Today is a somber day in the U.S. and around the world as we remember the awful terror attacks that occurred 22 years ago. We all know about the collapse of the Twin Towers and the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. We all are also aware that there was a fourth plane that crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania. That fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, though, is often overlooked among the tributes to all the men and women who perished in New York City and Washington, D.C. on that fateful day.
A Plane Flies Low Over Kinzua Bridge State Park, Pennsylvania
Last year, I decided I ought to know more about that fourth plane and started reading. In many ways, it’s surprising that its story is often the least covered, because we have by far the most information about it. We have the transcripts (and in some cases, recordings) of numerous telephone calls placed by passengers from the air. Flight 93 was also the only plane to have its flight recorder (its “black box”) recovered, including complete audio from its cockpit, from takeoff, to the initial hijacking when the terrorists stormed the flight deck, and all the way up to its harrowing crash in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, outside of Shanksville. The crash site was also extensively searched in the weeks following the terrorist attacks.
What made the biggest impression on me was the bravery of the 40 men and women on that plane. They were just ordinary people, like you and me, taking an early morning trip from Newark to San Francisco. But when they discovered what was occurring in the skies that fateful day (Flight 93 had been delayed taking off, and its passengers learned of the attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon while in the air), they decided to do something about it and became heroes, likely saving hundreds, if not thousands, of lives by forcing the plane down short of its intended target (believed to have been the U.S. Capitol building).
I also came away from my research thinking it was a shame more people don’t know the details of what occurred on Flight 93. Being a fiction writer, I thought I’d have a go writing a story about it. As we’ve discussed in the past, fiction is a great way to tackle difficult topics. I’d written the first installment of my Temporal Operations Militia short story series that previous winter, and this seemed like a good opportunity for the second. I completed the story last fall, but figured it made sense to wait until the next anniversary of the terrorist attacks to let it out into the world.
I appreciate that some may feel it’s inappropriate to write a fictionalized account of the 9/11 tragedy. I totally get that, and I encourage you to read the Author’s Note and Trigger Warnings at the top of the story. But it is meant as a tribute to the bravery of the men and women who gave their lives that day.
Links to the two stories are below. While the second story, Twenty, is about Flight 93, you should read the first story, Tandy, before it, as there are several details in the second that won’t make sense without context from the first.
Tandy, T.O.M. Field Report #001
Twenty, T.O.M. Field Report #002
Finally, if you enjoy this story, consider making a donation to the Flight 93 Memorial in honor of those who gave their lives: https://www.flight93friends.org/donate/
If you donate before September 18, 2023, let me know and I’ll match your contribution, up to $100 total. Thank you! My email: dtkane@dtkane.com (Note, I am not affiliated with the Flight 93 Memorial in any way.)
