9/11 - Plot Summary

This movie is fictional. I was tremendously inspired by the men and women of Flight 93, but I wasn't on the plane, and I don't know what actually transpired there. While I listened to the accounts of various family members recounting their last telephone conversations with their loved ones, I did not start writing this movie until a year later. I don't recall any specifics about what was said or done. In particular, the actions of the President and the Fighter pilot are fictional. They are included to show the stress that the nation faced at that moment, and to add a bit more intensity to the movie. (After all, you don't have much in the way of showing intense emotions with Lego figures!)

Act One: Boarding

Various people are waiting in the lounge of an airport. One person kisses his wife goodbye, as he boards the plane, another is calling his wife on the phone, promising he'll be home soon. A child is the only one who feels uncomfortable by the blank looks of four men sitting quietly in a corner.

The door closes, and the plane is pushed away. Safety announcement. The plane glides down the runway, and leaps into the early morning sky.

Act Two: Hijacking

As the plane levels off at 33,000 feet, a scuffle breaks out in the cabin. In the cockpit, the pilots are warned of possible intrusions and made aware that at least two planes have been hijacked. Passengers are forced to go to the back of the plane, and the hijackers attempt to break into the cockpit. A flight attendant is severely injured by the knife-wielding hijackers. As they gain entry to the cockpit they kill the copilot, but the pilot convinces them that he'll cooperate.

The President is rushed away, made aware that not only have the twin towers both been hit, but that two further aircraft are under the control of hijackers. Jet fighters are scrambled.

Left alone near the back of the plane, some of the passengers try calling on the plane's phones as well as their cell phones. They find out what has happened elsewhere, warn of their predicament, tell of their love, and start making tough decisions. One hijacker yells at them to keep quiet.

Act Three: Planning a Response

The passengers whisper amongst each other, passing on what they know, learning what fate awaits them. There is no desire to sit by idly, but the flight attendants strongly urge the passengers to do exactly that. Growls from the hijackers make it hard to act, but a plan is hatched.

The captain announces that they are turning back, and the plane makes a sharp turn. This gives the opportunity for a couple of passengers to switch seats, and figure out what to do. Whenever the hijackers don't look, they start accumulating weapons. A few further phone calls also occur.

The President is apprised of the situation - a third plane has crashed into the Pentagon, and fighters, while nearby didn't do a thing. Fighters have now closed on the fourth plane, and they have an opportunity of preventing more the final attack. The President urges them to not act yet.

Act Four: Fighting Back

With nothing left to loose, a group of passengers makes their way up to the cockpit. They overcome the first hijacker quickly, but find more opposition with the remaining three. The captain is killed, and his body used as a shield from the passengers. The hijacker flies the plane, but inexpertly.

The President is offered an option: since this plane still seems to be under the control of the original pilot, if the fighter takes a small bite out of one wing, it will make the plane very difficult to control, forcing them to land immediately. They may be able to save everyone's life. He gives the go-ahead.

The fighter pilot shoots his machine gun, tearing a bit of the wing off. The plane starts flying erratically. People on the ground see it doing strong turns.

In the cabin and cockpit, two passengers have been killed, but so has another hijacker, and a third one is injured. The final hijacker is either having tremendous difficulty controlling the plane, or is purposely trying to fly it in a way as to make it difficult for the passengers to act.

Finally the passengers manage to kill the hijacker, and drag him from his seat. A passenger takes the seat, and desperately struggles to pull the plane out of a dive. He is unsuccessful.