Chilling recording of Flight 93's final seconds

Edward Helmore12 April 2012

New details from the cockpit voice recorder of Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on 11 September, suggest hijackers crashed the jet intentionally.

The chilling recording, obtained by Newsweek, also catches the sound of shattering dishes and terrorists arguing with each other as the passengers attempt to take control of the aircraft.

One passenger can be heard screaming "Let's get them!" shortly before the plane goes into a fatal dive and crashes. The crash killed 41 passengers and crew members and the four hijackers.

Previous snippets from the plane's voice recorder have provided clues to the ambush of the pilots in the cockpit - but this is the first time the intense struggle between hijackers and passengers has been revealed.

One of the hijackers can be heard calling on the others to hold the cockpit door to keep the passengers out. Another suggests cutting off oxygen to the passenger cabin, while another is heard saying "Take it easy".

One then suggests using a fire axe - hanging in the cockpit - to scare the passengers into submission.

The terrorists continue to shout at each other to hold the door while shattering galley dishes and trays being hurled can be heard in the background.

In several instances on the tape, the hijackers appear to be fighting over the controls, with one demanding: "Give it to me."

The terrorists eventually send the plane into a roller-coaster-type freefall in an attempt to knock the passengers off their feet.

In the final seconds before the plane crashes, one of the hijackers in the cockpit yells to another to let "the guys in" - presumably referring to two comrades who were supposed to be guarding the passengers. The recorder finally captures a hijacker crying out: "God is great!"

The tapes first began to record the sounds of the hijacking after the plane was seized shortly after 9.30am. At one point, someone - presumably a stewardess - is crying and moaning, pleading not to be hurt. The plane crashed 46 minutes later.

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