Hijacked pilots may have been murdered before crashes

Electronic Telegraph ^ | September 11, 2001

[Map Kernow]

THE pilots of the four hijacked aircraft were probably murdered before their planes were diverted on their devastating suicide missions, terrorism experts speculated.

No fewer than 30 highly-trained renegades - some 'graduates' of a secret school of terrorism - would have been involved in the extraordinarily well synchronised series of deadly attacks.

As experts pieced together their audacious operation, it was clear that no pilot would have steered their plane into a building packed with people.

Instead, it is possible they were shot dead in the cockpit and their seats taken by terrorists with at least a rudimentary ability to manoeuvre the jets into their devastating suicide flight paths.

But there was also speculation the pilots realised the full horror of what was going to happen and tried to do something to stop it. This might explain why the United Airlines plane from Newark crashed into a wood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rather than a city landmark.

Either way, experts were agog at how four planes were able to be hijacked at the same time.

Details of an operation that was as technically outstanding as it was horrific will no doubt emerge in the coming days.

Mike Yardley, a terrorism expert and former army officer, said: "This is a stunning security and intelligence failure. In both those spheres, major errors have evidently occurred. Heads should roll.

"One could have conceived of one or even a couple of planes being hijacked, but to coordinate the hijack of four or more is absolutely extraordinary.

"Intelligence agencies should have picked up some warning."

The terrorists' operation could have been years in the planning and would have almost certainly involved cooperation from men on the ground.

Hijack expert Dr John Potter said the suicide hijackers could have attended a secret school of hijack training.

"It is quite possible that those involved were graduates of that training school, wherever it might be. There is a suspicion it exists somewhere," he said.

Those involved on the ground may have been airport staff who were 'sleepers' - terrorists prepared to bide their time before striking.

"People might have infiltrated into aviation systems years ago and then merely waited to ensure that all the attacks worked," said Kieran Daly, editor of the Air Transport Intelligence Internet news service.

Modern weapons made from materials other than plastic may also have been used to avoid detection at airport terminals.

And the fact that all the hijacked planes were domestic flights made it easier for the terrorists, who would have struggled to hijack an international airliner.

[Map Kernow]

It's not just sloppiness at our airports. It's a matter of actual terrorist infiltration, IMHO.

[Mark17]

It's not just sloppiness at our airports. It's a matter of actual terrorist infiltration, IMHO.

A lot of people seem to think they may have been able to get in around security. Sounds logical.

[classygreeneyedblonde]

I would like to know how they got passed airport security with guns or knives in all these different airports

[holyscroller]

Step One: Get rid of all foreign security personnel at Airports, and all foreigner employees who have access to the planes or runways. This is got to be how they got through security.

[patlaw_guy]

Pilots murdered before crashes? Duh! This is the dumbest story I've seen all day. What US pilot, with a gun to his head, is going to crash into the WTC instead of ditch the plane into the ground or ocean at a 90 degree dive in order to save some lives?

[lepton]

Only some need to have gotten around security. The others just need to have bought tickets as a group of businessmen, or a family. The biggest problem would be operational security.

The oddest thing is they managed to do this from multiple airports.

[ventana]

The PA plane was probably shot down by US intelligence

[tbeatty]

Why do they think 6 terrorists on an airplane would need more than knives to kill the crew and take control? The answer to this is to arm pilots with guns.

[seamus]

As experts pieced together their audacious operation, it was clear that no pilot would have steered their plane into a building packed with people.

Golly, I'm not an "expert," yet I still figured that out all by myself immediately after the second crash. And the European media calls Dubya "dumb." This report is just stupid, and all to typical.

[jlogajan]

I would like to know how they got passed airport security with guns or knives in all these different airports

It looks like they used knives -- probably pretty easy to come up with tough ceramic knives that hide easily in most any object and don't show up on xray.

[dbbeebs]

I would like to know how they got passed airport security with guns or knives in all these different airports

Airport security sux. That's the problem.

[masadaman]

Next time you fly check out the food service and cleaning crews, especially on the East Coast. Find a Kelly or a Johnson among the workers. Find an African American or a Goldberg, you won't, you won't. For that matter, check the English capability of most security personnel at JFK,EWR,,LGA,etc., few sound like they are from Dallas or Boston.

[libertarian_usa]

"The PA plane was probably shot down by US intelligence"

Armey said that the report on that plane was "CLASSIFIED"

I THINK the Air Force shot it down.

[Professional]

First thing this morning, I began to wonder about TWA 800, the Egypt Air flight, and if I remember correctly, wasn't the Swiss Air flight a complete fatality too?

Makes one wonder if WE HAD to shoot those planes down?

[Terriergal]

Patlaw, that's exactly what the story implied.

[Archer24]

No! He was the only one that realized all of his options - he took the plane out of the equasion. Th passengers as well as himself were already dead. He minimized the destruction.

[jsraggmann]

Either that or the pilots pulled the fire handles, same result.

[budman_2001]

One plausible explanation of how to get weapons onto an aircraft is that they were brought in on food/beverage carts, or by aircraft cleaning staff. Not only knives were reported in use, but also box-strippers (razored blades that with hand covers that fit easily into ones hand like a hammer).

[Bush2000]

It might also be necessary to prevent calls from being made from and to aircraft. It is rumored that the terrorists coordinated their actions by phone between the aircraft.