Orval Fairbairn
September 11th 06, 02:32 PM
I received this as part of Gary Wiblins' (So.
Africa) Aviation Safety email:
It is truly chilling!
"Mohammad Atta was in my Cockpit Jump-seat**by*Pat
This is the response from a retired Delta pilot in response to questions
about whether he was going to see UAL 93, the movie. *
I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I intend to when I get the chance.
Retirement has made me busier than ever, and I haven't had the chance to
see many movies lately.
As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11, I
was in crew rest in Orlando that morning. *I had just turned on the TV
in my hotel room only to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second
airplane hit the other tower. *My immediate reaction was
"Terrorists...we're at war", followed by the realization that we airline
crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it could have been any one of us
flying those planes. *As soon as the news stations flashed the first
pictures of the terrorists, I knew just how close and personallet I
dodged was. *There, on the screen for all to see, was a man who had sat
in my jump-seat the previous July.
His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers.* Mr.
Atta had boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta on July 26, 2001
wearing an American Airlines first officer uniform. *He had the
corresponding AA company ID identifying him as a pilot, not to mention
the required FAA pilot license and medical certificate that he was
required to show me as proof of his aircrew status for access to my
jump-seat. *An airline pilot riding a cockpit jump-seat is a long
established protocol among the airlines of the world, a courtesy
extended by the management and captains of one airline to pilots and
flight attendants of other airlines in recognition of their aircrew
status. My admission of Mohammad* Atta to my cockpit jump-seat that day
was merely a routine exercise of this protocol.
Something seemed a bit different about this jump-seat rider, though,
because in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise
altitude he avoided all my questions about his personal life and focused
very intently upon the cockpit instruments and our operation of the
aircraft. *I asked him what he flew at American and he said, "These",
but he asked incessant questions about how we did this or why we did
that. *I said, "This is a 767. *They all operate the same way." *But he
said, "No, we operate them differently at American." *That seemed very
strange, because I knew better. *I asked him about his background, and
he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. *I asked him when he came over to
this country and he said "A couple of years ago." ** I asked, "Are you a
US citizen?" *He said no. *I also found that very strange because I know
that in order to have an Airline Transport Pilot rating, the rating
required to be an airline captain, one has to be a US citizen, and
knowing the US airlines and their hiring process as I do, I found it
hard to believe that American Airlines would hire a non-US citizen who
couldn't upgrade to captain when the time came. *He said, "The rules
have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue. *Besides, he was just,
shall I say, "Creepy"? *My copilot and I were both glad to get rid of
this guy when we got to Atlanta.
There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than
who or what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove
who he was. In retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his
documents were forged. *Information later came to light as to how this
was done.
It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot
uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year.* We
had many security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal
items in hotel rooms because these were mysteriously disappearing, but
nobody knew why. *Atta and his men used these to make dry runs prior to
their actual hijackings on 9/11. *How do I know? *I called the FBI as
soon as I saw his face on the TV that day, and the a gent on the other
end of the line took my information and told me I'd hear back from them
when all the dust settled. *A few weeks later I got a letter from the
Bureau saying that my call was one of at least half a dozen calls that
day from other pilots who had had the same experience. *Flights were
being set random to make test runs for accessing the cockpit. *It seems
we had all dodged bullets.
Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck,
warmongering, rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. *I've been known to
lose my patience with those who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in
the Muslim world is wrong, or who say we shouldn't become involved in
that area of the world for political correctness reasons. *Maybe it's
because I dodged the bullet so closely back in 2001 that I feel this
way. *I have very little patience for political rhetoric or debate
against this war because for a couple of hours back in July 2001, when I
was engaged in conversation with a major perpetrator in this war, I came
so close to being one of its victims that I can think in no other terms.
I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from
Delta last May, other than to protect my disappearing company
retirement, was because it became harder and harder for me to go to work
every day knowing that the war wasn't being taken seriously by the
general public. *The worst offenders were the Liberal detractors to the
present administration, and right or wrong, this administration is at
least taking the bull by the horns and fighting our enemies, which is
something concrete that I can appreciate. *Nobody was taking this war
seriously, and it seems everyone found fault with the US government
rather than with those who attacked us. I found that incomprehensible.
I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more
every day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of
being identified about haime for body searches in front of the general
flying public who looked at the entire process as being ludicrous.
*"They don't even trust their own pilots!" accompanied by an unbelieving
snicker was the usual response. *Here I was, a retired USAF officer who
had been entrusted to fly nuclear weapons around the world, who had been
granted a Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course
of 21 years in the military that I still can't talk about without fear
of prosecution by the DoD, who was being scanned by a flunkie TSA
screener looking for any sign of a pen knife or nail file on my person.
It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I flew
to Key West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of
the visage of Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jump-seat, watching
my every action in the cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the
slightest provocation. *I missed ! being a headline by a mere 47 days,
and could very well have been among the aircrew casualties on 9/11 had
one of my flights on my monthly schedule been a transcontinental flight
from Boston or New York to the west coast on the 11th of September. Very
few people know that, while only four airliners crashed that day, four
more were targeted, and two of them were Delta flights. *The only reason
these four weren't involved is because they either had minor maintenance
problems which delayed them at the gate or they were scheduled to depart
after the FAA decided to ground all flights. *They are the pilots and
flight attendants who REALLY dodged the bullet that day, and my faith in
a higher power is restored as a result.
I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy
the movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me
if I do not embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. *The
Islamic world isn't of the West, and although we may be able to get
along with their governments in the future, the stated goal of Islam is
world conquest through Jihad and it is the extremist Jihadists, backed
and funded by "friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have to fear the
most. *We must have a presence in the Middle East, and we must have
friends in the Middle East, even if we have to fight wars to get them.
Only someone who has dodged a bullet can fully appreciate that fact."
Africa) Aviation Safety email:
It is truly chilling!
"Mohammad Atta was in my Cockpit Jump-seat**by*Pat
This is the response from a retired Delta pilot in response to questions
about whether he was going to see UAL 93, the movie. *
I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I intend to when I get the chance.
Retirement has made me busier than ever, and I haven't had the chance to
see many movies lately.
As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11, I
was in crew rest in Orlando that morning. *I had just turned on the TV
in my hotel room only to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second
airplane hit the other tower. *My immediate reaction was
"Terrorists...we're at war", followed by the realization that we airline
crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it could have been any one of us
flying those planes. *As soon as the news stations flashed the first
pictures of the terrorists, I knew just how close and personallet I
dodged was. *There, on the screen for all to see, was a man who had sat
in my jump-seat the previous July.
His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers.* Mr.
Atta had boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta on July 26, 2001
wearing an American Airlines first officer uniform. *He had the
corresponding AA company ID identifying him as a pilot, not to mention
the required FAA pilot license and medical certificate that he was
required to show me as proof of his aircrew status for access to my
jump-seat. *An airline pilot riding a cockpit jump-seat is a long
established protocol among the airlines of the world, a courtesy
extended by the management and captains of one airline to pilots and
flight attendants of other airlines in recognition of their aircrew
status. My admission of Mohammad* Atta to my cockpit jump-seat that day
was merely a routine exercise of this protocol.
Something seemed a bit different about this jump-seat rider, though,
because in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise
altitude he avoided all my questions about his personal life and focused
very intently upon the cockpit instruments and our operation of the
aircraft. *I asked him what he flew at American and he said, "These",
but he asked incessant questions about how we did this or why we did
that. *I said, "This is a 767. *They all operate the same way." *But he
said, "No, we operate them differently at American." *That seemed very
strange, because I knew better. *I asked him about his background, and
he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. *I asked him when he came over to
this country and he said "A couple of years ago." ** I asked, "Are you a
US citizen?" *He said no. *I also found that very strange because I know
that in order to have an Airline Transport Pilot rating, the rating
required to be an airline captain, one has to be a US citizen, and
knowing the US airlines and their hiring process as I do, I found it
hard to believe that American Airlines would hire a non-US citizen who
couldn't upgrade to captain when the time came. *He said, "The rules
have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue. *Besides, he was just,
shall I say, "Creepy"? *My copilot and I were both glad to get rid of
this guy when we got to Atlanta.
There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than
who or what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove
who he was. In retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his
documents were forged. *Information later came to light as to how this
was done.
It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot
uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year.* We
had many security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal
items in hotel rooms because these were mysteriously disappearing, but
nobody knew why. *Atta and his men used these to make dry runs prior to
their actual hijackings on 9/11. *How do I know? *I called the FBI as
soon as I saw his face on the TV that day, and the a gent on the other
end of the line took my information and told me I'd hear back from them
when all the dust settled. *A few weeks later I got a letter from the
Bureau saying that my call was one of at least half a dozen calls that
day from other pilots who had had the same experience. *Flights were
being set random to make test runs for accessing the cockpit. *It seems
we had all dodged bullets.
Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck,
warmongering, rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. *I've been known to
lose my patience with those who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in
the Muslim world is wrong, or who say we shouldn't become involved in
that area of the world for political correctness reasons. *Maybe it's
because I dodged the bullet so closely back in 2001 that I feel this
way. *I have very little patience for political rhetoric or debate
against this war because for a couple of hours back in July 2001, when I
was engaged in conversation with a major perpetrator in this war, I came
so close to being one of its victims that I can think in no other terms.
I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from
Delta last May, other than to protect my disappearing company
retirement, was because it became harder and harder for me to go to work
every day knowing that the war wasn't being taken seriously by the
general public. *The worst offenders were the Liberal detractors to the
present administration, and right or wrong, this administration is at
least taking the bull by the horns and fighting our enemies, which is
something concrete that I can appreciate. *Nobody was taking this war
seriously, and it seems everyone found fault with the US government
rather than with those who attacked us. I found that incomprehensible.
I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more
every day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of
being identified about haime for body searches in front of the general
flying public who looked at the entire process as being ludicrous.
*"They don't even trust their own pilots!" accompanied by an unbelieving
snicker was the usual response. *Here I was, a retired USAF officer who
had been entrusted to fly nuclear weapons around the world, who had been
granted a Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course
of 21 years in the military that I still can't talk about without fear
of prosecution by the DoD, who was being scanned by a flunkie TSA
screener looking for any sign of a pen knife or nail file on my person.
It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I flew
to Key West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of
the visage of Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jump-seat, watching
my every action in the cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the
slightest provocation. *I missed ! being a headline by a mere 47 days,
and could very well have been among the aircrew casualties on 9/11 had
one of my flights on my monthly schedule been a transcontinental flight
from Boston or New York to the west coast on the 11th of September. Very
few people know that, while only four airliners crashed that day, four
more were targeted, and two of them were Delta flights. *The only reason
these four weren't involved is because they either had minor maintenance
problems which delayed them at the gate or they were scheduled to depart
after the FAA decided to ground all flights. *They are the pilots and
flight attendants who REALLY dodged the bullet that day, and my faith in
a higher power is restored as a result.
I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy
the movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me
if I do not embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. *The
Islamic world isn't of the West, and although we may be able to get
along with their governments in the future, the stated goal of Islam is
world conquest through Jihad and it is the extremist Jihadists, backed
and funded by "friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have to fear the
most. *We must have a presence in the Middle East, and we must have
friends in the Middle East, even if we have to fight wars to get them.
Only someone who has dodged a bullet can fully appreciate that fact."