Visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville participate in a memorial service as the nation marks the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Picture: AP Photo/Gene J Puskar
Visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville participate in a memorial service as the nation marks the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Picture: AP Photo/Gene J Puskar
Visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville participate in a memorial service as the nation marks the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Picture: AP Photo/Gene J Puskar
A United Airlines flight crew member participates in a candlelight memorial for the passengers and crew of United Flight 93, at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. Picture: (AP Photo/Gene J Puskar
Jan Duncan and her fiance Rege Windisch of Freedom, look over the victim's photo display at the new Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Center in Shanksville. Picture: John Rucosky/The Tribune-Democrat via AP
Gordon Felt, whose brother died in Flight 93, leads a tour through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Gordon Felt, whose brother died in Flight 93, leads a tour through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
United States Park Rangers walk through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
A United States Park Ranger walks through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Gordy Felt, president of Families of Flight 93, conducts a media tour of the Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor's Center near Shanksville. Picture: John Rucosky/The Tribune-Democrat via AP
Gordon Felt, whose brother died in Flight 93, leads a tour through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Gordon Felt, whose brother died in Flight 93, leads a tour through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
T-shirts are on sale in the gift shop of the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
The time on the morning of September 11, 2001, when the first of four planes overtaken by al Qaeda terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center is chiseled into a path towards the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, September 9, 2015. The new $50 million visitors center at the heart of a national memorial created out of the crash site will be formally dedicated on Thursday, a day before ceremonies mark the fourteenth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil. On September 11, 2001, one of the four planes overtaken by al Qaeda terrorists crashed into Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers aboard. A 9-11 memorial ceremony will take place on Friday. To match story USA-SEPT11/SHANKSVILLE REUTERS/Mark Makela
A United States Park Ranger walks through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
A United States Park Ranger walks through the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Visitors pay their respects at the crash site of Flight 93, a United States National Park Service Memorial which opened in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
A general view of the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial, designed by architect Paul Murdoch, is seen in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Flight 93 souvenirs are advertised in a gift shop near the entrance to the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Gordon Felt, whose brother died in Flight 93, leads a tour through the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Sculptures of the sites hit by the four planes overtaken by al Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2011 are featured in the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
A family photo and military badges, debris found from the wreckage site of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon by al Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2011, are featured in the newly opened Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Plaques created in support of Flight 93 passengers are featured in the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Twisted utensils, which were recovered from the crash site of Flight 93, are seen featured in the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
A glass wall with words "A field of honor forever" faces the crash site of Flight 93, featured at the newly opened Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Picture: REUTERS/ Mark Makela
Published Sep 11, 2015
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New York - A memorial opened on Thursday to honour the victims of United Airlines flight 93, a plane hijacked during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that passengers apparently crashed in rural Pennsylvania to thwart an attack on Washington.
The Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Centre, located just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, pays tribute to the 40 passengers and crew who died at the site, which is also the final resting place of the victims.
The plane was downed 20 minutes outside Washington, where it is believed that the terrorists wanted to crash the plane into the Capitol, where Congress meets, or the White House.
On September 11, 2001, four passenger jets were hijacked by suicide attackers and used to target the two World Trade Centre towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington, marking the deadliest terrorist attacks ever on US soil.