# flight 93: They voted to overpower the Hijackers! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2001, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187 "2001-09-12T22:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/21 "2001-09-13T03:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GENE STONER \* > \*\*These men are true hero’s. > Was’nt this the plane where the pilot turned on the intercomm so that the passengers knew what was going on? \*\* No. The executive called his wife, and she informed him of what had happened at the WTC. He called her back a few minutes later to tell her of the decision to fight, and to tell her goodbye. Courage, plain and simple. [Link](http://www.msnbc.com/news/627214_asp.htm) The “open Mic” was on one of the two aircraft that hit the WTC, and the open mic was to Air Traffic Control, who recorded the terrorists as having told the pilot if he did as he was told “no one would get hurt”. This, of course, plays right into the standard training that pilots are given for handling a hijacking, 98% of which end peacefully. No wonder they managed to pull this off. It was sophisicated, elegant, simple, and played straight to our weaknesses. These are truly dangerous people, because the understand our weaknesses better than we do. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/22 "2001-09-13T05:17:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MilTan \* > > > [@](#): > > > > Look closely at the URL in the second post to this thread and it becomes even more heart-breaking. > > I’m afraid that I must be incredibly dense. What do you mean by this? The CEO of Akamai was on one of the hijacked planes. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/23 "2001-09-13T06:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tranquilis \*\*\* > The “open Mic” was on one of the two aircraft that hit the WTC, and the open mic was to Air Traffic Control, who recorded the terrorists as having told the pilot if he did as he was told “no one would get hurt”. This, of course, plays right into the standard training that pilots are given for handling a hijacking, 98% of which end peacefully. No wonder they managed to pull this off. It was sophisicated, elegant, simple, and played straight to our weaknesses. These are truly dangerous people, because the understand our weaknesses better than we do. \*\* But from now on, everyone abord will be well aware that the hijackers may be planning to crash the plane into the White House or some similar target. The passengers and crew will rush the hijackers if they become conviced that that’s what’s up. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/24 "2001-09-13T09:45:49Z")
Gay passenger may have foiled hijackers Tom Musbach, [Gay.com](http://Gay.com) / [PlanetOut.com](http://PlanetOut.com) Network Wednesday, September 12, 2001 Amid sketchy reports about the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, friends and relatives of a gay passenger on the flight believe he may have tried to thwart the plane’s hijackers. Before the crash, Thomas Burnett, of San Ramon, Calif., phoned his wife and said that he and two other passengers were prepared to take action against the men who had taken control of the plane, which was en route to San Francisco from Newark, N.J. “I know we’re all going to die - there’s three of us who are going to do something about it,” he told his wife, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Mark Bingham, 31, a public relations executive, also made a call from the plane. He told his mother, Alice Hoglan, about three men who claimed to have a bomb before the phone connection failed. What happened between those phone calls and the plane’s nose-dive into a wooded field near Pittsburgh is still a matter of speculation. There were no survivors of the crash. Counterintelligence experts speculated that the plane was headed toward a Washington landmark before it crashed. Moments before the tragedy, three other hijacked planes, also traveling from the East Coast to California, destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and a portion of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. “This was the only flight of the four that did not reach its target, which they believed to be Camp David, and that gives us reason to believe that perhaps Mark was able to help save the lives of people on the ground,” Hoglan, a United Airlines flight attendant, told NBC’s “Today” show. A senior U.S. intelligence official told [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) that mobile phone communications from Flight 93 suggest that three passengers overpowered the hijackers but were unable to maintain control of the plane. Friends of Mark Bingham, a former Division 1 rugby player who also played in San Francisco’s gay rugby and basketball leagues, believe he may have been one of the three passengers who confronted the hijackers, but they acknowledge they may never be able to prove it. Lloyd Kinoshita, who played pick-up basketball games with Bingham, said, “I have no doubt that if there was an opportunity to save lives that Mark would have initiated action. He was a competitor and leader, but even more so, he was a caring individual.” On the flight, Bingham was seated in the first-class cabin. [Gay.com/PlanetOut.com](http://Gay.com/PlanetOut.com) Network has not yet confirmed that Burnett, 38, the former chief operating officer for Thoratec Corp., was also in first class. Friends said Bingham was a large, athletic man who was once gored in the leg while running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. He was the type of person, they said, who wouldn’t be afraid to take on the hijackers. “Today, in the face of this great tragedy, I am taking a small amount of comfort in the growing body of evidence indicating that Mark was a hero,” said Bryce Eberhart, a PlanetOut Partners employee who played rugby with Bingham. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/25 "2001-09-13T13:40:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\* > Lloyd Kinoshita, who played pick-up basketball games with Bingham, said, “I have no doubt that if there was an opportunity to save lives that Mark would have initiated action. He was a competitor and leader, but even more so, he was a caring individual.” > \*\* I dunno. This makes me uncomfortable, the speculation (although when I heard he was a rugby player, I had no doubt he could kick some ass). It just seems to me that since three men supposedly did something, and we know who two probably are, the third could be anyone on that plane. And I’ll bet the families of all the other male passengers want to believe (and should believe) that their brother/son/husband/partner was the other hero. Without further evidence, that’s how I’d want to leave it. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/26 "2001-09-13T15:35:21Z")
For me, this is also the most heartwrenching part of the attack. Well this and the description of people jumping out of the windows of the WTC to certain death. We’ll never know for sure who the third person was or whether more passengers helped once they understood what was going on. I hope all of the passengers and crew on that plane receive post-humus awards for their bravery. [sub]2 days later and my heart only gets heavier with sorrow.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/27 "2001-09-13T15:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*It just seems to me that since three men supposedly did something, and we know who two probably are, the third could be anyone on that plane. And I’ll bet the families of all the other male passengers want to believe (and should believe) that their brother/son/husband/partner was the other hero. Without further evidence, that’s how I’d want to leave it. \*\* We know who the three probably are. Glick, Burnett, Bingham. All three of these heroes called loved ones and stated their intention to resist the hijackers. We can’t know for sure that these are the men responsible for foiling the hijackers, but they are the best candidates based on the evidence we have, which so far is only phone calls. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/28 "2001-09-13T15:52:57Z")
I say that everyone on that plane, except for the terrorists, should be labeled as heroes and leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![TheOtherOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@TheOtherOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOtherOne)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/29 "2001-09-13T17:31:18Z")
I’ll second that. I can only hope that if I were in a similar situation, **everyone** would jump in. Hell, if you’re gonna die and it’s just guys with knives, I would think that a plane full of passengers could have their way. Heroes for sure, I’d like to see some sort of monument… ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/30 "2001-09-13T17:40:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amp \* > \*\*I say that everyone on that plane, except for the terrorists, should be labeled as heroes and leave it at that. \*\* Amen ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/31 "2001-09-13T18:16:13Z")
What is the highest medal/honor/etc. that can be conferred on a civilian? If this hasn’t been unanimously voted for the heroes on this airplane within the next month, I’ll go to Washington D.C. myself and hold a placard on the Capitol steps. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/32 "2001-09-13T18:27:36Z")
This is indeed one of the sad and great stories of this tragedy. Sad because good people had to die, great because they did so. I wonder if they knew they were over a fairly deserted area or not or even if that would’ve mattered? ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/33 "2001-09-13T18:53:46Z")
Dammit. Thanks, dad. Thanks for raising me to be such a hardcore cynic, the first in line to question every rumor, scoff at word-of-mouth, and turn my nose up at wishful thinking. Your lessons have served me very well in fending off telemarketers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and and Miss Cleo. I guess it’s just tough luck for me, then, when a story like this comes along; a story in which I really want to believe, without reservation, and with every fiber of my being. And I try, I really do. But even now your spirit lurks at the core of the cold, black, Grinchy little cynic’s heart you forged within me, chortling with glee as it shits all over a tale of bravery and triumph in the midst of despair and tragedy. Well **fuck you** , dad. Sometimes a beautiful story **CAN** and **SHOULD** be accepted at face value, instead of euthanized, dissected, and discarded. Right now, we need heroes. Or at least I do. (Regs: a thousand pardons for the intrusion. I’ve needed to get that off my chest for quite some time.) ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/34 "2001-09-13T18:59:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheOtherOne \* > I’ll second that. I can only hope that if I were in a similar situation, **everyone** would jump in. \*\* The next asshole who hijacks a plane better have a bazooka and a flame thrower on him, because he is going to have a fucking riot on his hands. And the people on flight 93 deserve more praise and respect than I can even try to express. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/35 "2001-09-13T19:36:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by TheOtherOne \* > > I’ll second that. I can only hope that if I were in a similar situation, **everyone** would jump in. \*\* > > The next asshole who hijacks a plane better have a bazooka and a flame thrower on him, because he is going to have a fucking riot on his hands. > And the people on flight 93 deserve more praise and respect than I can even try to express. \*\* Hells yes. Now the attitude will be “How DARE you hijack our plane!” Remember the guy who tried to take the plane hostage with a knife and was killed? Don’t wanna bring that debate in here, but suffice to say, that reaction will be the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Flang\_Dang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e4f/32.png) [@Flang\_Dang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flang_Dang)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/36 "2001-09-13T21:29:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*What is the highest medal/honor/etc. that can be conferred on a civilian? > > If this hasn’t been unanimously voted for the heroes on this airplane within the next month, I’ll go to Washington D.C. myself and hold a placard on the Capitol steps. \*\* It’s the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I have no doubt that many will be awarded. [http://www.64-baker-street.org/honours/freedom/freedom.html](http://www.64-baker-street.org/honours/freedom/freedom.html) ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/37 "2001-09-13T22:21:19Z")
**Coldfire** , I find the personal stories the most upsetting as well. But it’s really scary when you look at the numbers and realize that there are 5000 personal stories. Bingham did call his mother and said that he and some others were going to overtake the hijackers, from what I heard. Also, the worst I’ve heard so far (it was on the front page of the National Post): A man managed to escape the WTC, to find out that his family was on the plane. I wish I could tell everyone who lost someone that I’m thinking about them. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/38 "2001-09-13T23:44:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flang Dang \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > > **What is the highest medal/honor/etc. that can be conferred on a civilian?** > > It’s the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I have no doubt that many will be awarded. > > [http://www.64-baker-street.org/honours/freedom/freedom.html](http://www.64-baker-street.org/honours/freedom/freedom.html) \*\* I thought it was the Congressional medal of Honor. Oh, well. They have found one of the plane’s two “black boxes”, the [flight data recorder](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/13/penn.attack/). They’re still looking for the cockpit voice recorder which would really help determine what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/39 "2001-09-13T23:56:10Z")
The Medal of Honor is for military personnel. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187/40 "2001-09-14T00:36:30Z")
And ‘Congressional’ isn’t part of the name. The Medal Of Freesom has a number of worthy recipients this week, sad to say. Even more sad, most will never be known. Welcome to the SDMB, **apotheosis**. Cynicism isn’t totally useless. It’s a wonderful guard dog, keeping you safe from mountebanks and scoundrels, but like any other guard dog, it needs to be kept on a short leash. But I guess you already know that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-93-they-voted-to-overpower-the-hijackers/81187.md?page=3)