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Deconstructing Tom Burnett’s phone calls :

For several reasons Tom Burnett’s phone calls are central to the story oh what happened aboard UA 93. After the phone call from a bathroom to an emergency dispatcher in Westmoreland County (now considered to have been from Edward Felt) Tom Burnett’s phone call was the second phone call from this plane that hit the news (it first appeared on September 12) and it was also the very first account that there were passengers aboard that tried to fight back. Besides being the first call telling of the revolt Burnett was also the first one to phone after the plane got hijacked. He phoned four times his wife Deena Burnett (with the FBI listening in from the second phone call). His calls took place according to Deena Burnett’s watch at 9:27, 9:34, 9:45 and 9:54.
The San Francisco Chronicle was the first newspaper to report. They quoted Rev. Frank Colacicco (apparently a friend of the family). His presentation is very short. According to him the call ended: “’He said, 'I know we're all going to die -- there's three of us who are going to do something about it,' ‘ Colacicco said. ‘He then said, 'I love you, honey,' and that was the end of conversation.’”
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=...6.DTL&type=printable

But this quotation already contains the first big error. Apparently Burnett never said “I know we’re all going to die”. And this quote drops out of the news after September 22 (only exception Boston Globe, 11/23/01).
Deena Burnett turned public at the evening of September 12.

Let’s now turn to the contradictions of the call. I’ll base my analysis on an AP article (9/5/03) that quotes Deena Burnett’s unedited written account of the call.

(Time is PDT)

6:27 a.m.

cell phone call:

Contrary to Todd Beamer who used an airfone it is without dispute that Tom Burnett used his cell phone. Given that we know that UA 93 was flying at 9:27 at 35,000 feet and the call didn’t get disconnected this is important to not.

Deena: Hello

Tom: Deena

Deena: Tom, are you O.K.?

Tom: No, I'm not. I'm on an airplane that has been hijacked.

Deena: hijacked?

Tom: Yes, They just knifed a guy.

Deena: A passenger?

Tom: Yes.

Deena: Where are you? Are you in the air?

Tom: Yes, yes, just listen. Our airplane has been hijacked. It's United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We are in the air. The hijackers have already knifed a guy, one of them has a gun, they are telling us there is a bomb on board, please call the authorities.


Tom Burnett states clearly that one hijacker has a gun. This is not only important to note as officially it is always repeated that no gun was aboard UA 93 but it is also strange as Burnett is the very only one to mention the presence of a gun. Why does no other passenger remark the gun? Especially intriguing as Jeremy Glick discussed the weapons the hijackers had but he didn’t mention any gun neither.
Second Burnett says “they are telling us there is a bomb on board” (and later he will wonder if the hijackers are just making this up). This stands in clear contrast to Todd Beamer who even describes the bomb as a red box. Jeremy Glick tells his wife of a bomb too (“something with a red tag around it”, NBC/ 9/15/01). While they see a bomb Burnett and also his neighbour Mark Bingham only state that the hijackers say to have a bomb. Can this really be explained only by the fact that Burnett and Bingham were in first and Beamer and Glick in second class?


He hung up.


What Burnett didn’t mention: According to the CR at 9:28 the plane suddenly dropped 700 feet. This would have been exactly during Burnett’s first call. Why doesn’t he mention this although it should give passengers a very strong and negative sensation?
What Burnett didn’t mention neither: At 9:28 the CR states that one could hear on the CVR that the hijackers entered the cockpit and fought with the pilots. Why does Burnett not speak of this although it occurred during his call?
Is maybe simple Deena Burnett’s watch wrong? As Burnett will mention in his second phone call that the hijackers are in the cockpit now it would imply that Burnett’s first call ended at 9:27. The call lasted about three minutes (see that four minutes after Deena was called she phoned 911). Therefore the explanation would be that Deena Burnett’s watch is three minutes early. That all calls happened three minutes earlier. But there are some indications that Deena Burnett’s watch is precise. (Btw her 911 call and the FBI listening in should be further indications that her given times are correct).
What Burnett doesn’t mention neither: The physical appearance of the hijackers. This is especially striking as he was sitting (4B) extremely well to see them (1B, 3C, 3D, 6B). But no word about the hijackers that were the only Arab-looking people aboard.


6:31 I call 911


6:34 The phone rang in on call waiting, Tom's cell phone.


Remark also the second call happened with a cell phone (although Jere Longman insists “using an Airfone this time” (p. 154)). This call again happened not only at the normal cruising altitude of up to 40,700 feet (CR)! But it doesn’t get disconnected nor any problems of communication.
Btw: “Deena's caller ID told her it was Tom.” (Star Tribune, 9/11/02). This indicates clearly that he was using indeed his cell phone.


Deena: Hello

Tom: They're in the cockpit. The guy they knifed is dead.

Deena: He's dead?

Tom: Yes. I tried to help him, but I couldn't get a pulse.

Deena: Tom, they are hijacking planes all up and down the east coast. They are taking them and hitting designated targets. They've already hit both towers of the World Trade Center.


Here is one of the very rare contradictions between this unedited written account of Deena Burnett and her interviews after 911. On October 2, 2001:
PAULEY: (Voiceover) Passengers may, at first, have thought this was the kind of hijacking in which hostages are held until demands are met. But Tom Burnett made a second call to his wife, saying ominous news was circulating among the passengers.
(Scenes of inside plane; air phone)
Deena Burnett: “He asked me about the World Trade Center.”
(NBC, 10/2/01; the same interview was broadcasted on 9/3/02 again) .
This account implies that Burnett new already something was going in New York BEFORE he asked his wife. But how can anybody on the plane have known as Burnett was the first one to do a phone call. There is no other passenger officially known to have done a phone call even before Burnett’s second call!


Tom: They're talking about crashing this plane. (a pause) Oh my God. It's a suicide mission...(he then tells people sitting around him)


Well, who is they? The hijackers? But two of the three hijackers Burnett saw are already inside the cockpit and only one remained with the passengers. And why would the hijackers say that they intend to crash the plane if Jarrah is supposed to have said at 9:39 (so basically the same time) that they’re going back to the airport? Why should the hijackers stir up a revolt by uncovering their intentions? Especially as only one of them is controlling the passengers and doesn’t seem to bother that they phone as much as they like?
Btw Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the quote slightly different: “They are talking about flying the airplane into the ground." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/22/01) www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010922gtenat4p4.asp. Of course this would make even less sense as why should the hijackers tell something that they don’t even know yet themselves and why should they say that anyway? That this quote is not completely wrong is shown by the fact that indeed Burnett will definitely say exactly this phrase at the end of his third call. Therefore a closer examination will take place there.


Deena: Who are you talking to?

Tom: My seatmate. Do you know which airline is involved?

Deena: No, they don't know if they're commercial airlines or not. The newsreporters are speculating cargo planes, private planes and commercial. No one knows.

Tom: How may planes are there?

Deena: They're not sure, at least three. Maybe more.

Tom: O.K....O.K....Do you know who is involved?

Deena: No.

Tom: We're turning back toward New York. We're going back to the World Trade Center. No, wait, we're turning back the other way. We're going south.


Here the official time and Deena Burnett’s watch match perfectly. It’s 9:36. This is an indication that Deena Burnett’s watch isn’t three minutes early.


Deena: What do you see?

Tom: Just a minute, I'm looking. I don't see anything, we're over a rural area. It's just fields. I've gotta go.


He hung up.


What Burnett didn’t mention: He doesn’t mention the reseating of the passengers (ten in first class and 27 with crew in coach). Btw this was only reported by Todd Beamer but nobody else. Burnett doesn’t mention the closing of the curtain between the two sections nor the hijacker that is surveilling the passengers having a red box around his waist.



6:45 a.m.


Deena Burnett doesn’t precise if he used a cell phone or not. Jere Longman writes that he did so indeed (p. 156)


Tom: Deena

Deena: Tom, you're O.K. (I thought at this point he had just survived the Pentagon plane crash).

Tom: No, I'm not.

Deena: They just hit the Pentagon.


Was the Pentagon crash already at 9:44 in the TV news (Deena Burnett recalled having seen the images just before Burnett called the third time)


Tom: (tells people sitting around him "They just hit the Pentagon.")


If Burnett can phone, talk and discuss so freely why don’t all other passengers from first class do phone calls as often as possible?
And why is there not a single other call from UA 93 that shows that the passenger is aware of the Pentagon. Though several callers mentioned that they know of the WTC?


Tom: O.K....O.K. What else can you tell me?

Deena: They think five airplanes have been hijacked. One is still on the ground. They believe all of them are commercial planes. I haven't heard them say which airline, but all of them have originated on the east coast.


I’ve to confess: I’ve never heard that around 9:45 a plane was considered as a hijack that was “still on the ground”!?


Tom: Do you know who is involved?

Deena: No

Tom: What is the probability of their having a bomb on board? I don't think they have one. I think they're just telling us that for crowd control.

Deena: A plane can survive a bomb if it's in the right place.


Deena Burnett was a Delta Airlines flight attendant.


Tom: Did you call the authorities?

Deena: Yes, they didn't know anything about your plane.

Tom: They're talking about crashing this plane into the ground. We have to do something. I'm putting a plan together.


Now, this is really strange! Again: Who are “they”? The hijackers? Remember there is maximum only one hijacker with the passengers (and Burnett’s possibility to relay information to his neighbours indicates that he is not surveilled) who is apparently not close to Burnett. So how could have Burnett have come to this surprising prophecy? (Which btw is part of his account in the media right after 911). Did the hijacker accidently once managed to hit the correct button and really talk to the passengers via the PA? But then why did no other passenger hears this important message? Why does neither Glick nor Beamer who were at the phone at this time not recall it? And last but not least how should the hijackers have known something that they would decide the very last minute when the passengers were attacking the cockpit? And why should they assure with such a message that the passengers would certainly fight for their lifes? I’m sorry this makes strictly no sense to me!
Background information: The CVR recorded that around 9:48 – so during this phone call of Burnett – one hijacker is heard to have told the other to “let the guys in now” (Newsweek, 12/3/01). This is rather strange cause as several phone calls indicated two hijackers stormed the cockpit and now this quote indicates two are still with the passengers then why weren’t they seen by any passenger? And if they were only talking about one hijacker who was still with the passengers then: Why does Burnett not mention that this hijacker just passed by him and entered the cockpit?


Deena: Who's helping you?

Tom: Different people. Several people. There's a group of us. Don't worry. I'll call you back.



6:54


Deena: Tom?

Tom: Hi. Anything new?

Deena: No

Tom: Where are the kids?

Deena: They're fine. They're sitting at the table having breakfast. They're asking to talk to you.

Tom: Tell them I'll talk to them later

Dena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked.

Tom: Oh...you shouldn't have worried them. How are they doing?

Deena: They're O.K.. Mary and Martha are with them.

Tom: Good. (a long quiet pause) We're waiting until we're over a rural area. We're going to take back the airplane.


If the 10:03 crash time is correct they would be over a rural area by now!
If the 10:06 crash time is true then they just passed by Pittsburgh. But why doesn’t Burnett point out that he just passed a very big city?


Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don't draw attention to yourself! (The exact words taught to me by Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Training).

Tom: Deena! If they're going to crash this plane into the ground, we're going to have do something!

This information is that important to him that he even repeats it for the second time!

Deena: What about the authorities?


The FBI is listening in. This is kind of strange question.


Tom: We can't wait for the authorities. I don't know what they could do anyway. It's up to us. I think we can do it.

Deena: What do you want me to do?

Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.

Deena: (after a long pause) I love you.

Tom: Don't worry, we're going to do something.


Strange is that Burnett doesn’t mention their plan.

He hung up


Burnett’s phone call ends about 9:57 (my estimation based on the given time the fourth call began). This again fits perfectly with the official timeline.


Conclusion: Certainly there are not as many contradictions in Burnett’s phone calls than in Beamer’s but the ones that are definitely there are either extremely hard to explain (eg his strange prophecy) or they are in an irresolvable conflict with all other phone calls (eg mentioning of a gun).
Whoever believes the official story of what happened aboard has to come up with explanations for them!