What did it feel like to be on the 9/11 flight?

I think they were scared. I'll start with the 1st hijacked plane, AA flight 11.

AA 11

Two of the stewardesses contacted AA to report the hijacking. Mrs Sweeney relayed seat numbers of some of the hijackers on board the plane and mentioned that they showed her a bomb as well.

Betty Ong told Nydia G that the flight that was supposed to fly to LA was getting hijacked. She said that Karen M and Barbara A were stabbed, Karen was seriously hurt but Barbara seemed alright, her wounds were minor.

Also, she told Nydia that the flight attendants could not enter the cockpit since the door was locked presumably to keep out everyone else. One of the hijackers maimed another passenger too, Daniel Lewin who was seated in seat 1C next to either Atta or Alomari. 

All sat in row 1 and 2 at the front of the plane. Mr Suqami was seated in row 2D so he could have leaned over and attacked Daniel using a knife of some sort. About 12 minutes prior to the crash, Atta lied saying they were returning to the airport and told them not to do anything stupid either.

Just before the crash, Sweeney informed Michael we are in a rapid descent, I'm not sure who is flying the plane, we're all over the place via phone in a low soft voice as the plane rumbled out of control. Those were her last words. At the same time, Betty instructed Nydia to pray for them, which she did so.

*No passengers on AA 11 made calls, they probably assumed that the flight was being diverted to Cuba, since that is what hijackers tended to do.

UA 175

At the time flight 11 struck Tower One, UA 175 transponder code was changed by one of the hijackers.

ATC didnt notice till 8.52 however, since he was occupied trying to find AA 11 which crashed into the North Tower of the WTC. Unlike AA 11 which was transponder less, they were able to monitor the transponder of UA 175 which was not off.

2 hijackers killed the pilot while another pushed all the other passengers and crew towards the rear of the plane. At 8.52 am, Peter Hanson contacts his mom telling her that his plane was hijacked and that he is at the back and a stewardess seemed to be stabbed. His mother inquires about Sue/Christine. He says they're fine. Peter relays the information that the hijackers appear to have knives, mace and a bomb. He requests she contact United Airlines and tell them of the hijacking.

About five minutes later, Peter calls again. This time, he mentions that he thinks the hijackers intend to fly the plane into a building. He reassures her and Dad saying, don't worry Mom, if I die it will be very quick... My God My God.

As the call abruptly finishes, Eunice hears a woman (possibly Sue Kim Hanson) screaming in the background then silence. She is pondering whether to call her son back when she sees on telly the plane striking 2 WTC and starts crying.

Lee, Peter's dad and his 2 sisters watch the plane crash in shock and horror on the television but say nothing.

AA 77

At the time of hijacking, AA 77 was flying over a area that had limited or no coverage. For several minutes, controllers don't know where 77 is. Some assume it must have crashed onto the ground, somewhere due to serious failure of some sort. 

However they change their minds after learning about what happened in NYC at the WTC that morning 20 or 30 minutes later. Once more, the transponder is off.

One stewardess Renee May and one passenger Barbara Olson contacted their loved ones on the ground. Renee says there were 4 hijackers and tells her mom to inform AA that 77 is hijacked, she ends the call saying I love you Mom. She also tried but did not manage to contact her boyfriend prior to telephoning her mom.

Barbara lets Ted know that the hijackers used box cutters. He asked her if the hijackers knew she was calling, she responded that they didn't as all the passengers, stewardesses and pilots were at the rear of the aircraft and she learns about flights 11 and 175. Then the plane flew into the east side of the Pentagon at 9.34am.

Upon hearing the news of the plane crash at the Pentagon, Ted immediately realizes that his beloved wife is now dead and sobs quietly while his secretary comforts him, her arms around his shoulders.

Everyone onboard the aircraft perishes upon impact, immediately. Many Pentagon employees also are killed when AA 77 rips into the east side of the building, shortly after nine thirty am. About 184 or 185 workers who are inside the building at the time of the crash, die. 

Unlike the other 3 doomed planes, there were no reports of anyone being stabbed or bombs.

UA 93

The plane is hijacked about two minutes before AA 77 barrels into the Pentagon, east side. Controllers heard strange submissions coming while Jarrah stormed the cockpit but assume initially it came from Delta 1989*. Then the transponder is shut off by the pilot hijacker.

4 or 5 passengers start making calls, to report the hijacking. Sandy Bradshaw (United crew) contacts United saying another attendant Debbie Walsh was injured. She then says that the flight was hijacked at 9.34am. All were pushed to the rear of the aircraft by the muscle hijackers. Jarrah made a announcement which was heard by passengers over the PA system.

Tom Burnett calls Deena on a Airfone from row 21B. He explains that the hijackers seem to have commandeered the aircraft and that they had a bomb. One minute later, the aircraft changed direction and started to fly east towards Washington DC where the US Capitol is.

Despite trying to storm the cockpit, heroic passengers are not able to prevent the plane crashing but the specific target is spared. Countless lives on the ground are also saved due to their actions.

Lauren Grandcolas has dived under her seat scared for her unborn child's life. From there she contacts her dad saying that there was a "little" problem on her plane and that she was fine.

Delta 1989 (Suspected, not actually hijacked)

Although the pilot sent a hijacked message for help, the plane was not actually taken over or compromised. Nevertheless, ATC insisted that the plane should land at Cleveland airport just in case.

The pilots tells the passengers that they have been asked to land at Cleveland airport instead, over the PA system. Some start making calls to loved ones informing them their plane is being diverted to a airport.

Passengers were questioned and suitcases were inspected to make sure there was no bomb on the flight. Police are shocked when they see that one of the pilots is injured with blood all over his face. NEADS never lost contact with Delta 1989 and the transponder on board never cut off at any point.

Even so, 3 fighter jets were dispatched to intercept the allegedly doomed aircraft as well until the moment when it landed uneventfully at the airport.

Miscellaneous information

*The transmission was eventually determined to have come from United 93 not Delta 1989 while it was being hijacked by 4 men.

It would have been scary and the people on board knew that they are going to die. For flight 11 however, I think that the passengers there did not know what was happening until the last moments when they are flying over unusual low over the city. Based on this documentary , one of the person who was in call with one of the flight attendant said that the background noise “was calm, quiet, there wasn’t any commotion.”

So the passengers of Flight 11 did not know something was wrong (except the first/business class) until the final moment. Passengers on three other flights did not not experience this.

I think the people on the 9/11 flights were aware about what was going to happen. However, they were helpless. All men, women and the little toddlers actually went through a very hard time . All praying to god for their rescue.

Some people were starting their new journeys in life, some going to have a good time with the family others on business and so on .

Those people never expected that they would end up like that

In memory of all brave hearts on the American Airline 11 and American Airline 175.

Well, if you get a genuine answer from someone that was on any of the 4 planes involved in the 9/11 events, which is what I’m assuming this question is about, you have possibly been talking to dead folks. If anyone survived those plane crashes, I haven’t heard them share about it, so if you want to know more than speculation, you’ll have to take some action. How to Talk to the Dead

Not my cup of tea, but please do come back and share, if you have success.

I think you should use your imagination and reflect how you would have behaved in the circumstances.

Perhaps best not to ask such questions on Quora out of respect for those that lost their lives.

They were probably scared out of their wits.

No one survived in the four planes so it all a conjecture.