whole2th wrote:
The cell phone calls could not have been made.
CALL A1: A man claiming to be Tom Burnett called his wife Deena in San Ramon, CA around 9:20 to Deena’s best recollection:
Deena: “Are you alright?”
Caller: “No. I’m on United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. The plane was hijacked. We are in the air. They’ve already knifed a guy. There is a bomb on board. Call the FBI.”
CALL B: Just before 9:30 am, a man claiming to be Jeremy Glick called Lyz Glick, who was visiting in-laws in the Catskills of New York state. The phone was answered by Glick’s mother-in-law, JoAnne Makely:
JoAnne: “Jeremy. Thank God. We’re so worried.”
Caller: “It’s bad news. Is Liz there?”
The caller went on to describe Arabic-looking hijackers wearing red headbands and carrying knives. One had told the passengers he had a bomb. The caller asked if it was true that planes had been crashed into the World Trade Center. She confirmed this. The caller mentioned that another passenger had heard the news on his/her cell phone.
CALL A2: The man claiming to be Tom Burnett called Deena Burnett again around 9:30 am. As Deena later described his call, “He didn’t sound frightened, but he was speaking faster than he normally would.” He told her there were hijackers in the cockpit.
Deena: “A lot of planes have been hijacked, but they don’t know how many.”
Caller: “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Deena: “No.”
Caller: “Were they commercial planes or airliners?”
Deena: “I don’t know.”
Caller: “Okay. I’ve got to go.”
CALL C: A man claiming to be Mark Bingham called Bingham’s sister-in-law, Cathy Hoglan, who was being visited by Bingham’s mother, Alice. Cathy took the call and handed the phone to Alice with the remark, “Alice, talk to Mark. He’s been hijacked.”
Caller: “Mom? This is Mark Bingham.”
Caller: “I want you to know that I love you. I’m on a flight from Newark to San Francisco and there are three guys who have taken over the plane and they say they have a bomb.”
Alice: “Who are these guys?
Caller: (after a pause) “You believe me, don’t you?
Alice: “Yes, Mark. I believe you. But who are these guys?
(After another pause the line went dead.)
CALL D: A man claiming to be Todd Beamer on a United Airlines airfone had some trouble getting through to anyone but the Verizon customer service center, where the operator relayed the call to Verizon supervisor, Lisa Jefferson at 9:45 am. (Verizon is a large communications company that has the contract for airfones on United airlines equipment.) The man told Jefferson that the plane had been hijacked, that he could see three hijackers armed with knives, one of them claiming to have a bomb. He described how the passengers had been herded to the rear of the aircraft, guarded by the one with the bomb. He asked the supervisor to call the Beamer family on his behalf.
Caller: “Oh! We’re going down. (pause) No. We’re okay. I think we’re turning around.” (It was approximately around this time that the flight, then passing near Cleveland, made a hard left toward Washington, DC.)
CALL A3: The man claiming to be Tom Burnett called Deena Burnett again.
Deena: “They’re taking airplanes and hitting landmarks all up and down the east coast.”
Caller: “Okay. We’re going to do something. I’ll call you back.”
CALL F1: At 9:47, the answering machine of Lorne Lyles recorded a call that he thought was from his wife, CeeCee. The woman could be heard praying for herself, her family, and even for the souls of the hijackers.
CALL B (cont’d.) State police, talking to Jeremy Glick’s mother-in-law, asked her to relay a question to Jeremy. Did he know where his plane was? He didn’t know, but said they had changed direction.
Caller: “I need you to be happy and I will respect any decisions that you make.”
He told Ms Lyles that the passengers were about to take a vote on whether to take back the aircraft. Should they try?
Lyz: “Honey, you need to do it.” They spoke of weapons. The caller joked.
Caller: “I have my butter knife from breakfast.”
CALL G: About this time, Phil Bradshaw, husband of flight attendant Sandy Bradshaw, received a phone call from a woman who identified herself as his wife.
Caller: “Have you heard what’s going on? My flight has been hijacked. My flight has been hijacked by three guys with knives.
Phil asked her who was flying the plane.
Caller: “I don’t know who’s flying the plane or where we are. I see a river.”
Bradshaw: “Be safe and come home soon.”
The caller then explained that she had to go. She planned to prepare boiling water in the galley — to pour on the hijackers.