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.

[cake_crumb]

"They know the hijackers bought GPS devices in the months leading up to the attack."

How soon until John McCain sponsors legislation closing the "loophole" in GPS system shows?

[browardchad]

The timeline from which you posted quotes reports that Atta was in Florida on the morning of 9/8, in lower Manhattan on the evening of 9/8, at Boston's Logan Airport "scouting" for a major portion of the day of 9/9, rented a car in Boston on the evening of 9/9, stayed at a Boston motel on the night of 9/9, and passed through a Mass Turnpike tollbooth on the way to Maine on the afternoon of 9/10.

This story reports Atta rented the car on 9/10 (contrary to all other reports I've read). Assuming that the 9/9 car rental and stay in Boston can be documented with receipts, my guess is that someone else used Atta's credit card in New York, and it sounds as if the visit to WTC is simply a theory. (Or this entire story is hogwash).

[cake_crumb]

"Let's see how many of the RATs' "Soccer Moms" really want to wear Burkas?"

Wasn't it the RATs' "Soccor Moms", in the weeks following 911, who tried to get American women to show their support for the adherants of "The Religion of Piece" by wearing a VEIL one day a week?

[VRWC_minion]

Should I report it to the FBI? My wife said he looked odd.

if he didn't bargain then he is safe. The real terrorists were penny pinchers.

[AGreatPer]

It is easy to get to that airport in 12 minutes. I have done it several times.

Location: The Comfort Inn is located off exit 7 of I-95 (North or South) at 90 Maine Mall Rd. We are 1 mile from the Portland International Jetport and offer complimentary airport transportation

[Salvation]

Now GPS purchases will require waiting periods and background checks.

I think you answered my question: Who could buy one of these global positioning devices before 9-11?
Who can buy them now?

[cake_crumb]

I thought the problem with MS Flight Sim 2000 had to do with being able to fly your virtual plane into the WTC?

[rohry]

Chill out.

Sorry, I guess I'm overly sensitive today because I posted something yesterday and got visciously attacked (it ended up what posted was not accurate).

I have a lesson tommorrow, I'll check with my flight instructor for details.

On a related point, the instuctor told me that a 16 year old kid came in for lessons and knew all the approaches to the local airports and landmarks from the air before taking off. He had flown the area so often with Flight Simulator that he had memorized everything!

[denydenydeny]

This does fit into the known timeline of Atta's movements. Atta, however, was definitely witnessed in Logan Airport on the morning of the ninth, checking out the procedures for Flight 11. This would have required him to either travel down to New York the early morning of the tenth, or later in the day on the ninth.

There were earlier reports of Atta being in New York that weekend. See the linked timeline.

[cake_crumb]

"Anyone else remember the middle eastern student who was arrested after 9/11. He was a staying at a hotel near WTC and a GPS was found in his room. The story became more bizarre and finally the charges were dismissed."

I do. First he said he knew nothing about it. Then he said he knew about it, but it belonged to a friend of his. Sorry...he changed his story so many times I lost track. Some goofy NYC judge let him go due to lack of evidence. I believe he was deported on an immigration violation I think, meaning he probably appealed the deportation and is still in this country somewhere.

[Risky Schemer]

Who could buy one of these global positioning devices before 9-11?

Anybody. Check hunting, marine catalogs, auto stores (GPS mapping computers), even sold as optional equipment on some cars (I believe) and boats and private planes.

Who can buy them now?

Anybody. For now.

[contessa machiaveli]

i remember that one. his father is influential so who knows why the investigation were dropped. he claimed that the equipment in his hotel room was their PRIOR to his occupancy. how convenient.

[Mitchell]

The timeline from which you posted quotes reports that Atta was in Florida on the morning of 9/8, in lower Manhattan on the evening of 9/8, at Boston's Logan Airport "scouting" for a major portion of the day of 9/9, rented a car in Boston on the evening of 9/9, stayed at a Boston motel on the night of 9/9, and passed through a Mass Turnpike tollbooth on the way to Maine on the afternoon of 9/10.

What I posted was actually from rough notes I prepared a few months ago. There were several sources, including the FBI. (The one uncertain time in my list is because I did find published references to both times, but they're only a minute apart.)

Anyway, I don't think I have anything on the earlier information that you posted. But it's probably in denydenydeny's superb timeline; that would be an excellent resource to check.

[CJ Wolf]

ok thanks, I feel better now.

[angcat]

HI :)

[ladyjane]

The poor hotel worker said he made a mistake, he found it in the room safe on the 10th floor, not the 9th floor. Something like that.

[OldFriend]

snicker

[OldFriend]

I don't know about this particular GPS but we purchased a Magellan GPS for our daughter as she travels on her job in cities across the country. The GPS has been invaluable to her.

[eno_]

I don't know about Portland, but I could check out of a motel by the airport in Manchester, NH and be on a plane in 15 minutes - at least that was possible before the federalization of the ineffectual a-holes at the x-ray machine. Portland is no megalapolis.

[white trash redneck]

At very least, some will want "Selective Ability" turned back on to "reduce" the accuracy of civilian GPS units.

I don't see how that would have made any difference. Even a severely degraded GPS signal would get you to within visual range of the WTC, or any other large target that the Muslimaniacs would find attractive. Nonetheless, I think you are absolutely right that the same Idiotarian mind-set that thinks outlawing guns makes people safer will think that degrading civilian GPS signals will also make us safer.