"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

[maine-iac7]

Was there ever any confirmation that the guy in the jumpseat was Atta, or does this guy just think it was Atta?

Oh Good grief

[maine-iac7]

I did not realize there were FOUR MORE FLIGHTS that were to be hijacked that day.

a fact that, for some odd reason, got deep-sixed quickly in the media including pilots reports of how these jump-seat 'guests' scurried off as soon as the shut down was announced...

I believe 93 was headed for the Capitol - of the ones that didn't make it off the ground = one for the WH, others for non-government targets -

[maine-iac7]

and I think is this another dry run?

You'd win that bet

[Tarantulas]

Something seemed a bit different about this jumpseat rider...

That seemed very strange...

I also found that very strange...

I found it hard to believe...

...which I also knew to be untrue.

What bothers me the most about this story is that all the warning signs were there, but the author waited until after 9/11 to report them. And apparently, at least six other pilots had similar experiences that day and didn't report them either. A simple phone call reporting this suspicious activity might have allowed 3000 people to dodge a bullet on September 11.

[VOA]

side bar to this issue of the evil-doers doing some dry runs for 9-11...
looks like Snopes has their take on actor James Woods' story:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/woods.htm

[rlmorel]

It is on the message board, but not physically integrated into their website as an actual hoax. If you search on their website search, there are several official Snopes Mohammed Atta references which pass judgement on various other aspects, but nothing about this subject.

This is the same link I posted earlier, saying there is discussion, but it has not advanced beyond the message boards, which is no different than us discussing here on Free Republic, as far as I know.

The key to knowing if this is true or not is to find out if the person who wrote it is a real person and stands behind his story. If that is the case, anyone can say it is impossible, but hey, if this guy says it happened, we can only call him misinformed or a liar, depending on his presentation.

Good God. Listen to us. Next they will be getting phone calls sayin "Hi, this is such and such from Free Republic, and we are doing some investigation..."

Well, heck. We gotta be better at it than the NYT, right?

[maine-iac7]

give it a rest

Atta was in Brunswick, Maine - he and his buddy - the night before they boarded the plane at Portland Air on 9-11.

They had dinner and drinks - booze - and used a credit card.

I suspicion they were there casing the Brunswick Navel Air Station. (Base security after 9-ll was ramped up big time, as at others)

So, I have NEVER seen this 'visit' in the papers or on "Larry King." Does that mean it didn't happen?

[dead]

Was there ever any confirmation that the guy in the jumpseat was Atta, or does this guy just think it was Atta? Oh Good grief

So some guy you don’t know posts an unsourced email he got from somebody you don’t know, who tells the rather unlikely story that he flew Mohammed Atta around the country in the cockpit of his commercial airliner, while Atta sported an American Airlines pilot’s uniform and quizzed him about how the plane works. And he didn’t even think to report the fact that he had a foreigner in a pilot’s uniform who didn’t know how to fly a plane in his cockpit to anybody.

And you give me an “Oh Good Grief” for wanting a little more information. You're just going to buy all that at face value, based on the sincerity of the author, I guess.

Now I know why the Nigerian scammers just keep fishing.

[maine-iac7]

Except for border security, that is.

Why don't you take a hike over to one of the immigration threads - they dominate about 97% of the threads

[attiladhun2]

I understand that there were reports right after 9-11 of about 200 airport, airline, and airport contract employees that disappeared right after 9-11. Does anyone know anything about that?

[maine-iac7]

It seems strange that little information has ever come out about the 4 planes,

I remember hearing about it - and their targets - but the lamestream media seems to have relegated it to the dust bins...

[SuziQ]

It's too bad he didn't mention his suspicions to someone who could have checked it out with American Air lines. They could have put the word out to be aware of suspicious folks posing as flight officers. He put too much stock in the documentation and didn't listen to his 'gut'. But, hindsight is always 20/20.

[southland]

the remaining hijackers may be waiting for the proper time to exercise their chosen "duty" S/off

[Wolfstar]

Maybe the Democratic Undereground and Moveon.org wants it debunked?

No. The story is bull. Let me deconstruct it for you:

First, the "email" has the "retired Delta pilot" saying the following:

I asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia.

Mohammed Atta was Egyptian.

Second, according to the "retired Delta pilot" Atta exhibited several suspicious behaviors:

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 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.

Besides, he was just, shall I say, "Creepy"?

So a supposed professional airline pilot old enough to retire -- meaning highly experienced -- is confronted with a "creepy" man in his cockpit claiming to be a fellow airline pilot. But "creepy": (1) doesn't appear to know what type of aircraft he's flying in, (2) asks a lot of questions about the plane's operation, and (3) claims that the 767 is operated differently at American Airlines from the way it is operated at Delta.

Any one of those three things would tip a REAL pilot off to the fact that the guy in the jump seat is lying. All three together would have raised big red flags. But what does the "retired Delta pilot" Nothing.

By the way, this claim is preposterous: "He avoided all my questions about his personal life."

Yeah -- all questions, that is, except a couple that serve to enhance the drama of this phony story. "Creepy" supposedly did answer personal questions about his country of origin and U.S. citizenship. The answers, of course, were also "very strange" to "retired Delta pilot," who goes on to explain the reasons why.

So, to sum up, "retired Delta pilot" is confonted with a "creepy" guy who doesn't know about the aircraft or its operation, and who lies about his credentials, but the Delta guy does nothing. Nada. Zip. Squat. Puhleeeese.

The only thing more pathetic than yarns like this is that it demonstrates once again how easily people are manipulated and conned.

[bandleader]

Thanks!I am spreading these Far Und Wide(all my email address book)!!

[Wolfstar]

The story is a PHONY. Pure, utter nonsense. Start with the fact that the story says Mohammed Atta told "retired Delta pilot" that he, Atta, was from Saudi Arabia. The real Atta was EGYPTIAN.

The person who is floating this hoax obviously knows that most of the hijackers were Saudi, so he (or she) assumes Atta was Saudi.

The rest of the story is equally preposterous.

[maine-iac7]

I agree. Surely we would have heard this story long before now.

bull crap

[maine-iac7]

I'm not sure this is genuine. This needs to be verified.

"there are those who would find fault with the morning red - if they ever got up early enough"{ Throeau

[dead]

My favorite part of the story is the fact that he tells the horrifying story that Mohammed Atta was allowed onto a plane with phoney pilot credentials, then the author complains that he (a pilot!) is harassed by screeners at the airport when he tries to get on a plane.

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

[maine-iac7]

I asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Atta was Egyptian.

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