United 23
Was this the FIFTH 9/11 plane? Crew of United 23 reveal their 767 scheduled to takeoff on fateful day was raided by FBI after they found box cutters they feared would be used in hijack and identified four suspicious passengers… but kept it quiet
Tom Mannello was sitting on the tarmac in the cockpit of United Flight 23 at 9am, waiting to take off, when air traffic control ordered all flights back to their gates. Mannello later learned that box cutters were found on a plane parked at the neighboring gate, and believes that a ground crew assisting the terrorists got the wrong plane, thwarting any attempted attack . ‘There is a good chance that somebody was plotting to try to use our airplane as a weapon of mass destruction,’ he said on TMZ INVESTIGATES: 9/11: THE FIFTH PLANE, which airs on Monday at 9pm ET on Fox. United 23 did not feature in the official report of the 9/11 Commission, and there were never any confirmed arrests of those on board. U.S. officials have not commented on the years of speculation about the flight being a possible fifth plane planned for attack.
- United Flight 23 was on the tarmac at JFK at 9am on September 11, 2001, waiting in line to take off to Los Angeles, when all planes were ordered back to the gate
- A second plane crashed into the World Trade Center at 9:03am and all takeoffs were halted
- Crew members on board United 23 say they believe their plane was intended to be part of the attack
- TMZ INVESTIGATES: 9/11: THE FIFTH PLANE airs on Monday at 9pm ET on Fox
The captain of a United Airlines flight due to take off from New York’s JFK airport on the morning of 9/11 has said he believes his plane was intended to be a fifth aircraft in the terrorist plot.
Tom Mannello was sitting on the tarmac in the cockpit of United Flight 23 at 9am, waiting to take off, when air traffic control ordered all flights back to their gates.
Mannello later learned box cutters were found on a plane parked at the neighboring gate, and believes a ground crew assisting the terrorists got the wrong plane, thwarting any attempted attack.
‘There is a good chance that somebody was plotting to try to use our airplane as a weapon of mass destruction,’ he said on TMZ INVESTIGATES: 9/11: THE FIFTH PLANE, which airs on Monday at 9pm ET on Fox.
United 23 did not feature in the official report of the 9/11 Commission, and there were never any confirmed arrests of those on board. U.S. officials have not commented on the years of speculation about the flight being a possible fifth plane planned for attack.
