Roy Exum
As we remembered the 9/11 attacks last week, there was a new document that crossed my desk from a dear friend. In 20 years since the tragedy, I have never read nor seen a transcript from United Flight No.93 between emergency operator Lisa Jefferson of GTE and passenger Todd Beamer. Yet after reading the following, there is ample substance the conversation is true. I think it should be included in every history book in America high schools.
Actually, no “transcript” exists of the phone call, so Snopes.com declares this account as false, but the main components are very true, as authenticated by notes made by Miss Jefferson and her own testimony of what occurred.
I have never read anything that speaks so familiarly to America’s spirit, its resolve when presented with circumstances against all odds and … quite frankly … who the American people are.
You’re gonna’ love this …
* * *
Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here… Our plane has been hijacked… can you understand me?
Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?
Todd: No
Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?
Todd: There are three that we know of.
Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?
Todd: Yes… they don’t have guns… they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.
Lisa: Do you mean… like steak knives?
Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.
Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?
Todd: No… I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.
Lisa: Have they said what they want?
Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet. He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!
Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.
Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.
Lisa: Ok Todd… my name is Lisa… Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.
Todd: It’s United Flight 93.
Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?
Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.
Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?
Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.
Lisa: Has anyone been injured?
Todd: Yes, … they… they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.
Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?
Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane… oh Jesus... Help!
Lisa: Todd… are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!
Todd: Hello… We’re going down… I think we’re going to crash… Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off… we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me… we’re flying east again.
Lisa: Ok Todd… What’s going on with the other passengers?
Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center…Lisa, is that true??
Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.
Todd: Oh God —help us!
Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.
Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God… Lisa, will you do something for me?
Lisa: I’ll try… if I can… Yes.
Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call.
Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.
Todd: Our home number is 201 353-1073… You have the same name as my wife… Lisa… We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her… (choking up). I’ll always love her. (clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1… Tell them… (choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th… I saw an ultra sound… it was great… we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy… Lisa?
Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.
Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…
Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……
Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93… Yes I’ll hold.
Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?
Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.
Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?
Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.
Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?
Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call… hold a mo …
Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?
Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.
Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.
Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.
Todd: I understand… hold on… I’ll… I’ll be back.
Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?
Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.
Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic… We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me… I want you to hear this… I have talked with the others… we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.
Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?
Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, … will you do one last thing for me?
Lisa: Yes…What is it?
Todd: Would you pray with me?
They pray:
Our father which art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive our trespassers,
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory
Forever…..Amen
- - -
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…
He makes me to lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside the still waters
He restores my soul
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…
---
Todd: (softer) God help me… Jesus help me…
Todd:(clears throat and louder) Are you guys ready?… Let’s ROLL!
* * *
ADDENDIUM
(This from the National Park Service, where a memorial to those who died has been built in Shanksville, Pa:
On the morning of September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in a strategically planned attack against the United States. These terrorists intentionally flew two jet airliners into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City and a third aircraft into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into an open field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all passengers, crew members, and terrorists on board. The four aircraft strikes killed nearly 3,000 people, the deadliest attack on American soil by a foreign entity. This is the Flight 93 Story.
It began as just an ordinary day... Seven crew members assigned to Flight 93 began to prepare for the early morning non-stop flight from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco, California. Thirty-three passengers were traveling for ordinary reasons. Flight 93 was a Boeing 757, with a capacity of 182 passengers. The terrorists targeted domestic flights that; normally had few passengers so they would have less resistance, used the type of aircraft that they had been trained to pilot, were non-stop, coast-to-coast flights with full fuel tanks that would cause the maximum amount of destruction, and were departing at approximately the same time so they could make a coordinated, surprise attack.
The hijackers on September 11, 2001 were terrorists on a suicide mission. This was the first time hijackers used commercial airliners as weapons to destroy symbolic targets, commit mass murder, and spread terror.
On that morning, three of the four hijacked flights departed on schedule. However, Flight 93 was delayed more than 25 minutes due to typically heavy morning traffic. Just four minutes after Flight 93 departed, hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03 a.m., a second hijacked plane, Flight 175, hit the South Tower.
At 9:37 a.m. hijacked Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. The Federal Aviation Administration, at 9:45 a.m., ordered all aircraft to land at the nearest airport. An estimated 4,500 aircraft landed safely without incident. This was the first time such an order had been given in United States aviation history. By that time, though, Flight 93 was not responding to any orders.
At about 9:28 a.m., after 46 minutes of routine flight across Pennsylvania, the terrorists on Flight 93 overtook the cockpit, turning the plane southeast on a course directed toward Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. The passengers and crew were forced to the back of the plane and told to be quiet. Using airfones, passengers and crew began making calls to report the hijacking. They soon learned the shocking news about the other hijacked planes and quickly realized that Flight 93 was part of a larger attack on America. This realization led to a vote and a collective decision to fight back.
In just over 30 minutes, this diverse group of people on Flight 93 developed a plan and put it into action. The cockpit voice recorder (reader discretion advised) captured the sounds of their struggle: shouts, screams, calls to action, and sounds of breaking glassware. To stop the uprising, the terrorist piloting the aircraft began to roll it to the left and right, and pitch the nose up and down.
In its final moments, the plane turned upside down as it passed over rural Western Pennsylvania. The terrorists remained in control of the plane and chose to crash it rather than risk the passengers and crew regaining control of the aircraft. At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 plowed into an empty field at a speed of 563 miles per hour. Upon impact, the 7,000 gallons of jet fuel on board the aircraft exploded, creating a ball of fire that rose higher than the trees.
* * *
Let’s ROLL!
. . . and may we never forget
royexum@aol.com