American Airlines Flight 77 - Hijackers

Hijackers

The hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77 were led by Hani Hanjour, who piloted the aircraft into the Pentagon. Hanjour first came to the United States in 1990. He trained at the CRM Airline Training Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, earning his FAA commercial pilot's certificate in April 1999. He had wanted to be a commercial pilot for the Saudi national airline but was rejected when he applied to the civil aviation school in Jeddah in 1999. Hanjour's brother later explained that, frustrated at not finding a job, Hanjour "increasingly turned his attention toward religious texts and cassette tapes of militant Islamic preachers". Hanjour left Saudi Arabia in late 1999, telling his family that he was going to the United Arab Emirates to work for an airline. Instead, Hanjour likely ended up in Afghanistan where Al Qaeda recruits were screened for special skills they may have. Already having selected the Hamburg Cell members, Al Qaeda leaders selected Hanjour to lead the fourth team of hijackers.

The CIA's unit dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden, Alec Station, had discovered that two of the other hijackers, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar, had multiple entry visas to the United States well before 9/11. Two FBI agents inside the unit tried to alert FBI headquarters, but CIA officers rebuffed them.

In December 2000, Hanjour arrived in San Diego, joining "muscle" hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who had been there since January 2000. Soon after arriving, Hanjour and Hazmi left for Mesa, Arizona, where Hanjour began refresher training at Arizona Aviation. In April 2001, they relocated to Falls Church, Virginia, where they awaited the arrival of the remaining "muscle" hijackers. One of these men, Majed Moqed, arrived on May 2, 2001, with Flight 175 hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi from Dubai at Dulles International Airport and moved into an apartment with Hazmi and Hanjour.

On May 21, 2001, Hanjour rented a room in Paterson, New Jersey, where he stayed with other hijackers through the end of August. The last Flight 77 "muscle" hijacker, Salem al-Hazmi, arrived on June 29, 2001, with Flight 11 hijacker Abdulaziz al-Omari at John F. Kennedy International Airport from the United Arab Emirates and stayed with Hanjour. Hani Hanjour received ground instruction and did practice flights at Air Fleet Training Systems in Teterboro, New Jersey, and at Caldwell Flight Academy in Fairfield, New Jersey. Hanjour moved out of the room in Paterson and arrived at the Valencia Motel in Laurel, Maryland, on September 2, 2001. While in Maryland, Hanjour and fellow hijackers trained at the Gold's Gym in Greenbelt. On September 10, he completed a certification flight, using a terrain recognition system for navigation, at Congressional Air Charters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. On September 10, Nawaf al-Hazmi, accompanied by other hijackers, checked into the Marriott in Herndon, Virginia.