Flight 93 (film)

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Flight 93 is a 2006 made-for-TV film, directed by Peter Markle, which chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks. It premiered January 30, 2006 on the A&E Network and was re-broadcast several times throughout 2006. The film focused heavily on eight passengers, namely Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, Lauren Grandcolas, Donald Greene, Nicole Miller, and Honor Elizabeth Wainio. It features small appearances from many other passengers, namely Donald Peterson and his wife, Jean, and also from flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw. The film was rated PG-13 for some violence and emotional depiction of the hijack situation. The DVD version was released on June 26, 2006, and the Fox Network donated a significant amount to the Flight 93 memorial fund.

Plot
The film opens early on the morning of September 11, 2001 with First officer LeRoy Homer Jr. dressing up and leaving for work then hijackers Ahmed Al-Nami and Al-Haznawi, United 93's skyjacking ringleader Ziad Jarrah, and Saeed Al-Ghamdi shaving in the hotel room and then leaving for Newark International Airport. At the airport, the passengers and crew board United Airlines Flight 93 along with the hijackers. Shortly after boarding, Flight 93 is delayed for 30 minutes because of the high volume of traffic. The other three hijacked flights take off. Air traffic controllers monitoring all current flights notice that American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767, has taken a southern turn toward New York City and Mohamed Atta makes a suspicious threatening transmission from the flight deck. Shortly after, Flight 11 descends into Lower Manhattan and crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, though air traffic controllers are not aware of it. After Flight 11 crashed, United Airlines Flight 175 begins to descend and turn toward New York City as well. Air traffic controllers then realize they are dealing with a hijacking. American Airlines Flight 77 is also hijacked. The traffic controllers alert the U.S. Air Force, who debate whether or not to shoot down all suspected hijacked flights. The air traffic controllers and Air Force then watch as Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the WTC on live television, reported by CNN. Word of the planes that hit the World Trade Center reaches Flight 93, and the terrorists then decide to begin the hijacking. After Ahmed al-Haznawi assembles a fake bomb out of clay and plastic during breakfast, the other three hijackers prepare for invasion. Jarrah makes the first move and grabs hold of flight attendant Debbie Welsh; after a passenger is stabbed to death and the "bomb" is revealed causing mass panic among passengers, the hijackers stab Debbie, knocking her unconscious and wrestle their way into the cockpit and attack the pilots. Both pliots take actions to interfere with the hijackers, Dahl switching the output of the pilots' microphones from the cabin address speakers to the radio transmitter so that Jarrah's attempts to communicate with the passengers would instead be heard by air traffic controllers and Homer deliberately kicking his foot against the plane's yoke, putting the plane on autopilot. Both pilots are injured and fall unconscious. Both Dahl's and Homer's unconscious bodies are removed from the cockpit and laid on the floor. Flight 77 has crashed and created a huge fireball at the Pentagon.

To the growing consternation of Ben Sliney and his staff, coordination with the Air Force is haphazard and there are not enough planes ready, or armed, to respond to an in-air hijacking. Sliney ultimately decides to shut down all airspace in the United States and ground every flight. The hijackers do not prevent the people from making phone calls through the on-board system. After hearing about the planes crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon, the passengers and crew understand that if they do nothing, they will also die, and eventually elect to storm the cockpit and attempt to retake the plane. The passengers make one last set of phone calls to friends and family, in which they declare their intentions. The remaining crew assemble what makeshift weapons they can: cutlery, wine bottles, a fire extinguisher and hot water. Learning that one of the passengers can fly a plane (although he has not flown a commercial aircraft), the group pin their hopes on his being able at least to control the plane. They debate whether the bomb is real or fake before deciding to start their counter-attack by overpowering Ahmed Al-Nami. He is killed by the passengers with a bash to the head with a hot water container after boiling water is thrown at him. Having seen this, Saeed Al-Ghamdi, Jarrah and Ahmed Al-Haznawi prepare for invasion by the passengers and debate whether to take the flight down. Ziad Jarrah shakes the plane violently to throw the passengers off balance, but nonetheless they manage to breach the cockpit with the food cart. As the passengers wrestle with two hijackers to get in the cockpit, the plane goes into an angled nosedive towards the ground as the passengers finally gain entrance into the cockpit. The plane misses a private propeller plane and a barn, and then crashes in a field. The film ends with the widows and widowers of the passengers and others circling together in prayer.

Cast

 * Jeffrey Nordling as Tom Burnett


 * Brennan Elliot as Todd Beamer


 * Ty Olsson as Mark Bingham


 * Colin Glazer as Jeremy Glick


 * Kendall Cross as Deena Burnett


 * Dominic Rains as Ziad Jarrah


 * Laura Mennell as Elizabeth Wainio


 * April Telek as Lyz Glick


 * Marilyn Norry as Alice Hogland


 * Jacqueline Ann Steuart as Lauren Grandcolas


 * Monnae Michaell as Lisa Jefferson