WCPO-TV in Cincinnati (4 hour drive from Cleveland) posted a story to their website, saying that Flight 93 had landed in Cleveland. This story, which came from an Associated Press bulletin, was retracted by the AP minutes later. WCPO reporter, Liz Foreman, removed the link to the story, but it remained archived on the website.
WCPO reporter Liz Foreman has posted a response about the claim that Flight 93 landed in Cleveland:
WCPO.com's Flight 93 Story
I thought it was time to set the record straight on a website error that's gotten out of hand.
I've been getting calls and e-mails for several years, all from folks who have seen my byline on a story (Plane Lands In Cleveland; Bomb Feared Aboard) about Flight 93, the plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001.
The story in question, an Associated Press bulletin, was posted on WCPO.com during the morning of September 11, 2001. The story stated that Flight 93 landed in Cleveland. This was not true.
Once the AP issued a retraction a few minutes later, we removed the link.
There were two problems:
1)I only removed the link TO the story. We did not remove the story itself. This was my error probably due to the busy nature of the day - I was the only person updating the website until about noon that day, and things were crazier than they’d ever been.
2) The byline was incorrect. In my haste, I pasted the “Reported by: 9News Staff” byline from a previous story, but this was actually an Associated Press story.
Sometime in 2003 I received an e-mail inquiring about the story. I quickly removed the story, and wrote back to the person, thanking them for the heads up about the incorrect story.
Things didn't stop there.
Messages and phone calls started coming in about "Why did the government make me remove the story?" As is the nature of the net, folks had gotten a hold of the old story and posted it on their own blogs, fueling even more interest in the situation.
So, for everyone who is still wondering about this story, here are some frequently asked questions. I'm hoping this clears everything up once and for all!
Read more... - WCPO.com's Flight 93 Story,Liz Foreman, WCPO-TV