There's a difference between the reporting that occurred around the weeks after 9/11 and the History Channel's documentary (or, at the least, I hope so!). The country was in a state of panic and the news agencies pretty much removed their editorial filters for a short time. Anything that could be possibly tied to the event was being reported without much research. Sort of a shotgun effect of disasters.

Hopefully, the History Channel's program isn't that case, since they've had the benefit of time. It would be pretty easy to check on the story about the UA pilot returning to the gate and, I'd assume, the rapid departure of any group of passengers would be captured on the flight log.