Posted on 09/15/2001 11:24:52 AM PDT by MizSterious
The FBI has discovered that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al- Shehhi toured Airman Flight School in Norman in July 2000. Federal officials said they were among the 19 terrorists who hijacked four airliners Tuesday morning.
The FBI also is checking on a third man -- identified as Zhcarias or Zacarias Moussaoui -- who started but failed to complete training for a private pilot's license at Airman this year. Moussaoui is being held by immigration authorities after seeking advanced training on a 757 jet flight simulator in Minnesota.
The jets that crashed into the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field were Boeing 757s, while the jets that smashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York were Boeing 767s.
Atta, 33, contacted Norman's Airman Flight School in April 2000 to inquire about flight training prices, admissions director Brenda Keene said Friday.
Keene confirmed that the FBI has told the school that Atta and fellow terrorist Al-Shehhi, 23, visited her flight school three months later -- in July 2000 -- but decided not to enroll.
"Apparently they didn't like us," she said, adding it is not unusual for would-be pilots to price shop at flight schools nationwide.
Both men later trained from July to November 2000 at a flight school in Venice, Fla.
Atta was one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Al-Shehhi was one of the five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower. Both flights left from Boston.
Airman Flight School had more extensive dealings with Moussaoui.
The FBI questioned Airman officials about Moussaoui as recently as Thursday.
Moussaoui signed up with Airman to train for a private pilot's license on Feb. 26. He dropped out May 29 without obtaining his license and without announcing he was leaving.
Moussaoui completed his ground training, but had difficulty actually flying.
It takes at least 40 hours of flight training to get a private pilot's license.
Moussaoui, who Keene believes is French, had put in 57 hours when he left but had not yet flown solo.
"Which means he was a bad pilot," Keene said. "Usually you solo in anywhere from 15 to 20 hours maximum. ... His instructor didn't deem him competent enough."
Despite failing to complete his basic flight training, Moussaoui showed up in Eagan, Minn., last month offering to pay cash for training time on a Northwest Airlines 757 jet simulator, according to published reports.
"That sounds odd, for a person who is not even a private pilot," Keene said.
Moussaoui was taken into custody by federal officials on an immigration violation after an instructor became suspicious.
He was arrested Aug. 17 and remains in custody.
Federal officials are continuing to investigate, but have not disclosed whether Moussaoui has any link to terrorists involved in Tuesday's attack.
Perhaps, our entire country, including our security systems personnel became too complacent regarding threats on our soil. It was the "Won't happen here" mentality, even after the WTC bombing not that many years ago. How disappointing.
A defense official said the two suspects may have attended Defense Language Academy at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama.
I wish you were right and it were that simple. I think there's ample evidence that the FBI sees every person whom they identify as linked to a terrorist organization as an opportunity to monitor and learn more. They manage to recruit a small number of these as informants, sometimes going as far as protecting the informants from deportation and/or prosecution, then go around chasing their tails trying to figure our how reliable the information is the informants give them.
The FBI needs a complete overhaul and a redefinition of its mission.
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