The Fifth Plane.

This has sort of faded out of our group consciousness since 9/11, but a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of it by a story on A&E.

What happened to the al-Qaeda members who were going to take down United Flight 23? Were they ever caught and was their target ever identified?

And why does the media pretend there were only four planes?

For those of you who need a refresher, here's a relevant excerpt:

Kirk is adamant that Ballinger did save the passengers and crew of United
Flight 23, which on Sept. 11 was about to depart from Newark, N.J., to Los
Angeles. Kirk believes Flight 23 was going to be commandeered. Thanks to
Ballinger's quick call, the flight crew told passengers it had a mechanical
problem and immediately returned to the gate.

Later, Ballinger was told six men initially wouldn't get off the plane.
Later, when they did, they disappeared into the crowd, never to return. Later,
authorities checked their luggage and found copies of the Qu'ran and al-Qaida
instruction sheets.

"I felt good about that one," Ballinger said.

Kirk admits it's speculation, but said he believes "there are 200 people
walking around today because of Ed Ballinger."