Flight 93 Memorial, Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Not weird, but very sobering. This memorial commemorates the events of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. The plane was hijacked over Pennsylvania and it is widely speculated that the terrorists intended this flight to hit the U.S. Capitol or the White House. Instead, 33 courageous passengers and additional crew members chose to storm the cockpit and prevent the terrorists from hitting their intended target.
The plane was a United Airlines Boeing 757-200, N591UA, capable of carrying 182 passengers. The picture was taken a couple of days before September 11th.
Anyone who was teenage or older can remember exactly where they were when they heard the news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York City. Viewing this memorial, I came to the realization that the day will come when no one is alive who can remember first-hand the events of that September 11th in 2001. The beauty of this memorial in Pennsylvania is how accurately it tells the story, without bias or politicization, for future generations to remember. It shows first hand news reports of the events as they happened.
I hadn’t heard this part of the story - dispatch at United Airlines sent this message to United 93 at 9:24 am: “Beware any cockpit intrusion. Two aircraft in NY, hit Trade Cnter builds.” The captain of UAL 93 responded, asking to confirm the message. Four minutes later, their cockpit door is breached and the takeover of the airplane by terrorists began.
This video takes data from the flight data recorder and shows the final minute of United 93’s flight. The terrorists are in command and the passengers are ramming the cockpit door to gain entry. In that process, the terrorists make drastic maneuvers to delay or incapacitate the heroes. In the end, it is believed that the passengers gained entry to the cockpit and caused the terrorists to force the plane down.
Another part of the story that I had never heard: This remnant of a Visa credit card at the crash site that belonged to one of the terrorists was used to trace the flow of money back to Al Qaeda.
The symbology at the Flight 93 Memorial is amazing. There are almost no 90* right angles. All the angles either simulate the angle of the wings on the airplane or the 40* angle that the plane hit the ground. The dark path follows the flight path, and the color represents the color of the hemlock grove where the plane crashed.
The benches along the walkway are meant to symbolize the three-abreast seating on the single-aisle 757.
The memorial wall has the names on individual panels of each of the 40 passengers and crewmembers. The panels appear to be linked but are actually individually standing panels, representing the individuality of each person on board, but linked together in the same place and time on that fateful day.
We will never forget.
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