September 11, 2001 is a date steeped in history. It was a day when terrorism struck the American heartland with meticulous planning and ruthless execution. On that day, two American planes were hijacked and later made to crash on to New York’s World Trade Centre, reducing its famous skyscraper towers to ashes. A third hijacked plane was banged into Pentagon office. United 93 Flight on that day was the fourth plane targeted by terrorists, who managed to hijack it and planned to crash it over Washington DC. But unlike the others, United 93 hijacking did not go according to terrorists’ planning. The flight’s passengers fought back after being alerted by their family members about this highjack being a part of a much larger terrorist conspiracy. They overpowered the terrorists and even though, they couldn’t avert the unfortunate fatal crash into a barren field, what they did manage through their act of bravery was averting a much greater loss of life and property for Washington DC.

In 2005, Discovery channel aired The Flight That Fought Back- a commercial-free docudrama portraying that momentous flight of United 93 on that fateful day of 9/11. Hailed as a gripping portrayal of reconstructed history and receiving an Emmy nomination, this docudrama now comes as a DVD and it is a must-watch experience. Through interviews of involved people (the passengers’ family members, the airline staff and the govt. officials), actual audio recordings, dramatic recreations from 9/11 enquiry commission’s exhaustive report and Kiefer Sutherland’s commentary, this docudrama reconstructs the entire United 93 highjack- fightback- crash scenario in vivid detail. What it shows that when pushed into extraordinary circumstances, even perfectly ordinary people can come up with extraordinary acts. United 93’s fight-back was a shining example of common people coming together to fight against terrorism. It’s pure goose-bump stuff listening to Todd Beamer (one of the passengers who fought back) saying, “Let’s roll” to fellow passengers just before mounting the final assault against terrorists!

The comparison with United 93- the 2006-Hollywood movie made by Paul Greengrass - is inevitable and I must say that the movie comes across as even more realistic portrayal. United 93 tells the story of that flight in real time. It’s a recreated drama all the way but it doesn’t take sides and doesn’t try to analyze the causes or the actions. Whereas the interviews and commentary in The Flight That Fought Back give off an unmistakable feel of ‘American patriotism’, which might be too strong for neutral observers! The docudrama has received its share of criticism for bringing unnecessary ‘drama’ into the ‘documentary’ but still it remains an important visual documentation of a courageous fight-back against one of the most heinous terrorist acts in recent times!