The Visitor Center at the Flight 93 National Memorial acts as a museum of sorts. There are different artifacts from the day, September 11, 2001, and even recordings of voicemails left by passengers and crew members to their loved ones.
Now, there’s a new artifact there that is connected to every person who boarded that plane.
“This was something that was three years in the making,” said Adam Shaffer of the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Inside the Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Center, in the second-to-last display, is a big yellow sign reading Gate A-17. It’s from the Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
“It’s an object that ties all 40 people together in the last normal moment before those attacks began that day,” Shaffer said.
Gate A-17 is where United Airlines Flight 93 departed before takeoff — headed for San Francisco.
“I think one of the most powerful things to think about is that each and every one of the 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93 walked underneath that gate sign on the morning of September 11, 2001, before boarding and ultimately being put in the position that they were that day,” Shaffer added.
He said it adds to the whole memorial site in Shanksville, where they continue to share the heroic story of all 40 men and women on board, who fought back against the hijackers, and crashed Flight 93 into a field. The intended target was believed to be the U.S. Capitol Building.
“I can’t think of a more difficult situation than what they were faced with that morning, and yet they opted to try to make the best possible outcome out of the situation they were in,” Shaffer said.
The Flight 93 National Memorial Visitors Center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
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