FLIGHT THAT FOUGHT BACK, THE (TV)
Summary
This docudrama is about United Airlines Flight 93, the single flight whose passengers fought back against their terrorist hijackers during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America. The program, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, is based on testimony from families and friends of the passengers and crew on board the flight as well as some of the flight's black-box recordings and uses dramatized footage to reconstruct the day's events. The program begins by discussing what numerous Flight 93 passengers were doing the morning of the flight before each person boarded at Newark Airport in New Jersey. The mornings of the four hijackers of Flight 93 -- Al-Qaeda followers of Osama bin Laden -- are also detailed. The program discusses how one hijacker, Ziad Jarrah, had attended flight school in Florida as ordered by Al-Qaeda so that he could learn how to pilot Flight 93. Jarrah's flight instructor Arne Kruithof details how he behaved in his class. Next, it is shown how Jarrah got stopped at the metal detector checkpoint, though the program is unable to determine how the knives that were used in the hijacking got onto the plane. The program then discusses why Flight 93 was selected by Al-Qaeda, as well as how Mark Bingham nearly missed the flight, having to sprint through the airport to get on the flight. Jarrah gets worried when Flight 93 is delayed on the runway as the four planes' attacks were supposed to happen simultaneously. Then, the program discusses American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which eventually hit the World Trade Center, and American Airlines Flight 77, which eventually hit the Pentagon. At that point, families and friends of passengers and crew on Flight 93 begin to worry that something is amiss. Before the hijackers attack at 9:28 a.m., the program briefly discusses the diverse forty men and women on Flight 93. Actual black-box recordings are played, detailing the unintelligible yells pilot Jason Dahl made during the cockpit takeover. At 9:32 a.m., Jarrah takes control of the flight, with an actual black-box recording detailing the message he left at that time. The passengers convene in the back of the plane, trying to determine how to deal with the hijacking while using cell phones and on-flight phones to call those on the ground. Jarrah makes a second announcement later in the flight and the actual black-box recording is played before the program discusses hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 having crashed into the Pentagon. Meanwhile, Air Traffic Control out of Cleveland, Ohio, tries to monitor Flight 93's progress -- which gets tougher when Jarrah turns off the plane's transponder at 9:41 a.m. Late in the flight, Jarrah struggles to fly the plane, not quite skilled enough for many in-flight tasks. Eventually, Bingham's mother Alice Hoglan calls his cell phone, warning him about the terrorists and telling him "to try to overpower them." As the plane descends over Pennsylvania, the passengers decide to take matters into their own hands, using the plane's tools as weapons to battle the terrorists. Then, family members offer their thoughts of what they heard on publicly-unreleased voice recordings from the moment when the passengers stormed the cockpit. Small-plane pilots that saw Flight 93 as it rocked through the air during the cockpit storming discuss their remembrances. Family members relate what they believe their loved ones were doing in their final moments, as audio recordings pay tribute to the deceased passengers. Eyewitness Terry Butler recalls seeing Flight 93 as it crashed outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. In the final portion of the film, a chartered bus takes family members to see the Shanksville crash site for a ceremony. Some of the families, friends, and others interviewed include: Tom Burnett's wife Deena; Lauren Grandcolas's husband Jack; Bingham's best friend Amanda Mark; Andy Garcia's wife Dorothy; flight attendant Sandy Bradshaw's husband Phil; Richard Guadagno's father Jerry and sister Lori; Jeremy Glick's wife Lyz; Verizon telephone supervisor Lisa Jefferson, who talked with Todd Beamer during the hijacking; and Joey Nacke's son Louis Paul II and siblings Kenny and Paula. After the docudrama, Tom Brokaw speaks with five family members who have just seen the film about their thoughts on the production, as well as how they've coped in the four years following the tragedy.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: Discovery Channel
- DATE: September 11, 2005 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:55:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:89499
- GENRE: Docudrama
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Judith McHale)
- SERIES RUN: Discovery - TV, 2005
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Corvo … Senior Executive Producer
- Carol Williams … Executive Producer
- Julian P. Hobbs … Executive Producer
- Andrea Meditch … Executive Producer
- Soraya Gage … Senior Producer
- Phil Craig … Producer, Writer
- Meade Jorgensen … Producer
- Tim Peek … Producer
- Christina Bavetta … Producer
- Philip Marlow … Producer
- Amna Nawaz … Associate Producer
- Ann Preisman … Associate Producer
- Neale Smith … Associate Producer
- Kate Hampson … Field Producer
- Luz Villarreal … Field Producer
- Tracy Thomas … Line Producer
- Bruce Goodison … Director
- Mark Beazley … Music by
- Gavin Skinner … Music by
- Steven Severin … Music by
- Bruce Springsteen … Music by
- Tom Brokaw … Interviewer
- Kiefer Sutherland … Narrator
- Dick Bennett … Cast, Don Peterson
- Greg Benson … Cast, Tom Burnett
- Ankur Bhatt … Cast, Saaed Al Ghamdi
- Robin L. Bird … Cast, Georgine Corrigan
- Stan Bly … Cast, Mickey Rothberg
- Irene Bulhak … Cast, Hilda Marcin
- Roger Cantu … Cast, Joe Wallace
- Christy Clark … Cast, Lauren Grandcolas
- Robert Cushman … Cast, Donald Green
- Lenore Cutler … Cast, Colleen Fraser
- Brian DeCato … Cast, Matt
- Annette Dominguez … Cast, Sandy Bradshaw
- Diana Marie Ferra … Cast, Linda Grolund
- Bryan Friday … Cast, Todd Beamer
- Larry Hanes … Cast, Ed Ballinger
- Bernie Hourihan … Cast, Andy Garcia
- Steve Izay … Cast, Joe Nacke
- Jessica Kaplan … Cast, Deora Bodley
- Phil Ladner … Cast, John Tagliani
- Jason LeGrande … Cast, Mark Bingham
- Raj Mann … Cast, Ahmed Al Nami
- Tracy Miller … Cast, Cleveland Air Traffic Controller
- Madden Page … Cast, Edward Felt
- Julia Parker … Cast, Debbie Welsh
- Kevin Paul … Cast, Jeremy Glick
- Lynda Periman … Cast, Jean Peterson
- Suzanna Sanchez … Cast, Elizabeth Wainio
- Victoria Spark … Cast, Lorraine Bay
- Nefetari Spencer … Cast, Melodie Homer
- Bryce Wagoner … Cast, Richard Guadagno
- Bob Wood … Cast, Capt. Jason M. Dahl
- Don Worley … Cast, United Airline supervisor
- Toni Youngblood … Cast, Cee Cee Lyles
- Pej Vahdat … Cast, Ziad Jarrah
- Sami Adil … Cast
- Keith Bossier … Cast
- Kirk Bruner … Cast
- Vivian DeBord … Cast
- Danny Do … Cast
- Susan Donahue … Cast
- Michael Fortney … Cast
- James Scott Owen … Cast
- Athena Pierce … Cast
- Joseph Provenzano … Cast
- Sam Rosen … Cast
- Kathy Rosenfeld … Cast
- Michael Zirolli … Cast
- Osama bin Laden
- Phil Bradshaw
- Deena Burnett
- Terry Butler
- Dorothy Garcia
- Lyz Glick
- Jack Grandcolas
- Jerry Guadagno
- Lori Guadagno
- Alice Hoglan
- Lisa Jefferson
- Arne Kruithof
- Andrea Mark
- Kenny Nacke
- Nacke, Louis Paul, II
- Paula Nacke