CNN

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- The Discovery Channel will air a re-creation of the terrorist hijacking of Flight 93 on the fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The program will be called "The Flight That Fought Back" and will include about 45 minutes of re-created scenes depicting what happened before the plane crashed in a Southwestern Pennsylvania field. Forty passengers and crew members were killed.

The show is being produced by London-based Brook Lapping Productions, which is getting cooperation on the project from United Airlines and some family members of those killed in the attack.

"A few people didn't want to have anything to do with it just because they just don't want to have anything to do with anything (relating to that day)," executive producer Phil Craig told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for Monday editions. "I think there will be some people who don't like it because their family member isn't highlighted, but when you're a filmmaker, you have to balance all sorts of things."

Flight 93 was en route to San Francisco from Newark, New Jersey, when it was hijacked and ultimately crashed about 65 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The official 9/11 Commission report said the hijackers crashed the plane as passengers tried to take control of the cockpit.

Craig said the show isn't meant to be a definitive look at what happened that day, and there are still unanswered questions about what went on. For instance, the show will portray the hijackers getting into the cockpit but not how they got there, because that isn't known, he said.

"There are some dialogue scenes on the plane, 90 percent of these are based on tape evidence and the memories of people who spoke to people on the flight," he said. "We have invented a few lines of dialogue that's been based on consultation with people who knew them."

A short preview of the program was shown to media last week attending the Television Critics Association summer press tour. A screening will be held later this month for family members of those who were on the plane.
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The fact that this is being filmed by a cable TV network in concert with existing information and not a Hollywood studio (by someone 'cashing in' on the tragedy) makes this a little more palatable. But not much.

There are too many assumptions and fact manipulations that must be made to make the production cohesive. In addition, the final moments of this flight are still being debated:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/WAL403A.html

It's bad enough that the tragedy happened. Why start a 're-creation' precedent that starts with Flight 93, then highlights individuals basd on their cell phone messages, then the hijackers/murderers, and so on.

The facts are difficult enough to deal with and should not be diluted or compromised. We will never forget that day; let those who perished rest in peace.

I have to agree, mostly. First of all, I simply do not understand what desire would prompt someone to want to see such a thing. Will it bring closure? Will it be enlightening? I think not. It's too fresh. I just don't understand what morbid fascination urges people to want to watch something like this.

And as you said, Vendome, we don't know what happened for sure. So, these people are making a fictional, speculatory account, probably showing in gorey detail what may or may not have happened... It's just creepy.

I watched this last night, and found it to be tastefully and sensitively done. The presentation had as its core the actual transmissions between murderers and passengers/those on the ground, and actual cellphone calls and messages between passengers and loved ones. That required a box or two of Kleenex. Permission was obtained from family members to participate; if they decined their loved one was not included in he docudrama but were mentioned in an 'In Memorium' passenger/crew roll call at the end of the presentation.

I didn't handle yesterday well; each 911 gets more difficult for me. But this docudrama helped. The passengers attacking the murderers gave me the satisfaction of revenge that, in its small way, made a difference.

For some reason, I assumed this would be the one tragedy in our collective memory to be reverently left alone...wrong again. Having watched bits of it tonight, I found it to be more of a documentary with dramatic suppliment - therefore, tone and presentation wise, a lot less offensive than it could've been. It didn't have that over the top 'NBC Made For TV Movie' feel to it. But still, to what purpose? As Vendome said in his first post - it's mostly speculation, even after four years of trying to gather facts.

Even if [God forbid] this country is ever faced with a nuclear strike, I swear there will be, staggering among the smoldering ruins and gutted buildings - some dazed, bleeding fellow holding a camcorder, intent on gathering footage to dazzle what's left of civilization with his forthcoming miniseries.