Mohammed indicated in a 2002 interview with the Doha-based Al Jazeera News Network that the intended target of Flight 93 had been the United States Capitol Building located in Washington, DC.

Based on the 9/11 Commission Report and subsequent FBI investigations, the intended target of United Airlines Flight 93 was almost certainly the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House in Washington, D.C. While the other three hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Flight 93 was delayed on the runway, which gave the passengers time to learn about the other attacks via airphone calls. Realizing their plane was part of a suicide mission, the passengers and crew famously fought back against the four hijackers. This counter-attack forced the terrorists to crash the plane into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 AM, approximately 20 minutes flying time from the nation's capital. Vice President Dick Cheney later confirmed that he had authorized the military to shoot down the plane if it approached D.C., but the heroic intervention of the 40 passengers and crew members prevented the plane from ever reaching its catastrophic target, saving countless lives and the symbolic seat of the American government.