>>> As readers of this Website know, the government has refused to release recordings of communications from any of the hijacked 9/11 planes [read more]. In fact, it also refuses to release transcripts or any other documents having anything to do with these communications.

However, AirDisaster.com has posted a sound file of air traffic control during the morning of 9/11. Specifically, Cleveland air traffic control had two brief contacts with United Airlines Flight 93, when the hijackers mistakenly broadcast messages meant only for the plane's passengers.

Since this recording wasn't received by me from the FAA or another government agency, I can't vouch for its authenticity. However, AirDisaster.com is a very reputable site, often used by the news media as a source of information on airplane accidents, crashes, etc. Some of its forums are moderated by a commercial pilot, a military pilot, and a maintenance inspector. I've chosen to post the sound file here because of AirDisaster.com's credibility and because if this tape is authentic--which I strongly believe it to be--it is extremely important.

This message accompanies AirDisaster.com's WAV file: "Please note that this tape is not chronologically accurate; periods of dead air (silence) have been removed for brevity."

It should also be noted that this is not the Flight 93 cockpit tape that the families of passengers were allowed to hear under strictly controlled conditions in April 2002 [read more]. According to the Associated Press, that tape is around 30 minutes long and the final 5 to 7 minutes are "filled with violence and yelling in both Arabic and English." Obviously, that recording is not the one presented here, which contains four minutes of communications from an air traffic controller, several planes in the vicinity, and two brief bursts from Flight 93.

As far as I know, this is the only available recording of communications from any of the doomed 9/11 planes.

Thanks to Vince D'eon for pointing this out.

Transcript of recording
courtesy of Joe Vialls

[Not 100% accurate, but as close as possible with tape distortion]

Cleveland: United ninety-three, check in when flight level three-five-zero – [unintelligible].

United 93: United ninety-three check in three-five-zero.

Cleveland: United ninety-three, three-five-zero, Roger. United ninety-three, you have traffic to your one o’clock, twelve miles eastbound three-seven-zero.

United 93: Negative contact, we’re looking United ninety-three.

Cleveland: Somebody call Cleveland? [No noise on this Cleveland tape, must be a different frequency being monitored by Cleveland on another tape.] United ninety-three verify three-five-zero, United ninety-three verify your flight level, er, three-five-zero. United ninety-three verify your flight level is three-five-zero. United ninety-three Cleveland, United ninety-three Cleveland. United ninety-three do you read Cleveland Center please?

United 797: United fifteen twenty-three, did you hear the company, er, did you hear some other aircraft on a frequency a couple of minutes ago, screaming?

United 1523: Yes I did, seven ninety-seven, and, ah, we couldn’t tell what it was either.

United 797: OK.

Cleveland: United ninety-three Cleveland, if you hear the center, ident [command for United 93 to send secondary radar transponder positive identification]

American 1060: American ten-sixty, er, ditto also on the other transmission.

Cleveland: American ten-sixty, you heard that also?

American 1060: We heard it twice.

Cleveland: Roger, we heard that also. [No noise on Cleveland tape.] Thanks. We just wanted to confirm that wasn’t some interference.

Executive 956: Executive nine fifty-six.

Cleveland: Executive nine fifty-six, go.

Executive 956: Just answering your call. We could year that, er, yelling too.

Cleveland: OK, thank you, we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on.

United 93: [unintelligible] this is captain, please sit down, remain sitting, we have a bomb on board. [Signal strength 5, readability 1.]

Cleveland: Uh, calling Cleveland Center, you’re unreadable, say again slowly.

Executive 956: [unintelligible] sounded like he said he had a bomb on board.

Cleveland: Uh, say again, you there, United ninety-three?

Executive 956: [unintelligible] was reasonable, sounded like someone said they had a bomb on board.

Cleveland: That’s what we thought, we just, er, we didn’t get it clear. United ninety-three calling. Executive nine fifty-six, aircraft [unintelligible] transmitting at twelve o’clock one-five miles. Turn left heading two-two-five. I’ll get you away from him. OK, he’s climbing so I want to keep everybody away from him.

Executive 956: OK, I think we got him in sight.

Cleveland: Nineteen eighty-nine, I have traffic for you in your eleven o’clock, fifteen miles southbound forty-one climbing, looks like he’s turning east wide at three-six-zero.

United 93: [unintelligible] this is the captain. We have a bomb on board [unintelligible] - I am going back to the airport, they have met our demands [unintelligible]. [Signal strength 5, readability 1]

Cleveland: United ninety-three calling. United ninety-three, understand you have a bomb on board, go ahead. Executive nine fifty-six, did you understand that transmission?

Executive 956: Affirmative. He said there was a bomb on board.

Cleveland: And that was all you got out of it also?

Executive 956: Affirmative.

Cleveland: Ninety-three, go ahead.

Executive 956: Is that aircraft you’re talking about eastbound?

Cleveland: He’s just turned to the east of you. United ninety-three, do you hear Cleveland Center? American ten-sixty and Executive nine fifty-six, we just lost the target on that aircraft.

Executive 956: Executive nine fifty-six, we had a visual on it, just stand by.

Cleveland: You have a visual on it now?

Executive 956: We did, but we lost it in the turn.

Cleveland: You can make a turn back to two-twenty heading. Let me know if you can see him.

Executive 956: He’s still there. We’ve got him, from nine fifty-six.

Cleveland: He’s still there, er, what, about twenty-five miles?

Executive 956: Affirmative from nine fifty-six.

Cleveland: Vector nine fifty-six, turning one-eight-zero.

Executive 956: Er, negative, turning nine fifty-six, he appears to be heading right towards us.

Cleveland: American ten-sixty, do you see anybody northwest of you, can you see back that far there?

American 1060: We’re looking now, sir.

Cleveland: United ninety-three Cleveland, do you still hear the Center? United ninety-three, do you still hear Cleveland? United ninety-three, United niner-three, do you hear Cleveland? United ninety-three, United ninety-three Cleveland. United ninety-three, United ninety-three, do you hear Cleveland Center?

Cleveland (2): [Voice changes to female, apparently second Cleveland controller.] Do you see any, ah, activity on your right side, smoke or anything like that?

American 1060: Negative. We’re searching [two second pause]. Yeah, we do have a smoke puff now at about, er, oh probably two o’clock. There appears to be just a spire up like a puff of black smoke.

[Tape ends]

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