Facing The End

Some were aboard doomed airliners, others at work in buildings on the verge of catastrophe. Still others went on brave rescue missions. And a few were lucky. How people coped when hell descended

DOUG KANTER / AFP / Getty Images

A man stands in the rubble, and calls out asking if anyone needs help, after the collapse of the first World Trade Center Tower in New York City on September 11, 2001.

The Fight for Flight 93

"I know we're all going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it." That's what Tom Burnett told his wife Deena. Burnett was one of 38 passengers and seven crew members aboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, and he was not the only person to relay information to a loved one. In first-class seat 4D, public relations executive Mark Bingham used an airplane phone to call his mother. "Mom, this is Mark Bingham," he said, so rattled that he included his last name. "Three guys have taken over the plane,...

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