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One little tidbit that may go along with this is that Argenbright, which had the security for 14 US airports, including the one that the terrorists flew out of, was apparenly under investigation around September of 2000. (As slow as these investigations go, it was probably initiated long before then.)

From Initial Findings of Review of Argenbright Security, Inc:

Argenbright was sentenced on October 20, 2000 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on charges of making false statements to FAA concerning the training, testing and background verification of employees. An OIG investigation found that in some cases, convicted felons had been hired as security screeners. Argenbright was placed on three years’ probation and was ordered to pay $1,550,000 in fines and restitution, including: 1) a $1 million fine; 2) $350,000 payment to airlines Argenbright provided services to as reimbursement for fraudulent billings; and 3) $200,000 for investigative costs.

It's possible that this guy is telling the truth, and that the plan was delayed because of the scrutiny surrounding the airports being investigated.

NN- This could be what Trannie was afraid of. There was trouble in the ME then, IIRC. The Argenbright investigation just may have saved us from this coming down then...(Shudder)

Thanks for the ping on this one. I think it's important that we have this entire article permanently documented in case it disappears later. I encourage people to click on the links in the article. They work.

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/dec/07ter.htm

Bombay terrorist reveals links with IC 814 hijackers
Josy Joseph in New Delhi
December 7, 2001
Mohammed Afroz, a trained pilot who was allegedly part of the global conspiracy to strike targets in several countries, has told his interrogators in the Bombay police that two of the IC 814 hijackers trained with him in Australia and the United States before the 1999 hijack.
Afroz told his interrogators that Islamic militants had planned to strike simultaneously in India, US, United Kingdom and Australia.
The original plan was to strike on September 9, 2000. However, it was later postponed by one year, and finally, to September 11.
Other than the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon (near Washington), the terrorists were planning to strike the British parliament and the Tower Bridge in the UK, Rolta Tower in Australia and the Indian Parliament.
The team assigned to Britain reached Heathrow airport on September 11 to hijack the London-Manchester flight, which was scheduled for take off at 1700 hours (GMT).
In the original September 9 plan, this team was to hijack the London-Bombay flight. The London-Manchester flight was chosen for September 11 as there was no London-Bombay flight on that date.
However, the plan eventually failed because all flights were grounded immediately after the attack on the WTC, Afroz's interrogation report said.
The investigators said that the Indian part of the plan was not abandoned even after September 11, and that the strike was to take place in November.
Afroz, a resident of Trombay (near Bombay) in Maharashtra, was part of one of the four groups that had been assigned the task of carrying out the strikes.
He had initially identified Mohammed Atta, main protagonist of the September 11 attacks, as one of those who trained with him at an aviation academy in Australia, where he underwent training between August 1997 and 1998, sources told rediff.com.
However, during sustained interrogation, he was inconsistent on his claim about Atta.
The cost of Afroz's training in Melbourne was borne by the Student's Islamic Movement of India, which is banned in India, Intelligence agencies claimed.
Investigators have also unearthed remittance of about a million Indian rupees to Afroz's account in Bombay from an ANZ Grindlays Bank account in Delhi.
Afroz also confirmed that two of the hijackers of the IC 814 Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi in December 1999 were part of the team that underwent training in Australia.
The New York Times has given details of evidence picked up in Kabul showing links between the IC 814 hijackers and the Taliban.
The paper said four ticket stubs from the flight, two boarding passes, an Indian Airlines Airbus 300 safety procedure card and a handwritten list of the plane's passengers were among those found in a hideout in Kabul. The hideout also had notes on nuclear and biological weapons.
The two IC 814 hijackers who trained with Afroz in Australia were Shahid Akhtar Sayeed alias Sandy and Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim alias Zia, both Pakistanis.
Afroz claimed to have returned to India in October 1999 and later went to Britain in August 2001 for a multi-engine training programme.
Afroz returned to India on September 22 and was staying in various hotels, but never returning to his home. On October 2, 2001, he was picked up from Hotel Abbot in Vashi.
According to the interrogation report, a large number of jehadis (holy warriors) from Iran were part of the entire plan. However, they disappeared in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Here's a story printed at rediff.com from two days earlier that states at least some of Mohammed Afroz's story has been confirmed:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/dec/05adv.htm

Al Qaeda had plans to attack Parliament House: Advani

December 5, 2001
Al Qaeda had plans to attack the Parliament House in New Delhi, besides places in Britain and Australia, along with the September 11 strikes in the United States, Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani said on Wednesday quoting confessions by an arrested terrorist.
Stating that the terrorist had been arrested in Bombay, Advani said, "His confessions were very startling. He told the police that Al Qaeda had plans to attack Britain, Australia and our Parliament House. It was a massive conspiracy."
Advani, who did not name the terrorist, said the terrorist had received flight training in Australia.
"We have been able to confirm his statements and some other information he had revealed," the minister said.
"From what all this man has said, it seems his confessions carry some weight," Advani said.
Investigations are still on and the leads he has given were still being pursued, the home minister added.

More names to add to the mix. I can't tell by reading this one whether the original plan was for 2000 or not. It says he was first told about the hijacking plan in Hong Kong in May, 2000, but then the story just kind of skips to 2001.

BTW, this particular Mohammed's full name is "Mohammed Afroz Abdul Razak" and is referred to as "Razak" in this article.

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

The Statesman (India)
December 9, 2001
AL-QAIDA SUSPECT HAS NEVER MET OSAMA

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, Dec. 8. Al-Qaida suspect Mohammed Afroz Abdul Razak has told Mumbai Police crime branch interrogators that he took instructions from Maulana Mansoor Ilyas of the Warribee Islamic Centre in Victoria (Australia) and had never come in direct contact with Osama bin Laden.

Investigators suspect that Maulana Ilyas has been recruiting youths without telling them that they would be working for the Al-Qaida. Razak was initially trained to trigger bomb blasts but was later asked by Maulana to undergo a pilots course. He was trained at Royal Victorian Aero Club. Razak told interrogators that Rs 1 crore was spent on his pilots course. He said two hijackers of Indian Airlines IC-814, Shahid Akhtar and Zahoor Ahmed Mistry, were known to him but by different names Sandy and Zia. They were receiving instructions from Maulana Ilyas.

Razak first came to know about the plan to hijack airliners and carry out suicide attacks in different parts of the world in May 2000 at a lodge called Pakistan Hotel in Hong Kong where he met Maulana Ilyas. Police said the passport entry confirmed this visit to Hong Kong. Razak said he and other four hijackers were told about their mission to hit the House of Commons at this meeting. He was sent to Cabair College of Air Training at the Cranfield Airport , Bedford, in England in July. Around Rs 30 lakh was spent on advanced training.

Fully equipped to fly large passenger airliners like Boeing 757 or 767, Razak was given the order to hijack planes on 9 September 2001. He was asked to hijack London-Manchester plane and crash into House of Commons. The ticket to board the flight at Heathrow Airport was issued to him on 10 September. When two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre towers in New York, Razak was at the London Airport. The mission failed as local aviation authorities cancelled all internal flights.

Two months of intensive interrogation initially baffled the police. As more and more details started pouring in, pieces fitted perfectly in the jigsaw puzzle.