"Mohammad Atta was in my Cockpit Jump seat" (Anyone seen this article)

Pat Gilmore

[april15Bendovr]

This is the response from a retired Delta pilot in response to questions about whether he was going to see UAL 93.

I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I intend to when I get the chance. Retirement has made me busier than ever, and I haven't had the chance to see many movies lately.

As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11 I was in crew rest in Orlando that morning. I had just turned on the TV in my hotel room only to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second airplane hit the other tower. My immediate reaction was "Terrorists...we're at war", followed by the realization that we airline crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it could have been any one of us flying those planes. As soon as the news stations flashed the first pictures of the terrorists I knew just how close and personal the bullet I dodged was. There, on the screen for all to see, was a man who had sat in my jumpseat the previous July.

His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers. Atta had boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta on July 26, 2001 wearing an American Airlines first officer uniform. He had the corresponding AA company ID identifying him as a pilot, not to mention the required FAA pilot license and medical certificate that he was required to show me as proof of his aircrew status for access to my jumpseat. An airline pilot riding a cockpit jumpseat is a long established protocol among the airlines of the world, a courtesy extended by the management and captains of one airline to pilots and flight attendants of other airlines in recognition of their aircrew status. My admission of Mohammad Atta to my cockpit jumpseat that day was merely a rout ine exercise of this protocol.

Something seemed a bit different about this jumpseat rider, though, because in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise altitude he avoided all my questions about his personal life and focused very intently upon the cockpit instruments and our operation of the aircraft. I asked him what he flew at American and he said, "These", but he asked incessant questions about how we did this or why we did that. I said, "This is a 767. They all operate the same way." But he said, "No, we operate them differently at American." That seemed very strange, because I knew better. I asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. I asked him when he came over to this country and he said "A couple of years ago.", to which I asked, "Are you a US citizen?" He said no. I also found that very strange because I know that in order to have an Airline Transport Pilot rating, the rating required to be an airline captain, one has to be a US citizen, and knowing the US airlines and their hiring processes as I do, I found it hard to believe that American Airliens would hire a non-US citizen who couldn't upgrade to captain when the time came. He said, "The rules have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue. Besides, he was just, shall I say, "Creepy"? My copilot and I were both glad to get rid of this guy when we got to Atlanta.

There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than who or what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove who he was. In retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his documents were forged. Information later came to light as to how this was done.

It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year. We had many security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal items in hotel rooms becuase these were mysteriously disappearing, but nobody knew why. Atta and his men used these to make dry runs prior to their actual hijackings on 9/11. How do I know? I called the FBI as soon as I saw his face on the TV that day, and the agent on the other end of the line took my information and told me I'd hear back from them when all the dust settled. A few weeks later I got a letter from the Bureau saying that my call was one of at least half a dozen calls that day from other pilots who had had the same experience. Flights were being selected at random to make test runs for accessing the cockpit.& nbsp; It seems we had all dodged bullets.

Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck, warmongering, rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. I've been known to lose my patience with those who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in the Muslim world is wrong, or who say we shouldn't become involved in that area of the world for political correctness reasons. Maybe it's because I dodged the bullet so closely back in 2001 that I feel this way. I have very little patience for political rhetoric or debate against this war because for a couple of hours back in July 2001, when I was engaged in conversation with a major perpetrator in this war, I came so close to being one of i ts victims that I can think in no other terms.

I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from Delta last May, other than to protect my disappearing company retirement, was because it became harder and harder for me to go to work every day knowing that the war wasn't being taken seriously by the general public. The worst offenders were the Liberal detractors to the present administration, and right or wrong, this administration is at least taking the bull by the horns and fighting our enemies, which is something concrete that I can appreciate. Nobody was taking this war seriously, and it seems everyone found fault with the US government rather than with those who attacked us. I found that incomprehensible.

I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more every day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of being identified about half the time for body searches in front of the general flying public who looked at the entire process as being ludicrous. "They don't even trust their own pilots!" accompanied by an unbelieving snicker was the usual response. Here I was, a retired USAF officer who had been entrusted to fly nuclear weapons around the world, who had been granted a Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course of 21 years in the military that I still can't can't talk about without fear of prosecution by the DoD, who was being scanned by a flunkie TSA screener looking for any sign of a pen knife or nail file on my person.

It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I flew to Key West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of the visage of Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jumpseat, watching my every action in the cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the slightest provocation. I missed being a headline by a mere 47 days, and could very well have been among the aircrew casualties on 9/11 had one of my flights on my monthly schedule been a transcontinental flight from Boston or New York to the west coast on the 11th of September. Very few people know that, while only four airliners crashed that day, four more were targeted, and two of them were Delta flights. The only reason these four weren't involved is because they either had minor maintenance problems which delayed them at the gate or they were scheduled to depart after the FAA decided to ground all flights. Theirs are the pilots and flight attendants who REALLY dodged the bullet that day, and my faith in a higher power is restored as a result.

I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy the movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me if I do not embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. The Islamic world is no friend of the West, and although we may be able to get along with their governments in the future, the stated goal of Islam is world conquest through Jihad and it is the extremist Jihadists, backed and funded by "friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have to fear the most. We must have a presence in the Middle East, and we must have friends in the Middle East, even if we have to fight wars to get them. Only someone who has dodged a bullet can fully appreciate that fact.

Best to all, Pat Gilmore

[TXFireman]

ping

[Wolfstar]

and so, of course, Atta would have been truthful about where he was from - but this pilot is lying, I tell ya, LYING

There are more holes in that hoax than Swiss cheese, more even than I listed.

[Wolfstar]

He's either a phoney or a knucklehead. Or both.

Probably both.

[rlmorel]

No need to use caps, Wolfstar.

If you were doing something outside the law in a foreign country, would you tell anyone your real country of origin? I know I wouldn't.

I know it seems preposterous to you, but not everyone views it as preposterous.

I viewed planes full of screaming people being deliberately crashed into mutiple skyscrapers and the Pentagon simultaneously (or approaching it) as preposterous before 9/11.

There are very few things I will throw out as preposterous out of hand nowadays.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Thank you. Atta was Egyptian, and none of this sounds right. If it were real, Mr. Gilmore would not just have been casually contacted by Delta security, he would have been whisked off to DC for a month to tell Homeland Security everything he knew. In fact, there is a 100% chance he would have radioed ahead and had the police waiting at the gate to pick up "Atta" once it became clear he was an impostor.

[Wolfstar]

As P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." More to the point, there's a con man born every minute who will grow up to take advantage of the suckers. It's one thing if a sucker truly is ignorant, but quite another to insist on remaining one even when confronted by facts that expose the con:

Information from the 9/11 Commission Report: The question has been raised about whether one or more of the hijackers may have used pilot's credentials in order to sit in the cockpit with the pilots during the flight to facilitate the takeover. In view of the requisite paperwork and other procedures which must be followed to permit a jumpseat privilege,there is no evidence that such a tactic was used by the hijackers. They actually had reservations and sat in the seats that they were assigned.

In addition to all of the other holes in this con, there is no record of Atta taking a flight from Baltimore to Atlanta at any time time during July 2001. His known flights are:

July 1, 2001: Atta flies from Boston to New York City.

July 3, 2001: Atta flies from Newark to Fort Lauderdale.

July 7 or July 8 or July 9, 2001: Atta fly from Miami to Madrid, Spain via Zurich.

July 19, 2001: Return flight to America, Fort Lauderdale, Florida via Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.

Late July, 2001: Atta flies to Newark, New Jersey to meet with other hijackers in the area.

July 30, 2001: Atta flies back from New Jersey to Florida.

Go ahead. Believe the con if you wish. I'll know whose opinions to discount the next time some piece of disinformation cross the FR transom.

[Wolfstar]

In fact, there is a 100% chance he would have radioed ahead and had the police waiting at the gate to pick up "Atta" once it became clear he was an impostor.

You're welcome. Even I, a true cynic, have trouble believing any bona fide commercial airline pilot confronted with the lies described in this "email" would not have made such arrangements.

[rlmorel]

I am trying to be civil here. I cannot understand why you are being the way you are about it. You seem to have some emotional investment in this that goes beyond simply looking at this and evaluating it. And if you read my posts, you can see I do not say I believe it.

What I am saying is that I do not reject things out of hand unless I have a good reason to do so. There is nothing completely outlandish that will make me reject it.

[southland]

btt

[cmiller623]

I agree with you. Wolfstar seems to go beyond the norm in saying it is debunked. We have too many cases of the FBi covering things up that were real. James Woods is a solid source and is very straight forward. This pilot could be telling the truth but too many people are skeptical of everything these days. Too many things just get shut down by the FBI if it doesn't fit their view of the way the events should go. This was the case in Dallas, Flight 800 and the Oklahoma Bombing.

[bandleader]

ThankYou,once again!I just got a bit tearful whilst reading this account!I was in Texas(San Antonio).I let myself be persuaded to return home on Sept.11(I was meant to fly home on Sept.10th).I was up and watching NBC soon after the North Tower had been hit.My friend asked me if I wanted more coffee(soon after I witnessed on TV The South Tower being hit)!I said no,but I will have a beer!!I remember screaming at the TV set for somebody to do something!!!Another airliner is going to hit the South Tower!!!!Oh well,We'll NEVER forget it(I HOPE)???????????

[Petronski]

This story is either fantastically creepy or an internet hoax, I don't know which. Has anyone done a Snopes check?

[rlmorel]

Well, skepticism is a good thing, especially with the Internet.

I reiterate my points:

1.) Is this pilot a real person?

2.) Does he publicly stand by what he says?

Both of these conditions must be true before one can even consider the veracity of the rest of the account. IF both are true, then we can look at the rest of the account with a more critical eye.

In my opinion, I do not give much creedence unless the first two conditions are met. It is just so much mental masturbation until then.

I am not sure why Wolfstar is so angry or upset that people are not just throwing it in the trash out of hand. Perhaps he is upset we are not taking him at his word that it is bunk, and somehow takes exception to it.

[rlmorel]

Yeah, there is message board discussion at Snopes, but it has not been officially placed in the files by them as a hoax yet.

Could very well be, and maybe it is. Some people just want to dismiss it out of hand, an approach I do not take unless there are aliens and spaceships involved (only a degree of sarcasm there...)

[RichardW]

But there is no evidence of an external hit by a rocket. The plane was reassembled and the FBI agent in charge was not one to rush to judgment. The facts just don't support it. Frankly, I wanted to believe it but I can't argue with the facts.

[Cindy]

Could you please locate the url to this article?

THANKS.

[rlmorel]

You know, there is just WAY to much of that kind of conspiratorial thought process going on.

Like the people who think a cruise missile hit the Pentagon and not an airliner...you have to wonder, do they even consider what was done with the passengers on the "Non-existent plane" or their families?

Were they taken somewhere and eradicated, or had their memories erased a la "Men in Black" with a little flashy thing?

Good gosh.

[reagan_fanatic]

Atta was Egyptian, not Saudi.

This story is a fake.