Flight 93 - A September 11th TL

[american2006]

Gonna post this here in case I get the motivation/dedication to make this all the way.

Flight 93
An Alternate September 11th, 2001

    September 11th, 2001 was a day that would live in infamy. An attack by the terrorist group Al Qaeda would do detrimental damage to the United States. Four planes, flying out of New York City, NY, and Washington, DC, would hit 4 different buildings. American Airlines Flight 11 was the first to strike a building, at 8:46 AM, it collided with the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. At 9:03, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. At 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, killing much of the national defense complex. Finally, at 9:56 AM, United Airlines Flight 93 destroyed the US Capitol Building. Much of Congress was in session at the time. The entirety of the building collapsed quickly, killing all inside, including the Senate and House of Representatives. The nation was crippled. 

[american2006]

In the aftermath of the September 11th Attacks, the job of filling vacancies in the Senate and House to get back to the business of governance was on the front of the minds of politicians. For the American people, the priority was going after the terrorists behind the attack. All eyes fell on President George W. Bush (R-TX). In his address the night of September 11th, he asked all US Governors to schedule the date for the filling of all vacancies to November 6th, 2002, the regular election day. In the meantime, he asked all Governors to fill there vacancies in the Senate ASAP to authorize an invasion of Afghanistan, where the terrorists were from. He also announced that in light of Vice President Cheney's death (he was killed presiding over the Senate), Secretary of State Colin Powell would step up to the role of acting Vice President while Condoleezza Rice would become acting Secretary of State.

www.yapms.com/app/?m=9k3e

Vacancies began to be filled quickly.
Vacancies filled by state:
Alabama
-Susan Parker, State Auditor (D)
-Julian L. McPhillips, Politician (D)
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
-Jim Turkin, IL State Representative (R)
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
-Mitt Romney, Businessman (R)
-Kerry Healey, Chair of the MA GOP (R)
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
-Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City (R)
-Donald J. Trump, Businessman (R)
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
- John Cornyn, Attorney General of Texas (R)
- Greg Abbott, former Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court (R)
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

[James G]

Good choice for the new VP. Powell will go down very well. Not sure about how that would have worked out in the long-run but as a pick it is a good one.

[american2006]

May 2, 2021 8:18:34 GMT James G said:

Good choice for the new VP. Powell will go down very well. Not sure about how that would have worked out in the long-run but as a pick it is a good one.

Well him being Secretary of State and next in line for the Presidency (the VP, Speaker, and PPT are newly dead), he remains an acting Vice President until the Senate has 33 members, ie what is needed for a quorum and likewise for the House just with a different number

[halferking]

That scenario reminds me of Tom Clancy's novels Debt of Honour and Executive Order. In Debt of Honour at the end a Japanese Airlines Pilot flies his Boeing 747 in to the Capitol at the time there is a joint session with members of the Supreme Court in attendance. The vast majority of the legislative, executive and judicial branch are taken out. Jack Ryan who is on his way to be sworn in as VP narrowly misses the devastating attack. In Executive Order now President Ryan is left to try and reform the government. Also Netflix Designator Survivor examines what happens after a bomb goes off.

[american2006]

It is very difficult to find new senators, I’m just now realizing this

[James G]

May 12, 2021 15:52:05 GMT american2006 said:

It is very difficult to find new senators, I’m just now realizing this

Check out those who ran for their party's primaries and lost? Or recently retired ones?
Some states might have the sitting governor resign, his LG replaces him and at once appoints him to the Senate?

[american2006]

May 12, 2021 16:04:41 GMT James G said:

May 12, 2021 15:52:05 GMT american2006 said:

It is very difficult to find new senators, I’m just now realizing this

Check out those who ran for their party's primaries and lost? Or recently retired ones?
Some states might have the sitting governor resign, his LG replaces him and at once appoints him to the Senate?

Maybe this would work, but it's still 100 Senators and I have 9. Additionally, all House members are dead too. Even if EVERY Governor resigned and got appointed (which would not happen) that's still only 50 Senators. I have basically a choice of Governors, Lt. Governors, AGs, mayors, and retired senators. 

Regardless, thank you for your help and reading this, I'm glad people read my work!

[gillan1220]

spanishspy has a timeline of this back then on the wiki: The Eagle Looks to the Right

[shanarhager]

This looks great!

[simon darkshade]

Why doesn’t the Senate cancel its session as in @?

Even if it continues during such an obvious security threat, why is Vice President Cheney presiding when there was no pressing business? Why does the Secret Service take leave of their procedures, professionalism and senses?

(Edit: This link is illuminating on the actual process: www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/09/11/9-11-dick-cheney-orders/?outputType=amp)

How does Flight 93 reach Washington at 0956, 6 minutes before the time that it went down in Stonycreek PA, some 20 minutes flying time away from Washington. It is worth noting that Cheney was already in the PEOC at that point, the House had recessed at 0920 and that evacuation of the Capitol began at 0945.

You either need a radically different course of events, including timing, or to alter your objectives. In the former case, it would lead to significant changes. It also moves this away from a coherent timeline with a single, viable point of departure.

My gut tells me that you won’t be able to pull off the VP angle and that knocking off the whole legislature is simply a non starter. The whole of the House and Senate was not present.

Even if you handwave the former case, it is not going to be Powell; simply unpalatable to the party power base.

[american2006]

Jun 3, 2021 4:38:53 GMT simon darkshade said:

Why doesn’t the Senate cancel its session as in @?

Even if it continues during such an obvious security threat, why is Vice President Cheney presiding when there was no pressing business? Why does the Secret Service take leave of their procedures, professionalism and senses?

(Edit: This link is illuminating on the actual process: www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/09/11/9-11-dick-cheney-orders/?outputType=amp)

How does Flight 93 reach Washington at 0956, 6 minutes before the time that it went down in Stonycreek PA, some 20 minutes flying time away from Washington. It is worth noting that Cheney was already in the PEOC at that point, the House had recessed at 0920 and that evacuation of the Capitol began at 0945.

You either need a radically different course of events, including timing, or to alter your objectives. In the former case, it would lead to significant changes. It also moves this away from a coherent timeline with a single, viable point of departure.

My gut tells me that you won’t be able to pull off the VP angle and that knocking off the whole legislature is simply a non starter. The whole of the House and Senate was not present.

Even if you handwave the former case, it is not going to be Powell; simply unpalatable to the party power base.

I was not quite aware of the timing implausibilities, maybe it would make more sense if the Capitol flight struck first. I was fairly certain that the Vice President always presided over the Senate unless he couldn't, in which case the President Pro Tempore would preside. I may rework this timeline a little bit.

[simon darkshade]

I think that messing around with the timing of different flights might be very difficult indeed, as it creates a different flow of events.

It was an extremely confused and fearful morning.

[lordroel]

Apr 28, 2021 23:27:42 GMT american2006 said:

Gonna post this here in case I get the motivation/dedication to make this all the way.

Flight 93
An Alternate September 11th, 2001

    September 11th, 2001 was a day that would live in infamy. An attack by the terrorist group Al Qaeda would do detrimental damage to the United States. Four planes, flying out of New York City, NY, and Washington, DC, would hit 4 different buildings. American Airlines Flight 11 was the first to strike a building, at 8:46 AM, it collided with the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. At 9:03, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. At 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, killing much of the national defense complex. Finally, at 9:56 AM, United Airlines Flight 93 destroyed the US Capitol Building. Much of Congress was in session at the time. The entirety of the building collapsed quickly, killing all inside, including the Senate and House of Representatives. The nation was crippled. 

So Flight 93 destroyed US Capitol Building 30 minutes before OTL the Senate canceled its session moments before the appointed convening time. At 10:15 a.m as seen below:

News of the first strike against the World Trade Center reached the Capitol within minutes. In an unprecedented act, the Senate canceled its session moments before the appointed convening time. At 10:15 a.m., officials ordered evacuation of the Capitol and office buildings. While congressional leaders were taken to a secure facility, other members and staff were urged to leave the area amidst rumors that the Capitol was a bombing target.

Also this is a nice read on the events of What Happened on Capitol Hill on 9/11

[SpaceOrbisHistory]

One of the biggest effects of this worse 911 is that the US will be looking for blood afterwards much more than we did OTL. Though I'm unsure how much sooner 93 could have taken off. But so long as news couldn't get to them I think nobody would try anything. It was knowing the nation was being attacked that made them act.

I pity people of Middle Eastern ethnicity. I have no doubt we will see a rise in hate crimes following the attacks. I take it everything is the same. It's just flight 93 that hits its goal and thus they kill over 3000 people that day.