There is abundant evidence that Flight 93 crashed into a reclaimed strip mine, leaving a crater located approximately at 40°03'02" N longitude, 78°45'22" W latitude in Shanksville, PA. The evidence consists of numerous eyewitness reports, jetliner debris in and around the crater, including the black boxes, and the identification of the crew and passengers from about 1,500 samples of mostly scorched human remains. 1
Nonetheless, some people have questioned whether that crater was the resting place of Flight 93, citing the lack of apparent debris at the site. A review of the consequences of high-speed plane crashes and photographs which do show aircraft debris will disabuse most skeptics of the notion that the crash was faked.
One question, "is what happened to the physical wreckage of the plane?"
"There was no plane," Ernie Stull, mayor of Shanksville, told German television in March 2003:
"My sister and a good friend of mine were the first ones there," Stull said. "They were standing on a street corner in Shanksville talking. Their car was nearby, so they were the first here -- and the fire department came. Everyone was puzzled, because the call had been that a plane had crashed. But there was no plane."
"They had been sent here because of a crash, but there was no plane?" the reporter asked.
"No. Nothing. Only this hole."
Others followed suit, with Morgan Reynolds denying the reported crashes of all four jetliners. Both Loose Change and 9/11 Revealed theorize that Flight 93's crash had been faked, and that the plane had landed in Cleveland.
Such theories are likely to have the effect of discrediting all claims that the attack was an inside job, especially given the emotional importance of accounts of heroism by the passengers of Flight 93.
In contrast to theories that Flight 93's crash were faked, the theory that it was shot down, supported by abundant evidence, is consistent with accounts of the passenger takeover. In fact, the most likely reason for a shoot-down is that the passengers had rescued the plane from the hijackers, and that authorities feared exposure of the larger 9/11 plot if the plane were to land.
Was Flight 93 Shot Down?
There was no plane wreckage at the alleged crash site.
Flight 93 landed and deboarded in Cleveland.
The cell phone calls from Flight 93 were faked.
