Flight 11 Heros and Heroines

When Antoinette DiLorenzo was teaching English to a class of Pakistani immigrants, she saw a student distractedly looking at something outside.  “What are you looking at?”, she quizzed. The student pointed out the window at the Twin Towers WTC, and said, “Do you see those two buildings? They won’t be standing there next week.” Antoinette DiLorenzo thought it to be a strange thing to say, and did remember the happenstance.  Someone must have told the FBI because two days after the 9/11 tragedy, on September 13, 2001, the FBI interviewed all the students and the teacher in that particular classroom and verified that the exchange did, in fact, take place. Although the FBI did watch the boy’s family, they could find no connection of the Pakistani family to any 9/11 hijackers. Still later an MSNBC reporter plays "mythbuster" but discovers it to be TRUE. The recent immigration of the family from Pakistan could have meant that the information originated in Pakistan as common knowledge. (source MSNBC, 10/12/2001)  More talk and speculation arose , on November 9, 2001, when the same Pakistani student allegedly predicted the New York jetliner crash of November 12,2001 when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed immediately after takeoff, killing 260 people. (2)Federal air crash investigators determined that the crash was accidental even though an Irish First Responder had taunted bin Laden telling bin Laden to "kiss" something. (1)

The two American Airlines jetliners were Flight AA 11 and Flight AA 77.  Flight AA 11 was a Boeing 767 with a 158 passenger limit, was leaving with 81  passengers on board which included the five hijackers.  Flight attendant Amy Sweeney noted the seat locations of three hijackers, so that American Airlines Flight service manager Michael Woodward could orders another employee at Boston’s Logan Airport to reference the reservations computer for the names, addresses, phone numbers, and credit cards of the three hijackers: Abdulaziz Alomari in Seat 9G, Mohamed Atta in Seat 9D, and Satam Al Suqami in Seat 10B.  According to 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey from this information, American Airlines officials listening in on the call would most likely have known or assumed immediately that the hijacking was al-Qaeda oriented. ABC NEWS, 7/18/2002; NEW YORK OBSERVER, 2/15/2004,  According to German newspaper, Der Spiegel, as noted in 2002, the two 9/11 hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari arrived on time at Boston’s Logan Airport having been flagged as suspicious persons before or during their earlier connecting flight to Boston from Portland, Oregon.  Of 5 AA Flight 11 hijackers, the FAA computer software program called the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS), flagged three hijackers but bagless Waleed Alshehri went unscanned although baggage of Wail Alshehri and Satam Al Suqami have their bags scanned for bombs.  According to the Boston Globe, “aviation specialists have said it is unlikely that more rigorous attention to existing rules would have thwarted the 10 hijackers who boarded two jets at Logan on Sept. 11. At the time, the knives and box-cutters they were carrying were permitted.” (4)

For some unknown reason, 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta flew from Portland to Boston on a Colgan Air flight operated for US Airways and his late baggage never made it on the plane.  Allegedly important clues from the luggage of Mohamed Atta assisted investigators when they found airline uniforms and many other remarkable items. (5)At least two other hijackers on Flight 11 used stolen uniforms and IDs to board the Boeing 767. (6)


The two United Airlines jetliners were Flight UA 175 and
Flight UA 93.  Flight 175 hijackers were not selected for explosives screening.  Only Ahmed Alhaznawi was selected from Flight 93 with his bag screened for explosives, but he was not stopped. The 9/11 Commission later concluded that Alhaznawi and Ahmed Alnami, also of Flight 93, were chosen by the CAPPS computer program because of buying one way tickets or using cash.

Several jet fighters from Otis, Langley, Andrews Air Force Bases responded to the 9/11 attacks.  Ohio, Selfridge, N.Y.,Atlantic City Air National Guards and a base unknown from Virginia also responded.

Despite the fact that all airline pilots are trained to key into their plane’s transponder an emergency four-digit code the letters “HJCK”.  This action, taking seconds, stealthly type a hijacking  alert to air traffic controllers' screens. (7)


Although, the measure is quick and easy to do, during the hijackings of flights 11, 175, 77, and 93, none of the 8 pilots signaled "HJCK". (11)

Flight 11 was hijacked around 8:14 Eastern Standard Time. According to the 9/11 Commission, “Information supplied by eyewitness accounts indicates that the hijackers initiated and sustained their command of the aircraft using knives (reported by two flight attendants).  Mace was used according to a flight attendant.  Threats of a bomb and deception about intentions were also noted.(12)
As many as 36 flight attendants or 9 on each plane either got stabbed with knives not little blade-less fingernail clippers, not necessararily box cutters.  Access to locked by FAA regulations cockpits MIGHT have been due to tricking pilot outside, taking key off stabbed flight attendant, or getting in hijackers way.

John Ogonowski, the pilot of AA Flight 11, intermittently keyed his talkback button most of the distance to New York City, transmitting some hijacker conversation. (13)
Lino Martins. [Source: NBC]
Pete Zalewski and Lino Martins, two Boston flight controllers, spoke about having no contact with Flight 11 . Pete Zalewski says to Lino Martins, “He won’t answer you. He’s nordo [no radio] roger thanks.” (14)
It came out during the 2006 trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, that Flight 11 flight attendant Sara Low allowed Madeline (Amy) Sweeney, who was another flight attendant, the use of her father Mike Low's calling card to make five calls from an Airfone.
From the back of the plane, Flight 11 attendant Betty Ong called Vanessa Minter, an American Airlines reservations agent at its Southeastern Reservations Office in Cary, North Carolina, using a seatback Airfone. Betty Ong announced, “The cockpit’s not answering. Somebody’s stabbed in business class and… I think there’s mace… that we can’t breathe. I don’t know, I think we’re getting hijacked.“I’m number three on Flight 11.” (16)
The “Executive Summary,” based on information relayed by a flight attendant to the American Airlines Operation Center, states “that a passenger located in seat 10B (Satam Al Suqami) shot and killed a passenger in seat 9B (Daniel Lewin) ...” Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz carried an article on September 17,2001 that identified Lewin as a former member of the heroic Israel Defense Force Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s most successful Special Operations unit. (17)

Sayeret Matkal is best known for the awesomely brave 1976 rescue of 106 passengers at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. (18)
Flight 11 veered dramatically off course in a northwesterly direction toward Albany, New York. (19)

stops transmitting its IFF which is "identify friend or foe" beacon signal. CNN, 9/17/2001

FAA and American Airline off
(1)http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a090601dilorenzo#a090601dilorenzo

(2)http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=American+Airlines+Flight+587+&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go

(3)http://www.historycommons.org/project.jsp?project=911_project

(4)BOSTON GLOBE, 10/17/2001

(5) BOSTON GLOBE, 9/18/2001

(6)SUNDAY HERALD GLASGOW, (Scotland)9/16/2001

(7)CNN, 9/13/2001 NEWSDAY

(8)9/13/2001

(9)NEWS (PORTUGAL),
8/3/2002

(10) 9/11 COMMISSION,
7/24/2004, PP. 17-18]

(11)CNN, 9/11/2001

(12)9/11 COMMISSION, 8/26/2004, PP. 8

(13)CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 9/13/2001; MSNBC, 9/15/2001

(14)LONDON GUARDIAN, 10/17/2001; MSNBC, 9/11/2002

(15)NEW YORK OBSERVER, 6/20/2004

(16)BETTY ONG, 9/11/2001; 9/11 COMMISSION, 1/27/2004

(17)UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, 3/6/2002

(18)NEW YORKER, 10/29/2001

(19)MSNBC, 9/11/2002