Here the Captain, Please Sit Down Keep Remaining Sitting.

On September 3, 2001, Marwan Al-Shehhi, one of the 9/11 hijackers, purchased items at a Walmart on Copans Road in Pompano Beach, Florida, that appear to have been used to construct a device resembling a bomb to scare and subdue passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 175. The items included a toggle switch, gel mate, auto tape, and a 9-volt battery. At 9:00 a.m. on 9/11, passenger Peter Hanson called his father from the plane and reported: "It's getting bad, Dad... A stewardess was stabbed... They seem to have knives and Mace..." They said they have a bomb... It's getting very bad on the plane... Passengers are throwing up and getting sick... The plane is making jerky movements... I don't think the pilot is flying the plane... I think we are going down... I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building... Don't worry, Dad... If it happens, it'll be very fast... My God, my God. On American Airlines Flight 11, piloted by Mohammed Atta, the hijackers sprayed Mace, pepper spray, or another irritant in the first-class cabin to force passengers and flight attendants to the rear of the plane.

They also claimed to have a bomb, but there is no evidence they had even the fake components that Al-Shehhi compiled. On American Airlines Flight 77, intended for the Pentagon, none of the flight attendants or passengers who called out mentioned any stabbing, use of Mace, or threat of a bomb. On United Flight 93, piloted by Ziad Jarrah, he announced at 9:32 a.m.: "Ladies and Gentlemen.

But there is no evidence that there was a bomb on board or that any of Jarrah's men had the same kind of fake components Al-Shehhi had. The 9/11 Commission later reported: "The FBI told us they found no trace of explosives at the crash sites. One of the passengers who mentioned a bomb [presumably Hanson] expressed his belief that it was not real.

Lacking any evidence that the hijackers attempted to smuggle such illegal items past the security screening checkpoints, we believe the bombs were probably fake. No explosives were found.