On September 11 , 2001 , while on board United Airlines Flight 93 , Burnett sat next to passenger Mark Bingham . Burnett called his wife , Deena , after hijackers took control of the plane . He made several phone calls to her beginning at 09:30:32 from rows 24 and 25 , though he was assigned a seat in row four . Burnett explained that the plane had been hijacked by men claiming to have a bomb . He also said that a passenger had been stabbed with a knife and that he believed the bomb threat was a ruse to control the passengers . During his second call to her , she relayed to him that of the attacks on the World Trade Center and he replied that the hijackers were " talking about crashing this plane . ... Oh my God . It 's a suicide mission . " He began pumping her for information about the attacks , interrupting her from time to time to tell the others nearby what she was saying . Then he hung up . Upon learning of the situation , Deena , a former flight attendant , recalled her training and urged Burnett to sit quietly and not draw attention to himself . However , Burnett instead informed her that he and three other passengers , Mark Bingham , Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick , were forming a plan to take the plane back from the hijackers , and leading other passengers in this effort . He ended his last call by saying , " Do n't worry , we 're going to do something . " Burnett and several other passengers stormed the cockpit , foiling the hijackers ' plan to crash the plane into the White House or Capitol Building . The cockpit voice recorder captured Burnett yelling , " Roll it ! " , possibly referring to using the food cart . To prevent the passengers from regaining control of the plane , the hijackers crashed it in a Pennsylvania field , killing all 44 people on board
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
Tom Burnett