Flight 93 relatives hear screams on cockpit tape

PLAINSBORO, N.J. -- With grief counselors on hand, relatives of those who died aboard United Flight 93 heard a cockpit recording Thursday that included "yelling and screaming" just before the hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field Sept. 11.

"There was an air of resignation, horrible sadness, pride all mixed up," Alice Hoglan said of listening to the chilling tapes with about 100 other relatives.

Hoglan, mother of passenger Mark Bingham, said hearing the tape was "excruciating" and "wonderful in a strange and odd way."

Thomas Burnett, whose son Tom was among those who used cell phones to call before they were killed, said he heard the cries on the cockpit tapes.

"A lot of it we couldn't follow very well," Burnett said.

The listening session, held behind closed doors, marked the first time the government let relatives of any U.S. plane crash hear cockpit tapes. Most family members said nothing afterward.

"Today is a very bittersweet day," said Hamilton Peterson, whose father, Donald, died in the crash. "Obviously, the enormity of the tragedy is here but it's a very proud moment."

Peterson said he learned things from the tape that he did not know before, but declined to elaborate.

Flight 93 has taken on special meaning since Sept. 11. It was the only one of the four hijacked planes that day that didn't kill anyone on the ground, and there is evidence those aboard tried to fight back after one cried "Let's roll!"

"The cockpit voice recording does indeed confirm that our loved ones died heroes," said Hoglan, of Los Gatos, Calif. She did not elaborate.

Forty-four passengers and crew members were killed when the airliner, bound from Newark to San Francisco, crashed in rural western Pennsylvania. Many have speculated that the passengers kept the hijackers from plunging the jet into a populated target.

Tom Burnett's wife, Deena, said federal officials told them the recording would be played at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is accused of being an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I think when you hear it this fall it will confirm that the American spirit on Sept. 11 was best represented on Flight 93," Deena Burnett said.

The cockpit tape was played in the morning for families of the crew and in the afternoon for passengers' relatives, with time left for discussion and questions. No reporters were allowed in and officials were under orders not to talk.

The 31-minute tape recorded in a continuous loop, but officials have declined to offer details on its contents.

Before hearing the tapes, Hoglan said she had been told families would hear a woman pleading for her life, and the last five to seven minutes would be filled with violence and yelling in both Arabic and English.

"Still, I feel compelled to listen. I owe it to the memory of Mark to learn all I can," the former United flight attendant said before she went inside.

Refused to listen

Some relatives came but decided against listening to the tape. Among them was Mitchell Zykofski, whose stepfather John Talalignani died in the crash.

"They said it was very graphic detail of what went on in the cockpit. They said it was horrifying," he said. "That was enough for me to decide that I didn't want to hear it."

Zykofski said he didn't regret coming. "I wanted to come to represent my stepfather, who died needlessly, and also as a hero," Zykofski said.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents, had never before allowed relatives to listen to cockpit tapes. Federal law bars the agency from giving out transcripts until most factual reports are complete.

FBI Director Robert Mueller approved the unprecedented listening sessions at the request of family members.

In phone conversations from the plane, Bingham and Burnett, of San Ramon, Calif., and two other men spoke of fighting back against their suicidal kidnappers. The others were Todd Beamer of Cranbury and Jeremy Glick of Hewlett.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has called the passengers' actions "the most dramatic of the heroic acts" of Sept. 11 and its aftermath.

Tom Crowley, Glick's uncle, said he knew two other Flight 93 passengers besides his nephew: Joseph Deluca of Ledgewood and Linda Gronlund of Greenwood Lake, N.Y. He is convinced they also fought back against the hijackers.

"Knowing them as I do, I know they would have gone and gotten involved," Crowley said before the sessions. "I know there are many other people who would have done the same thing. I think we have to think of all the people on Flight 93 as heroes."