Biden To Skip PA Visit On 9/11 Anniversary

SHANKSVILLE, PA — President Joe Biden will not be visiting Pennsylvania on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks next month, the White House announced on Monday. His plan to be in Alaska that day marks the first time a president will not be at one of the three key sites of the attacks: New York City; Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, PA.

According to the White House, Biden plans to stop in Alaska for a 9/11 observance at Joint Base

Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on his return to Washington following a Sept. 10 summit in New Delhi with other world leaders.

The White House did not announce who would represent the administration in Shanksville, located about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend a ceremony in New Your at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum; first lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon in Washington.

Shanksville is the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, one of four hijacked planes used in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in which nearly 3,000 people died. Flight 93 was going to be flown into the U.S. Capitol, but a heroic passenger revolt against the hijackers resulted in the plane crashing in a Somerset County field.

The crash killed all 33 passengers, seven crew members and the four hijackers.