As I said in my last post, I decided that I wanted to see the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania. It is about 90 miles to the southeast of Pittsburgh and in a pretty nice section of Pennsylvania. I wish I would have know how close it was to other things in the area as it was only about 60 miles south of Altoona. I would have left sooner and possibly went to see the Horseshoe Curve. It was a nice drive and the Turnpike wasn't too busy although they were doing some work on it.
This isn't the actual memorial, this wall surrounds the Visitors Center. I didn't arrive early enough to go in the Visitors Center but I would imagine they would have some stuff about 9/11 in general and Flight 93 in particular.
American Airlines Flight 11 was a 767 originating in Boston and heading to Los Angeles. At 7:46 A.M., Flight 11 received clearance to push away from the gate. It lifted off Runway 4R at 7:59. It is estimated that the hijacking began 15 minutes later. It is believed that it took 2 minutes for the hijackers to take the plane over. The plane started to make it's turn for its intended target. At 8:46 A.M. it struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
United Airlines Flight 175 was also a 767 originating in Boston and heading for Los Angeles. It was scheduled to leave Logan Airport 15 minutes after Flight 11. By 8:15A.M. it was lifting off Runway 9. It is estimated that the hijackers started to take over the plane at 8:45. As it turned towards its target, it almost collided with Delta Airlines Flight 2315 which was flying from Hartford to Tampa. At 9:03 A.M., the 767 slammed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. This particular flight was witness by the tower at Newark Airport. There was also a crew filming at the Trade Center and they were able to catch it as it crashed into the tower.
American Airlines Flight 77 was also a flight that was heading to Los Angeles. But this flight originating at Dulles Airport near Washington D.C. It was a 757. The flight departed Dulles at 8:10A.M. and it was hijacked around 8:50. At 9:37 it hit the Pentagon. Fortunately, the section it hit was just finished being remodeled, so it wasn't as occupied as it normally would be.
It was kind of eerie being in this part of the building. Because of the cement walls, there was a nice echo and I could hear one of the planes that was flying overhead. I'm not sure if that was by design but if it was, it was pretty cool.
The memorial grounds are in a pretty nice area. This is roughly where Flight 93 impacted.
Looking up at the Visitors Center.
This sandstone marks the spot where Flight 93 ended. Flight 93 hit the ground at 563 miles per hour and made a crater that was 30 feet wide by 15 feet deep. The bulk of the aircraft (and human remains) were found within a 70 acre area with debris hit as far as 1.5 miles away.
The Memorial itself is dedicated to the 40 passengers and crew that were on the aircraft at the time.
Captain Jason Dahl joined the Civil Air Patrol at age 13 and was flying solo three years later. He graduated from San Jose State in 1980. He started his flying career with Piper Aerostar. In 1985, he joined United Airlines as a Flight Engineer on a 727. He became a co-pilot in 1988 and Captain in 1993. On September 11th, 2001, he was Standards Captain who also trained other pilots.
Since we went to the memorial so soon after the anniversary, there were plenty of flowers laid by it.
It was pretty sad when you think about it.
The First Officer of Flight 93 was Leroy Homer. In 1983, he attended the US Air Force Academy and graduated in 1987. After completed his flight training, he was assigned to flying the C-141 Starlifter. He was discharged from the Air Force in 1995 with the rank of captain. He continued in the Air Force Reserve and ended up becoming a Major. He joined United in 1995 as a second officer on 727. One year later, be became the first officer on the 757/767.
United Airlines Flight 93 was scheduled to leave Newark at 8:00 A.M. After a 42 minute delay, it finally left Newark and headed for San Francisco. If they had left four minutes later, it is entirely possible they would have seen one of the two planes hitting the twin towers. It is believe that the hijacking began at about 45 minutes into the flight. Around this time, the passengers were getting inklings that something larger was going on. At about 20 minutes later, the passengers tried to retake the plane. The plane would crash into the ground at 10:03. It is believed that its target was the White House.
The FBI started its investigation almost immediately and if I remember correctly, this was the only flight where they could recover the Flight Data Recorder. Evidence from this flight was used to convicted some of the other Al Queda members.
Pictures of the crew and passengers.
In 2018, this was dedicated as the Tower of Voices. It is 93 feet tall.
Eventually there are plans to put 40 chimes in this tower.
It is pretty nice looking.
I haven't been to any of the other 9/11 Memorials but I'm guessing that this is probably the most comptemplative. There is a grove of 40 trees planted and eventually this will become a wildlife area. It is very nice but it is a shame that such a violent act occurred here.
