William Robert Craig

1944 - 2012

On September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 was commandeered by terrorists while on its way from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco, California. Passengers attempted to retake the plane during the flight, and it crashed in an abandoned strip mine near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Special Agent William Robert Craig served as the Pittsburgh Field Office’s Senior Team Leader for evidence recovery and arrived at the crash site on the evening of September 11. The impact crater contained aviation fuel and smoldering debris that burned for several days after the crash. Craig worked at the site for more than two weeks after the crash.

In June 2011, Craig was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and succumbed to his illness on April 9, 2012. Extensive research by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established sufficient evidence that Craig’s exposure to the air at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site either precipitated or accelerated his development of pancreatic cancer.

Special Agent Craig was born in February 1944 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He entered on duty with the FBI as an agent in April 1971.