He dismissed rumors that a U.S. military jet had intercepted the plane before it could strike a target in Washington, D.C. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, President Bush's nominee for chairman of the joint chiefs of staff rejected rumors that the military had shot down the hijacked plane <http://www.cooperativeresearch.net/timeline/2001/bergenrecord091401.html>.
"The armed forces did not shoot down any aircraft," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said. -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
"Responding to persistent rumors <http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010914norad0914p3.asp> that have circulated around the nation, the North American Aerospace Defense Command disputed accounts yesterday that U.S. military aircraft shot down United Airlines Flight 93 in Somerset County.
"Contrary to media reports that speculate that United Airlines Flight 93 was 'downed' by a U.S. fighter aircraft, NORAD-allocated forces have not engaged with weapons any aircraft, including Flight 93."
It was the second such statement NORAD released on the incident since the plane crashed Tuesday morning on a hilltop outside Shanksville.
"There was no military involvement here. I hope that ends that speculation," FBI agent Bill Crowley told reporters yesterday during an afternoon briefing at the crash site.
Asked if there were any military aircraft flying in the vicinity of Flight 93 or activated in response to the hijacking of the plane, Capt. Adriane Craig, a NORAD spokeswoman, declined comment." -Post-Gazette (9/14/01) / "As soon as he climbed off his jet, Nasty was told by a crew member on the ground that another airliner had smashed into the Pentagon. And he was told that a military F-16 had shot down a fourth airliner in Pennsylvania, a report that turned out to be incorrect." -Cape Cod Times (8/21/02) / "Mrs Mcelwain is further convinced the whole truth has yet to come out because of a phone call she had within hours from the wife of an air force friend of the family.
"She said her husband had called her that morning and said 'I can't talk, but we've just shot a plane down <http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12192317&method=full&siteid=50143>,' " Susan said. "I presumed they meant Flight 93. I have no doubt those brave people on board tried to do something, but I don't believe what happened on the plane brought it down." -Daily Mirror (9/13/02)
Hero theory Dismissed
Investigators: Sept. 11 Hijackers, Not Passengers, Deliberately Crashed Flight 93
"One of the hijackers in the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 ordered the terrorist-pilot Ziad Jarrah to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania because of a passenger uprising in the cabin, U.S. investigators now believe.
Thirty-three passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers died in the horrific, heroic crash.
The new theory, based on the government's analysis of cockpit recordings, discounts the popular perception of insurgent passengers grappling with terrorists to seize the plane's controls.
The government's findings -- laid out deep within the report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that was sent to Congress last month -- aim to resolve one of the enduring mysteries of the deadliest terror attacks in U.S. history: What happened in the final minutes aboard Flight 93?" - Fox (8/08/03)
Witnesses
Saw a second plane in the vicinity:
Jim Brandt - Somerset County resident Jim Brandt said that he saw another plane in the area. He said it stayed there for one or two minutes before leaving. -The Pittsburgh Channel (9/12/01)
Dale Browning - "It's the damndest darn thing," said Dale Browning, a farmer.
"Everybody's seen this thing in the sky, but no one can tell us what it is." -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
Rick Chaney - Chaney described the plane as a Lear-jet type, with engines mounted near the tail and painted white with no identifying markings. -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
Susan Custer - said she saw a small white jet streaking overhead. -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
Dennis Decker - "As soon as we looked up, we saw a midsized jet flying low and fast," Decker said. "It appeared to make a loop or part of a circle, and then it turned fast and headed out." Decker and Chaney described the plane as a Lear-jet type, with engines mounted near the tail and painted white with no identifying markings. -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
Robin Doppstadt - was working inside her family food-and-supply store when she heard the crash. When she went outside, she said, she saw a small white jet that looked like it was making a single circle over the crash site.
"Then it climbed very quickly and took off. " -The Bergen Record (9/14/01)
Susan Mcelwain, 51 - who lives two miles from the site, knows what she saw - the white plane rocketed directly over her head.
"It came right over me, I reckon just 40 or 50ft above my mini-van," she recalled. "It was so low I ducked instinctively. It was traveling real fast, but hardly made any sound.
"Then it disappeared behind some trees. A few seconds later I heard this great explosion and saw this fireball rise up over the trees, so I figured the jet had crashed. The ground really shook. So I dialed 911 and told them what happened.
"I'd heard nothing about the other attacks and it was only when I got home and saw the TV that I realized it wasn't the white jet, but Flight 93.
I didn't think much more about it until the authorities started to say there had been no other plane. The plane I saw was heading right to the point where Flight 93 crashed and must have been there at the very moment it came down.
"There's no way I imagined this plane - it was so low it was virtually on top of me. It was white with no markings but it was definitely military, it just had that look.
END
From the site: http://killtown.911review.org/flight93.html