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Hijackers' names linked to sites near airports
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One of the hijackers aboard a jetliner that crashed in Somerset County may once have lived or worked on a U.S. Air Force base in Florida.
Credit records examined by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review show that Saeed Alghamdi listed an address at Tyndall Air Force Base near Tallahassee, Fla., the home of the 325th Fighter Wing.
The Air Force confirmed it was investigating links between Alghamdi and Tyndall Air Force base. The FBI identified Alghamdi as one of the hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed Sept. 11 near Shanksville, killing all 44 people aboard.
"The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is working with the FBI to cross-match lists of names," said Lt. Col. Cindy Scott Johnson, an Air Force spokeswoman. She declined to elaborate.
The FBI also declined to comment.
Alghamdi was one of 19 Arab nationals identified by the FBI as terrorists who hijacked the jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the abandoned strip mine in Somerset County.
Credit reports connect six of the hijackers to addresses near airports in 10 major U.S. cities.
It can't be determined for certain whether the names in the credit reports belong to the men identified by the FBI, since the reports cannot differentiate between two people with the same name.
Other addresses linked to some of the terrorists' names are spread across the nation. Yet nearly all are very close to an airport.
"That could indicate that they planned mayhem not just at airlines but at airports," said Mike Boyd, an aviation expert in Colorado.
Boyd said the addresses' proximity to airports is either "one hell of a coincidence" or simply not normal.
The locations would allow them to study the daily operations of the airports, including how vehicles and personnel come, go and move about, he said.
Hijacker Mohamed Atta is linked to an apartment near Atlantic City, N.J., that is less than a mile from the Atlantic City International Airport. Atta was one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Two Las Vegas addresses also are linked to Atta, both of which are less than two miles from McCarren International Airport - one only four blocks away.
Atta's name also is linked to addresses in Baltimore, Tempe, Ariz., New York City and Philadelphia - all within two miles of airports.
At least four of the hijackers who learned to fly in Florida have been linked to addresses near Daytona Beach International Airport, Venice Municipal Airport and the smaller Spruce Creek Airport.
Two of the suspected terrorists, Ahmed Alghamdi and Waleed Alshehri, stayed at the Anatole Apartments in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1997, said Eric Bolten, president of Mid-America Apartment Communities, which owns the apartment complex.
The $500-per-month apartments, with access to hot tubs and tennis courts, are a mile from Daytona Beach International Airport and near the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Bolten said his Memphis-based company is cooperating with the FBI.
Ahmed Alghamdi also is linked to two other addresses less than a mile south of the Daytona Beach airport, as well as one within three miles of the Spruce Creek Airport.
Last year, two of the terrorists - Marwan Al-Shehhi and Atta - rented a spare room in Venice, Fla., from Charles and Drucilla Voss. The Vosses live just a mile from the Venice Municipal Airport, where Charles Voss is a bookkeeper.
The FBI also has spoken with the Vosses about the men, Drucilla Voss said.
In Pensacola, Fla., the FBI is investigating other possible links to the hijackers, according to local police.
Saeed Alghamdi is linked to two addresses near Pensacola Regional Airport, one a few miles north of the airport and another a few hundred feet away.
Pensacola police Capt. John Mathis said little appears to have been confirmed there. His department, however, is not directly involved in the investigation.
There are other possible links between the hijackers and addresses in Denver, Detroit and Buffalo, N.Y., all of which remain unconfirmed.
A Buffalo police spokesman said the department was working with the FBI there, but he could not be more specific.
At least two Brooklyn addresses linked to Atta's name would have been within sight of the World Trade Center, and another is in public housing along the Rockway Parkway, near Kennedy International Airport.
But the 17th-floor apartment number linked to Atta's name on the credit trace does not exist, said Howard Marder, spokesman for the New York City Housing Authority. The Bayview Apartments are only seven stories tall, he said.
Authority records do not show Atta was a resident at the apartments, he said.
"He may have just made up an address," Marder said.
Jim Ritchie can be reached at jritchie@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7933.
Credit records examined by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review show that Saeed Alghamdi listed an address at Tyndall Air Force Base near Tallahassee, Fla., the home of the 325th Fighter Wing.
The Air Force confirmed it was investigating links between Alghamdi and Tyndall Air Force base. The FBI identified Alghamdi as one of the hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed Sept. 11 near Shanksville, killing all 44 people aboard.
"The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is working with the FBI to cross-match lists of names," said Lt. Col. Cindy Scott Johnson, an Air Force spokeswoman. She declined to elaborate.
The FBI also declined to comment.
Alghamdi was one of 19 Arab nationals identified by the FBI as terrorists who hijacked the jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the abandoned strip mine in Somerset County.
Credit reports connect six of the hijackers to addresses near airports in 10 major U.S. cities.
It can't be determined for certain whether the names in the credit reports belong to the men identified by the FBI, since the reports cannot differentiate between two people with the same name.
Other addresses linked to some of the terrorists' names are spread across the nation. Yet nearly all are very close to an airport.
"That could indicate that they planned mayhem not just at airlines but at airports," said Mike Boyd, an aviation expert in Colorado.
Boyd said the addresses' proximity to airports is either "one hell of a coincidence" or simply not normal.
The locations would allow them to study the daily operations of the airports, including how vehicles and personnel come, go and move about, he said.
Hijacker Mohamed Atta is linked to an apartment near Atlantic City, N.J., that is less than a mile from the Atlantic City International Airport. Atta was one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Two Las Vegas addresses also are linked to Atta, both of which are less than two miles from McCarren International Airport - one only four blocks away.
Atta's name also is linked to addresses in Baltimore, Tempe, Ariz., New York City and Philadelphia - all within two miles of airports.
At least four of the hijackers who learned to fly in Florida have been linked to addresses near Daytona Beach International Airport, Venice Municipal Airport and the smaller Spruce Creek Airport.
Two of the suspected terrorists, Ahmed Alghamdi and Waleed Alshehri, stayed at the Anatole Apartments in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1997, said Eric Bolten, president of Mid-America Apartment Communities, which owns the apartment complex.
The $500-per-month apartments, with access to hot tubs and tennis courts, are a mile from Daytona Beach International Airport and near the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Bolten said his Memphis-based company is cooperating with the FBI.
Ahmed Alghamdi also is linked to two other addresses less than a mile south of the Daytona Beach airport, as well as one within three miles of the Spruce Creek Airport.
Last year, two of the terrorists - Marwan Al-Shehhi and Atta - rented a spare room in Venice, Fla., from Charles and Drucilla Voss. The Vosses live just a mile from the Venice Municipal Airport, where Charles Voss is a bookkeeper.
The FBI also has spoken with the Vosses about the men, Drucilla Voss said.
In Pensacola, Fla., the FBI is investigating other possible links to the hijackers, according to local police.
Saeed Alghamdi is linked to two addresses near Pensacola Regional Airport, one a few miles north of the airport and another a few hundred feet away.
Pensacola police Capt. John Mathis said little appears to have been confirmed there. His department, however, is not directly involved in the investigation.
There are other possible links between the hijackers and addresses in Denver, Detroit and Buffalo, N.Y., all of which remain unconfirmed.
A Buffalo police spokesman said the department was working with the FBI there, but he could not be more specific.
At least two Brooklyn addresses linked to Atta's name would have been within sight of the World Trade Center, and another is in public housing along the Rockway Parkway, near Kennedy International Airport.
But the 17th-floor apartment number linked to Atta's name on the credit trace does not exist, said Howard Marder, spokesman for the New York City Housing Authority. The Bayview Apartments are only seven stories tall, he said.
Authority records do not show Atta was a resident at the apartments, he said.
"He may have just made up an address," Marder said.
Jim Ritchie can be reached at jritchie@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7933.
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