9:53 a.m. September 11, 2001: Flight 93 Hijacker Suggests Holding Up an Axe to Frighten the Plane’s Passengers

A hijacker in the cockpit of Flight 93 apparently suggests holding up the plane’s fire axe to the peephole in the cockpit door in the mistaken belief that the passengers will be able to see it and be scared by it. [Longman, 2002, pp. 209-210] The cockpit voice recording from Flight 93 will later reveal that, speaking in Arabic, one of the hijackers in the cockpit says to another: “The best thing: The guys will go in, [you] lift up the [unintelligible], and they put the axe into it. So, everyone will be scared.” The other hijacker replies, “Yes” and then the first hijacker repeats, “The axe.” Seconds later, he says: “Let him look through the window. Let him look through the window.” [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 12/4/2003; McMillan, 2014, pp. 100] Federal officials will explain to the relatives of passengers and crew members on Flight 93 what they believe was happening at this time. The hijackers, journalist and author Jere Longman will describe, “in a bumbling manner, suggested holding the axe up to the peephole in the cockpit door, believing incorrectly that the riled passengers could see through the other end.” [Longman, 2002, pp. 209-210] Over the next couple of minutes, the cockpit voice recorder will pick up the sound of three knocks on the cockpit door, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing on two occasions. What exactly is happening at these times is unknown. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 12/4/2003]