Flight 93 crashed into a field in southwestern Pennsylvania near Shanksville as its passengers tried to take control of the plane. Forty passengers and crew died in the struggle.

The memorial design was approved last week at a meeting of the Flight 93 Advisory Commission. Congress and the secretary of the interior still must sign off on the design. It is expected to be presented to the Interior Department by Sept. 25, said Dan DuBray, a department spokesman.

The park service and family members of crash victims said that the memorial's shape - a circle broken by the flight pattern of the plane - simply follows the topography of the crash site.

The memorial consists of a chapel with 40 metallic wind chimes, one for each of the victims. It is designed to spread across 2,000 acres and would include pedestrian trails and a roadway to a visitor center and the actual crash site. At the site would be a crescent-shaped cluster of maple trees and a white marble wall inscribed with the victims' names.

Regardless of whether "the invocation of a Muslim symbol" was intentional, "it seems that such a symbol is unsuitable for paying appropriate tribute to the heroes of Flight 93 or the ensuing American struggle against radical Islam," Tancredo wrote.

Earlier this summer, Tancredo angered Muslims and others by suggesting on a Florida radio program that the United States could "take out" Muslim holy sites if Islamic terrorists attacked the U.S. with nuclear bombs.

Joanne Hanley, superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial, said the design team led by Paul Murdoch Architects followed what the memorial mission statement requested: it honors the plane's passengers and crew and touches very lightly on the land.

"Crescent of Embrace" is the name of the design, not the memorial, and can be changed, she said.

"The name is irrelevant, really," she said. "There's a lot of misinformation out there and conjecture and hidden meaning that just isn't there."

Architect Paul Murdoch was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Gordon Felt, whose brother, Edward Felt, died in the crash, invited Tancredo to contact the family members and learn more about the design.

"We feel the jury that selected the final design did a good job," he said. "It was in no way designed to memorialize the hijackers. I cannot even fathom a family member on the jury thinking that they were trying to memorialize the people who murdered our family members."

© 2005 The Associated Press

Editor's note:
Get the Picture That Made America Proud on 9/11 – Click Here
New book details al-Qaida’s plans for nuclear terror – Get it FREE – Click Here

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

9/11 Commission