In particular, there is no record of Atta having taken the flight discussed in this purported email (funny, BTW, how this email is all over the internet). Atta left Madrid on July 19 and was in Flordia at the beginning of August looking into the possibility of buying a crop duster.
Wolfstar,
Do you think that because someone left Spain on July 19th, that there is no way they could take part in a flight on July 26th as the retired pilot stated? Especially with the fairly nebulous data point of..."August" as the next data point, with the next validated data point as August 6th?
Why do you think there would be an official documentation under the name of Mohammed Atta of the flight on July 26th that he supposedly took in the jumpseat? If the uniforms were purportedly stolen, then documentation at some level would probably have to be forged or stolen.
This should be a fairly easy hoax to disprove on the basis of facts.
Again:
1.) Is the person who wrote this a real person who is what he says he is?
2.) Does he stand by his story?
3.) Is there documentation for the jumpseat flight in question on file with the Airline (a flight manifest) that lists an additional crew/passenger, however it is done in the industry?
4.) Is that person on the documentation a real person who took a jumpseat flight, and can he/she verify that was done on that date.
Without question 1 and 2 positively confirmed, there is no sense in looking at it further.
If the retired pilot is who he says he is, and stands by his story, The next two questions might be asked.
If asked, the Airline may or may not confirm the information about the purported jumpseat crewmember. There is probably ongoing litigation, and if their procedures were so lax that someone in a stolen uniform with forged papers could get on a flight in an informal manner, they are probably not going to admit to that without a formal legal process.
Again, we KNOW that once upon a time, getting on an aircraft with a stolen/purchased flight uniform and nearly no documentation WAS indeed possible. Granted,that was back in the late sixties, early seventies, but it WAS done by at least one talented person.
Did the 911 commission ever look at Operation Able Dangers report on Atta?
Article at NewsMax.com
Missing Able Danger 'Atta' Chart in 2002 Video
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/8/29/12430.shtml