Cliff Robertson's Connection To 9/11

The late great actor Cliff Robertson had an interesting connection to 9/11. Robertson was an avid flyer who owned a number of WWI and WWII vintage planes as well as other aircraft. Among aircraft in Robertson's personal collection were such aviation milestone's as a De Haviland Tiger Moth, a Messerschmidt BF 108 as well as a Spitfire MK913 Supermarine.

Cliff Robertson's connection to 9/11 was an interesting one. He was piloting his Beechcraft Baron directly over the World Trade Center buildings at exactly the moment when the first Boeing 767 struck the tower 1 building. Shortly after what appeared to be a horrible accident, Cliff Robertson and all other pilots in the air were ordered by aircraft ground control to land when it appeared that the nation was under attack where hijacked passenger planes were being used as flying bombs to attack the nation.

Despite his high vantage point it was probably unlikely that the actor was a witness to the first crash or the aftermath. However, once it became clear to the nation what was happening, no planes flew for a number of days until the skies were declared clear after new airport security measures were set in place.

Strangely, Cliff Robertson once starred as a troubled pilot in the film, THE PILOT, despite an unblemished record as a private pilot.