Posted on 06/05/2006 8:40:19 AM PDT by 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
Thanks for the ping.
What point? All you did is throw an unwarranted insult around, and you call that a point?
Just go ahead and say you believe the guy is lying his ass off.
Yes, unless I misunderstood your "chill pill" post, which is entirely possible in the one-dimensional world of the internet.
However, assuming I understood it correctly, then you were being condescending, smiley or no smiley. When you tell someone to "chill" when all they are doing is expressing strongly held opinions, in my world you are putting them down. Hence my "up yours" rejoinder.
What do you mean "risk his rep?" You mean by obviously not telling anyone at the time so that this clown could be nabbed?
What I don't understand is, that even before 911 we all knew that Muslim men were the primary (all but sole) culprits for standard hijackings. This shouldn't have been some sort of situation that shouldn't have raised eyebrows. It should have scared the hell outta the pilot.
Sometimes I wonder if some people have a pulse.
I'm sure he didn't want to be accused of being a racist by Democrats like Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Patrick Leahy via racial profiling which was big before 911. I believe political correctness and big government bureaucracy is part of the reason we didn't nab these guys.
Anyone that holds the conclusion of the 911 Commission as sound judgment to me is a phony or a knucklehead.
Even Woods took action however. You'd think that a pilot would have done the same.
I mean what would it have taken to call ahead and alert the authorities on this? I hear what you're saying, but Able Danger was somewhat different than this which is far simpler.
I could understand if he said that he did call in and alert them but that nothing happened. That would make sense.
I'm not at all indicating, nor have, that this didn't occur, but I do question the lack of calling it in on the part of the pilot. If he does and is trumped/overruled, that's one thing. But not doing anything, well...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002/05/28/hijackers-test-runs.htm
FBI: 9/11 hijackers cased airports, took test runs
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI agents are interviewing flight crews, watching security tapes and reviewing manifests as they piece together evidence the Sept. 11 hijacking leaders cased airports and possibly took a dozen test runs aboard jetliners, law enforcement officials said.
America on Alert
The agents have some testimony that Mohammed Atta and his accomplices may have taken pictures of airline cockpits, and surveyed the security at airport boarding gates, the officials said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
FBI experts are still analyzing the wealth of information — from hazy post-Sept. 11 recollections of witnesses to specific airline ticket purchases.
But the evidence so far suggests "these hijackers were quiet, studious, calculating and thorough" in their operation and did so without raising suspicion, one senior law enforcement official said.
FBI Director Robert Mueller echoed those comments in a speech earlier this month.
"The September 11 terrorists spent a great deal of time and effort figuring out how America works. They knew the ins and outs of our systems," he said.
The effort to reconstruct the hijackers' preparations — which went well beyond attending flight schools — is likely to manifest itself in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui this fall as prosecutors present evidence of the calculating nature of the hijackers he is accused of conspiring with, officials said.
The hijackers, particularly the half dozen believed to be the leaders, took numerous flights between late 1999 and their deaths in 2001. Atta traveled Europe in spring 2001. Several of the hijackers met in Las Vegas. Other traveled between flight schools.
But FBI agents have zeroed in on about a dozen flights last year in which they suspect the hijacking ringleaders took test runs, the officials said.
In nearly all the suspected trial flights, the future hijackers used their real names to book flights.
Some of the suspected test flights followed the same coast-to-coast routes as the four planes hijacked on Sept. 11, but not the same flight numbers or airlines, officials said. Most were aboard American Airlines or United Airlines jets, the officials said.
The FBI believes "they clearly were interested in transcontinental flights with lots of fuel, which would make the planes weapons of mass destruction," according to one airline industry official familiar with the passenger manifests turned over to investigators.
The agents have some testimony from flight attendants or passengers who recall men looking like the hijackers who took pictures of the cockpit aboard flights or appeared to take notes as early as last January, according to law enforcement and airline industry officials.
One pilot interviewed by the FBI, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said agents told him the hijackers "did dry runs. at least the pilots went on board airplanes and took notes and watched movements of crews to see what the procedures were," the pilot said.
At least one witness at Boston Logan airport has reported to the FBI seeing a man resembling Atta taking notes at the terminal gate where American Airlines Flight 11 took off a couple of days before Sept. 11 taking notes
"This man had no luggage, no briefcase — all he had was a folder," Jan Shineman, of Sudbury, Mass., said in an interview last fall. "By the time I got to the gate, I thought he was casing the flight. I thought he was observing it for a reason."
No disagreement here.
I don't understand the reason for your post as it doesn't fit into the context of any of my statements.
"Nothing to indicate that he was anything other than who or what he said he was? You just outlined an entire paragraph on what indicated it!
Uhhhhh, contact the destination airport and have the FBI waiting!
Just a thought. But hey, what do I know.
Talk about missed opportunities!"
Well consider the rules before 911?
Example- read this article at Frontpagemagazine.com
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14249
Here is a quote from the article
"So here's my question: Since the FBI issued a warning to the airline industry to be wary of groups of five men on a plane who might be trying to build bombs in the bathroom, shouldn't a group of 14 Middle Eastern men be screened before boarding a flight?
Apparently not. Due to our rules against discrimination, it can't be done. During the 9/11 hearings last April, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman stated that …it was the policy (before 9/11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory.
So even if Northwest Airlines searched two of the men on board my Northwest flight, they couldn't search the other 12 because they would have already filled a government-imposed quota."
I realize on Pat Gibsons flight it was only one person (Atta) but what other stupid discriminatory rules did they have besides the one 911 Commissioner John Lehman stated?
I will never forget this high jackers name.
I use his name constantly with people that tell me..."If you are just sincere in what you believe, you will go to heaven."
Mohammad Atta was the most sincere person pausible. He not only killed him self for what he beleived but also 3000 others to be sure he went to heaven. I cannot imagine anyone acting more sincere.
John 14:6.
Mohammad Atta is not in heaven.
This is going nowhere. Sounds as if we're on the same sheet overall.
If I had been in the pilot's shoes I'd have at least taken whatever action that I could. It does not appear that he did that. If [whomever] decides to do nothing with it, so be it.
I haven't researched this 'til my eyes have fallen out knowing what every nuance is to policies at all levels. Nor do I care. It's a message board thread, not a policy room at the WH. Opinions are what are "spoken" here.
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