United Airlines Flight 93 - Phone calls

Shortly after 9:32, the passengers and flight crew began a series of calls from GTE airphones, with Ed Felt making a call to 9-1-1 on his cell phone a few minutes before the plane crashed. These calls between family, friends, and colleagues took place until the end of the flight and provided those on the ground with firsthand accounts. They enabled the passengers to gain critical information, including the news that two aircraft had slammed into the World Trade Center.

At least two callers from the flight reported that the hijackers knew that passengers were making calls but did not seem to care. It is quite possible Jarrah knew of the success of the assault on the World Trade Center. He could have learned of this from messages being sent by United Airlines to the cockpits of its transcontinental flights, including Flight 93, warning of cockpit intrusion and telling of the New York attacks. But even without them, he would certainly have understood that the attacks on the World Trade Center would already have unfolded, given Flight 93's tardy departure from Newark. If Jarrah did know that the passengers were making calls, it might not have occurred to him that they were certain to learn what had happened in New York, thereby defeating his attempts at deception.

At least ten passengers and two crew members shared vital information with family, friends, colleagues, or others on the ground. All understood the plane had been hijacked. They said the hijackers wielded knives and claimed to have a bomb. The hijackers were wearing red bandanas, and they forced the passengers to the back of the aircraft.

Callers reported that a passenger had been stabbed and that two people were lying on the floor of the cabin, injured or dead-possibly the captain and first officer. One caller reported that a flight attendant had been killed.

One of the callers from United 93 also reported that he thought the hijackers might possess a gun. But none of the other callers reported the presence of a firearm. One recipient of a call from the aircraft recounted specifically asking her caller whether the hijackers had guns. The passenger replied that he did not see one. No evidence of firearms or of their identifiable remains was found at the aircraft's crash site, and the cockpit voice recorder gives no indication of a gun being fired or mentioned at any time. We believe that if the hijackers had possessed a gun, they would have used it in the flight's last minutes as the passengers fought back.

Passengers on three flights reported the hijackers' claim of having a bomb. The FBI told us they found no trace of explosives at the crash sites. One of the passengers who mentioned a bomb expressed his belief that it was not real. Lacking any evidence that the hijackers attempted to smuggle such illegal items past the security screening checkpoints, the bombs were probably fake.

Airphone usage

Todd Beamer

Todd Beamer spoke with GTE supervisor, Lisa D. Jefferson, who informed him of the other hijackings. ^[1][2]

• 9:43:48 - line left open (3,925 seconds), spoke with GTE operator, Lisa Jefferson.

Mark Bingham

Mark Bingham used an airplane phone to call his mother. "Mom, this is Mark Bingham," he said, so rattled that he included his last name. "Three guys have taken over the plane, and they say they have a bomb."^[3][4]

Alice Hoglan told KTVU-TV in San Francisco that Mark called and said "We've been taken over. There are three men that say they have a bomb"^[5]

• 9:36:10 - Call to his mother, 5 seconds
• 9:37:03 - 2 minutes, 46 seconds (166 seconds), call to his mother

Sandra Bradshaw

Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband Philip (a US Airways pilot) and told him of the hijacking. She mentioned there were three hijackers, with knives.

• 9:35:40 - 5 minutes, 53 seconds (353 seconds), call to United Airlines
• 9:50:04 - 7 minutes, 50 seconds (470 seconds), call to her husband

Marion Britton

Britton called her friend, Fred Fiumano.

“

She said the plane had been hijacked, they had slit the throats of two people and the plane had made a U-turn. Fiumano told her that the World Trade Center towers were in flames. She said, "I know, and we're going to go down." Fiumano said they were only going to take them for a ride, but she responded, "No. They're going to kill us." Fiumano heard a lot of yelling and screaming, and the line went dead. He tried calling back but the call didn't get through.[6]

”

• 9:49:12 - 3 minutes, 52 seconds, called a friend, Fred Fiumano

Thomas Burnett Jr.

Thomas Burnett Jr. called his wife, Deena, multiple times. He told her that he and some others "were going to do something" to stop the terrorists.

Deena Burnett also told her husband about the World Trade Center disaster when he called her in San Ramon, California.

During the first call, Burnett, 38, told her the hijackers had stabbed and seriously injured one passenger.

“He told his wife, Deena, that a passenger had been stabbed,” says Longman. “And then he called her back and said that the person was dead, that he had tried to perform CPR and couldn’t feel a pulse. By process of elimination, it appears it was a passenger named Mark ‘Mickey’ Rothenberg. His wife believes that as well.”^[7]

He advised her to contact authorities.

He called back later to report that the wounded passenger had died and said he and some others were "going to rush the hijackers."

Third call - he mentioned the hijackers having a "bomb" and expressed opinion that the bomb was fake.

• 9:30:32 - 28 seconds, call to his wife
• 9:37:53 - 62 seconds, called his wife
• 9:44:23 - 54 seconds, called his wife

Joseph DeLuca

• 9:42:13 - 14 seconds, call to his parents
• 9:43:03 - 2 minutes, 10 seconds (130 seconds), called his parents

Edward Felt

• 9:58:00 - 911 call to Westmoreland County dispatcher, from his cell phone. (see cell phones for more about this call)

Ed Felt's call has also been subject of debate, with some believing that he mentioned sounds of an explosion and saw white smoke. The "explosion" and "smoke" are myths.

“

Jere Longman reports in a March 2002 New York Times article, "the 911 dispatcher, John Shaw, and others who have heard the tape, including Mr. Felt's wife, Sandra Felt, say he made no mention of smoke or an explosion when he said, We're going down.[8]

”

Jeremy Glick

Jeremy Glick picked up a GTE Airfone and called his in-laws in the Catskills.

Glick's mother-in-law, JoAnne Makely, answered.

"Jeremy," she said, "Thank God. We're so worried."

"It's bad news," Glick replied. He asked for Lyz.

Lyz recalls no background noise. No commotion. He described the men as Arabic-looking, wearing red headbands, carrying knives. One told passengers he had a bomb. Most passengers had been forced to the rear of the cabin. Glick's mother-in-law went to another phone and dialed 911. As Jeremy and Lyz spoke, New York state police patched in on the call.

Glick asked his wife: Was it true that planes had been crashed into the World Trade Center?

Yes, she said. Glick thought so. Another passenger had been on the phone home and heard the same thing.^[9]

He mentioned that the cockpit had been taken over by three Middle Eastern-looking men wielding knives and a red box they claimed was a bomb. The terrorists, wearing red headbands, had ordered the pilots, flight attendants and passengers to the rear of the plane and had turned the flight - originally heading for San Francisco - toward Washington.

Lyz informed Jeremy that another hijacked jet had already crashed into the World Trade Center.

Jeremy also told his wife that passengers were taking a vote on what to do, and they decided to rush the cockpit and try to subdue the terrorists. Glick joked "about taking on the hijackers with the butter knives from the in-flight breakfast."^[10]

Ten minutes into the 30-minute call with her husband, Lyzbeth Glick asked her father to call the FBI on a separate line, Hurwitt said. FBI agents monitored the last 20 minutes of the call and are studying a tape and transcript.

Glick, a sales manager for a technology firm, told his wife he hoped she would have a good life and would take care of their 3-month-old baby girl - before the phone call faded out amid what Hurwitt described as "random noises and screams."^[11]

• 9:37:41 - line left open (7,565 seconds)

Lauren Grandcolas

Lauren Grandcolas was returning home to California after her grandmother's funeral in New Jersey.^[12] She called and left a message for her husband.^[13]

• 9:39:21 - 46 seconds, call to her husband, left a message.
• 9:41:34 - 4 seconds, tried to call her husband again.
• 9:42:03 - 2 seconds, another attempt
• 9:42:25 - 3 seconds, another attempt
• 9:42:45 - 3 seconds, another attempt

On the message, Grandcolas said, "We're having problems ... but, I'm comfortable (pause) for now."^[10]

Linda Gronlund

Linda was travelling with her boyfriend, Joe DeLuca, on a vacation to tour the California vineyards. They were originally seated in first class, in seats 2A and 2B, but the call came from an airphone in row 26. Linda Gronlund called her younger sister, Elsa, leaving a voicemail message, telling her of the hijacking and that the terrorists said they had a bomb. Gronlund also said that the passengers knew about the World Trade Center.^[14]

• 9:46:05 - 1 minute, 11 seconds (71 seconds), called her sister, Elsa Strong.

Voicemail message:

“

...it's Lynn. Um. I only have a minute. I'm on United 93 and it's been hijacked, uh, by terrorists who say they have a bomb. Apparently, they, uh, flown a couple of planes into the World Trade Center already and it looks like they're going to take this one down as well. Mostly, I just wanted to say I love you ... and ... I'm going to miss you ... and ... and Please give my love to Mom and Dad, and (sigh) Mostly, I just love you and I wanted to tell you that, I don't know if I'm going to get the chance to tell you that again or not. ... I love you and I hope that I can talk to you soon. Bye.

”

CeeCee Lyles

Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles also made a call using a GTE airphone, at 9:47 a.m.^[15], leaving a message on their answering machine. She made a second call home at 9:58 a.m. using her cell phone, this time with her husband, Lorne, answering the phone. She told him of the hijacking and of her love for him and their boys.^{[16][17][18][19]}

"She told him how much she loved him ...," said Mareya Schneider, one of CeeCee Lyles' sisters. "He could hear the screams and crying of the passengers from all the carnage that was going on." Then the phone cut off.^[20]

• 9:47:57 - 56 seconds, called her husband from an airphone.
• 9:58:00 - called her husband with her cell phone (see also cell phones about this call)

Waleska Martinez

Waleska Martinez attempted to reach someone at Dratel Group in Manhattan at 9:45 a.m., though the call did not go through. Dratel Group was located near the World Trade Center, and the phone lines in the area were overloaded at the time.^[21]

Honor Wainio

Honor Wainio, known as Elizabeth, called her parents in Maryland, speaking to her stepmother, Esther Hymann, for four and a half minutes. Elizabeth called to notify her mom that they were being hijacked, to say goodbye, and at the end of the call, she said that they were getting ready to break into the cockpit and she needed to hang up.were getting ready to break into the cockpit and she needed to hang up.^[22]

On February 18, 2006, Esther was a guest on Larry King Live.^[23]

KING: Did she have a cell phone?

HYMANN: She did have a cell phone but she actually used the air phone that is on the back of the seats.

KING: So she did call? She called?

HYMANN: I'm sorry?

KING: Did she call you?

HYMANN: Yes, she did call me.

KING: And what did she say?

HYMANN: Well, she immediately said, you know, "Hello, mom. I'm on the plane and it's being hijacked and I'm calling to say goodbye" and I took a deep breath and just knew that it was, you know, my job to help her on this journey.

• 9:53:43 - 4 minutes, 29 seconds (269 seconds), call to her parents

Timeline

• 9:30:32 - Thomas Burnett Jr, 28 seconds, call to his wife
• 9:35:40 - Sandy Bradshaw, 5 minutes, 53 seconds (353 seconds), call to United Airlines
• 9:37:03 - Mark Bingham, 2 minutes, 46 seconds (166 seconds), call to his mother
• 9:37:41 - Jeremy Glick, line left open (7,565 seconds)
• 9:37:53 - Thomas Burnett Jr, 62 seconds, called his wife
• 9:39:21 - Lauren Grandcolas, 46 seconds, call to her husband, left a message.
• 9:43:03 - Joseph DeLuca, 2 minutes, 10 seconds (130 seconds), called his parents
• 9:43:48 - Todd Beamer, line left open (3,925 seconds), spoke with GTE operator, Lisa Jefferson.
• 9:44:23 - Thomas Burnett Jr, 54 seconds, called his wife
• 9:46:05 - Linda Gronlund, 1 minute, 11 seconds (71 seconds), called her sister, Elsa Strong.
• 9:47:57 - CeeCee Lyles, 56 seconds, called her husband from an airphone.
• 9:49:12 - Marion Britton, 3 minutes, 52 seconds, called a friend, Fred Fiumano
• 9:50:04 - Sandy Bradshaw, 7 minutes, 50 seconds (470 seconds), call to her husband
• 9:53:43 - Honor Wainio, 4 minutes, 29 seconds (269 seconds), call to her parents
• 9:58:00 - Ed Felt, 911 call to Westmoreland County dispatcher (see also cell phones about this call)
• 9:58:00 - CeeCee Lyles called her husband with her cell phone (see also cell phones about this call)

See also

• Cell phones - How was it possible to make cell phone calls?

References

Further reading

• 13-minute call bonds her forever with hero, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 22, 2001.
• The Final Moments of United Flight 93, MSNBC.