8:56 a.m. September 11, 2001: Attendant Supposedly Makes Second Call from Flight 175; United Airlines Concludes Otherwise

According to GTE Airfone records, an attendant on Flight 175 makes a call to the United Airlines maintenance office in San Francisco at this time, but the employee who would have answered it denies this. The call is supposedly made using an Airfone in row 31 at the back of the plane, and lasts 31 seconds. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 90-91; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] A Flight 175 attendant, possibly Robert Fangman, called the maintenance office four minutes earlier and spoke with employee Marc Policastro (see 8:52 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 ; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 7] But Policastro, who would have also answered this second call had it occurred, later recalls only one communication from the flight. United Airlines investigators will conclude that only one call is received. According to Airfone records, a third call from Flight 175 to the maintenance office is attempted a minute later, at 8:57, but this fails to connect. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 90-91; US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006]