Fw: Flight 93

[Buell Powell]

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Powell, Phyllis F"
To:
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 9:30 AM
Subject: FW: Flight 93


This is really long but a good read when you have time- Col Hausmann
forwarded it to us.
pfp

-----Original Message-----
From: Jack and Peg Scott [mailto:jmscott20@cox.net]
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:13 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: Fw: Flight 93


A letter everyone in the USA should read.


> This is riveting!!
>
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>
>
> This came from a Delta commercial pilot.
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> Guys,
>
> Susie and I just got back from seeing "UAL Flight 93", it was
> absolutely gripping, and as a former airline pilot who was flying a
> trip that morning on a Boeing 767 from Cincinnati to Orlando it was
> almost too horrific to watch...it was very disturbing! For you pilot
> types, the attention to detail, the cockpit, the preflight, the crew,
> pilots and flight attendants boarding the aircraft and making small
> talk was or so real and routine...just another day in the office!
> Likewise the views from central flow control, NY and Boston ARTCC and
> the NORAD command center were very realistic. Should anyone have any
> doubts about our response, or lack of that morning you need to view
> this movie. Watching all the various controllers and their
> supervisors trying to get their arms around the problem and to come to

> grips and connect the dots is so very real. The movie appears to
> almost happen in real time and you can really sense the problem that
> the commanders had in thinking outside the box and realizing that we
were really at war.
> Fighters are scrambled, late, and in the wrong direction, as threats
> are suppose to come from over the water to the east not from over land

> to the west; the planes are not armed, can they ram, and who has the
> authority to give that command...the command is given but not relayed
> to the pilots. The lack of communications, or rather the disbelief
> and lack of coordination is stunning but easy to understand. Even the

> pilots of UAL Flt 93 are given a data link message that the Towers
> have been hit and to beware of cockpit intruders...they brush it off
> in disbelief...as I'm sure any pilot would have prior to that date.
> The time line given at the end of the movie and the confusion over
> what planes were involved, and which flights were being hijacked is
> very revealing...we just couldn't get it together quickly enough. As
> pilots and crew members we had never been trained to deal with
> suicidal hijackers who were prepared to die, it was simply
> inconceivable at the time. A key point, though not belabored, was when

> the supervisor of the FAA Central Flow Control ordered that all
> aircraft in US airspace land immediately, (there were over 4200 in the

> air), that no planes from overseas would be allowed into the country
> and would be turned back, and that there were to be no over
> flights...he realized that we were at war but didn't know with
> whom...it was a very bold and brave move and he was thinking way
> outside the box...I believe that it was also his first day on the job
as the boss!
>
> All Americans should see this movie as it may help them get a grip on
> the terrorist threat that we are up against vs. the radical Muslim
> world. I don't know if we belong in Iraq or how we should deal with
> Iran or North Korea or the Sudan, but I know that there is a real
> threat to our way of life from the radical Islamic fundamentalists. I

> continually hear that this is not a true reflection of the Koran or
> true Islamic beliefs. Well that may be true, and it might not be, but
> there would appear to be plenty of Muslims in the world that have an
> entirely different and radical interpretation of the Koran which we
> cannot ignore.
>
> What was probably as disturbing as watching an airline crew, that
> could have been me or any of my friends, seeing their world and their
> life taken away, was the hijackers preparing to die, washing
> themselves and praying to their god as if they were doing his will.
> They looked like ordinary young men, and to think that they could sit
> next to all these people on that plane that they were going to kill,
> who had nothing against them or done nothing to them, was beyond
> words. I guess if nothing else it gives you insight into the minds of
> suicide bombers, which to our Western way of thought is beyond
> comprehension. This movie will make you angry, very angry.
>
> My experience on 9/11. We were just ready to close the door for our
> Delta 767 flight from CVG to MCO when the gate agent came on board and

> asked if we had heard anything about a small plane hitting the World
> Trade Center, we had not, so she said goodbye and closed the door.
> Shortly thereafter we were airborne climbing out on a beautifully
> clear crisp fall morning heading to Florida with not a cloud in the
> sky or a care in the world. I heard a bizjet ask for a reroute since
> he could not get to New York and I thought that was strange. Then
> another bizjet said "well I guess we won't be going there either" and
> asked for a clearance to an alternate.. At that point I asked center
> what was going on. There was a pause and then the controller came
> back in a very excited voice and said "they have hit both of the Trade

> Center Towers, they have hit the Pentagon, they have hit the Capitol
> and the White House"...well you can imagine it got really lively on
> the frequency. I turned to my Co-Pilot and said "I don't know what
> has happened, but I do know that things will never be the same", and I

> think I got that right! Within seconds the controller had composed
> himself and said all flights on this frequency standby, and it was
> dead quiet. He then said all flights are to land immediately and went
> down the list of the planes under his control..."American 235 turn
> right heading 230 you're landing at Pittsburgh, Continental 456 turn
> left heading 180 for Cincinnati, Delta 235 (that's me) turn right to
> 250 and descend to 8000, you're landing at Knoxville, airport your 2
> o'clock40 miles....etc" It was the best, fastest and most efficient
> handling I have ever had from ATC...they had everyone on the ground
> all over the country in minimum time. After all the initial
> confusion, their professionalism, and that of all the flight crews was

> exemplary! We spent two days in Knoxville and then ferried an empty
> 757 back to Atlanta and I believe were one of the first flights to
> land back at our main hub. Our arrival at ATL was one of the most
> moving experiences of my flying career. The airspace was totally
> empty, there was no talk on the radio, and we were the only plane in
> the sky over ATL, the busiest airport in the U.S., but we did have,
> unknown to us until informed by the controller, an F-16 right on our
> tail, but we never saw him. When we taxied in the normally frantic
> ramp area was dead quiet, all the ground equipment, tugs, baggage
> carts, tugs, fuelers etc. were lined up in military precision and the
> ground crew were standing at attention and saluted...wow, I'll never
> forget that. They needed a sign that things were getting back to
> normal...that we were moving and flying again.
>
> Reflections. As you may know I was on a United Flight several weeks
> ago from Chicago to Sacramento that had a passenger who tried to open
> the front cabin door, allegedly claimed to have a bomb, and took a
> swing at the flight attendant. We'll yours truly was sound asleep in
> the last row of coach and missed all the action, but suffice it to say

> that before he got very far he was rapidly subdued by the first class
> section and we diverted to Denver. Unlike Flight 93 he couldn't have
> gotten into the cockpit as the cockpit door is now armored and no
> passenger is going to sit still and let anyone interfere with the
> flight. I always felt that with the improved cockpit door that I would

> be totally safe, and that all my passengers in the cabin would act as
> Sky Marshals...I was and they did...they remembered 9/11, lets hope
> that we never forget!
>
> I would also like to mention that all the crew members on my United
> flight as well as all the ground rescue folks in Denver and the United

> station personnel did an absolutely marvelous job in handling this
> incident. It made me proud to have once been a part of this
profession.
>
> John
>
> Ron Watson=============

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