The quest continues for knowledge about what actually happened on United Flight 93, which crashed outside of Shanksville on Sept. 11. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which retains control not only of the air traffic control tape but also of the analysis of the two "black boxes" from the aircraft, has now promised to give the families of the victims access April 18 to one of those three sources of information.
In advance of that event, to be held in Princeton, N.J., FBI officials are not particularly encouraging. Those who have heard the tape or read transcripts of it said Tuesday that what the families will hear from the 30-minute cockpit voice recorder tape will tell little about what actually happened.
According to the officials, it is not clear from the tape how the hijackers got into the cockpit, what they did once they were there, whether passengers or crew were able to enter the cockpit toward the end of the flight and who was responsible for plunging the plane into the ground at the end -- the hijackers or their victims.
The government's decision to let the families of the victims hear some or all of the tape is preferable to continued administration stonewalling on the subject.
Still, one has to wonder why it took more than six months for this decision to be made and whether the tape has been edited -- and if so, why? And what about the other two pieces of documentation of the last minutes of Flight 93 -- the air traffic control tape and analysis of the other black box material?
This tragic incident will remain a matter of intense interest to Americans. What is scheduled to occur April 18 will provide some additional information. But complete candor would be better.
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