Exclusive: Hijacker in City Sept. 10 Used navigation tool to pinpoint WTC site

New York Daily News ^ | 5/22/02 | GREG B. SMITH

[kattracks]

The leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers visited the World Trade Center days before the attack to obtain coordinates for a navigation device, law enforcement officials now believe.Mohamed Atta, who led the 19 hijackers that morning, was in New York on Sept. 10 and perhaps Sept. 9, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

The FBI found transactions that show Atta used a credit card in Manhattan the day before the planes crashed into the World Trade Center. Until recently, law enforcement officials could not figure out why he was here.

New evidence has emerged that leads investigators to believe Atta made a last-minute visit to double-check coordinates of the twin towers and plug them into a sophisticated Global Positioning System device bought by the hijackers, the source said.

Investigators suspect Atta's trip to the Trade Center was necessary because they believe the hijackers were too inexperienced to handle the jumbo jets without help. They know the hijackers bought GPS devices in the months leading up to the attack.

The FBI's New York office declined to comment on what the bureau knows about Atta's final hours.

The unusual flight paths of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 — which traveled from Boston and into the twin towers — indicates the hijackers used the devices to guide them as they flew across the country toward what was about to become known as Ground Zero, the source said.

Federal prosecutors say that on Aug. 25 — three weeks before the attack — one of Atta's co-conspirators, hijacker Ziad Jarrah, bought GPS components.

Flying Equipment Bought

Atta himself bought flight deck videos for jumbo jets and several unnamed items from Sporty's Pilot Shop in Ohio in November 2000. Sporty's owners said FBI agents investigating the Sept. 11 attacks asked about a Garmin GPS III Pilot, a hand-held device that simplifies aeronautical navigation.

And Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker now indicted on terrorism charges in the Sept. 11 plot, also tried to buy a GPS receiver, prosecutors have said.

With the coordinates of the twin towers entered as the desired destination, the devices would tell the hijackers when they were off course as they flew thousands of feet above the ground.

Experts noted that the hijackers could have obtained coordinates of the towers from available maps, but visiting the site with the device would ensure that the specific data were pinpoint accurate.

It's not clear how long Atta was in Manhattan before the attack. The source would not discuss the credit card transactions here except to say they took place in Manhattan.

Sometime on Sept. 10, the FBI believes, Atta traveled to Boston and rented a blue Nissan sedan. He and Abdulaziz Alomari then drove to Portland, Maine.

Seen on Video

They checked into a Comfort Inn in South Portland at 5:43 p.m., then visited two bank ATMs and a Wal-Mart, where they were captured on video.

The morning of Sept. 11, they checked out of the motel at 5:33 a.m., arriving at Portland International Jetport in time for a last-minute boarding of a 5:45 a.m. flight to Boston.

They arrived at Boston's Logan Airport just in time to board American Airlines Flight 11, departing at 7:55 a.m., fully fueled, with a scheduled destination of Los Angeles.

Sometime during the flight — as the plane headed west over upstate New York — the FBI believes Atta, Alomari and three others hijacked the jet and turned it south — toward the towers of New York.

[Lion's Cub]

Hmmm. Still haven't said why he went to Portland.

And it's interesting that he stayed in Manhattan, which just happens to be where the ambassador's kid was. Is that why they won't name the hotel?

[geege]

My cousin working from home that morning in Tarrytown heard the plane and said she thought it was strange that it was flying so low......

[jrlc]

Maybe it's time to get GPS coordinates on radical mosques. Hard to tell. It's a toss-up. The best way to destroy Islam may be to publicize what it's about. Let's see how many of the RATs' "Soccer Moms" really want to wear Burkas?

[Risky Schemer]

Great. Now GPS purchases will require waiting periods and background checks.

[DooDahhhh]

Sick B*astard!

[E Rocc]

Hmmm. Still haven't said why he went to Portland.

I thought that was determined. They thought the security would be less intense there. Note the 12 minute gap between check-out time and flight departure, where any visible nerves would be mistaken for lateness-concern and security people would be less likely to stop them because of them.

-Eric

[Risky Schemer]

You care to explain why my disgust over the potential threat to or loss of yet another freedom or privilege causes you to reply with "Sick B*astard!"?

[rohry]

One thing to add here.

My flight instructor (I just started taking flying lessons) says that the original coordinates for the WTC were obtained from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. Apparantly the proper coordinates were included for the buildings (and airports and anything else in the program). The day after the WTC attrocity Microsoft was ordered to pull all the "games" and redo them with false coordinates (or none at all).

I'm surprised that this wasn't in the story...

[parcel_of_rogues]

You could get the same coordinates from MapQuest or a hundred other programs or US Geophysical maps.

[wcbtinman]

Wait a minute. Atta checks out of the Comfort Inn at 5:33am and then is seen 12 minutes later at 5:45am boarding a flight?

I wish someone could show me how to get from the motel, move through an airport and what little security they had at the time, and get on to an airplane in 12 minutes. Either this is a typo, or somebody is full of of it.

[fivecatsandadog]

This makes me sick. And you can bet there's more A@@#$@3&! out there just like him scoping out new targets, walking around virtually invisible to the rest of us.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The FBI found transactions that show Atta used a credit card in Manhattan the day before the planes crashed into the World Trade Center. Until recently, law enforcement officials could not figure out why he was here.

Really?

[BearCub]

Because you value your petty 'freedoms' over the lives of chil-drun. [/democratdoublespeak]

[Redleg Duke]

Pathetic to see so much effort and planning put towards such a pointless end, unless of course, as a tool of the devil, he was attempting to end life on earth by starting a final conflict.

I have come to the conclusion that Islam and the rest of the world are incompatible. Either Islam will conquer the world or the world will rise up and exterminate Islam and all of its liberal appologists.

And, Islam has established the rules of engagement.

[Jonathan]

Deport. Arrest. Exterminate. All non-citizen muslim men in America.

Perhaps we need a new, real War President if President Bush and Feebee Director Mueller are not up to the job?

I nominate retired General Stormin Norman Schwarzkopf.

[hobbes1]

Boarding a flight could mean standing on line, waiting to be boarded, which, at that time of day, would probably not take too long, as the airport would not be too crowded.Showed up late, to further lessen the chance of being screened tightly, and got on. This is why they boarded in Portland, instead of Boston. They would have been inside the airport, transferring, not checking in in Boston, which probably would have had better security.

[contessa machiaveli]

unless we begin to round up mideastern men (OK, muslims, arabs) we lose. the recent pronouncements by our government has in effect told us we have no control but we should be "alert" but thy're too PC to tell us what to be "alert" about.

[aristeides]

The article says Atta might have been on Manhattan on Sept. 9th as well, in which case he probably stayed in NYC overnight. But apparently we don't know that for certain yet.