United Airlines Flight 93 Timeline
Timeline
- (7:03 - 7:48 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Page 4, Chapter 1
9/11 Commission Report
- (8:42 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:02 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Upon commencement of cabin service, it is likely that flight attendants Deborah Welsh and Wanda Green would have worked in first class, while Lorraine Bay, CeeCee Lyles, and Sandra Bradshaw would have been in coach.
(Source)
- (9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:08 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:19 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Also at 9:21 A.M., the UAL air traffic control coordinator sent out a message to UAL dispatchers: "There may be Addnl hijackings in progress. You may want to advise your fits to stay on alert and shut down all cockpit access Inflt. [inflight] Sandy per Mgmt."
(Source)
- (9:22 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:23 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
After reporting experiencing some "light chop" at 35,000 feet, Flight 93 was handed off to Cleveland Air Traffic Control Center (Cleveland Center). Several seconds later, Flight 93 established radio contact with Cleveland Center: "Morning Cleveland, United Ninety-three with you at, three-five-oh (35,000 feet), intermittent light chop."322 The controller did not respond to this initial transmission as he had sixteen flights under his control, and was issuing new routes to several aircraft based upon the decisions in New York and Boston to ground-stop all aircraft.
(Source)
- (9:25 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
At approximately 9:25 A.M., FAA headquarters requested the Herndon Command Center to "get an awareness up to all the traffic management coordinators or the traffic management units to report any unusual circumstances direct to the Command Center of loss of identification, or any radio, uh, any unusual radio transmissions."
(Source)
- (9:26 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Also at 9:26 A.M., Flight 93 asked for confirmation of the ACARS message sent at 9:23 A.M. and received in the cockpit at 9:24 A.M. "Ed cofirm latest mssg plz—Jason."
(Source)
- (9:27 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
...the call-waiting on Deena's phone clicked. It was Tom, calling from the plane on the cell phone he had nearly lost in a sporting goods store two days earlier.
"Tom,", she said. "Are you okay?"
"No," he replied. "I'm on United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We're in the air. The plane has been hijacked. They already knifed a guy. One of them has a gun. They're saying there is a bomb aboard. Please call the authorities."
He hung up.
She scribbled down what Tom told her and noted the time: six twenty-seven (nine twenty-seven in the East). Later she would wonder whether Tom called before the hijackers had taken control of the cockpit. Her husband had spoken quietly, quickly, as if he were being watched. The entire conversation had lasted ten seconds.Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
- (9:28 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
The aircraft was traveling 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio. It suddenly began to descend, dropping 685 feet over the next half minute. Eleven seconds into the descent, Cleveland Center overheard the first of two radio transmissions from the Flight 93 cockpit. The captain or first officer declared "Mayday" amid sounds of a physical struggle in the cockpit. While the controller did not understand what was said, he began to try to identify the possible source of the transmissions and noticed Flight 93's rapid descent. The Cleveland controller replied over the radio: "Somebody call Cleveland?" There was no reply.
The second radio transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated that the clash was still in progress. The captain or first officer shouted: "Hey get out of here—get out of here—get out of here." The screaming in this second radio transmission was heard by the Cleveland controller responsible for Flight 93.
(Source)
(Cockpit recording:) Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Get out of here! Mayday! Get out of here!Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Get out of here! Mayday! Get out of here!
Then the voice of a hijacker: Ladies and gentlemen, here it’s the captain. Please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb aboard
The controller tries repeatedly to contact the cockpit but there is no response. Taylor: I was afraid of that flight. I see this plane climbed up from his assigned altitude of 35,000 feet to 41,000 feet. Turned around and aimed right back at where we were. And descended rapidly. And when a plane descends too fast, the computer can’t keep up with it. And you get Xs in the altitude box. So we knew he was aimed at us and descending very very rapidly. At that point I knew it was a confirmed hijacking. I didn’t know where they were going, what they were doing.
We have all shuddered at the thought of what must have been going on in the cockpits of those hijacked airliners. It turns out the Cleveland controller working United Flight 93 at the time, along with a supervisors, actually heard the sounds of the struggle in the cockpit. Taylor: I said, "Did you guys talk to him?” He goes, “Yeah, we talked to him.” I said, “What did the pilot—?" He said, “It wasn’t the pilots,” he said, “It was the hijackers.” I said, “The hijackers?” Are you telling me the hijackers were talking to you on the frequency?” He said, “The pilot opened up the mike before...” We heard it all.” I said, “What—?" He said, “We heard them being killed.” He said, “We heard.” And I said, I said, “Don’t tell me any more.” I said, “I don’t—I don’t wanna know anymore.”
Like the other three planes before it, Flight 93 makes a radical turn east, shutting off the planes transponder signal. Controllers can now only see a moving “target” on radar. They have no other flight information.(Source)
<mp3>Ua93 mayday1.mp3|download</mp3>- Mayday #1 (distressing: caution advised)
<mp3>Ua93 mayday2.mp3|download</mp3>- Mayday #2 (distressing: caution advised)
- (9:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
<mp3>UA93 ATC.mp3|download</mp3>- Air Traffic Control audio
(Source)
- (9:31 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
United dispatchers were advised by United headquarters officials that there was a potential problem with Flight 93. The airline's air traffic control coordinator and another employee each sent an ACARS message to the flight asking it to establish radio contact with air traffic control. There was no response to these or any subsequent ACARS messages.
(Source)
- (9:32 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
(Source)
- (9:33 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:34 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
"They're in the cockpit," Tom told her, using an Airfone this time.
The man who had been knifed was dead. Tom had tried to help, but he felt no pulse.
Deena quickly told him what she knew. Two planes had hit the towers of the World Trade Center. Terrorists seemed to be hitting desginated targets. Tom immediately pieced things together. The hijackers could be planning to use his plane for a similar purpose.
"Oh my God," he said. "It's a suicide mission."
Deena heard Tom relaying the information she gave him.
"Who are you talking to?" Deena asked.
"My seatmate," Tom replied.
Were commercial airlines being hijacked? he asked. Which airlines? How many planes were involved? Who was involved?
Deena answered with what little information she had. Television newscasters were speculating that the hijacked planes were cargo planes, private planes or commercial jets. When she was a Delta flight attendant, she became familiar with the distinctive markings on various airlines, but she could not identify the planes she'd seen on television.
His plane seemed to be turning east, Tom reported, then said, "Wait, wait, we're turning back the other way. We're going south."
What could he see? Deena asked. He said it was a rural area, just fields.
"I've got to go," he said.Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
- (9:34 - 9:38 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:34 - 10:08 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:36 a.m. approx) September 11, 2001:
A flight attendant [Sandy Bradshaw] contacted the United Air Lines maintenance facility in San Francisco. (The same facility that the flight attendant aboard United 175 had called to report the hijacking of that flight). The San Francisco phone number is one that flight crews know to call in order to report mechanical and systems problems, obtain advice on troubleshooting, and request maintenance while in flight. Her call was first answered by a United maintenance employee and was subsequently taken over by a manager at the facility. The manager described the flight attendant as "shockingly calm." The flight attendant, reporting from the back of the plane, told the maintenance employees that hijackers were in the cabin behind the first-class curtain and in the cockpit. They had announced they had a bomb on the plane. The hijackers had pulled a knife. They had killed a flight attendant. The manager reported the emergency to his supervisor, who passed the information to the United Air Lines crisis center. The manager then instructed the air phone operator to try and reestablish contact with the plane, but the effort was unsuccessful.
Flight 93 reversed course and headed east. The hijackers struggled to control a defiant hostage, most likely a flight attendant in the cockpit, eventually killing or otherwise silencing her.
(Source)
- (9:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
Jere Longman expanded on Mark Bingham's phone call in his book "Among the Heroes", although note that he places it seven minutes later.
"Get [his aunt] Kathy or Alice quickly," he said...
Kathy hurried out of bed and ran into the kitchen.
"Kathy, it's Mark. I'm on United Flight 93 and it's been hijacked."
Kathy Hoglan grabbed a piece of paper and write "United 93." Mark sounded calm, matter-of-fact.
"I wanted to call to tell you, in case I never see you again, that I love you," Mark said...
"Oh my gosh, let me get your mom for you," Kathy told Mark.
Alice Hoglan had heard her sister-in-law race down the hallway and say, "Well, we love you, too, Mark."
She got to the kitchen and Kathy told her, "Talk to Mark, he's been hijacked."
"Hi, Mark," Alice said.
There was a still formality in his response.
"Mom, this is Mark Bingham."...
...Mark told his mother that he loved her... His voice sounded controlled and rattled at the same time.
"I'm on a flight from Newark to San Francisco,", Mark said. "There are three guys aboard who say they have a bomb."
"Who are these guys, Mark?"
There was a long pause. Alice listened and listened. Mark did not answer for what seemed like five seconds. She heard voices, nothing suggesting violence or threats, no yelling, no accented voices. It sounded as if someone were speaking to him confidentially. It reminded Alice of an office setting, the kinds of ambient noises a person heard if someone laid the phone down for a minute, or turned away.
Then Mark came back on the line, "Do you believe me? It's true."
He was seeking reassurance.
"I do believe you, Mark," Alice said. "Who are these guys?"
There was another long pause... Then the line went dead.Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
- (9:39 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
<mp3>Ziad Jarrah Bomb on Board.mp3|download</mp3>- Ziad Jarrah in the Flight 93 cockpit
- (9:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:41 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
The Herndon Command Center notified headquarters that Flight 93 had reversed course from its intended flight path and was descending and heading eastbound.
(Source)
- (9:42 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:43 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:45 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
"Tom, you're okay?"
"No, I'm not," he said.
A third plane had hit the Pentagon, she told him.
He repeated her words to others sitting around him. What else could she tell him?
The planes seemed to be commercial airliners originating on the East Coast, Deena said.
Tom gave the impression that he was walking around, trying to see where the hijackers were positioned.
"Do you know who's involved?" he asked.
"No," Deena said.
Again, he seemed to be relaying information, his voice growing muted then louder again. He asked about the likelihood of a bomb onboard. Before Deena could answer, Tom said, "I don't think they have one. I think they're just telling us that."
Had she called the authorities?
Yes, Deena told him. "They didn't seem to know anything about your plane."
The hijackers, Tom said, were talking about crashing the plane into the ground, "We have to do something."
He and others were making a plan. "A group of us." Don't worry, he told Deena. "I'll call you back.".Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
"I understand this plane is being hijacked," Jefferson said to Todd. "Could you please give me detailed information as to what's going on?"...
The caller identified himself as Todd Beamer, from Cranbury, New Jersey. He spoke in a soft, calm voice. Three people had hijacked the plane. Two with knives went into the cockpit and locked the door. The third person stood in first class with what appeared to be a bomb strapped around his waist with a red belt. He ordered everyone to sit down, then closed the curtain that separated first class from coach. There were ten passengers in first class, twenty-seven in coach, and five flight attendants, Todd said, giving Jefferson the flight manifest. He could not see any children.
Two people were lying on the ground in first class, Todd said. He did not know if they were still alive. Lisa Jefferson overheard a flight attendant sitting next to Todd say that the men on the floor were the captain and co-pilot. The flight attendant did not mention them by name, or say that they were wearing uniforms, but she seemed certain. Todd repeated what the flight attendant had told him.
At the beginning of the call, Todd spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper. If he felt his life was being threatened, Jefferson said, he could lay the phone down. Don't hang up, keep the line open, she told him. Todd said he was fine, free to talk.
"Do you know what they want?" Todd asked? "Money or ransom or what?"
He seemed confused.
"I don't know," Jefferson said.
Todd did not seem to be aware of the other hijackings. Jefferson did not have many details, either, but she gathered from co-workers around her that the other hijackings had been suicide missions. She did not mention this to Todd, not wanting to alarm him.
His voice went up a bit. "We're going down, we're going down. No, wait, we're coming back up. We're turning around. I think we're going north."
It was disorienting. He said he didn't know where they were going.
"Oh, Jesus, please help us," Todd said.
Todd asked Jefferson to recite the Lord's Prayer with him. They recited it together, then Todd began reciting the twenty-third Psalm...
The plane seemed to take another dive, and nervousness came back into Todd's voice.
"Oh God," he said. "Lisa."
The operator thought this was odd. She had introduced herself as Mrs Jefferson and had not given Todd her first name.
"That's my wife's name," Todd said.
"Oh, that's my name, too, Todd," Lisa Jefferson said.
"Oh, my God," he said of the coincidence.
He told her about his family, his two young sons, David and Andrew, and his wife, who was expecting a third baby. "If I don't make it out of this, would you please call my family and let them know how much I love them?" Todd asked Jefferson, giving her his phone number.
Of course, she said...
The Boeing 757 moved erratically and Todd thought he had lost contact with the operator.
"Lisa, Lisa," he hollered into the phone.
"I'm still here, Todd. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here as long as you will."
He said a few of the passengers were going to try and "jump" the hijacker with the bomb and try to regain control of the plane.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Jefferson asked.
"At this point, I don't have much choice," Todd said. "I'm going to have to go out on faith."
What did she think?
"I stand behind you," Jefferson replied.
They talked more about their families. She was in Oak Brook, Illinois, and he had lived in nearby Wheaton. She had two kids and he had two kids. He said he was on a business trip. He had thought about calling his wife but did not want to upset her if he did not have to.
"I just want to talk to somebody and just let somebody know that this is happening," Todd said.
"That's fine," Lisa said. "I'll talk as long as you want."
Then, in the background, she could hear an "awful commotion," men's voices raised and hollering and women screaming "Oh my God," and "God help us" and "Help us Jesus."
Todd seemed to turn away from the phone to speak with someone else.
"You ready?" he said. "Okay. Let's roll."
...his line remained open to GTE-Verizon operator Lisa Jefferson, but she heard only silence. She kept repeating his name but heard no response. After 15 minutes, maybe thirty, one of her supervisors said, "Lisa, release the call.".Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
- (Some time between 9:45 and 9:50 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:46 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
The Herndon Command Center updated FAA headquarters that Flight 93 was tracking towards Washington, DC and was 29 minutes away from the city.
(Source)
- (9:48 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:49 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
(Source)
Command Center: Uh, do we want to think about, uh, scrambling aircraft?
FAA Headquarters: Uh, God, I don't know.
Command Center: Uh, that's a decision somebody's gonna have to make probably in the next 10 minutes.
FAA Headquarters: Uh, ya know everybody just left the room.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1962910
<mp3>FAA discuss scrambling aircraft.mp3|download</mp3>
- (9:50 a.m. and later) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:53 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:54 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
He asked about their three daughters. They wanted to talk to him, Deena said. Tom told her he would talk to them later.
He and others had come up with a plan to regain control of the airplane over a rural area.
"No," Deena admonished him. "Sit down, be still, be quiet and don't draw attention to yourself."
"If they're going to crash this plane into the ground, we're going to have to do something," Tom said.
There was no time to wait for the authorities. What could they do anyway? "It's up to us," he said. "I think we can do it,"
"What do you want me to do?" Deena asked.
"Pray Deena, just pray."
"I love you," she said.
"Don't worry," Tom said. Then, after a long pause: "We're going to do something."Among the Heroes, Jere Longman
- (9:55 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:56 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
The Flight attendant who had called her husband at 9:50 A.M. ended her phone call. She said, "Everyone is running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye." She hung up the phone.
(Source)
- (9:57 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Also at 9:58 A.M., a flight attendant contacted her husband by cell phone. She told him again that the plane had been hijacked and they were forcing their way into the cockpit.
(Source)
- (9:59 - 10:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" A hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off." The sounds of fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose of the aircraft up and down. At 10:00:26, a passenger in the background said, "In the cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled "Roll it!"
(Source)
- (10:01 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
At 10:01 A.M., two minutes before Flight 93 crashed, Command Center updated FAA headquarters that the flight was "rocking its wings."
(Source)
- (10:02 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
Taylor: I had another airplane that I was working. And I told him, I said, “Sir,” I said, “I think we have an aircraft down.” I said, “This is entirely up to you, but if you’d be willing to fly over the last place that we spotted this airplane—and see if you can see anything. Any smoke, anything.” And he’s like, “Yeah, we’ll do that.” So he flew over and at first he didn’t see anything and then he said, “We see a great big plume or a cloud of smoke.”
Brokaw: You knew it was down.
Taylor: We knew.(Source)
- (10:07 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:10 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
Also at 10:10 A.M., when the information that Flight 93 had turned off its transponder and had a potential bomb on board reached the mission crew commander, he was dealing with the arrival of the Langley fighters over Washington DC and what their orders were with respect to potential targets. While NEADS searched for the radar track on Flight 93, the Mission Crew Commander instructed his Weapons Director on the current rules of engagement (ROE) for the fighters, stating that they did not have clearance (permission) to shoot down targets and that their tasking was to identify aircraft by type and tail number.
(Source)
- (10:11 a.m. approx) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:13 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:15 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:17 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- (10:27 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
- (10:31 a.m.) September 11, 2001:
(Source)
- September 24, 2001:
(Source)