A new investigation by TMZ has uncovered the possibility that there was a fifth plane that the hijackers had intended to use during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
This theory centers around United Flight 23, whose flight crew told TMZ that they believe their plane was supposed to have been a part of the whole operation.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic images that may disturb some readers.
“There’s a good chance that somebody was plotting to try to use our airplane as a weapon of mass destruction,” one of the flight’s pilots told TMZ.
As evidence, he pointed to box cutters that were found under his seat that he believes had been meant to slit his throat.
“I believe that it’s a reasonable assumption to think that those box cutters were meant for my airplane, not the one next to me,” he said. “You have people that clean the airplane, people that load food on the airplane that have access to the airplane. If somebody was in cooperation with the group, they could have been put there.”
“There are a host of people that have access to the airline. It wouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world to get on an airplane like that. … Something was going on there that should not have been going on,” he added.
“It’s the one thing that…makes me think that there’s a good chance that somebody was plotting to try to use our airplane as a weapon of mass destruction.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/xjbfd982Hd
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 6, 2025
Was a fifth plane planned to be used in the attacks?
There was a lot more evidence where this came from, including the hatches on the bottom of the plane that had been left opened.
“The first thing [federal investigators] asked me [after the flight] was why the floor hatches were open on the airplane,” one of the flight attendants said.
“The airplane was locked and sealed when I left the airplane, so something else was going on that I cannot explain,” the previously mentioned pilot added.
The crew members who spoke with TMZ also mentioned four “Arabs” in first class who kept badgering the flight attendants while they were handing out food about how soon the flight would take off.
“The people that were in first class, they wanted to take off,” one of the flight attendants said. “They didn’t want to eat. Our purser was determined that they get food because we had an extra long flight. … They were arguing with her that they didn’t want to eat. They wanted to take off.”
Could the suspicious behavior of some first class passengers on 9/11 be evidence that United Flight 23 was slated to be doomed?
Hear the full, JAW-DROPPING story in TMZ’s investigation.
Watch ‘TMZ Investigates: 9/11: The Fifth Plane’ NOW on YouTube: https://t.co/wT9AUFK8Wn pic.twitter.com/teAveelNWt
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 5, 2025
“I could hear them say, ‘We do not want to eat. We don’t need food. We want to take off. We don’t need food. We just want to go,’” she added.
One of the four also expressed interest in seeing the cockpit.
Even weirder still was that one of the four Arabs was wearing a burka, which is typically worn by women, but crew members said the person wasn’t a woman.
“I did explain to our purser that I thought that that wasn’t a woman, it was actually a man,” one of the flight attendants said. “And I could tell by the size of his hands. He had hair on his hands. It was definitely a male underneath that burka.”
“I was absolutely convinced it was a man. … There was no doubt in my mind it was a man,” another flight attendant explained.
The crew also reported that people on the ground — baggage handlers, for example — saw two people running inside the plane after it had been successfully evacuated.
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