If we look at the 911 terrorists as our 'type' hijackcrash standard, while they did do test runs, they seemed to be careful not to draw overt attention to themselves. If the jihadi-wannabe's on this flight were actual operatives, boy did they get their names on the watch list pretty fast. If operatives, I would suspect that this is a 'head fake', something to distract officials from a real test run.
What damage do you think that aircraft would do to the structure of the US Capitol Building? Especially fully fueled?
911 jets were 757 & 767, large long-haul planes. These 717 are smaller regional sized - thus carry less fuel.
So we have to factor these two things in
1. Higher number of jihadi (11 vs 4)
2. Substantially smaller planes = smaller targets
3. If multiple targets - still need people who can adequately pilot them - harder if needing many, vs the 8 needed on 911.
Makes me wonder about the reliability of the information. If more rumor than fact, then the story may be inflated. If the reliability of the witness is solid, then either we have some very stupid jihadi's or a probable head fake to throw off law enforcement / intel from the real test runs.
Let's assume that the events in the story are true. Even if true, it does not mean these guys were doing a dry-run or were affiliated with Al Quada, etc. It does not mean they were planning anything other than what they did. But they can still be considered terrorists, IMO. If this unfolded as described, it could well be that their goal was to instill fear and terror into the people on the flight, or the people reading about it here.
In their ignorant jihadist mentality, anything they can do to inconvenience the great Satan is a victory for them. If the only thing they accomplished was to cause a flight to be canceled, and to cause people to fear flying, then they have struck a blow for their death cult. The musicians on Annie Jacobson's flight and the Flying Imams were doing the same thing. Plus they get to play the "aggrieved minority" card and clean up in court when our gutless/traitorous judges and the ACLU bend over backward to accommodate them.
If this really happened, it was a terrorist attack and it succeeded.