911 operate recounts call from Flight 93
Just minutes before hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in Somerset County on Sept. 11, 2001, a passenger reached out to rescue officials by calling 911. John Shaw, working in Greensburg, answered. “My call came at 9:56 a.m.,’ said Shaw, a former Fayette County resident whose parents, George and Diane Shaw, and younger brothers, Jason and Ryan, live in Redstone Township. “Our whole conversation only lasted 78 seconds before he was out of our cellular area.’
Shaw, 30, is a resident of Youngwood, Westmoreland County. He works as a telecommunications officer, commonly referred to as a 911 operator, for the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety.
On Sept. 11, only one passenger aboard Flight 93 issued a call to rescue officials. Shaw named him as Edward Felt, 41, of Newark, N.J.
“I know he had a wife and two daughters,’ said Shaw. “He worked for BEA Systems (an e-business infrastructure software company in Liberty Corner, N.J.) I know he, like many others, wasn’t supposed to be on that flight. He was doing a presentation. Someone else was supposed to do it, but at the last minute…’
Shaw, who has been working for Westmoreland County for four years, was born in Maryland. His parents are natives of Fayette County who moved to Maryland for work before he was born. Shaw’s father is from Washington Township while his mother is from Fayette City.
Shaw graduated from Belle Vernon High School in 1990. His brothers also graduated from Belle Vernon before the family moved back to the Brownsville area.
“(After graduation,) I went to work for my dad removing asbestos and re-insulating. They did all the federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland,’ said Shaw, noting his father is now retired.
After two years, Shaw took courses at Penn State University, Fayette Campus for certification as an EMT and worked for Community Ambulance Service in Washington Township. Shaw then took on his current job, going to work for Westmoreland County in the Department of Safety in early 1998.
In a recent interview at his Youngwood home, Shaw recalled the events of Sept. 11.
“I had just come on. I think I was working an overtime shift. I came on at 7:30,’ Shaw recalled.
Shaw started his morning shift at the Department of Public Safety’s 911center in downtown Greensburg, located behind the courthouse. Since then, the center has been moved to a building near Westmoreland Mall. Ironically, Shaw noted the new building was set to be dedicated in a ceremony on Sept. 11: the date is listed on the cornerstone.
But the ceremony was postponed by the events of Sept. 11 when terrorists hijacked four American airliners. The fourth plane was United Airlines Flight 93, which took off at 8:42 a.m. from Newark, N.J. enroute to San Francisco. The hijackers took control of the plane and turned it around near Cleveland, flying south. Officials believe such American landmarks as the White House or Capitol in Washington, D.C., could have been the target that the hijackers aimed to strike with the plane.
But the people aboard Flight 93 fought back. The plane never reached its intended target. It crashed in a field in Shanksville, Somerset County, at 10:10 a.m. All 33 passengers and seven crewmembers died.
Just 14 minutes before the crash, Shaw answered Felt’s call.
“We had only one TV in the center. The supervisor flipped it on and we could see the smoke (from the World Trade Center). We assumed it was on fire,’ said Shaw, who noted the crew became aware of what was happening when television showed the second plane hitting the tower. “I was walking to look at the TV and that’s how I answered the call.’
Shaw explained the telecommunications officers have specific jobs, including dispatching fire, police or emergency medical services as well as taking calls. There were specific call takers that day. Shaw said he was not one of them but he answered the phone as he moved to see the television.
“One of our cellular phone lines was ringing. He was on when I answered it. It was Mr. Felt,’ said Shaw.
“He immediately told me who he was,’ Shaw continued. “He told me where they had taken off from – Newark, N.J. – and where they were going – San Francisco. He told me that they were on United Flight 93 and told me the plane had been hijacked so we were the first and only 911 center to take calls from the plane. Several passengers made calls to family. When he called, the plane was over the Youngwood/Mount Pleasant area.’
Shaw said Felt did not provide a description of the hijackers but he believes Felt would have if there had been more time.
“I confirmed his name, asked him for his cellular phone number. Basically, he kept repeating the information,’ Shaw said. “I’ve often been asked if I thought it was a prank call. There was no doubt in my mind.’
Although trained, the call still affected Shaw.
“I was probably still scared, a nervous wreck,’ he said. “I was trained and I’ve heard a lot of things but never anything like that. I hope it never happens again.’
Shaw’s supervisors and fellow employees were at his side: “Everyone heard. I call it controlled chaos, before the phones went nuts.’
In just 78 seconds, the call ended as the plane flew out of range. With the plane flying low to the ground at a high rate of speed, witnesses on the ground instantly began calling the 911 center.
“Almost simultaneously, the lines like up with people calling who saw the plane,’ said Shaw. “There were golfers in Ligonier at the Laurel Valley Golf Course, people in Youngwood Borough, Mount Pleasant Township. We got calls along the way: Hempfield, Ligonier, Cook Township before it reached Somerset County.’
Shaw said the plane few over Allegheny County and Westmoreland County before it crashed in Shanksville, Somerset County.
The other telecommunications officers were busy answering calls and dispatching all emergency personnel, including local, state and federal officials.
“I was done,’ said Shaw.
In the aftermath of the plane crash, the FBI talked with Shaw and came to retrieve the tape of the conversation.
“The guy I talked to was from a terrorism task force somewhere in the area. I talked to FBI in Pittsburgh, Mon Valley and Harrisburg,’ Shaw said.
He was told not to tell anybody about the call.
“For the first three months, nobody knew I talked to anybody. I was not even allowed to tell my family,’ said Shaw, who noted the only person who knew was his girlfriend, Rachel, who works and lives with him.
Shaw went home at 3:30 p.m. and kept informed of the news through television.
“I went to work the next day. I was nervous, but at the same time, it’s like falling off a horse, you should get back on. I thought this was best,’ he said.
But the experience wore on him.
“I think I was up for three days,’ said Shaw. “I tried to go to sleep.’
Tension was heightened as alerts were issued by the federal government.
In the wake of Sept. 11, rescue officials had a new worry: anthrax calls.
“We did a lot. I couldn’t begin to tell you how much,’ Shaw said.
As the families received information, news of the 911 call and Shaw’s name were released. He believes his name became public in December. The name of the passenger who made the call wasn’t released until later.
Shaw received a commendation for his work from the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety while the entire department received an award from the National Emergency Number Association.
Shaw also credits the work of local rescue personnel: They did an excellent job.’ He believes that Felt deserves recognition for notifying authorities.
The media has also become interested in Shaw.
A Fox Network television crew from New York interviewed him for a broadcast to be aired on September 11. A New York film crew interviewed Shaw for a documentary called “Voices of September 11,’ which is expected to be released in October as a public safety training film.
“I received e-mail from everywhere. ‘Dateline’ (a news program on NBC) wanted to do an interview,’ said Shaw.
He is also included in a newly released book called “Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back,’ by Jere Longman, a New York Times reporter who covered the story from the ground in Shanksville.
“I’m in the book quite a bit, even made the index,’ said Shaw. “It’s part of history and there’s no way you’re going to avoid it.’
Shaw visited the Shanksville crash site last winter, traveling there in late February or March.
“I met with the coroner. At the time, he still had control of the crash site because it was a crime scene. It took me a long time to decide to go, even when I was getting out of the car,’ said Shaw. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to go but it was something I felt I had to do.’
He believes he’ll eventually visit the crash sites in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Shaw watched some of the television specials on the six-month anniversary. Tonight he will attend a special event at the Palace Theater in Greensburg called “Remembering 911: a musical tribute’ from 7 to 9:11 p.m.
His invitation notes the program will be dedicated to those who died in the line of duty, those involved on that fateful day and for all who continue to serve to keep this country free. Shaw will be recognized during the program.
And while the months go by, the events of Sept. 11 do not fade for Shaw.
“I think about it everyday,’ he said. “I told someone that when 911 comes up on a digital clock, no matter where I’m at, I always seem to see it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his name. …There’s no way I will ever, ever be able to forget about it.’