The Flight That Fought Back

So, yeah. I watched this documentary on the Discovery Channel last night. I wasn't going to. I mean, I really don't get into watching TV that I know will just make me a giant puddle of blubbering mess (which is why I no longer watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition... I mean come on). Anyway, this documentary...

I'm embarrassed to say that up until now, my knowledge of American Airlines flight #93 was pretty limited. I knew that someone named Todd Beamer had said "Let's roll" at some point. And I knew that the plane was headed towards D.C. That's about it. But there is so much more to the story than that, and it was completely fascinating.

I'm sure the documentary will be re-run over the next few weeks so I won't go into specifics here. But one thing I realized last night? That flight #93 crashed in Shanksville, PA. 15 minutes (fly time) from Washington D.C. We live 21 miles (on the ground) from the White House itself. And though we didn't yet live here in 2001? My mother-in-law did. My brother-in-law and his family did too. Our friends from college, and YoungLife, and church. All scattered around the D.C. area, from inside the city itself to Silver Spring, from Columbia to the Fort Meade area, from NASA to the Naval Academy.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, our friends and family were here and there going about their normal morning routines. And had that flight not crashed into a field in PA? If it had overshot its target? And crashed somewhere else? Some of those friends and family may not be here today. 21 miles drive time is only minutes by air. And that fact really hit home last night. As someone who had a lot to lose in this area? I am so very thankful that the 40 people on American Airlines flight #93 were brave enough to attempt to bring that plane down before it hit its target. And to the families and friends that lost loved ones on that flight (though it's doubtful any will actually find this to read it): I so appreciate what your loved ones did. Not only did the plane not hit the capital, it also didn't hit thousands of innocent everyday people that live and work in this area. And so many of those thousands of every day people are people that my family and I care about. I am so grateful.

*Note: The commenter is totally correct. I hadn't even noticed that though this was initially billed as a "documentary", it really is a "docudrama". Much of the actual dialog is recorded cell phone conversations that took place between the passengers and their families as well as voice data recordings. But the actual minute-by-minute details will never be known so the director chose to use dramatic interpretations of what is believed to have happened based on those recordings and cell phone conversations.