TV Anchor Recalls Covering Shanksville Crash

When Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001, WNEP's Jon Meyer was the first reporter on scene, according to a story by Bob Kalinowski in the Citizens Voice.

Jon Meyer 9/11/01

A rookie reporter for WJAC-TV in nearby Johnstown, PA  Meyer crept close to the deep smoking crater and flaming debris before delivering the first news reports from where the doomed airliner crashed down in a remote field.

"My first words were, 'The only way to describe this scene is haunting,'" Meyer recalled Monday. "I could hear it in my voice all these years later, knowing I stood right next to where so many people died."

The National Park Service, which is creating a permanent memorial at the site, invited Meyer to speak at a ceremony this past Saturday to mark 11 years since that fateful day. Meyer spoke about his role in covering the historic story and clips from his first broadcasts were played to a large crowd that included families of the victims.

"It was crazy to see this 24-year-old kid doing such an important story. I can't believe how young I was back then - to be dealing with such a big story," said Meyer, who joined WNEP (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA) in the summer of 2003. "My adrenaline was going. It was obviously going to be one of the biggest national stories in history."

Meyer said he and his photographer were at the crash scene within 25 minutes, as emergency crews were still arriving. Police stopped his photographer about 100 yards away, but he managed to get within feet of the impact zone to absorb the enormity of what occurred and see the distraught faces of first responders. Later in the day, after the national press arrived and the FBI held a news conference, reporters learned a passenger uprising on the plane had forced it down to avoid a catastrophic terrorist act in Washington, D.C., he said.

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