I recently talked with a former senior commercial airline pilot about a few different subjects, one being the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack upon the United States and the resulting crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, PA on that day. This individual worked for approximately 30 years as a pilot and was involved in pilot training after 9/11, including aircraft simulation training. As such, this individual had access to aircraft Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data (the so-called "black boxes"), including that of Flight 93 which was kept confidential. After 9/11 this data was used by the airlines and this pilot to develop better protocols for handling hijackings and other threats.
This person is not the type to subscribe to conspiracy theories, however based on what they had learned as a result of analyzing the FDR data and debris field of Flight 93, this individual was absolutely certain that the plane was shot down by one or more fighter jets which had been shadowing Flight 93 for some time prior to its demise.
When asked if the fighter jets attempted to communicate with Flight 93, this person stated that they did, but that the crew of 93 never responded, possibly because the hijackers had gained access to the cockpit by the time such communications occurred.
When asked if there was evidence of a shoot-down in the voice or data recorders, this person said there was no evidence in the voice recorder, but that the FDR stopped recording before the plane hit the ground which, in addition to the massive debris field, provides reasonable evidence that Flight 93 was indeed intentionally shot down. Whether a slip of the tongue or not, at least two government officials also stated that Flight 93 was shot down, one of them being Dick Cheney.
This former pilot told me that there may have been a struggle by the passengers to regain control of the plane, but that they weren't aware of any supporting evidence from the data they had access to.
This person was not certain of the intended target of Flight 93, but felt it was the White House (if i recall correctly, the last known trajectory of Flight 93 put it on a course for the World Trade Center complex, but i'm not sure about that).
This information is yet another confirmation of what has long been suspected or known by 9/11 researchers. The extent of the debris field alone dictates that Flight 93 broke-up long before it impacted with the earth.
See also:
Behind the 9/11 White House Order to Shoot Down U.S. Airliners: 'It Had to be Done' - HISTORY
While Barnes says that in the PEOC he never wondered whether Flight 93 had been shot down by U.S. fighters—he says he heard none of the "chatter" from the military side that would have indicated a fighter had unleashed a weapon in American airspace—those on Air Force One were less sure. For much of the morning, those with the president thought it possible their decisions had resulted in the plane's downing. As Andy Card told me, "We hear that Flight 93's gone down. We're all wondering, Did we do that?...It lingered deepest in the president's conscience."
Idaho Observer: Evidence indicates Flight 93 shot down by U.S. fighter
A Reuters report from September 13 stated that the FBI cannot rule out that hijacked Flight 93 was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet before it crashed in Pennsylvania. Citing indications of a shoot down, the report states:
"Pennsylvania state police officials said on Thursday debris from the plane had been found up to 8 miles away [from the crash site] in a residential community where local media have quoted residents as speaking of a second plane in the area and burning debris falling from the sky."
Finding debris miles from the crash site indicates that the aircraft was disintegrating well before it hit the ground, as would be the case if the other plane witnesses saw shot it down. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sept. 12 that the debris found miles from the crash site included "clothing, books, papers and what appeared to be human remains."
The secretary of defense denied reports that Flight 93 was shot down.