A new video released Tuesday by TMZ suggests that there was a fifth plane that was “intended to strike” as part of the unprecedented terrorist attacks that took place on September 1, 2001, but that it may have been “covered up” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
According to TMZ’s investigative video shared Tuesday on YouTube, United Flight 23 was grounded prior to taking off on a flight from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, to the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. TMZ reported that the pilot of the airplane and the flight attendants believe that the airplane might have been intended for use as part of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
TMZ reported that the video, titled “TMZ Investigates 9/11: The Fifth Plane,” comes after the outlet spent six months investigating the alleged activities on United Flight 23 that led to the FBI interviewing the pilot and flight attendants in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
According to TMZ, the outlet interviewed the United Flight 23 pilot, a United Airlines dispatcher, three flight attendants, and a member of the 9/11 Commission regarding claims that there were four suspicious passengers on the airplane that wanted to quickly take off from the airport and that two individuals were observed running through the airplane cabin 20 minutes after the plane was evacuated and locked due to the airport shutting down after the World Trade Center was attacked.
READ MORE: Video: Rare 9/11 first-hand footage captures real moments of terrorist attacks
The United Flight 23 pilot, identified as Captain Tom Mannello, told TMZ, “The airplane was locked and sealed when I left the airplane, so something else was going on that I cannot explain. Something was going on there that should not have been going on.” Mannello suggested that the two individuals seen on the airplane after it was locked could have been attempting to remove weapons or other evidence from the airplane.
“There’s a good chance that somebody was plotting to try to use our airplane as a weapon of mass destruction,” Mannello said.
Sandy Thorngren, a fight attendant on United Flight 23, told TMZ, “I definitely think that Flight 23 from JFK to LAX was the fifth plane.” Another flight attendant, Barbara Brockie Smaldino, added, “In my mind, there was no doubt that we were a target of a plan that would have taken us to our end.”
In a caption to TMZ’s new video, the outlet wrote, “Was it grounded in time? Covered up? Or simply forgotten? This investigation digs into government documents, eyewitness accounts, and hidden details that may point to a fifth plane… and a deeper conspiracy.”
