October 28, 2000:
"Atta landed and refueled at Glynco-Manning Aviation Inc. (near Brunswick, South Georgia), buying 28 gallons of fuel for $ 73 for the Warrior, single-engine plane."
(Florida Times-Union, 10/28/01)
November 2000:
Atta and Al-Shehhi end their flight training at Huffman Aviation, Venice.
edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/18/tpt.00.html
November 3, 2000:
"Atta bought 29.5 gallons of fuel at 7:40 p.m. for a little more than $ 77 (at Glynco-Manning Aviation Inc, South Georgia) company owner Frank Manning said."
(South Florida-Times, 10/23/01)
November 4, 2000:
"A man using the name Manal ElSayed checked in at 3 p.m. (Clarion Hotel Town Center on Bonney Road (Virginia Beach)) accompanied by another man. The room was paid for with a Visa card. Atta, whose full name was Mohamed Mohamed Elamir Atta, had used the aliases Mohamed ElSayed and Awaid ElSayed, the FBI said. Dane said neither he nor any of his hotel staff members could recall the men. "It was a year ago, after all," he said. Investigators believe the men (Atta and Al-Shehhi - John Doe II) were the same ones on both dates (see "September 10, 2001"), with each using his name for registration one time, Dane said. The hotel's records list only the person registering - not guests."
(Virginia-Pilot, 9/28/01)
November 6, 2000:
"Atta and Shehhi took their instrument rating airplane test at Huffman Aviation. Atta received a score of 90 in 122 minutes and Shehhi received a score of 75 in 89 minutes.62 After passing this test, Atta and Shehhi were able to sign out planes. They did so on a number of occasions, often returning at 2:00 and 3:00 A.M. after logging four or five hours of flying time."
(Terrorist Travel, 15)
December 2000-April 2001:
According to later German reports, "a whole horde of Israeli counter-terror investigators, posing as students, [follow] the trails of Arab terrorists and their cells in the United States. ... In the town of Hollywood, Florida, they (identify) ... Atta and Marwan Alshehhi as possible terrorists. Agents (live) in the vicinity of the apartment of the two seemingly normal flight school students, observing them around the clock." Supposedly, around April, the Israeli agents are discovered and deported, terminating the investigation.
cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/derspiegel100102.html
December 2, 2000:
The visa Atta obtained when entering the US one June 3, 2000 expires.
miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/084895.htm
December 17, 2000:
"Atta bought 53 gallons of fuel for just under $ 120 and charged it on his Visa card, said Keith Thompson, who works in field base operations at the (Waycross-Ware County, South Georgia) airport. Looking at the airport's records, Thompson knew Atta was in a Seneca, twin-engine plane made by Piper. He knew the tail number on the plane -- 769HA."
(Florida Times-Union, 10/23/01)
December 19, 2000:
"Atta and Shehhi took their commercial pilot license tests at Huffman Aviation, completing their schooling. Atta received a score of 93 in 116 minutes."
(Terrorist Travel, 16)
December 22, 2000:
Atta originally wanted his training at Eagle Jet International, Miami to begin that day. According to the document he changed his mind. To me it’s unclear when he wished to start.
See: http://www.rcfp.org/moussaoui/jpg/size600/MM00032-1.jpg
December 26, 2000:
Atta and Marwan Alshehhi stall a small plane on a Miami International Airport runway. Unable to start the plane, they simply walk away.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/17/national/17ATTA.html?ex=1142312400&en=c1327d95067bb1f8&ei=5070
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/17/inv.hijackers.plane.rental/
December 29-30, 2000:
"Marwan al-Shehhi, a native of the United Arab Emirates, studied along with Mr. Atta at the SimCenter flight school in Opa-Locka, near Miami, beginning last December. Henry George, an instructor at the school, said the two men spent three hours each in the school's jet airline simulator on Dec. 29 and 30".
(New York Times, 9/15/01)
Online: www.amanaonline.com/Articles/art_122.htm
December 29-31, 2000:
"Al-Shehhi and Atta took flight simulator lessons at Sim Center and Pan Am International. Both signed up for time on a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 767 simulator."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
This document states only December 29-30 and only Boeing 727.
www.rcfp.org/moussaoui/jpg/size600/MM00571-1.jpg
January 2001:
"After meeting with Atta in Berlin in January 2001, Binalshibh. (…) Atta traveled to Germany in early January 2001 for a progress meeting with Ramzi Binalshibh."
CR, 243
[i]Comment: So during this six day trip from the US to Europe (January 4-10, 2001) Atta arrived in Madrid, apparently went to Berlin then to Germany (as if Berlin is not Germany for the Commission) and then back to Madrid. Tough program (And when he comes back there is suspicion that on January 10, 2001 two Attas entered the US!). Why are there no records of him taking a flight to Berlin? [/I]
Atta used his true name for the travel.
(CR, 229)
One night in January or February 2001:
"Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi landed a single-engine plane at least twice at the Clearwater Airpark one night in January or February 2001, according to Daniel Pursell, chief instructor for a Venice flight school that rented planes to the pair.
The two men, likely sharing controls, practiced in nighttime conditions for 30 minutes or more, eventually drawing the attention of a Clearwater police aide who worked as a night watchman and copied the plane's information, Pursell told the St. Petersburg Times .
Why the two men chose the small Clearwater airpark 75 miles north of Venice remains a mystery. (...)
After the landing, the police aide left a voice message with the Venice flight school, Huffman Aviation, complaining about the incident, Pursell said."
www.sptimes.com/2006/03/30/Northpinellas/911_hijackers_practic.shtml
(Thanks to Daniel Hopsicker and DoYouEverWonder)
[i]Comment: The fact that apparently they still flew a plane from Huffman Aviation is in stark contrast to the official statement that they had left Venice in December 2000. Attention: January 3, 2001.[/i]
January - September 2001:
Numerous witnesses later recall seeing hijackers Mohamed Atta and/or Marwan Alshehhi in Nabil al-Marabh's Toronto apartment building and photocopy shop owned by al-Marabh's uncle at various times during the year.
www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/torontosun092801.html
abclocal.go.com/wls/news/013102_ss_tiestoterrorism.html
Some of the dozens of eyewitness accounts say Atta sporadically works in the photocopy shop.
cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/torontosun102101.html
[i]Comment: How does Atta manage to be basically everywhere at the same time?? [/I]
January 3, 2001:
"Is the last time Atta and Al-Shehhi were seen in Venice. They came in to pay their final bill."
archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/17/inv.hijackers.plane.rental/
[i]Comment: But Atta and Al-Shehhi still fly with a plane from Huffman Aviation in February 2001![/i]
January 4, 2001:
"On January 4, 2001, Atta left the United States from Miami International Airport for Madrid, Spain. "
usdoj.gov/oig/special/0205/chapter3.htm
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
[i]Comment: Is Atta in Spain or in Germany or both? [/I]
"By January 2001, Mohamed Atta had already overstayed his U.S. visa."
transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/25/se.12.html
"Although his application for a change of his immigration status was still pending, once he departed the country the application was considered abandoned."
(Terrorist Travel, 17)
[i]Comment: Again why does Atta take the risk of not being able to re-enter the US?[/i]
January 10, 2001:
"Six days later, on January 10, 2001, he re-entered the United States at Miami Airport from Madrid. "
www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0205/chapter3.htm
"Atta and Shehhi both encountered some difficulty reentering the United States, on January 10 and January 18, respectively. Because neither presented a student visa, both of them had to persuade INS inspectors that they should be admitted so that they could continue their flight training."
CR, 227ff
[i]Comment: How do you "persuade" a INS inspector? [/I]
"The report (of the Department of Justice) said INS officials knew the pair had previously requested permission to become students and should have presented student visas, not tourist visas. But the oversight report noted that Atta and Al-Shehhi would have been permitted into the United States if they had told inspectors they planned to attend classes part-time, and it said the INS routinely granted waivers to students before Sept. 11 without the proper paperwork. "The INS' prevailing philosophy in dealing with foreign students ... before Sept. 11 was that students were not a concern or a significant risk worthy of special scrutiny," the report said."
(AP, 5/20/02)
Atta "was almost denied entry to the United States earlier this year when an immigration inspector at Miami International Airport became suspicious that he wanted to take flight lessons while on a tourist visa.
The inspector ordered Atta out of the regular immigration line so a second immigration officer could question him at length, a federal official familiar with the incident said. After a 57-minute delay, the second inspector cleared Atta into the country as a tourist, the official said."
www.miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/084895.htm
"The inspector pulled Atta out of the line because he had a tourist visa, not the M vocational training visa commonly issued to foreign students seeking flight training, the official said.
Atta told the inspector that he had applied for an M and was awaiting a change in status, the official said."
miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/084895.htm
"Atta, who had a tourist visa, told airport officials he was coming to this country for flight training, which would have required a student or vocational education visa, immigration officials in Washington said. He was allowed in after it was determined that his application for a student visa was pending."
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/01)
"The Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors who interviewed Atta failed to notice that he had overstayed his visa by 32 days during a prior trip to the United States."
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-092701atta.story
miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/084895.htm
[i]Comment: Why is it that no alleged hijacker apparently seems to bother about having a valid visa?[/i]
And here the account in "Terrorist Travel":
"The primary immigration inspector who screened him told the Commission that he had been working as a primary inspector for less than a year when Atta presented himself. He said he knew that if he took more time than 45 seconds to determine a visitor’s admissibility or if he made too many referrals to secondary inspection, he could receive a poor performance appraisal. During an interview with the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG), in November 2001, the primary inspector recalled some of his encounter with Atta. He told the interviewer that Atta presented an Egyptian passport with a tourist/business visa and an INS student/school form indicating that he was attending school. The inspector determined that Atta needed either an F-1 visa to attend an academic school or an M-1 visa to attend a vocational school, and had neither. The official’s "inspection results report" recorded Atta’s statement that he had "turned in" a student/school form to the INS in an attempt to change his status, but that he "has not had a response [from the INS], meanwhile he’s attending flight training school, already in school for 5/6 months."The inspector, however, had already begun to process Atta for admission into the United States before noticing the visa problem. The I-94 arrival record, which was stamped and stapled into Atta’s passport, indicated that the primary inspector initially approved a one-month stay as a B-1 business visitor. The second red ink admission stamp (located on the top of Atta’s passport in the figure) was that of a B-1 visitor, but the length of stay was left blank. We know this was the work of the primary inspector, as the stamp bears his assigned number. The inspector told us that the blank length of stay on the admission stamp indicated that while he was almost finished processing Atta, he stopped, realizing that Atta needed more scrutiny. He sent him to a secondary immigration inspection for closer examination. The immigration inspectors the Commission interviewed understood that INS policy permitted a commercial pilot coming to the United States for ongoing training to be admitted as a business visitor for the time necessary to complete his training. However, an alien wishing to pursue such training needed a vocational student visa. The primary inspector initially thought that Atta was already a pilot who was seeking continuing education, and then decided that Atta was studying to become a pilot and had the wrong visa.The ten-year veteran immigration inspector who conducted Atta’s secondary examination admitted him as a tourist for eight months, though Atta had said he was still attending school and though as a tourist his stay should be legally limited to six months. This inspector initially recalled some aspects of this inspection in late 2001, when he was interviewed by the DOJ OIG; he said then that Atta was referred to secondary inspection as a possible overstay on a B1/B2 tourist visa. However, he told the Commission he no longer had any memory of this inspection and could not recall whether he asked Atta for his I-20 student/school form, checked the school/student system to verify Atta’s information, or asked Atta whether he was a part-time or full-time student, was attending flight school, or was still in school. The same inspector told the DOJ OIG that he had checked INS computer databases for information on Atta and learned that the Egyptian had filed for a change of immigration status from tourist to student. He told the Commission that because the student tracking system at that time was "garbage"-full of information that was no longer valid and lacking updates-he would not have checked it to verify Atta’s story that he was still in school. Yet the inspector told the DOJ OIG that he knew Atta had filed a change of immigration status from a computer check of his records. The inspector seems to have concluded that this application was still pending and that Atta was admissible. But under INS policy, Atta abandoned his application when he left the country. Other inspectors we interviewed were aware of this policy. Thus, Atta’s entry into the United States with the wrong visa should have been grounds for his removal.The Commission sought to understand whether the secondary inspector’s understanding of Atta’s pending application affected the decision to admit him. In a subsequent 2002 interview with DOJ OIG, the inspector stated that if an alien departed the United States prior to his or her application for change of status being granted, then that application is considered abandoned. If that alien then seeks to reenter the United States as a student, he or she must obtain the correct student visa. Thus, according to the secondary inspector, Atta should not have been admitted. However, in response to a Commission staff question the inspector said that he thought the applicant in such a case "would still be in status; a gray area."In fact, this was not a gray area. Other inspectors we interviewed, including the primary inspector in this case, said that leaving the United States while an application for change of status was still pending made it necessary for the alien to get a new visa overseas. Indeed, the DOJ OIG concluded that the issue of the pending application was a red herring: all that mattered was whether Atta had the correct visa to enter the United States at the time he applied for entry. The secondary inspector admitted Atta as a B-2 tourist, which automatically set the length of stay at six months. Only a supervisor could vary this period, allowing a tourist to stay up to one year in the country. Every inspector we interviewed verified this. However, this inspector gave Atta eight months, until September 8, 2001, without supervisory approval. Thus, both Atta’s admission as a tourist and his length of stay were improper. In addition, Atta had overstayed his previous visa by one month when he departed the United States on January 4, 2001.89 That overstay should have been obvious to a secondary inspector tasked with giving a thorough look at Atta, for his passport would have contained an entry stamp into a foreign country from the week before, and an original U.S. admission stamp dated seven months earlier. Though the overstay did not make Atta automatically inadmissible, it could have been considered. But there is no indication that the secondary inspector who adjudicated Atta’s admission took his overstay into account. In contrast, other inspectors have told us that overstays are a typical travel pattern of an intending immigrant, and are normally a red flag for those attempting reentry. The secondary inspector also could have admitted Atta into the United States for 30 days for a fee of $170, requiring Atta to present paperwork from his school to prove his current student status within 30 days. However, the inspector told us he had not considered the option of a deferred inspection. Such an inspection would have placed Atta in a difficult position: because he was already finished with school, he would have been unable to present paperwork indicating that he was still legally a student."
(Terrorist Travel, 17ff)
"He was admitted to the United States twice on the same day.
(...) On one entry record that day, Atta was given until July 9 to stay in the United States, on the other until Sept. 8.
(...) But a small notation on the record says the second entry ``may be another person entering with identical passport.''"
miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/084895.htm
"When we reviewed INS records, they appeared to reflect two entries by Atta into the United States on January 10, 2001, which initially raised a question as to whether Atta had entered twice on the same day or whether a second person posing as Atta also entered on January 10, 2001. The NIIS printout for the first entry reflects that Atta entered with an admission period of January 10, 2001, to September 8, 2001 (admission number 68653985708) . The second record reflects a second entry on January 10, 2001, with an admission period from January 10, 2001, to July 9, 2001 (admission number 10847166009) . However, this occurred because the inspector at the Miami District Office who changed Atta's admission date failed to follow the proper procedure to ensure that the previous entry would be corrected, and a new entry was created in NIIS. The inspector sent the old I-94 and the corrected I-94 to the contractor which data enters I-94s for the INS. The May 2, 2001, transaction with Atta was data entered and then uploaded to NIIS as if it were a new entry by Atta. This happened because the inspector issued a new I-94 with a new admission number on it. To prevent two entries from occurring in NIIS, the inspector should have crossed out the admission number on the new I-94, made a reference to the previous admission number and noted that it was not a new entry."
usdoj.gov/oig/special/0205/chapter3.htm
[i]Comment: I’m not sure if this explanation is really convincing. [/I]
Mid-January - Mid-February 2001:
"After returning to Florida from their trips, Atta and Shehhi visited Georgia, staying briefly in Norcross and Decatur, and renting a single-engine plane to fly with an instructor in Lawrenceville."
CR, 229
January 18, 2001:
"A Venice postal carrier stops delivering mail to Atta and Al-Shehhi at the Sandpiper Apartments in Venice where they were living with four other Middle Eastern flight students."
sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/091103/tp2ch19.htm?date=091103&story=tp2ch19.htmhttp:
January 25, 2001:
"Returning to the United States Atta and al- Shehhi moved temporarily to Norcross, Georgia, where Atta visited the Advanced Aviation Flight Training School in Lawrenceville, Georgia."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
January 31, 2001:
"The two performed flight checks at the Advanced Aviation on January 31, and February 6, 2001."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
"a flight school next to Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, Ga.,"
(AP, 10/18/01)
February 2001 A:
"They suddenly moved out (of Hamburg). They arrived in Florida shortly after that."
suntimes.com/terror/stories/cst-nws-hijack16s1.html
[i]Comment: At the first glance this looks like a mistaken account but in view of the fact that there are reportings of Atta vacating his Hamburg appartment on March 11, 2001 and was seen in Hamburg in April 2001 this can hardly be explained by a simple mistake. But it is of course in strong contradiction to Atta clearly being in the US at the same time as well. Another example of a double.[/i]
February 2001 B:
Federal investigators believe Mohamed Atta visits Norfolk, Virginia, site of a huge US Navy base, in February and again in April. "The Feds believe that Atta was scoping out an aircraft carrier as a target."
(Newsweek, 10/25/01)
online: wanttoknow.info/021029newsweek
(Newsweek, 9/17/01)
February 2001 C:
Atta "was spotted checking out crop dusting planes and even say investigative sources, going to a bank to ask about a loan for one."
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/25/se.12.html
In or about February 2001:
"Mohammed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175) attended a health club in Decatur, Georgia."
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/moussaouiindictment.htm
[i]Comment: Why do published records of the gym indicate that Atta and Al-Shehhi have been there only in July and August 2001? See: "July - August 2001"[/i]
February and March 2001:
"It is believed that Atta and al- Shehhi remained in the Atlanta, Georgia, area through February and March 2001. It is during this time period that a crop duster pilot in Belle Glade, Florida, identified Atta as having inquired about the purchase and operation of crop dusters."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
February through May, 2001:
"Investigators have "credible evidence that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi . . . were in the Virginia Beach area at certain times during the period between February and May of this year," said Michael E. Varnum, special agent in charge of the Norfolk office of the FBI."
(Virginia-Pilot, 9/26/01)
"It's unclear how long they stayed, where they went or if they visited more than once."
(Virginia-Pilot, 9/27/01)
"Two checks - one for $10,000, the other for $8,000 - were cashed by Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi at the Hilltop branch of SunTrust Bank, WVEC-TV reported Wednesday, citing sources close to the investigation."
(Virginia-Pilot, 9/27/01)
Between on or about February 1, 2001, and on or about February 15, 2001:
"Mohammed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175) took a flight check ride around Decatur, Georgia."
usdoj.gov/ag/moussaouiindictment.htm
February 6, 2001:
"The two performed flight checks at the Advanced Aviation on January 31, and February 6, 2001."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
Mid-February 2001:
Atta and Al-Shehhi "began pestering employees at South Florida Crop Care for vital statistics about crop dusting planes. Dressed in collared shirts and Bermuda shorts, as if they had just walked off a golf course, Atta and several other Middle Eastern men arrived the first time in a small plane. They followed employee James Lester around as he worked that day, peppering him with questions about the Belle Glade company's plane."
"Lester said Atta stopped by the airport once in February and once in March with two other men who appeared to be Middle Eastern.
"They came by and wanted to know about airplanes, how to crank them, and they wanted to sit in the airplanes," he said.
Lester said he told the three men in February that he didn't have the authority to let them sit in the cockpit. He said he suggested they come back the next morning when his boss would be at work."
(Sun-Sentinel, 9/24/01)
(Palm Beach Post, 9/24/01)
(Final Report of the Joint Inquiry, 136)
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/24jul20031400/www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/pdf/fullreport.pdf
February 15, 2001:
"It was Thursday, February 15, 2001, when a man
went to Lufthansa in Frankfurt (Germany) . His name:
Mohammed Atta, agyptian, 33 years old, former student of the
Technische Universität Hamburg-Harbug. In 1995 there had been an
investigation against him due to small drug offenses and forgeries
of telephone cards, criminal trifles. On February 15, 2001 he
applied for a security post at the German airline. The personnel
departement verified (this atta couldn’t know) especially people
seeking work in the security area.
They asked in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden the responsible authorities
to check the information system of the police called HEPOLIS, if
there had been information saved.
"Based on the findings of the police in 1995" confirmed an official
of the BKA to me the application of Mohammed Atta was refused.
(Jürgen Roth: Netzwerke des Terrors (networks of terror), p. 9f)
(translation by John Doe II)
[i]Comment: But officially Atta didn’t leave the US. So can he be in Germany at that time? [/I]
February 19, 2001:
"Atta and Shehhi were in Virginia."
CR, 228
February 21-25, 2001:
"After meeting Mohamed and Keller on Feb. 21, the former employee joined the couple on an adventure to Key West the following day.
"They were gone for three days," said Tony LaConca. "They didn't sleep -- it was a continuous party."
LaConca said Mohamed footed the entire bill for the weekend including buying Keller and the unnamed employee new clothes, alcohol, drugs and hotel stay."
sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/091401/tp4ch14.htm?date=091401&story=tp4ch14.htm
[i]Comment: When exactly did Atta stay in North Port? [/I]
February 25, 2001 A:
"Atta may have posted bond at the South County Jail in Venice for his North Port girlfriend, Amanda Keller. He was staying with a North Port couple around the same time."
sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/091103/tp2ch19.htm?date=091103&story=tp2ch19.htm
sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/091401/tp4ch14.htm?date=091401&story=tp4ch14.htm
February 25, 2001 B:
"A Feb. 25 police report in which Keller had called police about harassing cell phone calls."
sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/091401/tp4ch14.htm?date=091401&story=tp4ch14.htm
[i]Comment: But other reports have Atta in Georgia and not in North Port, Forida. [/I]
Late February 2001:
"Atta and a second hijacker, Marwan Al-Shehhi, were in the Atlanta area in late February and early March. The two rented small planes on two occasions at Advanced Aviation, a flight school next to Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, Ga., workers there told the FBI. They made the first flight in late February with an instructor".
(AP, 10/18/01)
March 2001:
Atta and Al-Shehhi" returned to Germany in March and cleared out their old Hamburg apartment, German police say."
(Wall Street Journal, 10/16/01)
online: s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2001/wallstreetjournal101601.html
[i]Comment: Officially they never left the US around that time. And why are they seen in the US at the same time as well? See "March 11, 2001"Please note that the source is the German police.[/i]
March 2001-September 1, 2001:
Hani Hanjour and Salem Alhazmi rent a one-room apartment in Paterson, New Jersey. Hanjour signs the lease. Nawaf Alhazmi, Saeed Alghamdi, and Mohamed Atta are also seen coming and going by neighbors.
(AP, 10/7/01)
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A46892-2001Sep29¬Found=true
Early March 2001:
Atta and Al-Shehhi "rented small planes on two occasions at Advanced Aviation, a flight school next to Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, Ga., workers there told the FBI. They made the first flight in late February with an instructor, but on the second flight in early March the two were alone in a single-engine Piper Warrior, company president Bruce Buell said. Atta and Al-Shehhi showed pilot licenses bearing their names. After the attacks, flight school employees identified the two from photos shown to them by FBI agents."
(AP, 10/18/01)
March 11, 2001:
"Atta and al-Shehhi vacated their spartan Hamburg flat, leaving it clean, empty and freshly painted."
www.miami.com/herald/special/news/worldtrade/digdocs/000518.htm
http://www.sptimes.com/News/092701/news_pf/Worldandnation/The_trail_of_the_terr.shtml
[i]Comment: Officially they never left the US around that time. And why are they seen in the US at the same time as well?[/i]
Late March 2001:
Atta "with two other men who appeared to be Middle Eastern" (Sun-Sentinel, 9/24/01) appear again at the Belle Glade Airport, FL. Palm Beach Post (9/24/01) specify that Al-Shehhi is there, too.
"They didn't return the next day but showed up again in late March asking similar questions, Lester said. Again, they wanted to sit inside the crop-duster. Lester said he tried to brush them off during the second visit.
"I'd been working all day. It was hot, and I was getting the airplane cleaned up," Lester said. "I didn't want to be rude, but I just told them, 'You can't get in the cockpit of the airplane.'"
(Sun-Sentinel, 9/24/01)
April 2001:
Federal investigators believe Mohamed Atta visits Norfolk, Virginia, site of a huge US Navy base, in February and again in April. "The Feds believe that Atta was scoping out an aircraft carrier as a target."
(Newsweek, 10/25/01)
online: www.wanttoknow.info/021029newsweek
(Newsweek, 9/17/01)
Early April, 2001:
"Atta and Shehhi returned to Virginia Beach and closed the mailbox they had opened in February."
CR, 229
April 4, 2001:
"The FBI has gathered evidence indicating that Atta was in Virginia Beach on April 4 (as evidenced by a bank surveillance camera photo)"
CR, 228
[i] Comment: The Commission considers this as a proof that Atta wasn’t in Prague. [/i]
April 6, 2001:
"Atta's cellular telephone was used numerous times to call various lodging establishments in Florida from cell sites within Florida."
(CR, 228)
[i] Comment: The Commission considers this as a proof that Atta wasn’t in Prague. [/i]
April 8, 2001:
"Atta also allegedly flew to the Czech Republic again on April 8, 2001"
(Boston Globe, 10/23/02)
April 9, 2001 A:
"Atta's cellular telephone was used numerous times to call various lodging establishments in Florida from cell sites within Florida."
(CR, 228)
[i] Comment: The Commission considers this as a proof that Atta wasn’t in Prague. [/i]
April 9, 2001 B:
"A single source of the Czech intelligence service (...) reported having seen Atta meet with Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al Ani, an Iraqi diplomat, at the Iraqi Embassy in Prague on April 9, 2001, at 11:00 A. M."
(CR, 228)
"The available evidence does not support the original Czech report of an Atta-Ani meeting."
(CR, 229)
[i]Comment: Please note that the main refusal of the Commission that this meeting ever took place is that there are proofs of Atta being in the US at the same time and there are no records of Atta entering the Czech Republique prior to the meeting. Unfortunately the Commission doesn’t consider the possibility of Atta’s double being at work. For a detailed analysis of this meeting see PRAGUE.
Here only now a few quotes that indicate that the case certainly is less clear than the Commission tries to make us believe[/i]
"Though Czech security officials had little, if any, suspicions about Atta, they had been monitoring al-Ani. He reportedly had been involved in an aborted Iraqi plan to attack the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, whose Iraqi broadcasts have angered Baghdad since going on the air in 1998."
www.csmonitor.com/2001/1030/p7s1-woeu.html
[i]Comment: The Commission states that not even Ani was in Prague at the moment of the alleged meeting (CR, 228). It is difficult to believe that the agent surveilling Ani didn’t realize this.[/i]
"As for Atta's possible third trip to Prague, it says that the BIS had been warned by its informer beforehand that Ani was to meet "an important Arab student from Hamburg" in April 2001. Although the BIS monitored the meeting, it is not clear whether the person involved was Atta, Respekt writes. However, 100,000 dollars reached Atta's account three days after the meeting, it points out."
(Czech News Agency, 11/10/03)
[i]Comment: So, not only did one witness get it wrong but also there was a rumour beforehand. What is the source for this rumour?[/i]
"The only person who claims to have witnessed Atta's alleged meeting with Ani, Czech officials say, is a confidential informant for the Czech counterintelligence service, the BIS. (...) When the informant saw Atta's picture in newspapers and on television broadcasts, officials here say, he promptly informed his handlers that he saw Atta meeting with Ani."
(Boston Globe, 10/23/02)
[i]Comment: It is important to note that the witness made the connection to talk about the meeting after seeing the picture of Atta.[/i]
"It's not just (Interior Minister Stanislav) Gross who stands by the information. Five high-ranking members of the Czech government have publicly confirmed meetings between Atta and al Ani."
www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/378fmxyz.asp?pg=1
[i]Comment: For a detailed analysis of the alleged Prague meeting see PRAGUE.[/i]
April 10, 2001:
"Atta's cellular telephone was used numerous times to call various lodging establishments in Florida from cell sites within Florida."
(CR, 228)
[i] Comment: The Commission considers this as a proof that Atta wasn’t in Prague. [/i]
April 11, 2001 A:
"Atta and Al Shehhi "moved into an apartment in Coral Springs."
CR, 230
CR, 228
April 11, 2001 B:
"Atta's cellular telephone was used numerous times to call various lodging establishments in Florida from cell sites within Florida."
(CR, 228)
[i] Comment: The Commission considers this as a proof that Atta wasn’t in Prague. [/i]
April 11, 2001 C:
The accounts of Atta being in Prague state that he was back to the US that day.
(Boston Globe, 10/23/02)
[i]Comment: Most likely this is simply based in the fact that Atta moved in Coral Springs the same day.[/i]
April 20, 2001:
"Mr. Atta met three Arabic-speaking men in Hamburg. Karl-Heinz Horst, a German taxi driver who recognized Mr. Atta's face from television reports after Sept. 11, says he had driven the three passengers about 400 miles, from Furth, in southern Germany, to Hamburg in the north. During the long ride, one of the passengers said in English that he was a war veteran from Afghanistan. Mr. Atta met the taxi in Hamburg and paid the $500 bill in cash, says Mr. Horst."
(Wall Street Journal, 10/16/01)
online: www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/wallstreetjournal101601.html
[i]Comments: Only a mistaken witness’ account? Most likely not: Atta is identfied by the FBI photo. He is going to Hamburg. There is talk about the war in Afghanistan. Only problem the official Atta wasn’t in Hamburg at that time but in Florida.[/i]
April 26, 2001:
"Atta is stopped in Broward County, Florida, for a traffic violation and is given a citation for driving without a license."
www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/maps/timeline.htm
Spring 2001:
"Mr. Whitener said he was tying down a plane at Martin Campbell Airport, located between Copperhill and Blue Ridge, when two men landed in a single-engine plane. He said he was curious about the aircraft, so he approached the pilot and struck up a conversation. "He spoke good English, but with an accent," Mr. Whitener said, noting the plane was from an airport in Gwinnett County, Ga. News reports since Sept. 11 have verified that Mr. Atta had twice rented a plane from a Gwinnett County airport. Mr. Whitener said Mr. Atta asked about the chemical plant he had flown over, specifically wanting to know what type of chemicals were stored in tanks on the property. "I told him they were empty, and we were arguing about the storage tanks and tank cars," Mr. Whitener said, noting that the stranger would not believe the tanks were empty and the chemical plant was mostly shut down.He said Mr. Atta also asked about the nearby Hiwassee Reservoir and about the Ocoee River Whitewater Center, calling it "The Olympic Park." Mr. Whitener described the pilot as "very arrogant" during the conservation.Mr. Whitener said the stranger posed other questions that "I can't elaborate on," but he declined to say why he could not talk about them. He said the conversation last about 10 minutes, then the men climbed back in the rented plane, and the pilot thrust his fist into the air as they taxied out and left."
[i]Comment: Please note: "Whitener said the two men he met flew a single-engine Cessna with a sharply different design than the Piper Warrior." (AP, 10/18/01) Therefore this encounter can’t be the result of the second flight Atta and Al-Shehhi took from Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, Ga. (see "Late February 2001" and "Early March 2001") where Atta had rented a Piper Warrior.
Comment: Not a very secretive behaviour for our top terrorist.[/i]
May-June 2001:
"Atta lived at the Tara Gardens apartment complex in Coral Springs. Diana Padilla, who lived upstairs, recalled: ‘You would say hello to him and nothing -- no reaction.’"
(Knight Ridder, 9/28/01)
[i]Comment: But other accounts state Atta lived there only from April to May 13, 2001.
And is this the same address as: "apartment 122 at 10001 West Atlantic Boulevard in Coral Springs" (Mirror, 9/17/01) [/I]
May-August 2001:
A number of the hijackers make at least six trips to Las Vegas. It is probable they met here after doing practice runs on cross-country flights. At least Mohamed Atta, Marwan Alshehhi, Nawaf Alhazmi, Ziad Jarrah, Khalid Almihdhar and Hani Hanjour were involved. All of these "fundamentalist" Muslims drink alcohol, gamble, and frequent strip clubs. They even have strippers perform lap dances for them.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/04/MN102970.DTL
(Newsweek, 10/15/01)
May 2, 2001 A:
"That day, Atta and Jarrah were together, about 30 miles to the north, visiting a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, to get Florida driver's licenses."
CR, 231
"Atta received his Florida license, and listed his address as Harding Street in Hollywood, Fla."
(Boston Globe, 9/15/01)
May 2, 2001 B:
"Atta went to the Miami District Office to inquire about extending the date of admission for a companion who also had entered the United States on a B-2 visa on January 10, 2001, but had been given only a 6-month admission instead of the 8-month admission given to Atta. Once at the District Office, Atta spoke to an immigration inspector who normally was assigned to work at the Miami airport, but who was working a 1-day detail at the District Office.
According to this inspector, Atta and his companion requested that Atta's friend's 6-month admission be extended to 8 months since Atta had received an 8-month admission."
www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0205/chapter3.htm
[i]Comment: But who can this companion have been? Alshehhi re-entered the US only on January 18, 2001 (see his timeline). And Jarrah didn’t enter the US on this day neither. [/I]
Here the account from "Terrorist Travel":
"Atta and two companions stood in a long line at the Miami District Immigration Office. INS district offices adjudicate all types of immigration benefits inspections, including naturalization interviews, applications for permanent residency based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, and deferred inspections for students lacking the proper paperwork upon entry. But Atta had something else in mind. He wanted his companion, who was likely Jarrah, to obtain the same eight-month length of stay that he had (wrongfully) received in January. By late morning, Atta finally made it to the inspection desk. An inspector from Miami International Airport was getting ready to take a break for lunch at about 11:30 A.M.when three men approached her at the counter. This inspector had worked primary and secondary inspections at airports, as well as of ship crews, since 1988 in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. However, because she had never before worked at this district office, she recalled the encounter with Atta vividly. One of Atta’s companions, proficient in English, spoke first. He told the inspector, "My friends have a question about their I-94 arrival records." When she asked, "Do you need to see immigration?" he said no. The inspector then instructed him to go sit down and that she would help him with his friends, and he complied. She told them that the person needing help should write his name on the sign-in sheet. In large capital letters, he wrote, "ATTA." Atta told the inspector that he wanted his friend to receive an eight-month length of stay as he had. The inspector recalled taking both passports to see if they had genuine visas. She also looked at the I-94 arrival records in the passports. Atta’s companion had received a six-month stay as a tourist, with an end date of September 8, 2001. She also noticed that Atta had been admitted as a tourist for eight months. During this time, Atta was quiet. She told Atta, "Someone gave you the wrong admission and I’m not giving your friend eight months." The inspector then went to her supervisor, informed him that Atta had been granted an incorrect length of stay, and asked permission to roll it back to six months. The supervisor agreed. The inspector then tore the I-94 record out of Atta’s passport, and created a new I-94 for six months, which allowed Atta to remain in the United States until July 9, 2001. On the record she wrote: "I-94 issued in error at MIA [Miami International Airport]. New I-94 issued." The inspector then took a red-inked admission stamp, rolled the date back to January 10, and stamped Atta as a B-2 tourist. She wrote in a length of stay until July 9, 2001, and handed Atta back his passport and new I-94 record. Atta took the documents, said thank you, and left with his companions."
(Terrorist Travel, 22f)
See also the notes of the immigration official (Terrorist Travel, 187)
See also Atta’s revised immigration arrival record (Terrorist Travel, 186)
May 13 - June 13, 2001:
"In Hollywood, Atta and Shehhi apparently lived from May 13 to June 13 at an apartment on Jackson Street."
(Palm Beach Post, 9/14/01)
"From May 13 until June 13, the pair lived in apartment 3A at 1818 Jackson St. (Hollywod, FL), said Jean Luc Desjardins and Yolanda Lavoie, the building's former owners.
(Atta) was a very smart guy who said he was going to pilot school," Lavoie said on Wednesday. ‘In fact, he said he was moving out to be closer to his flying school. They were very polite and the place was very clean; they didn't leave a thing behind.’"
(Sun-Sentinel, 9/13/01)
May 28, 2001:
"Atta probably picked up the group at the (Miami) airport, having rented a Ford Explorer for the day"
(CR, 528)
June or July 2001:
"Mohamed Atta, Marwan Alshehhi, and an unknown third person are seen in the ground-floor workshops of the architecture department at this time, according to at least two witnesses from the Hamburg university where Atta had studied. They are seen on at least two occasions with a white, three-foot scale model of the Pentagon. Between 60 and 80 slides of the Sears building in Chicago and the WTC are found to be missing from the technical library after 9/11."
www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/sundaytimes020302.html
[i]Comment: Strange as even during his trip to Spain in mid-July there is no indication Atta was in Germany. [/I]
Most likely June, July, August 2001:
"Atta was also a member at L.A. Fitness on University Drive
in Coral Springs and worked out at the upscale gym for about
two months, an employee said. FBI agents visited the fitness center
north of Royal Palm Boulevard twice this week and removed Atta’s
picture from the club’s membership computer, said employee José
Serraz."
"I couldn’t believe he actually worked out here," Serraz said.
http://web.archive.org/web/20011105010455/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-culprits919.story
[i]Comment: Was Atta only rarely there?[/i]
June 5, 2001:
Atta "flew from New York to Casablanca."
(Sun-Sentinel, 10/7/01)
[i]Comment: Is this an error?[/i]
June 12, 2001:
"Al-Shehhi moved into a gated community in Delray Beach called the Hamlet Country Club. Resident Nancy Adams, 34, a paralegal, believes Atta came along too. The parking places for their cars--the red Pontiac and a Toyota--were next to hers, she said.
"They told me they were here on business computer work," she said. They also wanted to know the local hot spots. She directed them to Boston's on the Beach, 32 East, Luna Rosa's and City Limits."
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-092701atta.story
[i]Comment: Please note that while it is only "believed" that Atta was there, too, his car was there for sure.[/i]
"On an application for the apartment on Greensward Lane, Shehhi
wrote that he and another man would need the apartment from June
13 to Aug. 12. He did not give the name of the other man.
On the line for "current residence," he wrote, "I am
wondring."(sic) He listed a 1989 Pontiac as his car."
(Palm Beach Post, 9/14/01)
"The men were very polite, (Nancy Adams) said."
(Palm Beach Post, 9/14/01)
[i]Comment: Strengthening the impression that Atta lived there with Al-Shehhi.[/i]
June 13 - July 13, 2001:
Atta rented with Al Shehhi an appartement in Hollywood.
(New York Times, 9/14/01)
[i]Comment: Not May 13? [/I]
June 27, 2001:
Atta flew "from Fort Lauderdale to Boston."
(Sun-Sentinel, 10/7/01)
Late June 2001 A:
"Mohammed Atta flew from Boston Logan Airport to San Francisco.
Each of the return flights for these hijackers had layovers in Las Vegas. To date, the purpose of these one-to-two day layovers is not known. However, with respect to travel to Las Vegas, we know that at least one hijacker on each of the four hijacked airplanes traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada sometime between May and August of 2001. This travel consisted of an initial transcontinental trip from an east-coast city to a west-coast city, and a connection in that westcoast city to a Las Vegas-bound flight."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
Late June 2001 B:
"Returning from his initial cross-country surveillance flight, Atta flew into New York. Rather than return immediately to Florida, he checked into a New Jersey hotel."
CR, 243
June 29, 2001:
Atta flies to Las Vegas and rents "a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu with Nevada license plate 743 MPR. That car is registered to Alamo Rent A Car at McCarran International Airport."
www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-21-Fri-2001/news/17051231.html
June 29 - July 1, 2001:
"Atta stayed in Las Vegas from June 29 to July 1, according to a registration slip at the Econo Lodge, an inexpensive motel on the Las Vegas Strip in a neighborhood of street prostitutes, tattoo parlors, adult book stores and wedding chapels. The Econo Lodge registration, also obtained by The Times, shows that he stayed in Room 122 and took advantage of an American Automobile Assn. discount of 10%. Atta paid $49.50 a night for the room."
(Los Angeles Times, 9/22/01)
"He stayed in a room with one queen-size bed. (...) He paid with cash and hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door of his room. (...) He checked in with a Florida driver's license issued in May. The Coral Springs, Fla., address noted in motel records matches the address where news reports say Atta lived. Though the motel staff typically photocopies the driver's license of cash-paying customers, Atta's identification wasn't copied during either stay. Econo Lodge owner James Magar says he has frequent problems with the copier at the motel, and the machine likely wasn't working when Atta was there."
www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-21-Fri-2001/news/17051231.html
June 30, 2001:
Atta "told hotel management he didn't want to be disturbed, but he did ask for a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He answered it right away, which means he was probably awake at 3:30 a.m.
MACVICAR: It was just in time for dawn prayers."
(CNN, 9/24/01)
July 2001 A:
"Mohamed Atta, Abdul Aziz al Omari, Nawaf al-Hazmi, Salem al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar, Ahmed Alghamdi, and Majed Moqed purchased personal identification cards at Apollo Travel in Paterson, New Jersey. Atta purchased a Florida identification card, while the others purchased New Jersey identification cards."
intelligence.senate.gov/0209hrg/020926/witness.htm
[i]Comment: But "Terrorist Travel" written on behalf on the Commission states that Atta only had a Florida driver’s licence (Terrorist Travel, 31).[/i]
July, 2001 B:
"Atta used a bad credit card at the Government Printing Office in Washington to try to purchase the official Air Force magazine. GPO spokesman Andrew Sherman said Atta gave an address in Egypt."
(AP, 9/25/01)
July and August 2001 A:
"Atta repeatedly visited the Shipping Post, a mom-and-pop mailing business in Punta Gorda, Fla., to obtain money orders in amounts of $100 to $200, according to the owner."
(Wall Street Journal, 10/16/01)
www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/wallstreetjournal101601.html
July-August 2001 B:
"Marwan al-Shehhi and Atta both used the ("Jim Woolard’s World Gym") Delray Beach gym after paying for memberships in cash. Wail M. al-Shehri, Waleed M. al-Shehri and Satam al-Suqami used the gym at the corner of Hypoluxo Road and Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach. All five bought $60 short-term memberships that lasted through July and August."
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-culprits919.story
Atta "wore jeans and button-up shirts to the gym."
(Sarasaota Herald Tribune, 9/28/01)
[i]Comment: Please note that in this period of two month Atta and Al-Shehhi have been very absent from Florida![/i]
July-August 2001 C:
"Some workers at the L.A. Fitness Center (Decatur, Georgia) have reportedly recognized the two men (Atta and Al-Shehhi) as clients who sometimes exercised inside the gym.
Employees told 11Alive's Jerry Carnes that an FBI agent questioned employees about the possible link in a back room of the gym Friday.
The men may have worked out at the center between July and August, according to a published report.
(...) The gym is a short distance from Briscoe Field where employees of Advanced Aviation told the FBI that the same two suspected terorrists were there back in February to take some training flights."
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.asp?storyid=5735
CHECK: When did Atta and Al-Shehhi arrive in the area of Georgia?
[i]Comment: Why do they work out in Georgia and in Florida?
Comment II: Why does the Departement of Justice state that they’ve worked out in Decatur in February 2001? See: "In or about February 2001".[/i]
Months leading to September 11, 2001:
There are "dozens of tips that Mohamed Atta (...) spent time in Toronto".
(Toronto Sun, 10/21/01)
"Some tenants in a Jameson Ave. (Toronto) complex suggested they saw at least two men in their building -- Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi".
(Toronto Sun, 9/28/01)
online: s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2001/torontosun092801.html
It’s "the same building where Nabil Al-Marabh" stayed.
(Toronto Sun, 9/28/01)
online: s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2001/torontosun092801.html
"Two other tenants said they recognized Al-Shehhi from a photo in a newspaper. "Many of the residents have been picking out the same man when they looked at the photos of the (suspected) hijackers," said Donna Dunphy, the superintendent of the Jameson Ave. building (...). Workers at a pharmacy around the corner from the Jameson Ave. building said they immediately recognized from newspaper photographs Mohamed Atta".
(Toronto Sun, 9/28/01)
online: s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2001/torontosun092801.html
Atta was "was seen several times at the Best Copy shop (Toronto)"
(Toronto Sun, 10/21/01)
"Residents and businessmen near the Charles St. W. shop said
suicide pilot Atta was among some of the suspected terrorists who
worked at the store."
(Toronto Sun, 10/21/01)
A resident: "I am 110% sure I saw Atta in the store more than once."
(Toronto Sun, 10/21/01)
[i]Comment: There are way too many eyewitnesses. Given Atta’s extremely tight schedule: When could he have possibly stayed in Toronto? The same goes for Al-Shehhi.[/i]
July 1, 2001 A:
Atta checks out Econolodge in Las Vegas.
southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-01/12-19-01/a02wn016.htm
July 1, 2001 B:
Atta flew "from Boston to New York."
(Sun-Sentinel, 10/7/01)
[i]Comment: The reportings of this day are in contradiction.[/i]
July 3, 2001:
Atta flies "from Newark to Fort Lauderdale."
(Sun-Sentinel, 10/7/01)
July 4, 2001 A:
"He picked up tickets to travel to Spain at a travel agency in Paterson on July 4 before departing for Fort Lauderdale."
CR, 243
July 4, 2001 B:
After booking the flight on Swissair, Atta returned the next day and paid for the one-way ticket to Madrid with $550 in cash, said Munther Ammar, one of Apollo (International Travel’s firm on Main Street ) owners.
(Bergen Record, 9/27/01)
[i]Comment: Why did he buy a one-way ticket although he only stayed a week in Spain before returning to the US again?[/i]
July 5, 2001:
"Police in Delray Beach, Fla., meanwhile, said Atta got only a warning during a July 5 traffic stop for speeding, even though he turned out to be wanted in neighboring Broward County for failing to appear in court for driving without a license."
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/01)
"They stopped his white Chevrolet Malibu speeding through a 25mph zone."
(Sunday Times, 2/3/02)
online: s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/sundaytimes020302.html
[i]Comment : Normally Atta drove a red Pontiac. What is this car?[/i]
