Last week I watched a preview copy of the Discovery Channel movie, "The Flight That Fought Back." The movie is about Flight 93 which was hijacked and crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11. The movie was not quite what I expected. I thought it would strictly be a drama that might even take great artistic license to help the viewer "imagine" what happened on Flight 93. It is much better than that. Instead, the movie combines a dramatization with first hand accounts of those who knew the passengers aboard Flight 93, many of whom were in telephone contact with them that day as plans were made to attempt to overpower the hijackers. The movie also uses a good bit of narration (by Keiffer Sutherland) to provide background about airport procedure and policies, evidence that was found after the crash, and about other events taking place that day outside of that one plane.
I found myself crying off and on through the first half of the movie. Maybe it was just the thought that all those rushing to make their flights were rushing to their deaths that made me so emotional. But more likely, it was because the movie brought back the events of that day so vividly through the use of real television broadcasts (although unfortunately all used were CNN) and audio from some of the actual telephone recordings left by those who died on that plane. The format of the movie follows the timeline pieced together largely from the cell phone calls that were made by passengers on the plane. Before watching the movie, I visited this site and read the timeline. I found just reading the timeline to be quite emotional, but while the movie made me cry, it is not upsetting. It sheds light on many events of that day and beautifully honors those who lost their lives on that flight. I definitely recommend the movie.
Arthur Chrenkoff also highly recommends the movie and posted the following from the Discovery Channel website about their efforts to raise money for a Flight 93 memorial:
Discovery Communications will air two specially created public service announcements that encourage viewers to donate to the Flight 93 National Memorial fund. The PSAs, one of which features Sarah Wainio, the sister of Honor Elizabeth Wainio who was a Discovery Communications employee aboard Flight 93, will air during the premiere of THE FLIGHT THAT FOUGHT BACK and across Discovery's U.S. networks on September 11. DVDs of THE FLIGHT THAT FOUGHT BACK will be available online at www.discoverystore.com. Discovery Communications will contribute all revenue generated from DVD sales to the Flight 93 National Memorial fund. In addition, from September 11 to September 17, a percentage of all retail revenue from any Discovery product sale will be contributed to the memorial fund. Visit the site, and consider donating to the cause.
I will post a reminder before the airing, which is Sunday night, September 11, at 9 p.m. Vist this website to learn more about the movie. Here is a Q&A with the movie's producer that reveals some additional information.
UPDATE: The proposed red crescent design of the Filght 93 memorial is deservedly causing some controversy. Michelle Malkin and Ed Morrisey have more.
UPDATE II: For those who found their way here searching for information on The Flight That Fought Back, please consider adding this site to your list of "favorites" and/or your blogroll. (Hey, you can always remove it later if you don't like what you see.)
Lorie, I read that timeline you linked and teared up a little too. I've always thought that the terrorists thought that the Americans would go down like sheep. I'll bet they soiled themselves when the heroes started knocking down the cockpit door.
Posted by: Eric Lindholm | Wednesday, September 07, 2005 at 10:12 PM
We believe there are a lack of (or maybe "ANY") 'appropriate' 9/11 memorials, anywhere. We've put our own 5 minute video memorial online. No burning buildings, no rubble, no explosions, no speeches, no screeches, no Bin Laden, no bodies. Just a remembrance of some people whose lives were cut short through no fault of their own, with poignant candid snapshots from their lives, and music.
Thought you might want to spend a few moments today, remembering.
http://mistersnitch.blogspot.com/2005/09/our-after-911-site-is-online.html
regards,
Jeff Faria
Posted by: Mr. Snitch! | Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 12:38 AM
Oddly enough, while searching for something on google, I happened upon your blog. I don't know tons about blogs... or really how you will be notified that I left this comment, if you will be notified? But, I wanted to show my thanks an appreciation to you for supporting out film, and PSA.
If you are ever interested in contacting me, or if you would give your address so I could formally thank you that would be lovely.
My e-mail:
[email protected]
Posted by: Sarah Wainio | Wednesday, September 21, 2005 at 03:20 PM
One thing that struck me as odd in the days after 9/11 was Bush saying "We will not tolerate conspiracy theories [regarding 9/11]". Sure enough there have been some wacky conspiracy theories surrounding the events of that day. The most far-fetched and patently ridiculous one that I've ever heard goes like this: Nineteen hijackers who claimed to be devout Muslims but yet were so un-Muslim as to be getting drunk all the time, doing cocaine and frequenting strip clubs decided to hijack four airliners and fly them into buildings in the northeastern U.S., the area of the country that is the most thick with fighter bases. After leaving a Koran on a barstool at a strip bar after getting shitfaced drunk on the night before, then writing a suicide note/inspirational letter that sounded like it was written by someone with next to no knowledge of Islam, they went to bed and got up the next morning hung over and carried out their devious plan. Nevermind the fact that of the four "pilots" among them there was not a one that could handle a Cessna or a Piper Cub let alone fly a jumbo jet, and the one assigned the most difficult task of all, Hani Hanjour, was so laughably incompetent that he was the worst fake "pilot" of the bunch. Nevermind the fact that they received very rudimentary flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, making them more likely to have been C.I.A. assets than Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. So on to the airports. These "hijackers" somehow managed to board all four airliners with their tickets, yet not even ONE got his name on any of the flight manifests. So they hijack all four airliners and at this time passengers on United 93 start making a bunch of cell phone calls from 35,000 feet in the air to tell people what was going on. Nevermind the fact that cell phones wouldn't work very well above 4,000 feet, and wouldn't work at ALL above 8,000 feet. But the conspiracy theorists won't let that fact get in the way of a good fantasy. That is one of the little things you "aren't supposed to think about". Nevermind that one of the callers called his mom and said his first and last name, more like he was reading from a list than calling his own mom. Anyway, when these airliners each deviated from their flight plan and didn't respond to ground control, NORAD would any other time have followed standard operating procedure (and did NOT have to be told by F.A.A. that there were hijackings because they were watching the same events unfold on their own radar) which means fighter jets would be scrambled from the nearest base where they were available on standby within a few minutes, just like every other time when airliners stray off course. But of course on 9/11 this didn't happen, not even close. Somehow these "hijackers" must have used magical powers to cause NORAD to stand down, as ridiculous as this sounds because total inaction from the most high-tech and professional Air Force in the world would be necessary to carry out their tasks. So on the most important day in its history the Air Force was totally worthless. Then they had to make one of the airliners look like a smaller plane, because unknown to them the Naudet brothers had a videocamera to capture the only known footage of the North Tower crash, and this footage shows something that is not at all like a jumbo jet, but didn't have to bother with the South Tower jet disguising itself because that was the one we were "supposed to see". Anyway, as for the Pentagon they had to have Hani Hanjour fly his airliner like it was a fighter plane, making a high G-force corkscrew turn that no real airliner can do, in making its descent to strike the Pentagon. But these "hijackers" wanted to make sure Rumsfeld survived so they went out of their way to hit the farthest point in the building from where Rumsfeld and the top brass are located. And this worked out rather well for the military personnel in the Pentagon, since the side that was hit was the part that was under renovation at the time with few military personnel present compared to construction workers. Still more fortuitous for the Pentagon, the side that was hit had just before 9/11 been structurally reinforced to prevent a large fire there from spreading elsewhere in the building. Awful nice of them to pick that part to hit, huh? Then the airliner vaporized itself into nothing but tiny unidentifiable pieces no bigger than a fist, unlike the crash of a real airliner when you will be able to see at least some identifiable parts, like crumpled wings, broken tail section etc. Why, Hani Hanjour the terrible pilot flew that airliner so good that even though he hit the Pentagon on the ground floor the engines didn't even drag the ground!! Imagine that!! Though the airliner vaporized itself on impact it only made a tiny 16 foot hole in the building. Amazing. Meanwhile, though the planes hitting the Twin Towers caused fires small enough for the firefighters to be heard on their radios saying "We just need 2 hoses and we can knock this fire down" attesting to the small size of it, somehow they must have used magical powers from beyond the grave to make this morph into a raging inferno capable of making the steel on all forty-seven main support columns (not to mention the over 100 smaller support columns) soften and buckle, then all fail at once. Hmmm. Then still more magic was used to make the building totally defy physics as well as common sense in having the uppermost floors pass through the remainder of the building as quickly, meaning as effortlessly, as falling through air, a feat that without magic could only be done with explosives. Then exactly 30 minutes later the North Tower collapses in precisely the same freefall physics-defying manner. Incredible. Not to mention the fact that both collapsed at a uniform rate too, not slowing down, which also defies physics because as the uppermost floors crash into and through each successive floor beneath them they would shed more and more energy each time, thus slowing itself down. Common sense tells you this is not possible without either the hijackers' magical powers or explosives. To emphasize their telekinetic prowess, later in the day they made a third building, WTC # 7, collapse also at freefall rate though no plane or any major debris hit it. Amazing guys these magical hijackers. But we know it had to be "Muslim hijackers" the conspiracy theorist will tell you because (now don't laugh) one of their passports was "found" a couple days later near Ground Zero, miraculously "surviving" the fire that we were told incinerated planes, passengers and black boxes, and also "survived" the collapse of the building it was in. When common sense tells you if that were true then they should start making buildings and airliners out of heavy paper and plastic so as to be "indestructable" like that magic passport. The hijackers even used their magical powers to bring at least seven of their number back to life, to appear at american embassies outraged at being blamed for 9/11!! BBC reported on that and it is still online. Nevertheless, they also used magical powers to make the american government look like it was covering something up in the aftermath of this, what with the hasty removal of the steel debris and having it driven to ports in trucks with GPS locators on them, to be shipped overseas to China and India to be melted down. When common sense again tells you that this is paradoxical in that if the steel was so unimportant that they didn't bother saving some for analysis but so important as to require GPS locators on the trucks with one driver losing his job because he stopped to get lunch. Hmmmm. Further making themselves look guilty, the Bush administration steadfastly refused for over a year to allow a commission to investigate 9/11 to even be formed, only agreeing to it on the conditions that they get to dictate its scope, meaning it was based on the false pretense of the "official story" being true with no other alternatives allowed to be considered, handpicked all its members making sure the ones picked had vested interests in the truth remaining buried, and with Bush and Cheney only "testifying" together, only for an hour, behind closed doors, with their attorneys present and with their "testimonies" not being recorded by tape or even written down in notes. Yes, this whole story smacks of the utmost idiocy and fantastic far-fetched lying, but it is amazingly enough what some people believe. Even now, five years later, the provably false fairy tale of the "nineteen hijackers" is heard repeated again and again, and is accepted without question by so many Americans. Which is itself a testament to the innate psychological cowardice of the American sheeple, i mean people, and their abject willingness to believe something, ANYTHING, no matter how ridiculous in order to avoid facing a scary uncomfortable truth. Time to wake up America.
Posted by: Enlightenment | Sunday, November 05, 2006 at 12:43 AM
flight 93 wasen't hijacked
Posted by: 543216781256 | Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 05:26 PM
I have no idea about this. Good work.
Posted by: Link | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 01:06 AM
I want you, now!
Posted by: Link | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:11 AM
I'll try it.
Posted by: Link | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:18 AM
I'm sorry, but I disagree with you.
Posted by: My page | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:42 AM
Nice to meet you!
Posted by: Main | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:50 AM
Be little more tolerant :)
Posted by: Click | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:55 AM
Good work.
Posted by: URL | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:57 AM
I want you, now!
Posted by: Go | Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 06:57 AM
I have no idea about this. Good work.
Posted by: Womens Nike Free 7.0 III Brown/purple | Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Impressive blog! -Arron
Posted by: rc helicopter reviews | Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 04:41 AM
Wonderful article! This is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this publish higher! Come on over and discuss with my website . Thank you =)
Posted by: pussy-fuck.org | Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 04:57 AM
Hey there are using Wordpress for your site platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by: Plan Wellness | Friday, September 27, 2013 at 10:04 AM
I've learn several just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you put to create this sort of fantastic informative website.
Posted by: cleaning companies in nyc | Friday, September 27, 2013 at 07:45 PM
In addition to that, we went again to GEICO and saved In excess of 15%. There are employee fidelity bonds, crime coverage, and the opposite side of the law since car insurance is mandatory in most US states. This recommendation may seem higher than what the insurance company will provide enough money for you to select coverage, which means there will be less money for coverage, including Medicare Supplemental Plans, like Medigap Insurance. Few people are aware an issue even exists.
Posted by: Mackenzie | Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 10:29 AM
What i don't understood is if truth be told how you're now not reallky a lot more smartly-favored than you moght be now. You are very intelligent. You recognize thus significantly when it comes to this matter, made me individually imagine it from a lot of numerous angles. Its like women and men aren't interested unless it's one thing to do with Girl gaga! Your own stuffs great. All thee time care for it up!
Posted by: Casa De Repouso Doce Lar | Friday, October 04, 2013 at 12:14 AM