United Airlines' 'tacky' ad hits September 11 sore spot

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United Airlines' 'tacky' ad hits September 11 sore spot

The United Airlines advertisement at Ground Zero in New York.

The United Airlines advertisement at Ground Zero in New York.Credit: Twitter/EliFromBrooklyn

United Airlines has come under fire for insensitivity over the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for the second time in a week.

The latest controversy surrounds an advertisement for the airline at Ground Zero in New York, the point where two airliners struck the twin towers of the World Trade Centre.

The advertisement reads ‘‘You’re going to like where we land’’ and is just meters away from the point where United flight 175 struck the south tower.

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The billboard has since been removed after media reported that some had found the ad insenstive.

Mike Burke, whose brother William was killed in the attack, told NBC New York he thought the ad was ‘‘tacky’’ and ‘‘unfortunate’’.

It’s the second time in a week that United Airlines has come under fire over for insensitivity about the September 11 terrorist attacks.

On May 16, the airline erroneously revived the flight numbers of its two hijacked planes, flights 93 and 175, in their booking system.

United Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field as passengers tried to retake the cockpit from hijackers who seized the Boeing 757 en route to San Francisco from Newark, New Jersey.

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Flight 175, a Boeing 767, was crashed into the World Trade Centre’s south tower on a flight to Los Angeles from Boston.

After a crash, airlines traditionally retire the flight number of the aircraft involved. The airline said the numbers had been revived in error and would be permanently removed.

- theage.com.au

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