United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the coordinated terrorist attacks that day. The flight was a scheduled domestic route from Newark International Airport, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport, California. About 46 minutes into the flight, the hijackers took control of the plane after killing one passenger and storming the cockpit. Ziad Jarrah, one of the hijackers trained as a pilot, took control and redirected the plane toward Washington, D.C., with the likely intended target being the U.S. Capitol or the White House

. Passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 learned about the other attacks via phone calls and organized a revolt to regain control of the aircraft. Their efforts to breach the cockpit door led the hijackers to crash the plane deliberately in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, about 20 minutes flying time from Washington, D.C., at 10:03 a.m. The crash killed all 44 people on board, including passengers, crew, and hijackers, but prevented the plane from reaching its intended target

. The final moments of the flight involved a struggle between passengers and hijackers, with some evidence suggesting the passengers may have partially breached the cockpit. The plane crashed at high speed into an empty field, causing a large explosion due to the jet fuel onboard. Vice President Dick Cheney authorized shooting down the plane but learned of the crash before any action was taken and called the passengers' actions heroic

. The heroic resistance of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 is commemorated by the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, honoring their courage and sacrifice