TMZ tackles September 11 when TMZ Investigates: 9/11: The Fifth Plane airs on Fox Monday, March 20. The special examines “what could have been a fifth plane being targeted by hijackers on 9/11, with interviews from the flight attendants, the pilot and others who believe their plane may have become a weapon of mass destruction,” according to TMZ.
TMZ mentioned “a series of suspicious and alarming activities” on United Flight 23, a 767 that was scheduled to take off at 9 a.m. from JFK in New York, en route to Los Angeles, on September 11, 2001. The FBI interviewed the flight crew and proceeded to take them to a secret lineup to see if they could identify four passengers who were in first class.
United Flight 23 was called back from the runway after the World Trade Center was hit, and the plane was evacuated. But workers on the ground noticed two uniformed people roaming the cabin 20 minutes after the door was locked, TMZ said, and when authorities boarded the plane to investigate, a hatch that led from the belly of the plane into the passenger cabin was open.
The pilot said he was told that box cutters were found in first-class seat pockets on the plane parked directly next to Flight 23, believing the utility knives were placed by terrorists on the wrong plane.
TMZ Investigates: 9/11: The Fifth Plane is executive produced by Harvey Levin, Charles Latibeaudiere, Ryan Regan and Jess Fusco. ■
