[Shermy]

And how many terrorists lost their nerve? Were any plans aborted due to take-off delays?

[Terriergal]

We will never know. {:-{

[jae471]

There was an article on FR a few weeks ago about a plane that was scheduled to take off from Dallas/Fort-Worth that had four Arabs on board. The take-off was delayed for a few minutes for normal delay reasons, but it was enough to keep it grounded (It was scheduled for a 9ish EST take-off.) The article said that the Arabs quickly left the plane and were never found.

[piasa]

"FBI Asks if Hijacking Plot Included Plane at Kennedy" (Air Canada- Toronto to LaGuardia and also an AA flight142 Kennedy to London delayed due to a mechanical problem and also a United flight 23 Kennedy to San Francisco )

*Expired MSNBC Link but may still be on the web somewhere* "Knives Hint at Thwarted Hijacking" (Atlanta to Brussels and also a flight out of Boston)

FBI Probes 5th Flight for Hijackers, Plane Grounded on Day of Attack

Arrested Men's Shaved Bodies Drew Suspicion of the FBI (Plane which landed prematurely in St. Louis & men who were captured on an Amtrak train to Texas)

[SamAdams76]

I am pretty certain that other hijacker teams were aboard other aircraft but their flights never left the ground. We will never know how many lives the Bush Administration and the FAA saved by immediately grounding all airplanes that day. Personally I think that they had a whole day of terror planned.

[FITZ]

And how many terrorists lost their nerve?

I'm sure quite a few did. I think the Arabs overestimated their side and underestimated ours. I'll bet some were too drunk, too hungover, too scared to even show up to the airports that morning as planned. Some probably went to a nudie bar like the others and completely changed their minds about dying for their religion.