Yet unknown to the hijackers was the fact that they could hardly have picked a worse plane to hijack than Flight 93.įor among the passengers and crew were not only people of great accomplishment, but a surprisingly high percentage of people of great generosity, faith and, we know now, courage. They also could not have known how heroically and effectively that unique group fight to thwart their evil intentions.įrom the play: “When the hijackers first got on Flight 93 and found that the flight was only a quarter full, no doubt they felt that controlling the passengers would be the least of their worries. What the hijackers also did not know was just how exceptional a collection of seemingly ordinary Americans and citizens of a few other great nations they had inadvertently stumbled upon.
What at that time was still unknown to everyone, was how an unarmed group of passengers and crew that had just experienced an unexpected and violent hijacking would react to the knowledge that their plane was now on, what Flight 93 hero Thomas Burnett, Jr. Though the hijackers were able to deceive the passengers and crews of the first three hijacked planes a delay at the Newark airport gave the passengers and crew of Flight 93 the time necessary to discover the hijacker’s true intentions. For the hijackers coordination was vital both for maximum destructive effect and so that the passengers and crews of the hijacked planes would not be able to realize the hijackers true intentions. The four hijacker teams had planned to stage a coordinated attack that would cripple, and perhaps even decapitate America. Inextricably entwined with the larger story of, the story of Flight 93 also begins on what seemed as if it would be a gloriously sunny, warm and beautiful late summer day.
“That is,” Blake contends, “until Flight 93.”
That number led Blake to conclude that a major historical opportunity had unfortunately been passed over.īlake quotes Winston Churchill’s speech at the height of World War II in praise of the brave and outnumbered pilots of the Royal Air Force that turned back the Nazi war-machine at the English Channel which stated that “Never, in the course of human events have so many, owed so much to so few.” There were just 40 unarmed non-hijackers onboard. Consider that those few passengers and crew of Flight 93 have done more to ensure that 9/11 style attacks will not occur in the future than all of billions spent by governments in that effort. Thus far, that debt has not been adequately acknowledged or addressed. It is a story of faith, love and courage overcoming evil.Īnd there is the great debt that we, as a people, owe to the heroes and heroines of Flight 93. Perhaps more importantly the story of Flight 93 is a story of courage and righteous struggle that should be uplifting and inspiring, not only to Americans, but to all people. If, in addition to the memories of its defeats and disunity, America is to retain the memory of its triumphs and the knowledge that, in spite of its flaws, deep down, America is a good and virtuous nation, the story of Flight 93 needs to be widely retold. Though a story of great horrific and poignant tragedy, the story Flight 93 is much, much more than a simple tragedy. Almost unknown are the names and courageous deeds of Deborah Welsh, Jason Dahl, Thomas Burnett, Jr., Mark Rothenberg, Mark Bingham, Jeremy Glick, Cee-Cee Ross Lyles and many others. Most well-known is the name of just one of the passengers and a single stirring line. The author came away with an intensely profound respect, not only for the courage of the passengers and crew of Flight 93, but also for their unselfishness, charity, love and faith.īlake recognized that despite the fact that Flight 93 is one of the greatest stories of American courage the story of the courageous passengers and crew of Flight 93 is not widely known. An award-winning investigative reporter Blake conducted a comprehensive investigation into the events that occurred on that heroic and fatal flight. Shocked and profoundly moved by the events of, writer Richard Roy Blake, was most moved by the story of how a small group of Americans and other nations thwarted the intentions of suicidal terrorists to inflict a fourth massive blow to the nation. and 9/11/12 on Castle Rock Radio, Castle Rock, Colorado Performed 9/11/11, the 10th anniversary of 9/11/01, at the Arvada Festival Playhouse, Arvada, Colorado at 11 a.m., 3 p.m.
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