A passenger plane pilot is being remembered as one great unsung hero of the 9/11 terror attacks after claims emerged he narrowly averted a collision with one of the hijacked planes.
A TWA pilot (the airline was later bought out by American Airlines) had taken off from New York's JFK around the time the first plane hit into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan.
According to an unnamed flight attendant who was on the crew, the flight had to take "evasive actions" twice before landing safely - first to avoid colliding with United Flight 175, which struck the World Trade Center, and then Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
This comes 22 years to the day of the attack that killed 2,996 people. Since then far more survivors and first responders have died after breathing the toxic fumes at the scene.
The attendant, who was working on the Boeing 767, told the New York Post: “There were two near-misses."
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The unidentified pilot speaks to ABC reporters at the time (ABC)The pilot has never been memorialised or even publicly identified. Yet other passengers have also spoken out about the heroic actions.
Retired FDNY Lt. Charlie Hubbard, who was onboard the flight, recalled: “He saved our lives, without a doubt."
Writing on X, formerly , Mr Hubbard recalled they saw the first plane colliding. He said: "On the flight with me was my brother Jim at a window seat. Jim witnessed the plane crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center moments after we were airborne."
Smoke and flames erupt from the twin towers of the World Trade Center (AFP via Getty Images)As the plane continued it almost collided with United 175, the second plane to hit New York. The flight attendant said. “We were scissoring up and down." This was part of a defensive manoeuvre.
After learning that the plane went on to hit the South Tower, the flight attendants aboard the TWA flight pushed trolleys against the cockpit door in case hijackers were on board.
The pilot warned the crew “he’d be standing behind the door with an axe,” the attendant recalled.
As further planes were hijacked the US government took drastic measures and warned any plane still in the sky in 20 minutes would be shot down. They had first planned to make an emergency landing in Indianapolis but were diverted to Dayton, Ohio.
As chaotic news came in from the outside including that the Pentagon had been hit, “proximity alarms” in the TWA cockpit began to go off, warning another plane was flying within 1,000 feet.
The attack on New York's Twin Towers killed 2,753 people (AFP via Getty Images)The pilot, remembered only as George, then had to take evasive action again to avoid Flight 93, out of Newark, which was flying directly to Washington DC, the flight attendant said. This was the flight that went on to crash headfirst into a field as passengers fought to take back control from the hijackers.
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He told ABC at the time: “Well, he was up there when we were coming from New York. So what we had to do was — they (flight control) were not talking to him, and he was changing his heading and his altitude, so they cleared us to deviate however we had to stay away from him.
“We had him in sight — it was a nice day in New York. We were out of the clouds, which helped a lot. We just, you know, dodged him.”
Mr Hubbard said: "After we landed in Dayton we discovered the reason for our dramatic manoeuvre while airborne was our pilot was avoiding a mid-air collision with flight 93, the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania that day. Flight 93 took off from Newark Airport following an east to west air corridor.
"Our flight fell in behind flight 93 which turned back toward us after being hijacked. The ultimate irony here is I had just ended my twenty-year career as a Firefighter and Lieutenant with the New York City Department. I had been an officer in charge of Engine Company 5 in Manhattan’s East Village and September 11, 2001 would have been my next work day had I not chosen to retire. The officer that replaced me was among my 343 colleagues killed that day."
A spokesman for the FAA didn't reveal any reports of 9/11 near-collisions.
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