The Flight that Fought Back is a docudrama produced by the Discovery Channel about United Airlines Flight 93. The program debuted in the United States on September 11, 2005, marking the fourth anniversary of the event on which it is based.
The film, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, reconstructs the events that led to Flight 93 crashing in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, approx 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C., during the September 11, 2001 attacks. It proved to be highly popular when it debuted on the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It eventually made its way across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom where it was aired on Channel Five on Thursday 2006-01-05.
The FBI helped with the production by handing over some of the black-box recordings upon request. The FBI refused to present the complete recording, citing national security concerns.
Original music was provided for the film by London based post-rock musician Mark Beazley, more frequently known as Rothko, and composer Gavin Skinner. The film was directed by Bruce Goodison and edited by London based documentary film maker Joby Gee.
Discovery is donating 100% of all sales from the DVD to the construction of the permanent Flight 93 National Memorial.
The film received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Made for Television Movie.
The film was aired on Channel One in Russia on 2007-09-08 and on 2007-09-11 on the Japanese Discovery Channel and on the German tv channel Kabel1.
