Hijackers Trained to Fly in U.S.

By STEPHEN MANNING
Associated Press Writer

BOWIE, Md. - At first, the man who tried to rent a plane from a suburban Washington airport didn't arouse suspicion. He apparently had 600 hours of flight experience and a valid pilot's license.

But Hani Hanjour flew so poorly in three test flights that instructors from Freeway Airport wouldn't let him fly alone.

"We didn't think twice about it because it's not unusual for foreign students to get flight time," said Marcel Bernard, chief flight instructor at Freeway Airport.

A month later, Hanjour was on board American Airlines Flight 77 when it dove into the Pentagon. The FBI says he was among 19 terrorists who hijacked four planes in the coordinated Sept. 11 attack.

The hijackers used flight schools across the nation to get flight time and flying lessons, some practicing their skills at different schools several years.

Federal investigators have contacted many of the schools, checking student records and logs for commercial jet flight simulators.

American flight schools likely were an ideal place for the hijackers to train. Lower fuel costs in the United States make flight time and lessons much cheaper, and for about $5,000 a student can earn a license to fly single-engine private planes.

Federal investigators say at least seven of the 19 hijackers were pilots. Several took courses or had connections with flight schools in Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Oklahoma and California.

Cousins Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi both received training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Fla., and practiced on a Boeing 727 full-motion flight simulator at SimCenter Inc. in Opa-locka, Fla.

Atta, 33, was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which left Boston and crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. Al-Shehhi, 23, was believed to be one of five men who flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the other tower a short time later.

Someone who wants to take flying lessons needs only money to pay for classes and basic English skills required by the Federal Aviation Administration, said Bob Hepp, owner of Aviation Adventures in Fort Washington, Md. Foreign applicants are asked to list their country of origin on forms, but don't have to produce immigration documents.

"A U.S. pilot's certificate can be awarded to someone from a different country as easily as to a U.S. citizen," he said.

James Davidson, owner of the ATC Flight Training Center at a Fort Washington airfield, said the names of two men who inquired about lessons at his school in 1998 were similar to those on an FBI list of suspected terrorists.

Investigators have traced at least three suspected hijackers of Flight 77 to flight schools in Maryland, Arizona and California.

Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi were interested in flying large planes, especially Boeings, said Rick Garza, an instructor at Sorbi's Flying Club in San Diego. Garza flew with the men in a twin-engine Cessna in May 2000.

The men were friendly but their English skills were too weak to meet federal standards, said Garza, who ended the classes after a half-dozen ground lessons and two flights.

"They did come back to say goodbye. That's how nice they were," Garza said.

Hanjour spoke broken English when he came to Freeway Airport to rent a plane but said little about himself or why he wanted the plane, Bernard said.

Hanjour flew Cessna propellor planes with instructors over the Chesapeake Bay during the first week of August and didn't go near Washington airspace, Bernard said. He paid $400 in cash for the lessons.

Hanjour may have received pilot training as early as 1996 in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he took courses for three months during that year and December 1997.

Even though his flying skills were limited, Bernard said he likely had enough knowledge to maneuver a passenger jet already in flight.

"It wouldn't be impossible if he got his hands on the controls to point the airplane at things," Bernard said.

FAA records show a commercial pilot's license was awarded in 1999 to a Hani Hanjoor who listed as his address a post office box in Saudi Arabia.