Two Passengers Allegedly Get Off Flight 93 Just Before Take-off

[Archangel]

Two passengers leave Flight 93 after hearing an announcement that there will be a five-minute delay in the plane pushing back from the gate. This is according to Terry Tyksinski, a longtime flight attendant with United Airlines, who says a customer service supervisor who witnessed the incident told her about it six months after 9/11. The two first-class passengers are reportedly of dark complexion, "kind of black, not black." According to Tyksinski, the supervisor notes their names and is subsequently twice interviewed by the FBI. (Longman 2002, pp. xiii-xiv)

No other accounts, including the 9/11 Commission Report, mention this incident. (9/11 Commission 7/24/2004) And while Flight 93 is delayed on the ground until 8:42 a.m., reports state that it pushes back from the gate just one minute later than its scheduled departure, rather than there being a five-minute delay as Tyksinski suggests. (Johnson 11/23/2001; Pauley 9/11/2006)

There will only be 37 passengers on Flight 93, including the four hijackers. This is 20 percent of the plane's passenger capacity of 182 and, according to the 9/11 Commission, "is considerably below the 52 percent average load factor for Flight 93 for Tuesdays in the three-month period prior to September 11." (9/11 Commission 8/26/2004, pp. 36)