No training simulation could recreate the chaotic horror of such a situation.

Review:

“United 93” is a Must See Movie

Audience: Commercial Aviation Training Community

Ninety-three minutes of tension. Heart-tightening, nail-gnawing, seat-squirming from the opening scenes because, unlike most movies, these were real people and you know how it’s going to end. Profoundly saddening, especially as you intrude on tearful good-bye phone calls with unsuspecting loved ones. Sobering to realize the damage inflicted by evil fanaticism in ripping asunder the families of innocents and piercing the psyche of a complacent nation.

“United 93” should be required viewing, perhaps annually, for everyone associated with the airline industry – pilots, cabin crews, mechanics, baggage handlers, ticket agents, security personnel, air traffic control, and even passengers. After you’ve seen it, you’ll feel much less annoyed at the long lines at the metal detectors and the restrictions on seemingly harmless items such as nail files and cigarette lighters. You’ll be glad your flight might have a federal air marshal on board who is trained to spot and deal with monsters who would martyr us for their misguided cause. You’ll appreciate the need for fortified doors which prevent unauthorized entry to the flight deck.

No training simulation could recreate the chaotic horror of such a situation. How do you instruct a flight attendant to react when her colleague’s throat has just been slit? And you can’t get through to the captain or first officer on the intercom because they’re dead, too? That Sandra Bradshaw had the mental presence to call a United maintenance emergency number on an airphone is a credit to her resourcefulness.

The film’s instructive value is more for its depiction of human behavior in crisis than for any what-if scenario procedures. Air traffic controllers and military command center personnel momentarily frozen amidst the frenzy by the unthinkable horror of airplanes striking both World Trade Center towers. The disbelief of having three, four, maybe five or more aircraft hijacked when there had been no such incident for a decade or so.

I found myself frustrated by the antiquated communication methods and information delays between the FAA and the military. Angered by CNN’s initial false report that “a small plane” had hit the first tower. I wanted some plot twist to alter the inexorable course of events, as it does in every action movie. And at the end, there it was – the heroes aboard UA93 refused to allow the terrorists to complete their despicable mission. In the process, they not only altered the flight path, they changed the course of history.

Rick Adams
Civil Aviation Training (CAT) magazine
April 2006

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