20th observance at Flight 93 memorial closed to the public
The 20th remembrance ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County will be closed to the public.
State Trooper Steve Limani said Thursday that no one will be permitted to park at the entrance, on nearby roads or along Route 30 in Stonycreek Township during the ceremony.
The observance is being limited to invited guests and family members of the 40 passengers and crew who perished as they wrested control of United Flight 93 away from hijackers, crashing in a field on Sept. 11, 2001, according to the National Park Service. It’s the second consecutive year that the ceremony has been closed to the public because of health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush are scheduled to speak. The observance will be livestreamed through the park’s Facebook page.
The memorial will open to the public around noon after the 90-minute ceremony ends.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers flew commercial airplanes into New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and the field just outside of Shanksville. The passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 are credited with breaching the cockpit after four hijackers tried to fly the plane to a suspected target in the nation’s capital.
Other events marking the 20th anniversary will be open to the public, including the Sept. 10 luminaria at the Wall of Names at 7:30 p.m. and a 3 p.m. Sept. 11 Johnstown Symphony Orchestra concert in the same location.
The annual remembrance ceremony has been attended by 1,000 people in the past.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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