Flight 93 is a 2006 American drama television film directed by Peter Markle and written by Nevin Schreiner, which chronicles the events onboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks in 2001. It premiered on January 30, 2006, on A&E, and was re-broadcast several times throughout 2006.
The film stars Jeffrey Nordling, Colin Glazer, Brennan Elliott, Ty Olsson, Jacqueline Ann Steuart, Laura Mennell, Karen Holness, Barry W. Levy, Biski Gugushe, and Dominic Rains.
Contents
Plot
On the morning of September 11, 2001, first officer LeRoy Homer Jr. gets dressed in his uniform and kisses his wife and his daughter before he leaves for work. Passengers board United Airlines Flight 93 at Newark Liberty International Airport, including Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Lauren Grandcolas, Donald Greene, Nicole Miller, Elizabeth Wainio, etc. Four al-Qaeda members Ziad Jarrah, Saeed al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Haznawi, and Ahmed al-Nami also board the flight. The plane takes off from Newark, bound for San Francisco, California.
46 minutes after takeoff, the hijackers make their move. Passenger Mark Rothenberg tries to negotiate with the hijackers and is fatally stabbed, and the "bomb" is revealed, causing mass panic among passengers. The hijackers stab flight attendant Deborah Walsh, knocking her unconscious before wrestling their way into the cockpit and attacking the pilots. During the struggle with the hijackers, Homer courageously sends out a mayday call before he and Captain Jason Dahl are knocked unconscious. Within minutes, Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
Aboard Flight 93, the passengers learn from family members via airphones about the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; they decide to take action by organizing a revolt against the four hijackers. Their plan is empowered with the knowledge that passenger Don Greene has experience in flying.
The group pins their hopes on Greene being able at least to control the plane. After passengers arm themselves, pray, and make final phone calls to loved ones, Beamer says, "Let's Roll!". They start their counter-attack, running down the aisle with a food cart. Jarrah shakes the plane violently to throw the passengers off balance, and Flight 93 narrowly misses a private aircraft as the passengers continue their assault, overpowering al-Nami, who is outside the cockpit. After boiling water is thrown at him, al-Nami is killed by Bingham with a blow to the head with the hot water container. Seeing the passengers getting nearer, al-Ghamdi, Jarrah, and al-Haznawi prepare to crash the plane, knowing they'll never reach their intended target. The passengers breach the cockpit with the food cart, and as they wrestle with al-Haznawi and al-Ghamdi to get in the cockpit, the two hijackers tell Jarrah to simply crash the plane, rather than to carry on with the rest of their mission. Jarrah puts it into a nosedive, just as the passengers finally gain entrance into the cockpit. Meanwhile, a man on the ground notices Flight 93 descending. He witnesses the plane rolling violently to the right, and then nosediving & crashing, killing everyone on board. Air Traffic Control can be seen and heard desperately calling for any response from Flight 93. Emergency workers then come by to investigate the crash area (denoted by the crater). The film then depicts the passage of time and, with it, the disappearance of the crater.
Cast
Passengers
Jeffrey Nordling as Tom Burnett
Colin Glazer as Jeremy Glick
Brennan Elliott as Todd Beamer
Ty Olsson as Mark Bingham
Jacqueline Ann Steuart as Lauren Grandcolas
Laura Mennell as Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Jerry Wasserman as Mark Rothenberg
Greg Thorlacius as Louis J. Nacke II
Keith Martin Gordey as Donald Greene
Meghan Heffern as Nicole Carol Miller (uncredited)
Chad Hershler as Richard Guadagno (uncredited)
Kenneth Kantymir as Andrew Garcia (uncredited)
Michael Robinson as Alan Anthony Beaven (uncredited)
Crew
Barry W. Levy as Captain Jason Dahl
Biski Gugushe as First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr.
Wanda Cannon as Deborah Welsh
Patricia Harras as Sandra Bradshaw
Karen Holness as CeeCee Lyles
Linda Darlow as Lorraine G. Bay
BJ Harrison as Wanda Anita Green
Hijackers
Dominic Rains as Ziad Jarrah
Zak Santiago as Ahmed al-Haznawi
Shawn Ahmed as Saeed al-Ghamdi
Asim Wali as Ahmed al-Nami
Passengers' relatives
Kendall Cross as Deena Burnett (Tom Burnett's wife)
April Telek as Lyzbeth Glick (Jeremy Glick's wife)
Marilyn Norry as Alice Hoagland (Mark Bingham's mother)
Kirsten Williamson as Melodie Homer (LeRoy Homer Jr.'s wife)
Gwynyth Walsh as Esther Heyman (Honor Elizabeth Wainio's mother)
Rob Morton as Vaughn Hoglan (Mark Bingham's maternal uncle)
Jenn Forgie as Kathy Hoglan (Vaugh Hoglan's wife)
Kate Robbins as Joanne Makely (Jeremy Glick's mother-in-law)
Madison Bell as Anna Claire Burnett (Tom Burnett's daughter)
Drew Shluter as Halley Elizabeth Burnett (Tom Burnett's daughter)
Sydney Shluter as Madison Margaret Burnett (Tom Burnett's daughter)
Others
Monnae Michaell as Lisa Jefferson
Tom Butler as Colonel
Michael Adamthwaite as Major
Michael Daingerfield as FBI Agent
Chris Kalhoon as Junior Officer
Daryl Shuttleworth as Boston Supervisor
Aaron Pearl as Boston Controller #1
Roger Haskett as Boston Controller #2
Adam J. Harrington as Dixie (F-16 Pilot)
John Furey as Cleveland Controller #1
Ingrid Torrance as Cleveland Controller #2
Benita Ha as Gate Agent
Michael Kopsa as Newark Controller
Hrothgar Mathews as Michael Woodward
Bill Mondy as United Executive #2
Sean Campbell as Fire Captain
Anthony Harrison as Small Plane Pilot
Ivan Cermak as JFK Controller
Leah Allers as Telephone Operator Supervisor Miss Dooley (uncredited)
Historical inaccuracy
Unlike other films on the subject, such as United 93, the film tells the events from multiple perspectives (passengers and crew, family members, government officials, air traffic controllers, etc.) Despite this, the film features numerous historical discrepancies. For instance, the callsigns "Siegfried" and "Dixie" are fictional and used to represent F-16 fighter pilots Heather Penney and Marc Sasseville - who were ordered to intercept Flight 93 shortly before it crashed. Additionally, during exterior shots of the plane, the livery of United Airlines Flight 93 appears to be white with a blue underbelly, rather than the Battleship Grey livery the actual aircraft used. In the Cabin of Flight 93, there are 24 seats in business class, while in the film only have 20 seats, and Hijacker Ahmed al-Haznawi was sitting in 5C, but during the event, he was supposed to be sitting in 6B.
Awards
The film received the award for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special" at the 2006 Emmy Awards.
Chris Julian, Foley Artist
Mark Linden, Sound Editor
Tara A. Paul, Effects Editor
Geoff Raffan, Dialog Editor
Carlos Ramirez, ADR/Dialog Editor
Joan Rowe, Foley Artist
David A. Scharf, Dialog Editor
Harry Snodgrass, Supervising Sound Editor
Home media
The DVD version was released on June 26, 2006. It came in 3 languages, English, Arabic, and Japanese.