point, Hanjour and Hazmi vacated their apartment and started driving east,
anticipating the arrival of the "muscle hijackers"--the operatives who would
storm the cockpits and control the passengers. By as early as April 4, Hanjour
and Hazmi had arrived in Falls Church,Virginia.
in November. In mid-December 2000, they passed their commercial pilot tests
and received their licenses.They then began training to fly large jets on a flight
simulator. At about the same time, Jarrah began simulator training, also in
Florida but at a different center. By the end of 2000, less than six months after
their arrival, the three pilots on the East Coast were simulating flights on large
jets.
Jarrah, Atta, and Shehhi, having progressed in their training, all took foreign
trips during the holiday period of 20002001. Jarrah flew through Germany
to get home to Beirut.A few weeks later, he returned to Florida via Germany,
with Aysel Senguen. She stayed with him in Florida for ten days, even accom-
panying him to a flight training session. We do not know whether Atta or al
Qaeda leaders knew about Jarrah's trips and Senguen's visit.The other opera-
tives had broken off regular contact with their families. At the end of January
2001, Jarrah again flew to Beirut, to visit his sick father.After staying there for
several weeks, Jarrah visited Senguen in Germany for a few days before return-
ing to the United States at the end of February.
told him to report to the al Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan that the three
Hamburg pilots had completed their flight training and were awaiting orders.
Atta also disclosed that a fourth pilot, Hanjour, had joined Hazmi. Upon
returning to Florida,Atta wired Binalshibh travel money. Binalshibh proceeded
to Afghanistan, made his report, and spent the next several months there and
in Pakistan.
from him, reported him missing to the UAE government.The UAE embassy
in turn contacted the Hamburg police and a UAE representative tried to find
him in Germany, visiting mosques and Shehhi's last address in Hamburg.After
learning that his family was looking for him, Shehhi telephoned them on Jan-
uary 20 and said he was still living and studying in Hamburg.The UAE gov-
ernment then told the Hamburg police they could call off the search.