FEARING terrorists were about to take control of their aeroplane on 9/11 the captain of United flight 23 armed himself with an axe and his co-pilot grabbed a fire extinguisher.
Two passenger jets had already struck the World Trade Centre in New York, and more planes were being lined-up as weapons of devastating destruction.
TMZ StudiosDocumentary 9/11: Mystery of the Fifth Plane is about flight United 23[/caption]
TMZCaptain Tom Mannello believes his plane was going to be hijacked[/caption]
TMZ StudiosFlight attendant Barbara Brockie Smaldino recalls an Arabic family arguing on board[/caption]
Onboard the flight, behind the cabin doors, were six Arab passengers which flight attendants considered to be “suspicious”, including a man dressed in a burka.
But an apparent bungle by the jihadists and a series of fortunate events for the crew appear to have foiled the plot.
United 23 never took off from JFK airport in New York on September 11, 2001 and all the passengers disembarked safely.
They were the lucky ones.
Over 2,900 people died during the coordinated attacks by Al Qaeda, which also included hitting the Pentagon, and failing to strike Washington DC with United flight 93.
Those colossal losses of life meant that what happened on United 23 was largely forgotten.
And a mystery surrounds the fate of the suspected terrorists, with the FBI refusing to talk about the case.
Now the pilot and two flight attendants have spoken about why they are sure United 23 was supposed to be the “fifth plane”.
In a Channel 5 documentary titled 9/11: Mystery of the Fifth Plane, retired Captain Tom Mannello says: “I believe it was more likely than not that we were the fifth plane.
“There is a good chance they were trying to use our plane as a weapon of mass destruction.”
Suspicious passengers
There is certainly evidence that something was amiss on United Airlines Flight 23, which was due to depart JFK airport at 9am on 9/11 to fly to Los Angeles.
It should have been up in the air by the time the first hijacked jet smashed into the World Trade Centre at 8.46am.
United 23 was not full, but the cabin manager delayed the take-off by trying to get fruit plates for four passengers in first class who did not eat meat.
But this Arabic family just wanted to get going, they did not care about the food.
Flight attendant Barbara Brockie-Smaldino says: “As the purser was trying to discuss this with him, they were arguing with her.”
The man told her “we just want to go”.
There is a good chance they were trying to use our plane as a weapon of mass destruction
Captain Tom Mannello
Impatience in itself is not that unusual, but cabin crew had noticed the person next to him in a burka with a niqab covering their face did not appear to be a woman.
The other attendant, Sandy Thorngren, recalls: “I did explain to our purser that I thought that that wasn’t a woman, I thought that was a man.
“It was a man, and you could tell by the size of his hands. He had hair on his hands. There was definitely a male underneath that burka.”
They had a young boy with them and asked if he could go inside in the cockpit to take a look around.
This was denied.
Further behind them were two other Arabic passengers in business class, one of whom was “sweating profusely”.
Close call
Allsport – GettyThe World Trade Centre towers exploded after being hit by hijacked jets[/caption]
Carol Timmons, the co-pilot on board United flight 23, was handed a fire extinguisher by Captain Tom, fearing a cockpit intrusionFOX 29 Philadelphia/YouTube
AFP – GettyHorrified New Yorkers fleeing the collapsing towers on September 11, 2001[/caption]
By the time the Captain did head out towards the runway at 9am, it was packed with other planes waiting to take off.
Tom says: “There were 10 or 11 airplanes in front of me. I have never seen anything like that before.”
Shortly afterwards word came through that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre.
When Tom heard it was a passenger jet, it was “staggering”.
United Airlines sounded an alarm to the pilots warning of a possible cockpit intrusion.
We had a couple of items we could use as weapons. I gave Carol the fire extinguisher and I had a crash axe
Captain Tom Mannello
Still unaware that other planes had been hijacked, Tom and his co-pilot Carol Timmons took quick action.
He recalls: “I used our suitcases and wedged them between the door and the cockpit and bulkhead.
“We had a couple of items we could use as weapons. I gave Carol the fire extinguisher and I had a crash axe.”
Tom told his crew to make sure no one got in.
Covering their tracks
TMZ StudiosFlight attendant Sandy Thorngren believes terrorists were on board United 23[/caption]
TMZ Investigates / FOXTom has tried to find out what happened to the six suspect passengers, but the FBI refused to reply[/caption]
But if the passengers had planned to rush the cockpit in order to get control, their chance had passed.
Everyone was ordered to evacuate JFK airport and no plane was allowed to take off.
On the way out, though, Sandy recalled one of the passengers asked her: “Did they get the White House?”
It was a strange question, because at that point there was no news about potential attacks on other targets, such as the Pentagon or the President’s home.
The CIA suspects that the hijacked United 93 airline was heading for the White House before passengers fought back.
It was what happened next that convinced the United 23 crew that something terrible had been planned for their flight.
The plane was cleared of all passengers and everything was locked up. Yet when a police S.W.A.T. team went through the Boeing 767, they found four hatches open, which suggests someone had entered from underneath after it had been cleared.
Somebody could have entered the aircraft through the electronics bay and into the cabin and removed whatever evidence they wanted to and then simply left the airplane
Captain Tom Mannello
Were they trying to remove evidence of weapons?
Tom theorises: “Somebody could have entered the aircraft through the electronics bay and into the cabin and removed whatever evidence they wanted to and then simply left the airplane.”
If they went in for that reason, they might have been disappointed.
In the plane next to United 23, special agents found two box cutter knives which could have been used to threaten or overpower the crew.
There is a theory that the terrorists bungled the operation by placing these weapons on the wrong plane.
The tail numbers on the two planes were just one digit different – an easy mistake to make.
No trace
All the crew were questioned by the FBI, but were not called to the inquiry into 9/11.
Tom has tried to find out what happened to the six suspect passengers, but the FBI refused to reply.
They certainly didn’t appear in a public court.
Tom said: “I’ve had flight attendants tell me that they know FBI people on Long Island who said, ‘We’ve still got those guys.’ I don’t know, I don’t think so.”
Whatever the truth behind United Airlines Flight 23, once thing is for certain – the passengers and crew were extremely fortunate to escape 9/11 unscathed.
9/11: Mystery of the Fifth Plane airs on Channel 5 on Thursday at 10pm.
AFP – GettyUS President George W. Bush being told about the 9/11 attacks[/caption]
GettyAl Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden appearing on Al-Jazeera Television praising the attacks of September 11[/caption]
AP:Associated PressMohamed Atta, the Egyptian terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda who was the ringleader of the September 11 attack[/caption]
Getty Images – GettyA firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed on September 11, 2001[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
