On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a PennWest professor remembers how ordinary people made a difference during the disaster.
Photograph from Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress
On September 11, 2001, forensic anthropologist Lenore Barbian was working in a windowless collections area of the National Museum of Health and Medicine near Washington, D.C., when one of her coworkers came running in after receiving a phone call from his wife.
“He told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. My first reaction was, ‘It must be a small plane.’ Then we learned a second plane had hit, and it became clear this was not an accident,” said Dr Barbian.
As a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, or DMORT, she knew she would likely be deployed “somewhere.”
“Somewhere” was Somerset County in southwest Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 had crashed into a field near Shanksville. Four hijackers had overtaken the plane, which was flying from Newark in New Jersey to San Francisco, and were intending to crash it into the White House or US Capitol in Washington, D.C, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. After passengers and crew on board fought back, the terrorists crashed the plane in an open field in Stonycreek Township.
There were no survivors and the impact of the crash left mostly small pieces of wreckage and human remains.
Dr Barbian said she didn’t know exactly what her job would be until she got there. “I was actually told I would do administrative stuff. I was told I was going to be my commander’s right hand. It wasn’t until I got there that he changed his mind. He was like, ‘No, you’re in the morgue.’”
Dr Barbian, who is a professor in the Department of Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences at PennWest Edinboro, explained that forensic anthropologists specialize in developing biological profiles of human skeletal remains.
“Generally, we are brought in when remains are incomplete, decomposed, skeletonized, or heavily fragmented. We can estimate biological sex, approximate age at death, stature, and ancestry. This information helps investigators narrow down potential identities and compare remains with missing persons databases,” she said.
“It was a high-speed crash. There were no bodies. They were all fragments. That’s where forensic anthropologists are really needed,” she said.
For two weeks, Dr Barbian worked with other scientists in the morgue processing remains recovered from the crash site.
“The morgue was where we reported every morning. The morgue was where we left from every evening when we were done with our 12-hour shifts,” she said.
“By bringing together forensic anthropologists, DNA analysts, odontologists, pathologists, and others, every fragment can be analyzed and compared with antemortem information. Then all of that information is combined to identify the victims,” she said.
All forty passengers and crew of Flight 93 were identified.
Dr Barbian said she felt very grateful that she could help.
“I always feel honored that I was selected because not everybody on our team got to go. Not every forensic anthropologist could participate. I feel like I got called.
“I had the opportunity to do something when that’s all anybody wanted to do. Everybody wanted to help, and I actually had the opportunity to help,” she said.
Dr Barbian, who is also director of the Honors Program at PennWest, said the forensic response to the tragedy was a humanitarian one.
“It’s real people doing this work. It’s not someone special or superhuman. And that’s something I think about whenever I remember Flight 93. The passengers became heroes. They rose to the occasion.”
According to the Flight 93 National Memorial, passengers and crew used onboard phones to call their family, friends and authorities. When they learned that other hijacked planes had hit the World Trade Center, they revolted against the hijackers to stop them from using their plane in another attack.
“They knew it was up to them and they acted,” said Dr Barbian. “They were ordinary people too. Many of them were simply trying to get home after business trips.
“So that’s the lesson I always take from it. You don’t have to wear a cape. You don’t have to be wealthy. You don’t have to be famous. The real heroes are ordinary people who step up when they are needed.”
Listen to the full interview with Dr Lenore Barbian on The Power of PennWest podcast.