US aircraft hijackers may have trained at Miami flight schools

Airline Industry Information, Sept 14, 2001

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have been tracking the movements of as many as seven men through Florida in connection with the hijacking of four US aircraft on 11 September.

Investigators apparently suspect that two of the men involved in the hijacking of the American Airlines and United Airlines aircraft may have taken jet aircraft training at Florida-based flight schools. Flight schools under investigation include SimCenter Inc, which may have provided simulator flight training to two of the men being investigated, and Huffman Aviation Inc, which has indicated that two of the suspects trained on small aircraft there for three to four months in 2000 according to Reuters.

The FBI has also removed student files from the Florida Flight Training Center, which is located not far from Huffman Aviation and offers the same type of pilot training.

One of men believed to have received the flight training has been identified as Mohamad Atta, who was on American Airlines flight 11. The other has not been identified.

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