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American Morning

Flight 93 Tapes to Be Released to Families

Aired April 18, 2002 - 07:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: On September 11, passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 stormed the hijackers before the airplane could reach its final destination, presumably a target in or around Washington D.C. We know their story through numerous cell phone calls they made to loved ones before their plane went down in Pennsylvania.

Today, family members of those on board will get a chance to learn more about what happened that fateful day when they're able to listen to the flight's cockpit voice recordings.

CNN's David Mattingly has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a day Deena Burnett has been asking for since the early hours after the 9/11 crash of hijacked United Flight 93, a crash that took the lives of her husband, Tom, and 39 other passengers and crew.

DEENA BURNETT, WIDOW OF FLIGHT 93 VICTIM: When I found out that plane crashed, I knew that was not in Tom's plan. I wanted to know what happened, and that was my first question, What went wrong?

MATTINGLY: But that is just one of many questions on her mind as she makes the journey from her San Francisco home to New Jersey to listen to the cockpit voice recorder. A private, families only opportunity offered by the FBI.

BURNETT: I think we're looking for peace of mind, when, in fact, we do not expect to find peace of mind from listening to the last 30 minutes of that flight.

MATTINGLY: For Deena, peace of mind has been hard to come by. A former flight attendant, she is now afraid to fly, even more so without her children.

BURNETT: I have this incredible fear of leaving them alone and of something happening to me and not being able to raise them. And so that is brought with me when I get on to the airplane.

MATTINGLY: Still, it is a journey she is compelled to make. She is looking for insight into her husband's last minutes alive, that began with a series of chilling cell phone calls over Pennsylvania, telling Deena they were going to charge the cockpit. BURNETT: I look at the aisle and I think about the passengers and crew charging down the aisle to the cockpit. I think about the movement they must have made on the airplane and their experience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: The FBI has been warning that the contents of the tape will be neither very comforting to the families nor very conclusive. They will reportedly hear the voices of the hijackers behind the controls of the airplane. They will hear the sounds of a woman pleading for her life, and they will hear what possibly could be the sounds of a struggle shortly before the plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

What they will not learn is whether or not their family members, the passengers of Flight 93, actually made it to the cockpit as they attempted to retake the plane. But it is sure to be an emotional day, Jack. One that not all families will be participating at.

CAFFERTY: David, had they made any rules about what the family members are allowed to say after they hear these voice recordings from the cockpit?

MATTINGLY: Well this tape will be submitted as evidence in the conspiracy trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. For that reason, the families will be asked not to discuss the contents of this tape with the public. So we're not expecting to hear a lot about what they are hearing on the tape. But in the past, there have been numerous leaks to give us some idea of what is actually on there.

So probably nothing much new today, other than a great welling of emotion as they listen to this tape.

CAFFERTY: All right, David, thanks very much. David Mattingly, reporting live this morning from Princeton, New Jersey.

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