United Flight 93 Movie

[wmuflyguy]

my opinion is its way to early for this movie. I did see it, it was done very well and Ive never walked out of a movie that hostile and angry in my life. I don't know if that was the intention or maybe the company I was in but we were seeing red.
My opinion is they made us controllers look bad. Like we had no clue how to manage and emergancy situation. I wasn't a controller yet during 9/11 so I don't know whats changed but the bicker and bantering of controllers, the foul language used, and the fact they made it look like everyone on the scope was about ready to have a heart attack well, I don't know, maybe it was chaotic like that.

2 descrepencies I noticed that we all as pilots notice in these movies. Those weren't UAL pilot uniforms they were wearing and showing Flight93 climbing out well, the showed an A320. Sorry....just had to say it.

I have to imagine it was Chaos for the ATC folks. I can't imagine the helpless feeling those guys and gals must have had, they were watching what was going on, but they had no way to stop it. They just couldn't. I bet all those guys wish they could have just reached up and yanked the planes all out of the sky and put them safely on the ground.

 

[gator_hater]

Just my .02, this movie is about 3 years too late. As an entire nation we ca't forget the emotions we felt that day. A reminder is 100% necessary.

 

[some_dude]

If anyone looked bad, it was the military.

If you watch the credits, you might notice that most of the ATC people and military people played themselves. So I suspect that they got the details largely correct.

my opinion is its way to early for this movie. I did see it, it was done very well and Ive never walked out of a movie that hostile and angry in my life. I don't know if that was the intention or maybe the company I was in but we were seeing red.
My opinion is they made us controllers look bad. Like we had no clue how to manage and emergancy situation. I wasn't a controller yet during 9/11 so I don't know whats changed but the bicker and bantering of controllers, the foul language used, and the fact they made it look like everyone on the scope was about ready to have a heart attack well, I don't know, maybe it was chaotic like that.

2 descrepencies I noticed that we all as pilots notice in these movies. Those weren't UAL pilot uniforms they were wearing and showing Flight93 climbing out well, the showed an A320. Sorry....just had to say it.

 

[iflyjets4food]

I just saw it yesterday. I thought the movie was well done. It didn't seem to take too many hollywood liberties. I realized that as long as we (the generations who were around for the attacks) are still living, we'll always feel like it is too soon. There was a guy in the theater with me who was around for World War II. He was as broken up about Saving Private Ryan as he was about this movie. The fact that we existed at the time of this attack makes it all the more real. Those of us who are in the industry are even more hurt because it not only was an attack on our nation and our fellow citizens, but it was an attack on our careers (maybe not an intentional effect). I can't imagine 30 years from now feeling like it would be better timed, just because I remember exactly where I was and what was happening.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

I don't know why I felt that the movie made us look bad, not entirely but it was complete chaos. Makes the public think they we had no grasp on anything which we didn't at the time....The chain of command seemed broken, a hijacking threat and the big wig controllers at the command center just laugh and walk away. I did like the NATCA shirts though! Definatly cool!

 

[mordi]

I don't know why I felt that the movie made us look bad, not entirely but it was complete chaos. Makes the public think they we had no grasp on anything which we didn't at the time....The chain of command seemed broken, a hijacking threat and the big wig controllers at the command center just laugh and walk away. I did like the NATCA shirts though! Definatly cool!

The controllers, and the nation as a whole, were dealing with a situation that the world had never seen. I hate to admit, but they had us all by the balls, as it was a very good plan. It was something that no one was ready for. Untill 9/11, traditional hijackings were one plane, with a motive of profite. This attack fit no profile that the US could have every imagined, thus been prepaired for. Talking bad and finger pointing is just doing the monday morning quarter backing thing. We were tested that day, but 93 proved that the US can adapt and make the best out of a bad situation.

 

[wmuflyguy]

I don't know why I felt that the movie made us look bad, not entirely but it was complete chaos. Makes the public think they we had no grasp on anything which we didn't at the time....The chain of command seemed broken, a hijacking threat and the big wig controllers at the command center just laugh and walk away. I did like the NATCA shirts though! Definatly cool!

The public has a very skewed picture of what ATC can do.

I remember reading a book that was about light aircraft crashes. A guy and his fiance went flying on a fairly crappy weather day, he got wx briefings and such, but still went anyway. Well the guy jsut decided to get flight following and told the controllers he was VFR, when actually he wasn't(wx reports and pireps indicated it was barely legal VFR). He had no instrument ticket.

Well The guy made it a couple hundered miles before augering it in, kiling himself and his fiance. The father of the pilot accused the controller of killing his son during an interview for the book(because she questioned his flight conditions, which subsequently made the pilot nervous and lose control, allegedly). He also said they(ATC and FSS) should have prevented his son from doing what he did. The public feels you guys are like cops and have magical powers, when in reality aviation works on the honor system.

Sorry for going off topic

 

[Diesel]

If you want a true account of what controllers do especially Flight service guys listen to this audio.

http://www.naats.org/docs/flightassist.mp3

 

[flyingnome]

thanks for sharing this sound clip everyone should hear it!

 

[JSky26]

Just came back from the movie and it was very touching as well as tasteful.

One thing that did come to question for me was why would two F-16s take off un-armed to intercept a plane that was known to be heading towards the White House? Was the military that inefficient that morning? I don't want to believe so. They talked about the possibility of the pilots "ramming" their fighter aircraft into the airliner and then ejecting? Is this a known practice by the military?

I'm not "saying" anything but it all just seemed interesting to me.

 

[smellthejeta]

The public has a very skewed picture of what ATC can do.

I remember reading a book that was about light aircraft crashes. A guy and his fiance went flying on a fairly crappy weather day, he got wx briefings and such, but still went anyway. Well the guy jsut decided to get flight following and told the controllers he was VFR, when actually he wasn't(wx reports and pireps indicated it was barely legal VFR). He had no instrument ticket.

Well The guy made it a couple hundered miles before augering it in, kiling himself and his fiance. The father of the pilot accused the controller of killing his son during an interview for the book(because she questioned his flight conditions, which subsequently made the pilot nervous and lose control, allegedly). He also said they(ATC and FSS) should have prevented his son from doing what he did. The public feels you guys are like cops and have magical powers, when in reality aviation works on the honor system.

Sorry for going off topic

I also remember that after the AA crash in LIT (Flight 1493?) that some persons tried to throw ATC under the bus for basically "allowing" the plane to fly in the conditions it did, as if ATC actually has the authority to override the decisions made by the PIC. I agree that ATC is looked upon as cops when they're really not. One of the courses (mentioned below) I took in a collegiate setting dealt with the airline regulatory atmosphere (the certfiication aspects, ops specs, and Part 121). There is absolutely no way we can keep up with the volume of regulations and procedures for every airline. The way I understand it, I pretty much have to approve any request that you make, as long as my rules permit me to do so.

I took some courses taught by a particular "talking head" university professor. Laugh if you want, but his guest speakers were EXCELLENT. One of the speakers was the guy who ordered the closure and immediate grounding of US Airspace. IIRC, the guy's name is Steve Brown, and I'm fairly certain that's who they tried to portray at the ATCSCC facility in Herndon. The only thing I remember vividly about Steve's talk is that he said he figured he'd be a hero or he'd get fired for taking the action that he did, as he had zippo precedent for doing so.

 

[Slice121]

Just came back from the movie and it was very touching as well as tasteful.

One thing that did come to question for me was why would two F-16s take off un-armed to intercept a plane that was known to be heading towards the White House? Was the military that inefficient that morning? I don't want to believe so. They talked about the possibility of the pilots "ramming" their fighter aircraft into the airliner and then ejecting? Is this a known practice by the military?

I'm not "saying" anything but it all just seemed interesting to me.

Military jets on training missions do not normally carry live weapons on board, even post 9/11 for safety reasons. There were F-16 airborne on training missions and that's what they mentioned in the movie. Depending on the mission, you may have the gun armed before you takeoff. The Alert aircraft with live missles were further away. Yes, ramming the jet was a considered option. No, it's not normal and we obviously don't train for it. But you do what you gotta do!

 

[LAZYB]

Just my .02, this movie is about 3 years too late. As an entire nation we ca't forget the emotions we felt that day. A reminder is 100% necessary.

Ditto

NEVER FORGET