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Edited on Thu Mar-10-05 10:56 PM by paulthompson
Am I missing anything from the above?
September 19, 2001: Unverified Reports of Additional Flights to Be Hijacked
The FBI claims on this day that there were six hijacking teams on the morning of 9/11. (NEW YORK TIMES, 9/19/01 (B), GUARDIAN, 10/13/01) A different report claims investigators are privately saying eight. (INDEPENDENT, 9/25/01) However, the reports below suggest there may have been as many as eight aborted flights, leading to a potential total of 12 hijackings:
• Knives of the same type used in the successful hijackings were found taped to the backs of fold-down trays on a Continental Airlines flight from Newark. (GUARDIAN, 9/19/01)
• The FBI is investigating American Airlines Flight 43, which was scheduled to leave Boston about 8:10 A.M. bound for Los Angeles but was canceled minutes before takeoff due to a mechanical problem. (BBC, 9/18/01 (C), CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/18/01; GUARDIAN, 9/19/01) Another version claims the flight left from Newark and made it as far as Cincinnati before being grounded in the nationwide air ban. (NEW YORK TIMES, 9/19/01 (B))
• Knives and box cutters were found on two separate canceled Delta Airlines planes later that day, one leaving Atlanta for Brussels and the other leaving from Boston. (TIME, 9/22/01; INDEPENDENT, 9/25/01)
• On September 14, two knives were found on an Air Canada flight that would have flown to New York on 9/11 if not for the air ban. (CNN, 10/15/01)
• Two men arrested on 9/11 may have lost their nerve on American Airlines Flight 1729 from Newark to San Antonio via Dallas that was scheduled to depart at 8:50 A.M., and was later forced to land in St. Louis. Alternately, they may have been planning an attack for September 15, 2001. (NEW YORK TIMES, 9/19/01 (B))
• There may have been an attempt to hijack United Airlines Flight 23 flying from Boston to Los Angeles around 9:00 A.M. Shortly after 9:00 A.M., United Airlines flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger sent out a warning about the first WTC crash to the flights he was handling. Because of this warning, the crew of Flight 23 told the passengers it had a mechanical problem and immediately returned to the gate. Ballinger was later told by authorities that six men initially wouldn’t get off the plane. When the men finally disembarked, they disappeared into the crowd and never returned. Later, authorities checked their luggage and found copies of the Koran and al-Qaeda instruction sheets. (CHICAGO DAILY HERALD, 04/14/04) In mid-2002, a NORAD deputy commander says “we don’t know for sure” if Flight 23 was to have been hijacked. (GLOBE AND MAIL, 6/13/02)
• Knives were found stashed in the seats on a plane due to leave Boston that was delayed due to technical problems and then canceled. (GUARDIAN, 10/13/01)
• A box cutter knife was found under a seat cushion on American Airlines Flight 160, a 767 that would have flown from San Diego to New York on the morning of 9/11 but for the air ban. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/23/01)
The FBI is said to be seeking a number of passengers who failed to board the same, rescheduled flights when the grounding order on commercial planes in the U.S. was lifted. (BBC, 9/18/01 (C)) The Independent points out suspicions have been fueled “that staff at U.S. airports may have played an active role in the conspiracy and helped the hijackers to circumvent airport security.” They also note, “It is possible that at least some of the flights that have come under scrutiny were used as decoys, or as fallback targets.” (INDEPENDENT, 9/25/01)
After 9:00 A.M.*: United Flight 23 Hijacking Averted?
Shortly after 9:00 A.M., United Airlines Flight 23 receives a warning message from flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger. Flight 23 is still on a Newark, New Jersey, runway, about to take off for Los Angeles. Apparently in response to Ballinger’s message, the crew tells the passengers there has been a mechanical problem and returns to the departure gate. A number of Middle Eastern men (one account says three, others say six) argue with the flight crew and refuse to get off the plane. Security is called, but they flee before it arrives. (CBS NEWS, 9/14/01 (B); CHICAGO DAILY HERALD, 04/14/04) Later, authorities check their luggage and find copies of the Koran and al-Qaeda instruction sheets. Ballinger suspects they got away. “When all we have is a photo from a fake ID, the chances of finding (someone) in Afghanistan or Pakistan are rather slim.” (CHICAGO DAILY HERALD, 04/14/04) A NORAD deputy commander later says, “From our perception, we think our reaction on that day was sufficiently quick that we may well have precluded at least one other hijacking. We may not have. We don’t know for sure.” (GLOBE AND MAIL, 6/13/02)
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My personal guess is that the only real extra hijacking was Flight 23. This jibes with some of the forewarnings that spoke of five planes, not four. However, some of the others may have been backup plans. Let's say Flight 11 is cancelled, then you get on the Delta flight leaving a bit later or something like that. If so, that would suggest weapons were planted on all the flights, the main ones and the backups.
It makes sense that there would be backups because there had been years of man hours of planning and it would have been stupid to put all that work into it and not anticipate one of the flights being cancelled because of mechanical trouble or the like.
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