Last of Flight 93 wreckage is buried at 9/11 memorial in Pa.
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — The remaining wreckage of United Flight 93 has been buried near the Pennsylvania memorial marking where it crashed on 9/11.
Four shipping containers holding the wreckage were buried in a private ceremony June 21 in a restricted area accessible only to loved ones of the victims, the Flight 93 National Memorial said in a statement yesterday.
The wreckage was scoured for identifiable items in the months before the burial, and workers found a number of items that will be added to the memorial collection. The park service is expected later this year to release a full report of the items collected and how they will be incorporated into the memorial.
The final phase of the memorial is on track to open on the 17th anniversary of the attacks. It will include a 93foot tower at the entrance with wind chimes for each of the 40 victims, called the Tower of Voices. It’s designed to serve as a visual and audible reminder of the heroism of those on board. Each chime will have a different tone, or voice.
Remains of all the victims were identified after the crash, either through dental records, DNA or fingerprints. Three caskets of unidentified remains were buried at the crash site in 2011.
Now that the memorial is near completion, the time was right to bury the remaining wreckage, Flight 93 National Memorial Superintendent Stephen Clark said. It had been stored in shipping containers in a warehouse. About 95 percent of the airliner was recovered.
United Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers seized control with the likely goal of crashing into the U.S. Capitol.
As passenger Todd Beamer issued the rallying cry “Let’s roll,” he and others rushed down the aisle to try to overwhelm the terrorists after learning of the coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The 9/11 Commission concluded that the hijackers downed the plane as passengers revolted, in a field near Shanksville, about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.