainly affecting the course of the plane. 9:58, five minutes before the crash, this final struggle for control of the plane begins. You can hear yelling and screaming in English and Arabic, crashing sounds, which appear to be dishes and plates that are either being hurled or, um, the wings of the plane were waggling back and forth and some investigators believe that the hijackers were trying to, you know, to rock the wings to keep the passengers from coming forward. The plane hit nose down and disappeared into a 35-foot hole. But the brave legacy of the passengers who fought lives on. Loved ones took comfort that some were able to say a last goodbye. Elizabeth Wean's stepmother, Esther, talked to her. "I've got my arms around you and Elizabeth says, I can feel them and they just, you know, uh, they talk, um, you know, uh, Esther said, we don't know how this is going to turn out so let's be in the moment." and, uh, they talked, um, you know, uh, Esther said, "I'm so sad this is going to be harder on you than it is on me."
