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The interview with the pilot's wife of the downed Egypt charter jet was aired tonight. It was a very short interview in a darkened room as though she did not want to be seen. She said her husband was in the Middle East because he was learning to fly commercial jets. He had told her that he loved flying and probably would die flying. He has two daughters from another marriage that live in Canada and the rest of his family lives in Egypt.

It really did not shed much light into the background of this man who seemed to lead many lives.....

Excerpt from news article: "He was a dual citizen of Egypt and the United States, a committed husband and a one-time fighter pilot. He also was a Freemason, an intelligence officer for the National Guard, a security expert and a government-trained cavalry scout, depending on the circumstances.

Abdelhamid's wife of 11 years, Madeline Witney of Palm Springs, heard about the crash on the news as she was driving to work Sunday and immediately began worrying that her husband was somehow involved. Later that day, it was all but confirmed.

But even Witney admits there were gaps in what she knew about Abdelhamid. He was interested in many things and involved in endeavors of all kinds. There were long stretches of time spent apart.

An accomplished pilot who flew jets for the Egyptian air force when he was in his 20s, Abdelhamid was in Cairo to finish his commercial aviation training, his wife said.

His family owns Flash Airlines, the charter service shuttling tourists to Paris at the time of the crash, she said. The couple were talking about where they would live once he earned his license to fly large passenger jets.

Friends say Abdelhamid was keenly interested in subjects and events the world over. He owned two businesses in San Diego, a janitorial service and a company that cleaned construction sites, they said. He worked on a master's degree in his spare time.

Abdelhamid worked part time as a security guard for the San Diego Convention Center between 1997 and 1999, and held current firearms, baton and guard permits from the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

He also had a foreign-based transport plane pilot's license, although one friend said he lost his job as a cargo pilot after the September 2001 terrorist attacks because of his ethnicity. U.S. government officials interviewed him after those attacks." End of article.....

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Does anyone know anything about the Freemasons, would a muslim join a group like this? I think more will come out in the coming days about this man and this crash. Perhaps more will be found on the group Ansar al Haq that claimed responsibility for the crash.

Another question I have is why would a man who flew in the Egyptian Airforce plus many more years of experience take off when he had trouble while still on the ground with this plane according to a phone call made by a passenger?

muslims & aviation...muslims & aviation...

Thanks WCG!

"He had told her that he loved flying and probably would die flying" {{{shudder}}}

Here's an update from Canada. Notice there's NO mention of an American wife. Plus, Hamid is noted as having dual Egyptian-Canadian citizenship. Again, NO mention of having lived in the U.S., much less having U.S. citizenship!?!

It just gets more bizarre.

Father mourns member of crew
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040106/PILOT06/International/Idx

Thank you WCG! Interesting that she was only shown in a darkened room. One can only speculate as to the reasoning behind that. Personally, when I see an interview taking place with the subject either blurred or in a darkened room, I think to myself that they are hiding a lot more than they are revealing to us. We have flight schools here so why go all the way to the Middle East to learn to fly commercial?!?! Granted, I'm sure security is much tighter and they are scrutinizing each and every applicant much closer than pre 9-11 but if he were such an upstanding San Diego businessman, I would think that he would breeze through a security check. This whole incident just makes me go Hmmmmmmmmmm....... something just isn't right with this.

As far as the Freemason connection, my son belongs to the same lodge as the pilot did. After talking to my son yesterday he did explain a bit to me that as long as one believes in God, they are allowed in. Since allah is their god, there ya go. Makes me absolutely ill. He says that there are a lot of wealthy middle eastern types who belong to that lodge. Here's hoping that our guys are right on top of all of this.

"He had told her that he loved flying and probably would die flying" Very interesting.

Thanks again!