New effort to raise Flight 93 memorial funds

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — A Washington-based nonprofit group will take over efforts to raise funds for a permanent memorial for Flight 93 victims after a two-year campaign led by a consulting firm fell short of its goal.

The National Park Foundation, which already handles funds for the campaign, will become the main fundraising agency for the project, taking over from Dallas-based Ketchum Inc., said Patrick White, vice president of Families of Flight 93.

A coalition of groups, including Families of Flight 93, hired Ketchum two years ago to raise $30 million for the memorial, but the campaign had netted only $10.4 million as of April 12. The groups held a public meeting in San Francisco on Saturday.

Construction of the $58 million memorial is tentatively scheduled to begin in late 2008 or early 2009. A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been planned for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks.

United Airlines Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it was hijacked during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, killing all 40 passengers and crew members.