Was the BUAP System Removed from United Airlines Flight 23?

Clip from TMZ Investigates: 9/11: The Fifth Plane S1 • E1 (United Airlines Flight 23 at John F Kennedy Airport)

TMZ Investigates: 9/11: The Fifth Plane investigates 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.

The TMZ investigation into UA Flight 23 supports the hypothesis of tampering through the E&E compartment with compelling testimony. A flight attendant revealed, “The first thing they asked me was why the floor hatches were open on the airplane,” noting that the hatch led to “the electronics for the cockpit.” Suspicious activity included people observed “running in the aircraft” after evacuation and evidence of disturbed carpet around the hatch. Experts demonstrated how the E&E compartment could be accessed directly from the tarmac, providing “full access to the aircraft.” This aligns with the possibility that operatives entered to remove evidence, such as the theorized BUAP system, before authorities arrived.

UA Flight 23, a Boeing 767 grounded at JFK on 9/11, has sparked speculation that a Boeing Uninterruptible Autopilot (BUAP) system was removed by unidentified operatives through the Electronics and Equipment (E&E) compartment after the aircraft was evacuated but before a SWAT team investigation.

Key Points

Suspicious Access: The E&E compartment hatch, leading to avionics systems, was found open despite the aircraft being locked. Disturbed carpet around the hatch indicates post-evacuation tampering.

Potential Motivation: The BUAP system, theorized as a remote control mechanism, may have been removed to prevent its discovery after UA Flight 23 didn’t depart as planned.

Ground Crew Involvement: Operatives could have disguised themselves as ground staff to access the aircraft. Security footage, reportedly controlled by ICTS International, remains unreleased.

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Transcript:

(Music Playing)

Sandy Thorngren, Flight Attendant, United 23:
We ended up getting interviewed by the FBI. They came to our hotel rooms and individually talked to us. I did tell them that I felt there were some suspicious people on the airplane. And I pointed out exactly the four people in first class and two gentlemen in business, but the one that had the t-shirt on that had uncontrollable perspiration.

I did tell them that.

The Voice of Deborah, Flight 23 Purser:
The first thing they asked me was why the floor hatches were open on the airplane. I know there was a hatch in the floor forward of my seat, at door one left.

I know that hatch led down to the electronics for the cockpit. And the hatch is big enough for a large person to look down in there. About 20 minutes after we left, the agent saw something funny going on inside the aircraft. And they had somebody board the aircraft. And they found the hatches open in the floor. If the hatches were open, the people could not have gotten off the aircraft because the hatches were just too big to get around. They had to be opened after everyone had gone off the aircraft.

Sandy Thorngren, Flight Attendant, United 23:
It asked questions like if I noticed the rug had been turned up around the hatch by the cockpit. When the SWAT team had come and opened the door, they found that the hatch that goes down into the area where all the equipment is, the electronics and all that, the hatch had been open.

The Voice of Deborah, Flight 23 Purser:
When I was talking to the FBI and they told me those floor hatches were open, I couldn't breathe. I tried to figure out how those hatches could be opened unless there was somebody down in the electronics area. And they opened it after we left the aircraft.

Tom Mannello, Pilot, United 23:
Maybe somebody was trying to get down the airplane without being noticed. And it could possibly be that there was evidence on the airplane they wanted to get rid of. Whether it be box cutters in the seats or knives or weapons, I have no idea. But somebody could have entered the airplane through the electronics bay up into the cabin and removed whatever evidence they wanted to and then simply left the airplane.

Steve Giordano:
My name is Steve Giordano. I'm a pilot for the Nomadic Aviation Group. We do aircraft flight test and repositioning. This is a Boeing 767 aircraft, the same aircraft as United Flight 23. We're in the front of the aircraft here in the 767, and this is the access to the E&E compartment. The E&E compartment is accessible really easily from the ramp. It's as simple as pulling down the handle and then retracting the door here.

And then basically just hoist yourself up into the airplane like so. So now I'm in the electronics compartment here, the E&E compartment, which is forward to the cargo pit. This is where all the aircraft radios and electrical equipment is located. And then right here is the hatch that gets us right onto the main deck of the aircraft. This is normally covered, but if there's a carpet, the carpet is always movable here because this is the way that we get in and out of an aircraft if we don't have ground support equipment with stairs.

So it's a pretty easy process, really. Simple. There's actually a ladder, and it makes it real easy. Just climb right up inside.

And now we're here in the main cabin. Here's the main entry door of the aircraft, and the first class cabin's right here. So it's real easy to just have full access to the aircraft right from the E&E compartment. So from the first class cabin, you just walk right through the entry here and get back onto the ladder and right back into the E&E compartment. And from the electronics compartment here again, it's just as simple as going back to the hatch in order to get out, just like that. Then I'm back right onto the tarmac, and I can walk away and blend in with the crowd.

Tom Mannello, Pilot, United 23:
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.

Interviewer:
You raise a theory that there may have been people in uniform of some sort, catering, baggage, whatever, who came up through that hatch into the cabin, possibly to remove weapons or box cutters, whatever. Can you think of another rational theory, possibility?

Tom Mannello, Pilot, United 23:
Honestly, no. I can't think of another reason why somebody would do that.

(Dramatic Music)