Fall and Rise

by Mitchell Zuckoff

  55. a short time earlier: 9/11 Commission staff interview with Lt. Colonel Steven O’Brien, May 6, 2004; investigator Miles Kara told O’Brien that he had calculated that if Gofer 06 had not been delayed three minutes by the takeoff of a 747, “you would have been in the flight path of AAL 77.”

  56. called the FAA’s Washington Center: Farmer, pp. 172–83; Four Flights Monograph, p. 33; 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 13; Rutgers Law Review audio transcript: www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/full-audio-transcript/.

  57. “three aircraft”: Farmer, p. 173.

  58. seized control of the airspace: 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 13.

  59. wanted them in a position: Interview with Kevin Nasypany, March 17, 2017.

  60. “run ’em to the White House”: Four Flights Monograph, p. 33.

  61. mistake on coordinates: Miles Kara, “9-11 NEADS Mission Crew Commander; A Valiant Effort, Ultimately Futile, Part V,” 9-11 Revisited, www.oredigger61.org/?p=5042.

  62. Father Stephen McGraw: Interview with Father Stephen McGraw on June 9, 2017. Also see Angela E. Pometto, “Fairfax Priest Remembers Pentagon Scene on 9/11,” Arlington Catholic Herald, September 7, 2006; James Graves, “Grief and Grace From the Ashes,” OSV Newsweekly, September 9, 2016.

  63. “miss the graveside service”: Interview with Father Stephen McGraw on June 9, 2017.

  64. maximum power: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 9; NTSB Flight Path Study, American Airlines Flight 77, p. 2.

  65. just below the second floor: American Society of Civil Engineers, The Pentagon Building Performance Report, pp. 12–20. Cited in Goldberg et al., Pentagon 9/11 (Washington: Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2007).

  66. fought to the death: Interview with Debra Burlingame, July 26, 2018.

  67. “that aircraft crashed”: 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 12.

  68. almost ten minutes: 9/11 Commission staff interview with Major Kevin Nasypany, January 22 and 23, 2004, p. 5.

  69. top NEADS officers: 9/11 Commission staff interview with Major James Fox, October 29, 2003, p. 11. Notes say: “Fox speculates that if they had five or more minutes and had gotten the position in [a] timely manner they would have had time to intercept [Flight 77 before it hit the Pentagon]; but that orders would still have taken time.”

  70. “Goddammit!”: Michael Bronner, “9/11 Live: The Norad Tapes,” Vanity Fair, August 2006.

  71. “Talk to me”: Taken from the transcript on the “9-11 Revisited” blog maintained by former 9/11 Commission investigator Miles Kara, at www.oredigger61.org.

  72. ride to the airport: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 39.

  73. several minutes earlier: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 40, says the vice president reached the entrance to the tunnel at 9:37 a.m. and spoke to the president from a phone there.

  74. “a minor war”: 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 23.

  75. no set destination: 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 23.

  76. parking lot of the Pentagon: 9/11 Commission Staff Statement No. 17, p. 27.

  77. “I’m landing everyone!”: Transcript of oral history interview of Ben Sliney at the Flight 93 Memorial, conducted by Kathie Shaffer, October 28, 2007.

  78. “Regardless of destination!”: Alan Levin, Marilyn Adams, and Blake Morrison, “Clear the Skies,” USA Today, August 12, 2002, p. A1.

  79. 4,546 planes: “FAA Chronology of the September 11 Attacks,” http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB165/faa4.pdf. Also David Bond, “The Other Aircraft of Sept. 11 – Crisis at Herndon,” Aviation Week, December 17, 2001.

  Chapter 9: “Make Him Brave”

  1. abruptly dropped: Four Flights Monograph, p. 38; NTSB Flight Path Study, Flight 93, p. 6.

  2. “Mayday!”: FBI evidence for Moussaoui trial; NTSB Flight Path Study, United Flight 93, February 19, 2002, p. 6; Four Flights Monograph, p. 38. Although the NTSB report lists only one “Mayday,” an account of the voice recording played at the Moussaoui trial indicated the word was repeated three times, which is standard practice among pilots and boat captains, to be sure the emergency is clearly communicated. See David Stout, “Recording from Flight 93 Played at Trial,” New York Times, April 12, 2006.

  3. calling pilots: 9/11 Commission staff interview with John Werth, October 1, 2003, p. 1.

  4. he might panic them: 9/11 Commission staff interview with John Werth, October 1, 2003, pp. 3–4.

  5. “guttural sounds”: Transcript of oral history interview of John Werth at the Flight 93 Memorial, conducted by Kathie Shaffer.

  6. “Somebody call Cleveland?”: Four Flights Monograph, p. 38.

  7. “I think we’ve got one!”: 9/11 Commission staff interview with John Werth, October 1, 2003, p. 3.

  8. “Tell Washington”: 9/11 Commission staff interview with John Werth, October 1, 2003, p. 3.

  9. “not another one”: 9/11 Commission staff interview with Mark Barnik, October 2, 2003, p. 3.

  10. moved the passengers: Four Flights Monograph, p. 38.

  11. breathed heavily: “FAA Summary of Air Traffic Hijack Events, September 11, 2001.”

  12. “Here the captain”: Four Flights Monograph, p. 39.

  13. never before flown: Four Flights Monograph, pp. 49–50.

  14. the voice of a second hijacker: In the United Airlines Flight #93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript, introduced as evidence in the Moussaoui trial, twice the pilot hijacker addresses his companion as “Saeed.”

  15. bomb on board: Four Flights Monograph, p. 39.

  16. Jarrah: In light of conclusions by investigators about who was flying the plane and speaking, recorded statements from the hijacker pilot are attributed to Jarrah.

  17. using a key: Four Flights Monograph, p. 36.

  18. cockpit voice recorder: United Flight #93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript, introduced at Moussaoui trial. A more complete version of the transcript was obtained by INTELWIRE.com, at http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/2003-12-04-FBI-cockpit-recorder-93.pdf, hereafter Intelwire CVR Flight 93. That document identifies the location of the speaker, based on four distinct microphone positions. All statements coming from the person in the “left seat cockpit,” who initially identified himself as the “captain,” are attributed to Jarrah. The recording itself was not released publicly, but was played at the trial. See David Stout, “Recording from Flight 93 Played at Trial,” New York Times, April 12, 2006. Stout wrote: “In some instances, it is hard to tell if a speaker is American or Arab, man or woman. In a transcript of the recording, the hijackers’ words in Arabic are accompanied in some cases by printed English translations, which also appeared on a screen in the courtroom while the recordings were being played.” The FBI document obtained by intelwire.com goes a long way to distinguish the voices.

  19. Someone pleaded: In the Washington Post’s account of the recording played at trial, this comment is attributed to a victim, although in the full transcript it comes from the left seat cockpit position occupied by Jarrah. Timothy Dwyer, Jerry Markon, and William Branigin, “Flight 93 Recording Played at Moussaoui Trial,” Washington Post, April 12, 2006.

  20. a native English-speaking woman: Intelwire CVR, Flight 93.

  21. she moaned: Neil A. Lewis, “Final Struggles on 9/11 Plane Fill Courtroom,” New York Times, April 13, 2006.

  22. 40,700 feet: Four Flights Monograph, p. 39.

  23. tossed like a rag doll: 9/11 Commission staff interview with John Werth, October 1, 2003, p. 4.

  24. “squawk ‘trip,’ please”: NTSB Flight Path Study, Flight 93, p. 6.

  25. “a different level”: Four Flights Monograph, p. 40, citing FAA memo “Full transcription; Air Traffic Control System Command Center, National Traffic Management Officer, East position; September 11, 2001,” October 31, 2003, pp. 10, 13. Also see Rutgers Law Review audio transcript: www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/full-audio-transcript/.

  26. “Ah, here’s the captain.”: There are several different transcribed versions of this message, w
ith slight variations in wording. This version is from the FBI transcript of the cockpit voice recorder.

  27. at a rate of 4,000 feet per minute: NTSB Flight Path Study, Flight 93, p. 2.

  28. seatback Airfones: A great deal of discussion and a certain amount of controversy has surrounded the phone calls from Flight 93, including disputes over whether callers used cellphones, Airfones, or both. Reports about the calls in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, by the government, the media, and some family members, contributed to the disputes by including inaccuracies. The author has no interest in rehashing those issues, only in presenting an accurate account of the phone calls based on the most credible information available. This account relies on interviews by the author; summaries of FBI interviews immediately after the attacks; sworn testimony and exhibits from the Moussaoui trial; a memorandum from a May 13, 2004, Justice Department briefing of the 9/11 Commission staff about Flight 93 phone calls; the Four Flights Monograph and the 9/11 Commission Report; published and oral accounts by family members and others who received the calls; interviews for the Oral History Project at the Flight 93 Memorial; and a summary titled “Phone Calls from the Passengers and Crew of Flight 93” compiled by the National Park Service for the Flight 93 Memorial, which relies on FBI information, at www.nps.gov/flni/learn/historyculture/upload/phone_calls_formatted_web_fall2013.pdf. Tom McMillan’s book, Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11, was also a source of information and inspiration regarding the calls and all the events of Flight 93.

  29. eight outgoing calls: 9/11 Commission staff memorandum on Justice Department briefing about cell and phone calls from Flight 93, May 13, 2004, p. 1.

  30. wearing the robe: Deena Burnett with Anthony Giombetti, Fighting Back: Living Life Beyond Ourselves (Altamonte Springs, FL: Advantage Inspirational, 2006), p. 59.

  31. “an airplane that’s been hijacked”: Tom Burnett made three confirmed Airfone calls, starting at 9:30, according to the FBI. His wife, Deena, has written and said that he first called on his cellphone, but there was no record of that call on his bill. Dialogue of the call comes from Burnett and Giombetti, p. 61.

  32. other planes: This account relies on the FBI interview with Deena Burnett on the day of the attacks, September 11, 2001.

  33. 9:35 a.m.: Four Flights Monograph, p. 40. An FBI report on calls from Flight 93 indicated that a flight attendant attempted to call United’s “Starfix” maintenance center in San Francisco as early as 9:31 a.m., but 9/11 Commission staff interviewed workers there and concluded that only one call went through, which they concluded was Sandy Bradshaw’s call at 9:35 a.m.

  34. giving birth to triplets: Jane Ganahl, “A Steely Resolve, Born of Anguish,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 10, 2003.

  35. “this is Mark Bingham”: Notes of FBI interview with Alice Hoglan, quoted in “Phone Calls from the Passengers and Crew of Flight 93” compiled by the National Park Service for the Flight 93 Memorial. Alice has spelled her last name differently over the years, including Hoglan and Hoaglan. She gave details of their conversation on the day of the attacks to ABC News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTs5uuq0II.

  36. call Mark’s cellphone: Longman, p. 135. In the notes to his engrossing book, written in 2002, Jere Longman wrote, “Alice Hoaglan (she later changed the spelling of her last name) played for me a tape of the calls that she made to her son Mark Bingham’s cellphone.”

  37. “We’re so worried”: Dennis Roddy, “Flight 93: Forty Lives, One Destiny,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2001.

  38. “bad men on this plane”: This account of Jeremy Glick’s phone call comes from the FBI transcript of a 9-1-1 call, with a New York State Police dispatcher patched in, from Glick’s mother-in-law, Joanne Makely. That call was made simultaneous to the lengthy Airfone call between Jeremy and Lyzbeth Glick, www.scribd.com/document/18886268/T7-B12-Flight-93-Calls-Jeremy-Glick-Fdr-FBI-302-Transcript-Joanne-Makely-911-Call-412. Also the call is described in great detail in Lyz Glick and Dan Zegart, Your Father’s Voice: Letters for Emmy About Life with Jeremy—and Without Him after 9/11 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004). Also see notes of FBI interviews with Lyzbeth Glick, September 12, 2001, and Richard Makely, September 12, 2001; 9/11 Commission staff interview with Lyzbeth Glick, April 22, 2004.

  39. didn’t participate: The 9/11 Commission and its staff considered this question and concluded, “It is reasonable to expect that the hijackers would take all precautions necessary to protect the one among them required to fly the plane. Given their unwillingness to risk his death or injury during the takeover of the aircraft, it made operational sense for the pilot hijacker to remain seated and inconspicuous until he was needed, most likely after the cockpit had been seized.” Four Flights Monograph, pp. 40–41.

  40. “I’ll finish the call”: Lisa Jefferson and Felicia Middlebrooks, Called (Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 2006), p. 32; 9/11 Commission staff interview with Lisa Jefferson, May 11, 2004.

  41. “we’re going down”: Jefferson, p. 44.

  42. “having a little problem”: Longman, p. 128.

  43. “Mostly I just love you”: FBI transcript of Linda Grondlund call, https://vault.fbi.gov/9-11%20Commission%20Report/9-11-interviews-2001-09-sep-05-of-08.

  44. “Hi, baby”: CeeCee Lyles’ voice message is quoted in “Phone Calls from the Passengers and Crew of Flight 93” compiled by the National Park Service for the Flight 93 Memorial, based on FBI reports.

  45. land in another country: FBI interview with Fred Fiumano, September 20, 2001. Fiumano’s name is redacted, but he later was revealed to have been on the call with Marion Britton.

  46. “Hello, Mom”: Longman, p. 167.

  47. “be in the present”: Longman, p. 168.

  48. “arms around you”: Longman, p. 168.

  49. “harder this is going to be on you”: Longman, p. 171. A similar version of this quote is contained in “Phone Calls from the Passengers and Crew of Flight 93” compiled by the National Park Service for the Flight 93 Memorial, based on FBI reports, trial evidence, and a family statement.

  50. told her husband, Phil: Flight 93 National Memorial Oral History Transcript, interview with Philip Bradshaw conducted by Barbara Black, June 12, 2006, p. 9.

  51. his voice shaking: Steve Levin, “‘It hurt to listen’: A wife describes pain of hearing 911 call from Flight 93,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 21, 2002. Levin describes Felt’s voice as “quivering.”

  52. “My plane has been hijacked”: Testimony of Lorne Lyles at Moussaoui trial, pp. 3510–11.

  53. heard people yelling: Flight 93 National Memorial Oral History Transcript, interview with Lorne Lyles conducted by Kathie Shaffer, October 25, 2006, p. 30.

  54. “We’ve got a plan”: Testimony of Lorne Lyles at Moussaoui trial, p. 3511.

  Chapter 10: “Let’s Roll”

  1. “How about we let them in”: Intelwire CVR, Flight 93.

  2. “talk to the pilot”: Intelwire CVR, Flight 93.

  3. “Evacuate the facility”: Flight 93 National Memorial Oral History Transcript, interview with Mahlon Fuller conducted by Kathie Shaffer, November 3, 2005, p. 8.

  4. “There’s a plane coming”: The Associated Press, “In Washington, chaos and fear as national capital tries to empty after attacks,” September 11, 2001.

  5. Cold War–era bunker: U.S. House history interview with Brian Gunderson, Chief of Staff to Representative Richard K. Armey of Texas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iytb4-3CdkY.

  6. jerked the plane’s nose: NTSB Flight Path Study, United Airlines Flight 93, p. 2.

  7. he’d impressed: Flight 93 National Memorial Oral History Transcript, interview with Arne Kruithof, conducted by Kathie Shaffer, April 20, 2009, p. 11.

  8. one hundred hours: Four Flights Monograph, p. 50.

  9. “do you hear Cleveland Center?”: NTSB Air Traffic Control Recording, Flight 93, dated December 21, 2001, p. 10.

  10. “scrambling aircraft”: Rutgers Uni
versity Law Review, Rutgers Law Review audio transcript: www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/full-audio-transcript/.

  11. wholly unaware: Four Flights Monograph, p. 45.

  12. “that’s the hijack”: Michael Bronner, “9/11 Live: The Norad Tapes,” Vanity Fair, August 2006; also see Rutgers University Law Review audio, “Another Mistaken Report, Delta Flight 1989,” http://www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/7-another-mistaken-report-delta-flight-1989/#_ednref.

  13. diverted two unarmed fighters: Rutgers University Law Review audio, “Another Mistaken Report, Delta Flight 1989,” http://www.rutgerslawreview.com/2011/7-another-mistaken-report-delta-flight-1989/#_ednref.

  14. offers of more fighters: Priscilla D. Jones, The First 109 Minutes: 9/11 and the U.S. Air Force, Monograph published by the Air Force History and Museums Program, Washington, D.C., 2011, p. 44.