Of the five flight attendants who will be on United Airlines Flight 93—the fourth hijacked aircraft—on 9/11, at least three are not originally scheduled to be on this flight, but are assigned to it late: Sandra Bradshaw picks “up Flight 93 late in the planning.” She trades flights with another attendant. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Greensboro News-Record, 9/3/2006]
Wanda Green is originally scheduled to fly on September 13, but requests a change of shift due to commitments in her other job as a real estate agent. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/2001; Longman, 2002, pp. 23]
Deborah Welsh usually avoids early morning flights, but agrees to trade shifts with another worker. [Chicago Tribune, 10/2/2001; Observer, 12/2/2001; Associated Press, 9/9/2006]
The pilot, Jason Dahl, is also not originally meant to be on Flight 93 on September 11, but trades a trip later in the month in order to fly on that day (see Shortly Before September 11, 2001). And at least 16 of the passengers on Flight 93 only book onto it at a late date (see Shortly Before September 11, 2001-Early Morning September 11, 2001). Many of the flight attendants who will be on the other three hijacked planes are also only assigned to those flights shortly before 9/11 (see Shortly Before September 11, 2001-Early Morning September 11, 2001, Shortly Before September 11, 2001, and Shortly Before September 11, 2001-Early Morning September 11, 2001).
9:32 a.m.-9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001: Flight Attendant in the Cockpit of Flight 93 Is Ordered Around and Then Apparently Killed
A woman in the cockpit of Flight 93, presumably one of the plane’s flight attendants, is apparently repeatedly given orders and then killed or otherwise silenced by the plane’s hijackers. The cockpit voice recording from Flight 93 will later reveal that, at 9:32 a.m., one of the hijackers in the cockpit starts issuing a series of strange orders. “Don’t move! Shut up! Come on, come! Shut up! Don’t move! Stop!” he says in English. About 15 seconds later, he continues, “Sit, sit, sit down!” At 9:34 a.m., he orders someone—apparently a flight attendant—to lie down. “Down! Go ahead, lie down!” he says and then continues: “Lie down! Down, down, down! Down, down, down!” He then says: “Sit down! Come on, sit down, sit! Sit down! Sit down!”
Flight Attendant Pleads with the Hijackers – About 15 seconds later, a person identified in an FBI transcript of the cockpit voice recording as a “[f]emale native English-speaking person” starts pleading with the hijackers. “Please, please, please, please, please, don’t hurt me,” she says. She then exclaims, “Oh, God!” Investigators will determine that this woman is likely one of the first-class flight attendants, either Deborah Welsh or Wanda Green.
Hijacker Orders the Flight Attendant to Sit Down – At 9:35 a.m., the hijacker will continue issuing orders. Still speaking English, he says: “No more. Down, down, down! No, no, no, no, no, no.” Apparently talking to the flight attendant, he says: “Sit down, sit down, sit down! Down! Sit down! Sit down! You know, sit down!” The flight attendant asks, “Are you talking to me?” but receives no answer. She then continues pleading with the hijackers, saying: “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.… No, no, please.”
Flight Attendant Struggles and Is Apparently Killed – At 9:36 a.m., the flight attendant apparently struggles with the hijackers for about 30 seconds. The FBI transcript of the cockpit voice recording will describe the “sound of a female crying and a struggle that lasted for a few seconds,” followed by the “sound of a struggle with a female.” The flight attendant is apparently killed or otherwise silenced at this time. About a minute later, one of the hijackers says in Arabic: “Everything is fine. I finished.” The flight attendant’s voice will never be picked up again by the plane’s cockpit voice recorder. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 12/4/2003; McMillan, 2014, pp. 84-85]