Editing Salem al-Hazmi

{{Short description|Saudi terrorist and 9/11 hijacker (1981–2001)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Salem al-Hazmi
| image              = Salem al-Hazmi 2.jpg
| image_size         = 150px
| native_name        = {{lang|ar|سالم الحازمي}}
| native_name_lang   = ar
| birth_name         = Salem Muhammed al-Hazmi
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1981|2|2}}
| birth_place        = [[Mecca]], Saudi Arabia
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2001|9|11|1981|2|2}}
| death_place        = [[The Pentagon]], [[Virginia]], U.S.
| death_cause        = [[Suicide attack|Suicide]] by [[American Airlines Flight 77|plane crash]] as part of the [[9/11 attacks]]
| nationality        = [[Saudi Arabia]]n
| relatives          = [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] (brother)
}}

'''Salem Muhammed al-Hazmi''' ({{langx|ar|سالم الحازمي|translit=Sālam al-Ḥāzmī}}; February 2, 1981{{Snd}} September 11, 2001) was a [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] terrorist hijacker who was one of the five [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|hijackers]] who assisted in the hijacking of [[American Airlines Flight 77]] as part of the [[September 11 attacks]]. The aircraft was deliberately crashed into [[the Pentagon]] near [[Washington, D.C.]], killing al-Hazmi and everyone else aboard the flight.

Al-Hazmi had a relatively long history with [[al-Qaeda]] before being selected for the attacks. He obtained a tourist visa through the Visa Express program and arrived in the United States in June 2001 where he would settle in [[New Jersey]] with other American 77 hijackers up until the attacks.

On September 11, 2001, al-Hazmi boarded Flight 77 alongside four accomplices, his older brother [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] included. He helped subdue the passengers and crew, allowing the team's suicide pilot [[Hani Hanjour]] to take control of the plane. Al-Hazmi had only turned 20 that same year, making him the youngest of the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|nineteen terrorists]] to partake in the attacks.

==Biography==
Salem Muhammed al-Hazmi was born on February 2, 1981, to Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi, a grocer, in [[Mecca]], [[Saudi Arabia]]. His father described Salem as a quarrelsome teenager who had problems with alcohol and petty theft. However, he stopped drinking and began to attend the mosque about three months before he left his family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf |title=''The 9/11 Commission Report'' |access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref>

There are reports that he fought in [[Afghanistan]] with his brother, [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]], and other reports say the two fought together in [[Chechnya]]. Salem al-Hazmi was an [[al-Qaeda]] veteran by the time he was selected for participation in the 9/11 attacks. U.S. intelligence learned of al-Hazmi's involvement with [[al-Qaeda]] as early as 1999, but he was not placed on any watchlists.<ref>{{cite web |author=John J. Lumpkin |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/salem_al-hazmi.htm |title=Salem al-Hazmi |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |date=2004-07-22 |access-date=2012-01-06 |archive-date=2011-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928041108/http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/salem_al-hazmi.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Known as ''Bilal'' during the preparations,<ref name="willalOmari">Videotape of recorded will of Abdulaziz al-Omari and others</ref> both he and [[Ahmed al-Ghamdi]] flew to [[Beirut]] in November 2000, though on separate flights.

Along with [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] and several other future hijackers, Salem al-Hazmi may have attended the [[2000 Al Qaeda Summit]] in [[Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia]]. It was there that the details of the 9/11 attacks were decided upon.
{{Clear}}

==In the United States==
According to the [[FBI]] and the [[9/11 Commission]] report, al-Hazmi first entered the United States on June 29, 2001, although there are numerous unconfirmed reports that he was living in [[San Antonio, Texas]], with fellow hijacker [[Satam al-Suqami]] much earlier.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=kens5&xlb=161&xlc=342530
 |title=2 hijackers identified as former S.A. residents 
|author=Joe Conger 
|date=January 10, 2001
|publisher=mysanantonio.com
|quote=At least five sources tell KENS 5, two of the men, Satam M.A. Al Suqami and Salem Alhazmi, lived at the Spanish Trace Apartments on the North Side earlier this year |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030514140351/http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=kens5&xlb=161&xlc=342530 |archive-date = May 14, 2003}}</ref> Al-Hazmi used the controversial Visa Express program to gain entry into the country.

Al-Hazmi moved to [[Paterson, New Jersey]], where he lived with [[Hani Hanjour]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Both were among the five hijackers who applied for Virginia identity cards at the [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]] office of the [[Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles]] on August 2, 2001, although Salem al-Hazmi already held an NJ identity card.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

On August 27, brothers Nawaf and Salem al-Hazmi purchased flight tickets through [[Travelocity]].com using the former's [[Visa Inc.|Visa]] card.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/092602mueller.html |title=Statement of Robert S. Mueller: Joint Investigation Into September 11: (published September 26, 2002) |publisher=Fas.org |access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref>

With the four other Flight 77 hijackers, he worked out at a [[Gold's Gym]] in [[Greenbelt, Maryland]], from September 2 to September 6 of the same year.

==Attacks==
{{Main|American Airlines Flight 77}}
On September 11, 2001, al-Hazmi boarded [[American Airlines Flight 77]]. Airport surveillance video from [[Dulles International Airport]] in [[Northern Virginia]] shows two of the five hijackers, including Salem al-Hazmi, being pulled aside to undergo additional scrutiny after setting off [[metal detectors]].<ref>[http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/072304/nat_LA0604-2.shtml] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014025716/http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/072304/nat_LA0604-2.shtml|date=October 14, 2008}}</ref>

The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:10, but ended up departing 10&nbsp;minutes late from Gate&nbsp;D26 at Dulles. The last normal radio communications from the aircraft to [[air traffic control]] occurred at 08:50:51.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gregor |first=Joseph A. |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/ATC_%20Report_AA77.pdf |title=ATC Report American Airlines Flight 77 |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=2001-12-21 |access-date=2008-06-01}}</ref> At 08:54, Flight&nbsp;77 began to deviate from its normal, assigned flight path and turned south, and then hijackers set the flight's [[autopilot]] heading for Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/autopilot_AA77_UA93_study.pdf |title=Study of Autopilot, Navigation Equipment, and Fuel Consumption Activity Based on United Airlines Flight&nbsp;93 and American Airlines Flight&nbsp;77 Digital Flight Data Recorder Information |last=O'Callaghan |first=John |author2=Bower, Daniel  |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=2002-02-13 |access-date=2008-06-01}}</ref> Passenger [[Barbara Olson]] called her husband, [[United States Solicitor General]] [[Theodore Olson]], and reported that the plane had been hijacked and that the assailants had box cutters and knives.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Glen |url=http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/planes_reconstruction.htm |title=Probe reconstructs horror, calculated attacks on planes |work=The Boston Globe |date=2001-11-23 |access-date=2008-06-01}}</ref>  At 09:37, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west facade of [[the Pentagon]], killing all 64 aboard (including the hijackers), along with 125 on the ground in the Pentagon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/AAL77_fdr.pdf |title=American Airlines Flight 77 FDR Report |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=2002-01-31 |access-date=2008-06-02 |archive-date=2007-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926220623/https://www.ntsb.gov/info/AAL77_fdr.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In the recovery process at the Pentagon, remains of all five Flight&nbsp;77 hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, as not matching any [[DNA]] samples for the victims, and put into custody of the FBI. Forensics teams confirmed that it seemed two of the hijackers were brothers, based on their DNA similarities.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remains-of-9-sept-11-hijackers-held/ |title=Remains Of 9 Sept. 11 Hijackers Held |date=2002-08-17 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930021707/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/17/attack/main519033.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/strbase/pub_pres/Edson2004.pdf |title=Naming the Dead - Confronting the Realities of Rapid Identification of Degraded Skeletal Remains |author=Edson, S.M.|journal=Forensic Science Review |volume=16 |date=January 2004 |access-date=2008-09-30 | issue=1|pages=63–90 |pmid=26256813 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Mistaken identity allegations==
Shortly after the attacks, several sources reported that Salem al-Hazmi, 26, was alive and working at a petrochemical plant in Yanbu, [[Saudi Arabia]]. He claimed that his [[passport]] had been stolen by a pickpocket in [[Cairo]] three years before, and that the pictures and details such as [[date of birth]] released to the public by the FBI were his own. He also stated that he had never visited the United States, but volunteered to fly to the U.S. to prove his innocence.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/21/afghanistan.september112
|title=False identities mislead FBI
|author=Nick Hopkins 
|date=21 September 2001
|work=The Guardian
|quote=He said yesterday he had not left Saudi Arabia for two years}}</ref> On September 19, ''Al-Sharq Al-Awsat'' published his [[photograph]] alongside Badr Al-Hazmi's, who they claimed was the actual hijacker who had stolen his identity.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A59320-2001Sep19&notFound=true
|title=Some Hijackers' Identities Uncertain
|author1=Dan Eggen |author2=George Lardner Jr. |author3=Susan Schmidt |date=September 20, 2001
|newspaper=Washington Post
|quote=His picture was published yesterday in a Saudi newspaper, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, alongside that of the man the Saudis believe to be the dead terrorist, Badr Alhazmi}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

After some confusion and doubt [[Saudi Arabia]] admitted<!--When?--> that in fact the names of the [[Aircraft hijacking|hijackers]] were correct. "The names that we got confirmed that," [[Nayef bin Abdul Aziz|Interior Minister Prince Nayef]] said in an interview with The Associated Press.<!--Date interview published?--> "Their families have been notified." Nayef said the Saudi leadership was shocked to learn 15 of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and said it was natural that the kingdom had not noticed their involvement beforehand.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/02/06/saudi.htm
|title=Official: 15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi
|date=February 6, 2002
|work=USA Today}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
*Yemeni-Canadian actor Sam Al Esai portrayed Salem al-Hazmi in the Canadian TV series ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]]'' [[List of Mayday episodes#Season 16 (2016–17)|Season 16: Episode 2 (2016)]] called "9/11: The Pentagon Attack"<ref>{{Citation |title="Air Crash Investigation" 9/11: The Pentagon Attack (TV Episode 2018) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536550/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Air Crash Investigation Special Report]]'' [[List of Mayday episodes#The Accident Files#Season 2 (2019)|Season 2: Episode 1 (2019)]] called "Headline News".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/gfkih8/air-disasters-headline-news-season-20-ep-1 |title=Air Disasters - Headline News |date=2023-07-31 |last=[[Smithsonian Channel]] |language=en-us |access-date=2024-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623065617/https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/gfkih8/air-disasters-headline-news-season-20-ep-1 |archive-date=June 23, 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[PENTTBOM]]
* [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{9-11 hijackers}}
{{AmericanTerrorism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazmi, Salem al-}}
[[Category:1981 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers]]
[[Category:People from Mecca]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian mass murderers]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian murderers of children]]