UPDATE

UPI report excerpt:

"The employee also told the newspaper that FAA air traffic controllers in Nashua learned through discussions with other controllers that an F-16 fighter stayed in hot pursuit of another hijacked commercial airliner until it crashed in Pennsylvania.

By 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the military had taken control of U.S. airspace, the employee said. Hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania at 10:37 a.m.

Although controllers don't have complete details of the Air Force's chase of the Boeing 757, they have learned the F-16 made 360-degree turns to remain close to the commercial jet, the employee said."

Full UPI report:

September 13, 2001 Hijacked jets nearly collided NASHUA, N.H., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Two hijacked passenger jets that crashed into the World Trade Center nearly collided with each other before reaching New York City, the Nashua Telegraph reported Thursday.

Quoting an unnamed Federal Aviation Administration employee at the Nashua control facility, the newspaper said it was told, "The two aircraft got too close to each other down by Stewart" International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y.

Both Boeing 767s, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 had taken off from Boston's Logan International Airport on Tuesday morning within 15 minutes of each other.

Heading west to Los Angeles, both planes turned south toward New York City where they crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers in massive fireballs.

One air traffic controller in Nashua, along with an assistant, monitored the flight patterns of both jets. It appears that hijackers gained control of Flight 11 around Gardner, Mass. The employee said the aircraft "was just flying around, doing what it wanted."

The employee said Flight 175 remained in the hands of its pilots until Albany, N.Y. The air traffic controller then noticed that the American Airlines plane had encountered difficulties when its transponder was shut off, the employee told the Telegraph. At that point, the plane veered from its course west.

Soon after, the controller realized a hijacker was in Flight 11's cockpit because the plane's captain -- John Ogonowski of Dracut, Mass. -- turned on his microphone, the employee said. Ogonowski activated the microphone so the Federal Aviation Administration could hear the terrorists' threats, the employee said.

The controller heard someone instruct, " 'Nobody do anything stupid,'" and no one would get hurt, the employee said. After that, the controller heard no more conversations, the employee said.

"That's all that was heard," the employee said. When it became apparent the plane had fallen into the hands of hijackers, a third controller began helping the controller and his assistant and notified appropriate government agencies.

The controller spoke with Flight 175 for quite some time after terrorists took command of Flight 11, the employee said. FAA controllers never expected Flight 175 to hit the second World Trade Center tower because of that sustained contact with the crew, the employee said.

"It's not in anyone's mind they're hitting a target," the employee said. "When somebody takes a plane over, they try to negotiate a release with money," the employee said.

"After the first plane hit, nobody imagined it would happen again," the employee said. "We all thought that was it. It (the crash by the second jet) totally caught everybody off guard."

The controller is "pretty disturbed" that he lost both planes, the employee said. He handled both flights because they shared similar routes on their intended journey to Los Angeles, the employee said.

The employee also told the newspaper that FAA air traffic controllers in Nashua learned through discussions with other controllers that an F-16 fighter stayed in hot pursuit of another hijacked commercial airliner until it crashed in Pennsylvania.

By 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the military had taken control of U.S. airspace, the employee said. Hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania at 10:37 a.m.

Although controllers don't have complete details of the Air Force's chase of the Boeing 757, they have learned the F-16 made 360-degree turns to remain close to the commercial jet, the employee said.

"He must've seen the whole thing," the employee said of the F-16 pilot's view of Flight 93's crash. -- Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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Yesterday (9/13/01) a Reuters report stated that the FBI cannot rule out that hijacked Flight 93 was shot down by a US fighter jet before it crashed in Pennsylvania. [1] Citing indications of a shoot down, the report states:

"Pennsylvania state police officials said on Thursday debris from the plane had been found up to 8 miles away [from the crash site] in a residential community where local media have quoted residents as speaking of a second plane in the area and burning debris falling from the sky."

Finding debris miles from the crash site indicates that the aircraft was disintegrating well before it hit the ground, as would be the case if the other plane witnesses saw shot it down. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the debris found miles from the crash site included "clothing, books, papers and what appeared to be human remains." [2] The secretary of defense says Flight 93 was not shot down.[3]

While major media have widely reported that a frantic 911 call was made from Flight 93 stating "We are being hijacked, We are being hijacked," a local Pennsylvania paper reports that the passenger also reported hearing an explosion and seeing smoke coming from the plane, consistent with a shoot down. As the Somerest, PA paper The Daily American states:

"[A] passenger locked in a bathroom aboard United Flight 93 called the 911 ... 'We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!' dispatch supervisor Glenn Cramer from Westmoreland County quoted the man from a transcript of the call. The man told dispatchers the plane 'was going down. He heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane and we lost contact with him,' Cramer said." [4]

So we have (1) witness accounts of a second plane in the area, (2) burning debris falling, (3) debris falling up to 8 miles from the crash site, (4) human remains falling miles from the crash site, and (5) reports from a passenger that an explosion was heard near the plane and white smoke was coming from the plane. Do these facts support early reports that Flight 93 was shot down by a US fighter jet? Could the the terrorists have smuggled in and detonated a bomb? At the least these facts appear to be inconsistent with the leading scenario being played in the media that the plane crashed as a result of a struggle for control on board the doomed flight.

Assuming the aircraft was shot down, under the circumstances -- other hijackers reasonably connected to the hijackers on Flight 93 using other jets to cause massive casualties on the ground -- it would be difficult to define the act unethical. Indeed, it would have arguably been an heroic act. However, the wrong would be lying to the public about what happened.

___________________________________________________________ [1] Reuters: FBI Cannot Rule Out Shootdown of Penn. Plane. By David Morgan. September 13, 2001. http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/ h/nm/20010913/ts/attack_pennsylvania_dc_4.html

[2] Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Investigators locate 'black box' from Flight 93; widen search area in Somerset crash. By T. Gibb, J. O'Toole, C. Lash. September 13, 2001. http://post-gazette.com/headlines/20010913somersetp3.asp

[3] Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Somerset crash scene searched; 'hero' may have aborted terror mission. By T. Gibb, C. Lash J. O'Toole. September 12, 2001. Can't reaquire URL via search.

[4] Daily American: International terror touches Somerset County. By Sandra Lepley. http://www.dailyamerican.com/disaster.htm