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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 passen-
gers to the back of the aircraft.
80
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.
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One of the callers from United 93 also reported that he thought the hijack-
ers 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 ask-
ing 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 pas-
sengers fought back.
82
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, we believe the bombs were
probably fake.
83
During at least five of the passengers' phone calls, information was shared
about the attacks that had occurred earlier that morning at the World Trade
Center. Five calls described the intent of passengers and surviving crew mem-
bers to revolt against the hijackers. According to one call, they voted on
whether to rush the terrorists in an attempt to retake the plane. They decided,
and acted.
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At 9:57, the passenger assault began. Several passengers had terminated
phone calls with loved ones in order to join the revolt. One of the callers
ended her message as follows:"Everyone's running up to first class. I've got to
go. Bye."
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The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of the passenger assault
muffled by the intervening cockpit door. Some family members who listened
to the recording report that they can hear the voice of a loved one among the
din. We cannot identify whose voices can be heard. But the assault was sus-
tained.
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In response, Jarrah immediately began to roll the airplane to the left and
right, attempting to knock the passengers off balance. At 9:58:57, Jarrah told
another hijacker in the cockpit to block the door. Jarrah continued to roll the
airplane sharply left and right, but the assault continued. At 9:59:52, Jarrah
changed tactics and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt
"WE HAVE SOME PLANES"
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