Plane Crash. According to the interrogations of KSM and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh (his interlocutor in Germany), Mohammed Atta was worried about the communications, Atta's real concern being that Jarrah might be unable to break away from his wife, that it would just be too painful in the end for him to follow through with his suicide flight. During that period, his roommates grew annoyed with him. Mohamed Atta's Story. There, Mr. Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, another man the F.B.I. They may have helped arrange and host the meeting in Tarragona. before the crash, the . The alleged distortions of the IG report centered around excluding any evidence that Able Danger had identified and tracked Atta years before 9/11. [23] He kept to himself to such an extent that he would often react to simple greetings with silence. [60][61], On June 6, 2002, ABC's World News Tonight broadcast an interview with Johnelle Bryant, former loan officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in south Florida, who told about her encounter with Mohamed Atta. "It is possible that he calculated that security would be less stringent in Portland, Maine, than it would be in Boston, said terrorism expert Steve Emerson. Undated photos of suspected hijackers of United Airlines flight #93 that crashed in rural Pennsylvania, released by the FBI September 27, 2001 in Washington, DC. Phillpott said that Shaffer was "relying on my recollection 100 percent," and the Defense Department Inspector General's report indicated that Philpott "may have exaggerated knowing Atta's identity because he supported using Able Danger's techniques to fight terrorism. LA Times Archives, Tracking the Flights Hijacked on 9/11, Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 21:12, [mmmd elmi wd essj.jed t], Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, "On Path to the U.S. Both enrolled at Jones Aviation in Sarasota and took training there for a brief time. It's hard to tell.". the suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackings and the pilot of the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center, was a homosexual. . A Pakistani businessman named Mohammed Atta had come to Prague from Saudi Arabia on May 31, 2000, with this second Atta possibly contributing to the confusion. On the way, Atta stopped in Reus to pick up Ramzi bin al-Shibh at the airport. After Atta's transmission, Boston Center concludes that Flight 11 has been hijacked and alerts other control centers. Twelve minutes later, at 8:46:40a.m., Atta crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. [70], In July 2001, Atta again left for Spain in order to meet with bin al-Shibh for the last time. [1][2][3][4][5] Having just turned 33 at the time of the attacks, he was the oldest of the 19 hijackers who took part in the mission. Mohamed Atta accepted and was in Germany two weeks later, in July. [88] At 6:45a.m., while at the Boston airport, Atta took a call from Flight 175 hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi. [24] Atta was averse to modern development. [15][17], Atta also got engaged to a woman lined up by his father and her family in Cairo, at late 1999, after coming back from Germany the same year. A well-connected Saudi family hosted visits from 9/11 terrorists at their Sarasota, Fla., home, including Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi, who were the hijackers in the cockpit of the plane which . Shower. After Jarrah's team hijacked Flight 93, flight attendants and passengers started making phone calls from the back of the plane. The hour-long tape places him in Afghanistan at a decisive moment in the development of the conspiracy when he was given operational command. It had been overlooked that there would still be a security screen to pass in Boston because of this distinct detail of the terminal's arrangement. The 33-year-old grew up in a strict household in Egypt where he was made to study hard. According to Bryant, Atta wanted to finance the purchase of a crop-duster. Twenty-three minutes later, Atta flew that plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. that best enable air traffic controllers to follow a plane's path. - United Airlines Flight 175 (traveling from Boston to Los Angeles) strikes the South Tower of the World Trade Center . Timeline September 11, 2001. Published Nov 7, 2001. "He said he was an engineer and he wanted to build a chemical . The two other "muscle men," intended to take over the plane, were also Saudi citizens: Abdulaziz al-Omari (A. al-Omari on the flight manifest) and Satam al-Suqami. 1) Making an oath to die and renew your intentions. His mother, 79, at the time denied her son's involvement in the attacks and that she feels he is in Afghanistan. The day has now come for us to carry out our plan. It is only Jarrah's connection to Bin al-Shibh and others that would have connected him to any plot, including his attendance at the al Quds mosque in Hamburg. A passenger revolt kept Flight 93 from hitting the Capitol. There are two separate concourses in Terminal B; the south concourse is mainly used by US Airways and the north one is mostly used by American Airlines. [25] The invitation had been for a three-day visit, but Atta ended up staying several weeks that August, only to visit Aleppo yet again that December. Instead, he went to Central Office & Travel in Pompano Beach to purchase a ticket for a flight to Newark, leaving on the evening of August 7 and schedule to return in the evening on August 9. This was the last transmission heard from Flight 11. [8][29] Among other odd jobs to supplement his income, Atta sometimes worked at a cleaning company and sometimes bought and sold cars. "[62][63] Bryant contacted the authorities after recognising Atta in news reports. "[15] For his thesis, Atta concentrated on the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo. Several clues have been found to link their stay in Spain to Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas (Abu Dahdah), and Amer el Azizi, a Moroccan in Spain. Drumhiller said it could have been "to make the final arrangements, to sort of close out everything they were doing to wrap up their time in the states.". Apr. In the aftermath of the attack, law enforcement agents discovered a four-page document in Mohamed Atta's baggage. And we came up empty.". On American Airlines Flight 11, Atta joined four other hijackers. [69], On June 27, Atta flew from Fort Lauderdale to Boston, Massachusetts, where he spent a day, and then continued to San Francisco for a short time, and from there to Las Vegas. During the meeting, Atta and bin al-Shibh also decided on the targets to be hit, ruling out a strike on a nuclear plant. "There's a real question there because he took a tremendous risk in going to Portland the night before and then having to catch a commuter flight to Boston, said Roger Cressey, who was director of transnational threats for President Bush's National Security Council. "[98], In the months following the September 11 attacks, officials at the Czech Interior Ministry asserted that Atta made a trip to Prague on April 8, 2001, to meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent named Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani. He stayed there until 1998. Hardball takes a look at the top mysteries surrounding the deadliest terror attack on American soil starting with the activities al-Qaida ring leader Mohammed Atta on the evening of Sept. 10, 2001. [77] On July 19, Atta returned to the United States, flying on Delta Air Lines from Madrid to Fort Lauderdale, via Atlanta. The leader of the nineteen was Mohamed Atta, and they were divided into four groups, one for each plane, each with a pilot who served as group leader: Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Samir Jarrah . Atta checked in for American Airlines Flight 11, passed through security again, and boarded the flight. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Spanish investigators have said that Marwan al-Shehhi and two others later joined the meeting. They drove to Cambrils, where they spent a night at the Hotel Monica. The investigator, Klaus Ulrich Kersten was the director of Germany's federal anticrime agency, the Bundeskriminalamt. So, did Mohammed Atta go to Portland because of security issues? Mohamed Atta", "In Egypt, some see war on terror as a war on Islam", "Interview with Professor Dittmar Machule", "Four Corners Ralph Bodenstein interview", "Will Gives a Window into Suspect's Mind", "Germans Lay Out Early Qaeda Ties to 9/11 Hijackers", "Video showing Atta, bin Laden is unearthed", "Zacarias Moussauoi v. the United States (trial testimony)", "Transcript of Johnelle Bryant Interview", "Hijacker tried to get U.S. loan to buy plane", "Algerian accused in Britain of training hijackers", "Atta recibi en Tarragona joyas para que los miembros del 'comando' del 11-S se hiciesen pasar por ricos saudes", "War Without Borders The Madrid Bombing", "Search for Sept. 11 Suspect Focuses on a Visit to Spain", "Sept. 11 hijacker raised suspicions at border", Document links al Qaeda paymaster, 9/11 plotter, "NewsMine.org hijackers traced to huffman aviation.txt", "While America Slept: The True Story of 9/11", "A Mundane Itinerary on the Eve of Terror", "9/11 mystery: What was Atta doing on 9/10? Atta had lived in Germany for approximately five years and also had a "strong record as a student". [64] Law-enforcement officials said Bryant passed a lie-detector exam. The family had few relatives on the father's side and kept their distance from Bouthayna's family. Jan 28, 2004 at 3:00 am. While in the United States he traveled to Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he and Shehhi visited an LA Fitness Health Club. [38] The instructions in his last will and testament reflect both Sunni funeral practices along with some more puritanical demands from Salafism, including asking people not "to weep and cry" and to generally refrain from showing emotion. I have been planning and working with Bin Laden on the destruction of certain American targets. Atta took control of the plane and crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46a.m.[6] The crash led to the collapse of the skyscraper and the deaths of more than 1,600 people. Readers may recall the shaving custom from the media coverage of 9/11. But Atta's night before 9-11 which he spent in Portland, Main -- is a mystery that has puzzled terrorism experts for five years. [33], After coming to Hamburg in 1992, Atta grew more religiously fanatical and frequented the mosque with greater regularity. Atta was directly responsible for the deaths of more than 1,600 people during the attacks. [7] In Germany, he registered his name as "Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta", and went by the name Mohamed el-Amir at the Hamburg University of Technology. . [52], German investigators said that they had evidence that Mohamed Atta trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan from late 1999 to early 2000. His mother, Bouthayna Mohamed Mustapha Sheraqi, came from a wealthy farming and trading family and was also educated. He lived in Hamburg in the 1990's and is now believed to have trained at an Al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan in 1999. On the morning of September 11, Atta boarded American Airlines Flight 11, which he and his team then hijacked. Passengers must leave the secured area, go outdoors, cross a covered roadway, and enter another building before going through security once again. This claim has been disputed; Terry McDermott has argued that it is unusual for someone to go on pilgrimage so soon after the first time and to spend three months there (more than Hajj requires). Atta also started and led a prayer group, which Ahmed Maklat and Mounir El Motassadeq joined. USDA loan officer Johnelle Bryant said Atta visited her office and inquired about a loan to buy a plane. Abdulaziz al Omari (22), Saudi Arabia - Airport security guard. He seldom bathed, and they could not bear his "complete, almost aggressive insularity". [10] His father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, was a lawyer, educated in both sharia and civil law. He used his credit card to purchase two Swiss Army knives and some chocolate in a shop at the Zrich Airport. The hijacking began 15 minutes into the flight at around 8:14 a.m., when beverage service would be starting. It turned out one of his accomplices, Mohamed Atta-- thought to be the ringleader of the entire four-jet attack that demolished the twin towers and part of the Pentagon-- stayed in the cheap Econo . "Might have just been doing surveillance detection just to see if somebody might have been following him up in that area, Drumhiller said. But, he agreed, it raised a host of questions, most notably one that remains unanswered: Why were the two novice pilots flying into a heavily trafficked airport on such a busy day? Waterboarded at a CIA Black Site, the "Number One Terrorist" Gave Up a Name, A Florida Motel Manager Let the "Clean-cut" Guest Have an Overnight Visitor, Atta chose the day: A surveillance camera photographs suspected hijackers Mohammed Atta (R) and Abdulaziz Alomari (C) passing through airport security September 11, 2001 at Portland International Jetport in Maine. That month, Atta and Shehhi stayed in hotels and rented rooms in New York City on a short-term basis. He was among the highest-scoring students; by his senior year, he was admitted to an exclusive architecture program. As the five-year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, major questions about the terrorist attacks remain unanswered. On the way, they were seen getting gasoline at an Exxon gas station and visited the Longfellow House in Portland that afternoon;[82] they arrived at the hotel at 5:43p.m. and spent the night in Room 233. Once Atta's commuter flight landed in Boston, phone records show he took a call from another 9/11 hijacker, Marwan Al-Shehi. Of the four hijacker pilots, Jarrah was the most westernized, coming from a Lebanese secular background and Christian schooling before moving to Germany for university studies. [12], When Atta was ten, his family moved to the Cairo neighborhood of Abdeen, situated near the city center. But none of them were so flagged. At 2:43 p.m., Atta established an American Airlines "AAdvantage" profile #6H26L04 and reserved a business class seat on American Airlines Flight 11 departing Boston at 7:45 a.m. Reading airline charts and inquiring with the airline, he had determined that the flight would be in a Boeing 767-223ER plane, one that he had scouted and studied over months, taking numerous test flights to screen the plane and the boarding and security procedures. The Israeli Supreme Court later overturned his extradition and set him free. The video, bearing the date of January 18, 2000, is of good resolution but contains no sound track. Another theory is that the 9/11 ringleader was concerned about a last-minute weather glitch or traffic jam in Boston. Atta and the other Hamburg cell members were recruited by bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for a "planes operation" in the United States. [86] In Portland, Mohamed Atta was selected by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS), which required his checked bags to undergo extra screening for explosives but involved no extra screening at the passenger security checkpoint. [6] Atta was not heard from again for nine minutes until 8:33:59, when he was heard to say: "Nobody move, please. He had vacationed often as a child (and would continue to take vacations with his wife while he was in the United States) and was the best English speaker and student of the four. He was the only pilot who was married, to a German national of Turkish descent. [108], Atta's father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, a retired lawyer in Egypt, vehemently rejected allegations his son was involved in the September 11 attacks, and instead accused the Mossad and the United States government of having a hand in framing his son. [96] Mahmoud Atta, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was subsequently deported from Venezuela to the United States, extradited to Israel, tried and sentenced to life in prison. On July 26, Atta traveled via Continental Airlines to Newark, New Jersey, checked into the Kings Inn Hotel in Wayne, New Jersey, and stayed there until July 30 when he took a flight from Newark back to Fort Lauderdale. Atta returned to Hamburg in February 2000, and began inquiring about flight training in the United States. An employee at Huffman confirmed that the flight school did send the agency the plane's maintenance records. And that may have been what he was doing. We hate America and all that it stands for. Make sure you know all aspects of the plan well, and expect the response, or a . Mohamed Atta, right, and Abdulaziz al-Omari are seen passing through security at the Portland Jetport on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Credit: Courtesy of Spectrum News Service It is a day no one . Mr. Kraus noted that the two men had been trained on smaller, ''uncontrolled'' airports that operate without flight towers. Atta also claimed different nationalities, sometimes Egyptian and other times telling people he was from the United Arab Emirates. He believed that the drab and impersonal apartment blocks, built in the 60s and 70s, ruined the beauty of old neighborhoods and robbed their people of privacy and dignity. On July 25, Atta dropped Ziad Jarrah off at Miami International Airport for a flight back to Germany. At 8:26 a.m., Flight 11 makes . A voice believed to be that of al Qaeda hijack leader Mohamed Atta urged passengers to . We are going back to the airport. Tuohey was the ticket agent at the Portland International Jetport who handed two of the terrorists - Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari - their boarding passes for an early morning flight to . . In November 2000, Atta earned his instrument rating, and then a commercial pilot's license in December from the Federal Aviation Administration. Since these were domestic flights, there was no particular means at the time for the intelligence community to receive a tip-off of a reservation. [30], In Hamburg, Atta was intensely drawn to al-Quds Mosque which adhered to a "harsh, uncompromisingly fundamentalist, and resoundingly militant" version of Sunni Islam. Footage shows the five hijackers who flew American Flight 77 into the Pentagon progressing through security checks at Washington's Dulles International Airport. refused to comment on whether any official investigation had ever been started against the two men, citing the criminal investigation into the hijackings. On August 6, Atta booked a flight on Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale to Newark, leaving on August 7 and returning on August 9. That night and twice the next morning, he called Bashar Ahmad Ali Musleh, a Jordanian student in Hamburg who served as a liaison for bin al-Shibh. In the Czech Republic, some intelligence officials say the source of the purported meeting was an Arab informant who approached the Czech intelligence service with his sighting of Atta only after Atta's photograph had appeared in newspapers all over the world. He rented a Chevrolet Malibu from an Alamo Rent A Car agency. Jarrah had arrived in the United States on June 27, 2000, after his flight landed at Newark, New Jersey, and Jarrah had decided to go with Shehhi and Atta to search for different flight schools in the US. In Hamburg, Atta became involved with the al-Quds Mosque, where he met Marwan al-Shehhi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Ziad Jarrah, together forming the Hamburg cell. [32] Atta Sr. rejected media reports that stated his son was drinking wildly, and instead described his son as a quiet boy uninvolved with politics, shy and devoted to studying architecture. Atta earned his private pilot certificate in September, and then he and Shehhi decided to switch flight schools. On September 11 we'll live tweet the events of the day, minute by minute, starting at 4:45 a.m. EST, @RoadTo911. This encounter took place "around the third week of April to the third week of May of 2000", before Atta's official entry date into the United States (see below). Bin Laden asked them to pledge loyalty and commit to suicide missions, which Atta and the other three Hamburg men all accepted. [16] Also in 1990, Atta's family moved into the eleventh floor of an apartment building in the Egyptian city of Giza. On 12 April 1986, Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta . He would soon post a note forbidding pilots from flying into Miami International. On November 29, 1999, Mohamed Atta boarded Turkish Airlines Flight TK1662 from Hamburg to Istanbul, where he changed to flight TK1056 to Karachi, Pakistan. The report suggests that incident was an inconvenience but did not result in major delays. The Mossad killed him. But with more than 200,000 warrants pending on minor offenses in Broward County, he was never picked up. In-laws characterized the father of Atta as "austere, strict, and private," and neighbors viewed the family as reclusive. They lived in the area for several months. - 9:03 a.m. There, Atta and bin al-Shibh held a meeting to complete the planning of the attacks. Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen, would go on to pilot United Airlines Flight 93, intended to hit the U.S. Capitol Building. Atta grew up in Egypt and studied urban planning in Germany. (Photo By U.S. Navy/Getty Images). The 30million CSI-style probe has taken seven years. Mohamed Atta had varied his name on documents, also using "Mehan Atta", "Mohammad El Amir", "Muhammad Atta", "Mohamed El Sayed", "Mohamed Elsayed", "Muhammad al-Amir", "Awag Al Sayyid Atta", and "Awad Al Sayad". Even for those who couldn't believe what they were seeing, that signaled a terrorist plot, with the possibility of more attacks to follow. Although the marriage never happened, Atta's father mentioned they liked each other.[18]. [71] On July 8, Atta was recorded on surveillance video when he withdrew 1700 Swiss francs from an ATM.