Heroes credited with facing up to hijackers

9.30 am

An heroic attempt to overpower hijackers may have saved lives on the ground when United Airlines flight 93 crashed yesterday morning.

Associated Press reports that a passenger aboard the plane telephoned his wife, telling her that hijackers had taken over the aircraft, but that he and other male passengers had taken a vote, and decided to "do something about it".

A short time later, the Boeing 757 crashed in a field near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, about 130 km southeast of Pittsburgh.

It is thought that the hijackers may have intended to crash the plane into the US presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland.

"It sure wasn't going to go down in rural Pennsylvania. This wasn't the target; the target was Washington, DC," Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told AP.

"Somebody made a heroic effort to keep the plane from hitting a populated area."

The plane was scheduled to fly from Newark to San Francisco, and was carrying 38 passengers, 5 flight attendants and 2 pilots.

The San Francisco Chronicle says Thomas Burnett rang his wife, Deena from the airplane, saying: "I know we're all going to die - there's three of us who are going to do something about it."

The paper says the information came from the family's priest, the Rev. Frank Colacicco.

Burnett apparently told his wife, "I love you, honey" and the call ended.

The New Zealand Herald will publish another special edition this morning with extensive coverage of the terrorist attacks in the USA. Look for your copy on sale throughout the Herald circulation area at noon.

Full coverage: Terror in America

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The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims and survivors

These numbers are valid for calls from within New Zealand, but may be overloaded at the moment.

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068

Online database for friends and family of victims and survivors

Air New Zealand flights affected

Air NZ flight information: 0800 737-000.