THE battle to win back control of United Airlines Flight 93 from the hijackers on September 11, 2001, was fought by only a few and not every passenger, some of the victims relatives said today.
When Michelle Obama told the story of Flight 93 in a remembrance ceremony at the crash site in Pennsylvania last weekend, her speech brought tears to many eyes – but as she spoke of the 40 passengers and crew rising “as one” to take on the 9/11 terrorists, some of the victims’ relatives were unimpressed.
“I think it’s a beautiful story that 40 people rose as one, but that’s not the real story,” said Alice Hoagland, whose son Mark Bingham, 31, was one of a handful of passengers who stormed the cockpit.
Flight 93 was the only one of the four planes hijacked that day not to hit its target, believed to have been the Capitol building, where Congress was in session. The passengers’ actions likely saved hundreds of lives.
A $58 million memorial plaza is now being built at the crash site in tribute to the passengers and crew. It will include a marble wall inscribed with the 40 names, as well as 40 groves of red maple trees.
But away from the public eye, the memorial – intended to promote unity and peace – instead became a source of bitter wrangling between family members.
Some of the parents of those who died argue that the memorial perpetuates a “polite fiction” that all those on board tried to retake the plane.
“Everyone on the flight played a role, whether it was sitting in their seats and praying or running down the aisle and clubbing people with their fists,” said Ms Hoagland.
“Everyone played a role but they did not play an equal role and the monument doesn’t reflect that. We know a little group got together in the back and grabbed coffee pots of boiling water, butter knives and spoons and ran forward to try and take control of the plane.”
Beverly Burnett, whose son Tom Burnett, 38, tried to storm the cockpit, did not attend last weekend’s ceremony. Friends asked if she was insulted by Mrs Obama’s words.
“I’m sure the first lady doesn’t have a clue, but they were not all leaders on that plane,” she said.
“I don’t have a problem with honouring the 40 but I do have a problem with people being realistic. We know my son did not hide in his seat. We heard his voice in the cockpit recorder.
“There are people who always want to change the storyline wherever you go. I know they’re grieving for their loved ones but let’s not change the storyline. There were people who were not big and strong like my son Tommy.”
The story has been pieced together using evidence from the flight data recorder which shows the plane’s position, transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder and telephone calls from passengers to loved ones.
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