United canceled a planned Denver flyover featuring a Boeing 777 flanked by four F-16 fighter jets that was to mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks, which United Airlines Capt. Miles Morgan says changed the nation forever. The planned flyover was to leave Denver International Airport and fly over United's flight-training center near the former Stapleton Airport site, where the airline is holding a private employee memorial event tied to the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
According to the Denver Gazette, the private ceremony will unveil a monument honoring crews aboard United Flight 175 and United Flight 93, crafted from steel recovered from World Trade Center wreckage in New York. The monument will stand 9 feet 11 inches tall, and that steel traces back to World Trade Center wreckage that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stored in a hangar at JFK International Airport before distributing pieces nationwide for public memorials, according to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The event is private, per the same Gazette report.
Why United Chose Its Denver Training Hub
United's Denver campus is not a random backdrop for the tribute. The facility is reportedly the largest pilot training center in the world, with 52 full-motion cockpit simulators where the airline's pilots complete initial and recurrent training, the Gazette reports. The campus underwent a more than $100 million, 155,000-square-foot expansion in 2022 and 2023, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.
United's investment in Denver is still growing. In July, the Denver City Council approved rezoning for a 114-acre parcel near Denver International Airport that will let United build a second flight-training campus with up to 60 simulator bays, part of a $33 million land purchase the airline made in 2023, as Hoodline reported in a rezoning breakdown. Groundbreaking on that second campus is projected for 2027, with operations expected around 2030.
Fighter Escort Traces Back to 9/11 Itself
The Colorado Air National Guard will provide the four F-16 fighter escorts for Friday's flyover, flown by the 120th Fighter Squadron out of Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, according to the Gazette. That unit's connection to September 11 runs deeper than a ceremonial pairing: the 120th Fighter Squadron was scrambled to fly combat air patrols over Colorado within minutes of the 2001 attacks and has continuously operated a 24/7 Aerospace Control Alert mission defending central U.S. airspace ever since, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The same Buckley-based unit will provide the F-16 escorts for the planned flyover.
United selected the Boeing 777 for the planned flyover, according to the Gazette. Denver's Office of Emergency Management said the planned flyby would be highly visible and noticeable by sound across a wide area, and it stressed the flyby did not represent an emergency, estimating the aircraft would pass over the city at about 9:03 a.m. Friday before the flyover was canceled. The office said the flyby was meant to memorialize lives lost that day.
Remembering the Scale of September 11
Four jetliners took off from three U.S. airports on the morning of September 11, 2001, carrying 334 passengers and crew combined and hijacked by 19 attackers, per the Gazette's account. Two American Airlines flights and two United Airlines flights became part of the attacks; the historical reference to United Flight 175 concerns a Boeing 767, while the planned flyover aircraft was a Boeing 777. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, while United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers mounted a fight against the hijackers aboard.
The attacks killed 2,977 victims, including people who died on the ground, and led to additional toxin-related illnesses in the years that followed, the Gazette reports. Crew members aboard the four hijacked airliners were also among those killed.
Officials Reflect on Legacy
“Twenty-five years ago, our nation was changed forever,” United Capt. Miles Morgan said, according to the Gazette, describing Friday's flyover as a symbol of honor, resilience and courage moving the nation forward. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called the flyover a tribute to those lost and a reminder that their legacy lives on in community strength and service, the Gazette reported.
TSA and airport staff will join United and American Airlines employees for a moment of silence and recognition at 9:03 a.m. Friday on the B Concourse at Denver International Airport. That joint observance will bring together TSA, airport, United and American Airlines employees. A United spokesperson did not immediately provide details about the cancellation, the Gazette reported.
The Denver tribute arrives as the 25th anniversary is commemorated.
