United States - Pennsylvania: September 11, the forgotten flight
Audio 02:30
Donna Gibson, president of the Friends of Flight 93 association at the Memorial.
© RFI - Anne Corpet
By: Anne Corpet Follow
9 mins
Part of the 9/11 tragedy took place in Pennsylvania.
Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked Flight 93 that was supposed to fly to San Francisco, took a sharp turn over Ohio, and took a path that appeared to target Washington.
Experts believe they were trying to reach the capitol, but the intervention of the passengers on this flight prevented the plane from continuing its journey.
It crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Twenty years later, the families of the victims feel that this part of the history of 9/11 is somewhat overshadowed by the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Report from our correspondent in Pennsylvania.
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The memorial stands in the middle of nowhere, in the heart of rural Pennsylvania. An alley of gray slabs leads to a parapet overlooking the field where the plane crashed. The very site of the crash is behind a small door, which only opens for relatives of the missing each September 11. "
The intention of the passengers was to take control of the plane and land on an uninhabited place
" explains Donna Gibson, who chairs the association of friends of Flight 93, "
The black box of the plane recorded the fight inside the plane, and then you hear the crash. So we can guess that they entered the cockpit and that they fought with the terrorists. This memorial was erected to pay tribute to the heroism of these passengers
”.
At the end of the road, the crash site.
a small door guards the entrance, it is only open for relatives of the victims, every September 11 © RFI - Anne Corpet
"
These passengers acted in a heroic way
"
Some of the phone messages left by passengers to their families from the plane have been preserved and are being broadcast at the memorial. We hear a woman give her sister the code for her safe, a man tell his wife that he loves her. Informed of the attack on the World Trade Center towers, the passengers of Flight 93 had no illusions about their fate, and intervened against the terrorists in the mad hope of preventing the worst. The plane finally crashed in a huge explosion: the tanks were full, the flight was supposed to go to San Francisco. As in New York, the victims were only identified thanks to their DNA and the rare personal effects that could be found. “
These passengers acted heroically
Says Paula Firenzi, who came to visit the memorial with her son Paddy. “
It's important for me to explain to my son that this is America. When something terrible happens, we don't just sit there and do nothing, we act to improve the course of events.
The ten-year-old boy is visibly impressed by the story of Flight 93 and contemplates cutlery twisted by the heat of the fire in a window. “
I had heard about the attacks on the New York towers, but no one had ever told me about this theft. Without the intervention of the passengers, the terrorists might have succeeded in crashing the plane against the capitol in Washington,
”he commented.
Plane cutlery found after the crash, twisted in the heat of the explosion.jpg © RFI - Anne Corpet
An annual award to keep the memory of Flight 93 alive
"
Anyone who was old enough in 2001 remembers the images of planes hitting the World Trade Center, but some have forgotten the story of the passengers on Flight 93
" admits Donna Gibson, "
seventy-five million Americans have been born since. 2001 and perceive the event as a historical fact.
Many of them are completely unaware of the story of this theft.
I sometimes see college students visiting this site without any emotion, they make jokes, while everyone looks serious in front of the New York memorial, however much more frequented.
In a 2019 survey of American teachers and how they educated young people about the September 11 attacks, Jeremy Stoddard, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, overheard many of them say that 'They saw an increase in the number of students following 9/11 conspiracy theories.
According to him, in 2017, a third of American states did not include attacks or any content related to terrorism or the war on terrorism in their school curricula.
“
It's indecent.
This is a major event for understanding today's world
”plague Donna Gibson.
To fight against oblivion, the association of friends of flight 93 has launched an annual award, which will reward for the first time this year an American who has shown courage, and who put his life or his safety at stake in the name of others.
The families of the victims will participate in the choice of the winner, and hope that the event will give them the opportunity to perpetuate the memory of their missing loved ones.
"
She surely took a few passengers in her arms
"
Emily Schenkel welcomes us to her home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a three-hour drive from the memorial.
Her godmother Lorraine Bay was a flight attendant on Flight 93. “
Obviously what happened in New York received a lot of attention.
Everything was filmed, people saw what was happening, many more lives were lost in New York so it's more present, more visible, but I think it's essential that Flight 93 is not forgotten
»She estimates.
Emily Schenkel preciously spoils memories of her godmother, flight attendant on board flight-93 © RFI - Anne Corpet
In a large wooden box, Emily treasures memories of her aunt: photos, handwritten words. “
This box allows me to tell my children about her, they were born long after her death, but I want them to keep her memory alive. Besides, in homage to my godmother, I called my daughter Lorraine
”. The flight attendant did not make a phone call to her relatives from the plane. "
I think she reassured people, she surely took a few passengers in her arms, she knew when we needed her,
" speculates her goddaughter. Like all those close to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, Emily is a little worried about the anniversary date. “
There is always emotion,
” she blurted out, “
but emotion is a good thing.
The worst would be to forget.
"
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September 11, 2001
Terrorism
al-Qaeda
United States
Osama bin Laden