Student Arrested After Pilot Uniform Found

SF Gate & AP ^ | September 16, 2005

[SmithL]

Memphis -- A university student from Egypt was ordered held without bond after prosecutors said they found a pilot's uniform, chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act" in his apartment.

The FBI is investigating whether Mahmoud Maawad, 29, had any connection to terrorists. He is awaiting trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.

Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis.

"My school is everything. I stay in this country for seven years; I stay for the school," he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker said Thursday that the airport-related items were found during a Sept. 9 search.

[Airborne1986]

[radiohead]

Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis.

How is this happening? I know bona fide students from China and Europe who are afraid to leave the US to visit home for fear they will have a problem w/their visa to get back in time for the next semester and newly admitted foreign students who had to wait months for visas that previously took a few days or weeks. I know people who have been given the 3rd degree at consulates as to what they're studying and when they expect to graduate.

Post 9/11, the universities are supposed to be serious about keeping track of their foreign students. The international students with whom I'm familiar have had to really tow the line w/the State Department to get here and stay here.

Of course, I don't know any arabs, so maybe they get a special pass...

[VRWCmember]

Perhaps the United States should review it's border patrol and entrance policies.

That too.

[VRWCmember]

Good point. I was just pointing out that this guy has to either be evil and plotting something or incredibly stupid.

[radiohead]

You'd think 7 years would be long enough to learn how to properly speak our damn language.
You no stay for school. You go federal prison now.

LOL!!! I thought the same thing.

[mewzilla]

You go federal prison now.

Send him to Gitmo.

[massgopguy]

"Temporary Guest Pilot".

[MarshallDillon]

Maawad had ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, including DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings,""Airplane Talk,""Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified. The company reported Maawad to authorities when he didn't pay for $2,500 of merchandise it had delivered, Gulczynski said.
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Good thing the company reported him.

Dumb company, sending so much without prepayment. But still, maybe the kid wanted to become a commercial pilot and got suckered into buying a lot of stuff he didnt need intitially. - The cattle prods and lie detectors will help authorities find out. Ouch. I pity him if he is innocent, because he IS getting his ass deported to Egypt....

[Recon Dad]

I don't get it. Does the school check foreign student visas. After 9/11 you'd think every this might be a consideration. Then again Memphis is not the Harvard of the South, so to speak.

[Dick Vomer]

Memphis is undoubtedly one of the sloppiest run major airports in the country and an obvious target for someone who wants to infiltrate the system.

try Miami...New Orleans....Newark....Atlanta

[mewzilla]

Does the school check foreign student visas.

You're kidding, right? :) All they care about is that he could pay.

[BunnySlippers]

Learning to fly ... not to land.

[JulieRNR21]

If he's 'innocent' how come he had that pilot's uniform......and as an illegal he should be sent back to Egypt!

[airborne]

A 29 year old muslim male, in school for 7 years, in country illegally, and nobody notices.

If he'd have paid his bills, he never would have been caught.

[af_vet_1981]

Another Democrat voter disenfranchised !

Where is Louis Farrakhan to speak out against this blatant discrimination against Islamic terrorists ?

[Recon Dad]

I would bet a Pell Grant.

[stevie_d_64]

I can't believe they actually sell DVD/Videos like this...

And to pay $20 for it is equally stupid...

"Well, I bought all the videos...But I have not taken any classes yet on how to be a pilot though..."

This guy must have been one of the dumb ones...

I think these DVD's and videos are bait...Every one of these purchased raises a flag and some Fed gets the job of investigating to see who purchased it...

Thats got to be the way they snagged this guy...

[maggief]

Sporty's Flight Shop has quite a clientele ...

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/?trackingId=7

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http://www.memphisflyer.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A10148

Since June, Maawad ordered $3,300 of merchandise over the Internet from Sporty’s Pilot Shop in San Diego, including a private pilot course, flight simulator software, a flight gear bag, several DVDs, a $239 Navy leather flight jacket, a $19.95 DVD on “How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act,” and instructional programs on “airplane talk.” His email address was pilot747_200@hotmail.com.

---

Atta and Moussaoui both researched using crop dusters for what might have been a biochemical attack, and Atta and Moussaoui both bought “flight deck” instructional videos for the Boeing 747 from the same retailer, Sporty’s Pilot Shop in Batavia, Ohio.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3067363/

[FairOpinion]

"Maawad had ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, including DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings,""Airplane Talk,""Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified.


The company reported Maawad to authorities when he didn't pay for $2,500 of merchandise it had delivered, Gulczynski said."


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Update to terrorist manual: Be sure to pay for items ordered for training and use in a terrorist attack.

[MEG33]

Oh, wow..Looks bad.