Chilling Cockpit Tapes Played at Trial

Prosecutors played the cockpit tapes from United Flight 93 at today's session of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui:

The judge sent the jury home for the day and the defense will begin its case on Thursday. Just after that, Moussaoui shouted, “God curse you all!”

During the government’s playing of the recording, a voice is heard from the cockpit, possibly that of a flight crew member, saying, “Please don’t hurt me. Oh God!” A few seconds later, somebody says, three times, “I don’t want to die.”

But then, amid sounds of a struggle, a hijacker asks, “There is something, a fight?” The response is, “Yeah.”

The last sound heard as the plane nears the ground: “Allah is the greatest.” Then silence.

The flight, one of four hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, crashed in a Pennsylvania field as passengers tried to retake it. The cockpit voice recording had not been played publicly before. It was played to culminate the prosecution’s case before the jury that will weigh whether to recommend the death sentence for Moussaoui, an admitted terrorist conspirator.

The recording began at 9:31 a.m. with the hijackers’ voice clearly stating “ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain ... we have a bomb on board, so sit.” For the next few minutes, passengers are repeatedly told, in English, “Don’t move,” “Shut up” “Sit,” and “down down down.”

The hijackers alternated between Arabic and English.

As the tape proceeded, it was clear that passengers were gaining the upper hand.

A voice of a hijacker, presumably inside the cockpit, says, “They want to get in.” The voice continues, “Hold from within.” At 10 a.m., there is a voice that says, “I am injured.”

Sounds of a struggle can be heard. At that point, the plane appears to go out of control. There are sounds of the hijackers trying to shake off the passengers. The plane pitches back and forth.

As the jury heard the recording, prosecutors played a video presentation that simultaneously showed the flight path, speed and heading in a mockup similar to a flight simulator.

At 10:02 a.m., a hijacker says, “Give it to me. Give it to me.” At 10:03 a.m. the plane dives amid crashing sounds and the tape stops.

The plane had been headed for the U.S. Capitol, according to Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

Someone on the radio this morning speculated that the only defense witness will be one of the victim's mother who is anti-death penalty. Other than that, I can't imagine what they could have that would keep this jury from asking for the death penalty.

UPDATE: Little Green Footballs has a link to the .PDF version of the voice recorder tapes. It's chilling, heartbreaking stuff to read.

UPDATE 2: Here's the text version.