Shanksville

On Sept. 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in this rural farming and mining community. One of four commercial airliners hijacked that morning, Flight 93 was the only one that did not crash into a prominent American building. The plane left from Newark, N.J., bound for San Francisco, Calif., but its course was changed to Washington, D.C. by four terrorists. Passengers and crew members learned of the day's earlier attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon when they telephoned authorities and family members. With extreme courage, they fought the four hijackers, thwarting their plan to fly the plane into a Washington, D.C. landmark. The crash site is now home to a memorial to these 33 passengers and seven crew members. The first phase of the National Park Service permanent memorial was dedicated Sept. 10, 2011.