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New fbi view flight93 Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/GoodMorningAmerica/flight93_030808.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/GoodMorningAmerica/flight93_030808.html
‘A Heroic Thing’
Relatives Say FBI Report Shouldn’t Change View of Flight 93 Passengers
W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 8— Relatives of some of those who died on United Airlines Flight 93 during the Sept. 11 attacks say their family members are still heroes, even if an FBI report that claims the terrorist hijackers deliberately crashed the jetliner into a Pennsylvania field before passengers could seize control is true.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, it has been widely accepted that the passengers on the plane, having learned of the other terror attacks on the World Trade Center that morning, stormed the cockpit of the plane, where hijackers had taken the controls, and in overpowering the terrorists, crashed the airliner themselves into a Pennsylvania field.
However, the analysis of what happened on Flight 93 contained in a report sent to Congress last month tells a slightly different story.
Based on analysis of recordings from the cockpit, investigators concluded that while the passengers managed to get into the cockpit, they never took control of the plane from the hijackers.
Instead, investigators believe that a hijacker in the cockpit ordered Ziad Jarrah, the only one of the terrorists on the plane with a pilot's license, to crash the jetliner.
However, relatives of those who perished on Flight 93 believe the the report does not diminish their loved ones' bravery and sacrifice.
"I have no doubt that there were many fine and beautiful human beings on that plane who did a heroic thing in the last five minutes of their lives," said Alice Hoglan of Los Gatos, Calif., who lost her son, Mark Bingham, on the flight.
"There is no doubt that because of their heroic efforts, Flight 93 was thwarted in the hijackers' attempt to use it as a weapon against a target on the ground," she said.
Hoglan said she does not believe the FBI's analysis of what happened on Flight 93 is accurate. The voice recording of the flight's final minutes tells her there was a passenger struggle before the crash, she said.
"It was the last five to seven minutes of the cockpit voice recording that would convince any rational person that yes, indeed, the passengers did make it into the cockpit," she said. "And yes, indeed, a struggle ensued for the controls."
Deliberate Crash Makes ‘No Sense’
Flight 93 was going from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco. Thirty-three passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers died.
An FBI spokeswoman said Thursday that the new analysis should not change the belief that the passengers who — with the words "Let's roll" — charged down the airliner's narrow aisle with a food cart to overpower the hijackers — were heroes.
"While no one will ever know exactly what transpired in the final minutes of Flight 93, every shred of evidence indicates this plane crashed because of the heroic actions of the passengers," FBI spokeswoman Susan Whitson said.
President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have regularly praised the courage of those aboard Flight 93, some of whom told family members by telephone they were planning to storm the cockpit.
Jerry and Beatrice Guadagno, whose son Richard died on the flight, find the suggestion that the hijackers deliberately crashed the plane unbelievable.
"It sort of implies the aircraft was deliberately crashed, which makes no sense to me," Jerry Guadagno said. "I have never been told or had any reason to believe that the aircraft wasn't taken over by the passengers and as a result of the conflict, control of the aircraft was lost either by the terrorists, or the passengers. … I am quite surprised and amazed by this new interpretation."
Hoglan does not believe that the terrorists — or the passengers — would have crashed the airliner on purpose.
"I doubt that any of our loved ones would have deliberately downed the plane," she said. "What I think happened is that there was a struggle at the controls and because the plane was flying so low, and so fast, any little tweak on the controls could put it into the ground and that is indeed what happened."
Heroes by Any Interpretation
For Gordon Felt of Remsen, N.Y., who was among the victims' family members who last year heard a private airing of the cockpit voice recorder tape, the passengers should be remembered as heroes — no matter how the plane crashed.
"They demonstrated amazing spirit … under the circumstances they did pretty much everything they could, and they didn't have to, but they chose to and they chose to say no," said Felt, whose brother, Edward Felt, perished on the flight.
Felt said the passengers prevented an even larger disaster by forcing the hijackers to change their plans.
"If the crash was due directly to the hijackers, they wouldn't have done it if the passengers hadn't resisted, so I think the impetus for the plane's crash came from the passengers, not the hijackers," he said.
He just hopes that the report doesn't change the way history looks at the Flight 93 passengers and their fight with the hijackers.
"What we're most concerned about is that with time that people aren't forgotten as to what they did, and that's very important to all of us that you know it was something pretty special that took place and we just want people to remember that."
ABCNEWS' Bob Jamieson and ABCNEWS Radio contributed to this report.
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