Center honors Flight 93 victims

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - Sitting on a hill overlooking the United Airlines Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, a $26 million visitor center complex was dedicated and opened to the public Thursday, one day before the annual 9/11 observances in Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington.

Victims' family members got a private tour Wednesday.

Gov. Wolf commended the passengers and crew for their heroic actions that officials have said prevented the plane from crashing into its target in Washington.

"In the U.S., we believe people are capable of doing remarkable, indeed heroic, things, even in the most ordinary setting. What these folks did reminds us all what we are capable of doing," said the governor, who is also scheduled to speak at Friday's ceremony.

"The center is precious. . . . The passengers and crew of Flight 93 did a very memorable and noble thing on Sept. 11, 2001. And it is right that what they did here should be remembered in this place and in this way," Wolf said.

National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis called the day "bittersweet."

"Finally, after 14 years, we have a visitor center and a park that can tell [their] story," he said.

Fourteen years in the making, the center uses photos, video, artifacts, and interactive displays to tell the story of Flight 93, the only jetliner among the four commandeered by terrorists that failed to reach its intended target on Sept. 11. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, and one slammed into the Pentagon outside Washington. Nearly 3,000 people died.

The center's 10 exhibits are laid out chronologically, with visitors learning how the 33 passengers and seven crew members - at least some of them already aware the nation was under attack - voted to charge the cockpit and then fought to regain control of the plane, whose hijackers are believed to have wanted to crash it into the U.S. Capitol.

"There are places that may feel ordinary. This is a place that was ordinary in many ways back in 2001, until a fateful day," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

"We see the real honor of the 40 and what they did in this exhibit behind us," she said.

One video traces the aircraft's erratic movements in real time, fading to black at the moment of impact. Bits and pieces of the debris field are displayed under glass.

Picking up a handset, visitors can listen to recordings of the voice messages that two passengers and a flight attendant left for family members minutes before the plane went down.

Other displays trace the recovery and investigation.

The center's stark, 40-foot exterior concrete walls are split by a black granite walkway that marks the doomed plane's flight path. Visitors are led through the exhibits to an outdoor platform that offers a commanding view of the crash site and surrounding hills.

Development of the Flight 93 National Memorial is nearly complete, with only the planned Tower of Voices, a 93-foot structure with 40 wind chimes, still to be built.