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==Hijackers== {{Multiple image | direction = horizontal | total_width = 150 | image1 = Hani Hanjour 2.jpg | caption1 = Hani Hanjour (pilot) | image2 = Khalid al-mihdhar 2.jpg | caption2 = Khalid al-Mihdhar | image3 = Nawaf al-Hazmi.jpg | caption3 = Nawaf al-Hazmi | image4 = Salem al-Hazmi.jpg | caption4 = Salem al-Hazmi | image5 = Majed Moqed.jpg | caption5 = Majed Moqed | perrow = 1 / 2 / 2 | header = American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers | caption_align = center }} The hijackers on American Airlines Flight{{spaces}}77 were five [[Saudis|Saudi]] men between the ages of 20 and 29. They were led by Hanjour, who piloted the aircraft into the Pentagon.<ref name="NYTimes1">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/18/us/nation-challenged-suspect-man-traveled-across-us-his-quest-be-pilot.html |title=A Nation Challenged: The Suspect β Man Traveled Across U.S. In His Quest to Be a Pilot |author=David W. Chen |work=The New York Times |date=September 19, 2001 |access-date=February 8, 2015 |archive-date=November 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205350/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/18/us/nation-challenged-suspect-man-traveled-across-us-his-quest-be-pilot.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Hanjour first arrived in the United States in 1990.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yardley |first=Jim |author2=Thomas, Jo |title=Traces of Terror: The F.B.I.; For Agent in Phoenix, the Cause of Many Frustrations Extended to His Own Office |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0DD173FF93AA25755C0A9649C8B63 |date=June 19, 2002 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317084525/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0DD173FF93AA25755C0A9649C8B63 |archive-date=March 17, 2009}}</ref> Hanjour trained at the CRM Airline Training Center in [[Scottsdale, Arizona]], earning his [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] [[Commercial pilot license|commercial pilot's certificate]] in April 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four Planes, Four Coordinated Teams |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/graphics/attack/hijackers.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |year=2001 |access-date=June 17, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224023643/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/graphics/attack/hijackers.html |archive-date=February 24, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> He had wanted to be a commercial pilot for [[Saudia]] but was rejected when he applied to the civil aviation school in [[Jeddah]] in 1999. Hanjour's brother later explained that, frustrated at not finding a job, Hanjour "increasingly turned his attention toward religious texts and cassette tapes of militant Islamic preachers."<ref>{{cite news |last=Sennott |first=Charles M. |title=Why bin Laden plot relied on Saudi hijackers |url=https://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/driving_a_wedge/part1.shtml |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=March 3, 2002 |access-date=May 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513135327/http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/driving_a_wedge/part1.shtml |archive-date=May 13, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hanjour returned to Saudi Arabia after being certified as a pilot, but left again in late 1999, telling his family he was going to the [[United Arab Emirates]] to work for an airline.<ref name="911 ch7">{{cite book |chapter=The Attack Looms |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch7.htm |year=2004 |title=9/11 Commission Report |publisher=[[9/11 Commission|National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States]] |access-date=May 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023214223/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch7.htm |archive-date=October 23, 2013}}</ref> Hanjour likely went to Afghanistan, where [[Al-Qaeda]] recruits were screened for special skills they might have. Already having selected the [[Hamburg cell]] members, Al Qaeda leaders selected Hanjour to lead the fourth team of hijackers.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wright, Lawrence |title=Looming Tower |url=https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig |url-access=registration |chapter=Chapter 18, "Boom" |year=2006 |publisher=Alfred P. Knopf |isbn=978-0375414862 |access-date=November 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110182508/https://archive.org/details/loomingtoweralqa00wrig |archive-date=January 10, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> {{quote box|quote= 'I guess I was the more senior agent. So I went up to the individual that had the ticket on the Yemeni cell, the Yemeni operatives. And I said to her, I said, "What's going on? You know, we've got to tell the Bureau about this. These guys clearly are bad. One of them, at least, has a multiple-entry visa to the U.S. We've got to tell the FBI." And then [the CIA officer] said to me, "No, it's not the FBI's case, not the FBI's jurisdiction." So I go tell Doug. And I'm like, "Doug, what can we do?" If we had picked up the phone and called the Bureau, I would have been violating the law. I would have broken the law. I would have been removed from the building that day. I would have had my clearances suspended, and I would be gone.' |source= β[[Mark Rossini]], ''The Spy Factory''<ref name=rossini1>{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html |title=The Spy Factory |publisher=[[PBS]] |author=Bamford, James |author-link=James Bamford |author2=Willis, Scott |date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=July 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411200414/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html |archive-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref>|align=right|width=25%}} In December 2000, Hanjour arrived in [[San Diego]], joining "muscle" hijackers [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] and [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], who had been there since January of that year.<ref name="911 ch7" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Amy |title=Hijackers Led Core Group |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2002/national-reporting/works/093001.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505123208/http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2002/national-reporting/works/093001.html |archive-date=May 5, 2008 |date=September 30, 2001 |access-date=May 29, 2008}}</ref> [[Alec Station]], the CIA's unit dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden, had discovered that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar had multiple-entry visas to the United States. An FBI agent inside the unit and his supervisor [[Mark Rossini]] (Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Supervisory Agent) sought to alert FBI headquarters, but the CIA officer supervising Rossini at Alec Station rebuffed him on the grounds that the FBI lacked jurisdiction.<ref name="bam1">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html ''The Spy Factory''], PBS Frontline episode based on James Bamford's book, ''Shadow Factory'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411200414/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html|date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> Soon after arriving in San Diego, Hanjour and Hazmi left for [[Mesa, Arizona]], where Hanjour began refresher training at Arizona Aviation.<ref name="911 ch7" /> In April 2001, they relocated to [[Falls Church, Virginia]], where they awaited the arrival of the remaining "muscle" hijackers.<ref name="911 ch7" /> One of these men, [[Majed Moqed]], arrived on May 2, 2001, with Flight{{spaces}}175 hijacker [[Ahmed al-Ghamdi]] from [[Dubai]] at [[Dulles International Airport]]. They moved into an apartment with Hazmi and Hanjour.<ref name="travel">{{cite book |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Ch2.pdf |title=Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel |chapter=Chronology |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |page=22 |access-date=May 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529193648/http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Ch2.pdf |archive-date=May 29, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> On May 21, 2001, Hanjour rented a room in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], where he stayed with other hijackers through the end of August.<ref name="newark">{{cite news |last=Martin |first=John P. |title=Landlord Identifies Terrorists as Renters |newspaper=[[The Star-Ledger]] |date=September 27, 2001}}</ref> The last Flight{{spaces}}77 "muscle" hijacker, [[Salem al-Hazmi]], arrived on June 29, 2001, with [[Abdulaziz al-Omari]] (a hijacker of Flight{{spaces}}11) at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] from the United Arab Emirates. They stayed with Hanjour.<ref name="travel" /> Hanjour received ground instruction and did practice flights at Air Fleet Training Systems in [[Teterboro, New Jersey]], and at Caldwell Flight Academy in [[Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey|Fairfield, New Jersey]].<ref name="911 ch7" /> Hanjour moved out of the room in Paterson and arrived at the Valencia Motel in [[Laurel, Maryland]], on September 2, 2001.<ref name = "newark"/> While in Maryland, Hanjour and fellow hijackers trained at [[Gold's Gym]] in [[Greenbelt, Maryland|Greenbelt]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Masters |first=Brooke A. |author2=Smith, Leef |author3=Shear, Michael D. |title=Dulles Hijackers Made Maryland Their Base; Residents Recall Men as Standoffish |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 19, 2001 |quote=The men who hijacked Flight{{spaces}}77 also made a concerted effort to stay in shape. All five visited the Gold's Gym on Greenbelt Road during the first week of September}}</ref> On September 10, he completed a certification flight, using a terrain recognition system for navigation, at Congressional Air Charters in [[Gaithersburg, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Olson, Bradley |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-te.md.terrorist09sep09,0,238349.story |title=MD. Was Among Last Stops For Hijackers; Those Who Recall Encounters Are Haunted By Proximity To Agents Of Tragic Event |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=September 9, 2006 |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022071751/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-te.md.terrorist09sep09%2C0%2C238349.story |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="911-notes">{{cite book |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Notes.htm |author=9/11 Commission |chapter=Notes |year=2004 |title=9/11 Commission Report |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=May 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530161252/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Notes.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> On September 10 Nawaf al-Hazmi, accompanied by other hijackers, checked into the [[Marriott International|Marriott]] in [[Herndon, Virginia]], near Dulles Airport.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url=http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Image:Hijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |title=Hijackers' Timeline |author=Federal Bureau of Investigation |publisher=9/11 Myths |date=February 4, 2008 |access-date=August 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015816/http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Image%3AHijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |archive-date=August 3, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ===Suspected accomplices=== According to a U.S. State Department cable leaked in the WikiLeaks dump in February 2010, the FBI has investigated another suspect, Mohammed al-Mansoori. He had associated with three Qatari citizens who flew from Los Angeles to London (via Washington) and Qatar on the eve of the attacks, after allegedly surveying the [[World Trade Center (1973β2001)|World Trade Center]] and the [[White House]]. U.S. law enforcement officials said the data about the four men was "just one of many leads that were thoroughly investigated at the time and never led to terrorism charges."<ref name="MSNBC" /> An official added that the three Qatari citizens had never been questioned by the FBI. [[Eleanor Hill]], the former staff director for the congressional joint inquiry on the [[September 11 attacks]], said the cable reinforces questions about the thoroughness of the FBI's investigation. She also said that the inquiry concluded the hijackers had a support network that helped them in different ways.<ref name="MSNBC" /> The three Qatari men were booked to fly from Los Angeles to Washington on September 10, 2001, on the same plane that was hijacked and piloted into the Pentagon on the following day. Instead, they flew from Los Angeles to Qatar, via Washington and London. While the cable said Mansoori was currently under investigation, U.S. law enforcement officials said there was no active investigation of him or of the Qatari citizens mentioned in the cable.<ref name="MSNBC">{{cite news |last=Isikoff |first=Michael |publisher=MSNBC |title=WikiLeaks cable revives talk of 9/11 support network |date=February 2, 2011 |url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41400106/ns/us_news-security/ |access-date=February 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211203506/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41400106/ns/us_news-security/ |archive-date=February 11, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
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