9/11 Widow Angry After Mark Wahlberg Repeats That He'd Have Saved United Flight 93

Actor Mark Wahlberg has created quite a bit of buzz over the past few weeks. Over the weekend, his newest film, "Contraband," dominated the box office, taking in a whopping $28.5 million.

But it's his media interviews that seem to be capturing the most attention. First, he poured his heart out about his faith and spiritual journal on CNN's Piers Morgan. Then, he divulged his candid emotions about the September 11 attacks in an interview with Men's Journal. His statements in the interview unfortunately offended at least one 9/11 widow.

Among his comments, Wahlberg said that he would have beaten the terrorists and landed at least one of the planes safely had he been present on board that tragic day. In previous interviews, he has made similar statements, while sharing the nagging thoughts he has regarding the attacks and his belief that the scenario would have turned out quite differently had he been involved.

In a 2006 interview, he said, "We certainly would have tried to do something to fight," going on to admit that he's had "over 50 dreams about it." More than five years ago, Starpulse.com reported:

Mark Wahlberg still dreams about stopping the terrorists who attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, because he should have been on one of the planes that crashed. The actor and some friends were booked on United Airlines flight 93 from his native Boston, Mass., to Los Angeles, which was hijacked by Al-Qaida terrorists.

Brave passengers forced the jet to crash into a field in Pennsylvania before it could reach it's intended target, and the thought that he could have been involved still haunts Wahlberg.

In his most recent interview with Men's Journal, the actor reiterated his feeling that he would have saved the day.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did," he told the magazine. "There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.'"

According to TMZ, Deena Burnett-Bailey, a 9/11 widow, is less than content with these words. Her husband, Thomas Burnett, called her from Flight 93 and said, "I know we're going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about it."

To Burnett-Bailey, Wahlberg was "disrespectful." She apparently responded:

"Does Mark Wahlberg have a pilot's license? Then I think hindsight is 20/20 and it's insignificant to say what you would have done if you weren't there. The plan for Flight 93 was foiled by heroes. For him to speculate that his presence on board could have stopped everything is silly and disrespectful.  Sounds like someone is grandstanding."

In an interview with TMZ, Wahlberg later apologized for the comments he made in the February edition of the magazine.

"To suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," he said. "To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with. I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."

(H/T: Huffington Post)