United Airlines canceled a planned 9/11 memorial flyover in Denver on Wednesday after fierce public backlash condemned the display as deeply insensitive.
The airline had arranged for a Boeing 777 to fly low over the city at 9:03 a.m. On September 11, flanked by F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Space Force Base, the Denver Office of Emergency Management announced Tuesday on X. That timestamp marked the exact minute United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center in 2001.
The office’s announcement described the display as “intended to honor and remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001.” Officials warned residents the flyover would be “highly visible from parts of Denver, noticeable by sound, more noticeable than a typical aircraft overhead, and brief, but surprising if you aren’t aware it’s planned,” They added: “there is no emergency.”
Social media users immediately tore into the concept. “Who thought this was a good idea?” one X user wrote. Another fired back: “This has to be one of the most tone-deaf stunts ever.” Additional critics called the plan “horribly poor taste” and “totally unnecessary and wasteful,” with one person declaring it “might be the worst memorial idea anyone has ever planned.”
The uproar centered on a painful irony: two of the four hijacked planes on 9/11 were United Airlines flights. United Flight 175 was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center, while United Flight 93 crashed in a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field after passengers rushed the terrorists, forcing them to down the aircraft before it could reach another target. The F-16 accompaniment was meant to evoke the fighter jets scrambled that morning to intercept hijacked commercial aircraft in U.S. Airspace.
Roughly 24 hours after revealing the plans, the Denver OEM confirmed the cancellation in a follow-up X post. “United has canceled its planned 9/11 memorial aircraft flyover in Denver following concerns raised by members of the community,” the office wrote. “There will be no aircraft flyover associated with the memorial events on Friday, Sept. 11. We appreciate everyone who shared questions and concerns with us as we worked with United and our public safety partners to keep the community informed.”
United Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.