Atta, Mohamed (1968–2001)

Mohamed Atta helped hijack American Airlines Flight 11 and flew it into the north tower of New York City's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, in the first in a series of attacks that left 3,000 people dead, including the 19 hijackers. [Page 74]Information about Atta is somewhat sketchy, but he is believed to have been one the ringleaders, if not the primary leader, of the September 11 attacks.

Atta was born in 1968 to a relatively well-to-do family in Egypt. He grew up in Cairo, where his father was a lawyer. His family was Muslim but not especially conservative; his sisters attended college and worked. Atta studied architecture and engineering at Cairo University, receiving his degree in 1990. After graduating, Atta obtained a job, but his father felt that Atta's career would be helped if he studied abroad. In 1992, Atta, who spoke German and English as well as Arabic, moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he enrolled at the Technical University of Hamburg to study urban planning. Atta became increasingly radical in his embrace of Islam while living there. In 1998 he disappeared from Hamburg for several months, and he likely traveled to Afghanistan during this time and formed links with al Qaeda. He returned to Hamburg and finished his degree at the Technical University, graduating with high honors in 1999. Atta is also believed to have established an al Qaeda terrorist cell in Hamburg that had two of the other hijackers as members.

In June 2000, Atta, who had a travel visa for the United States, flew to Newark, New Jersey. He quickly relocated to Florida, where he began taking flight classes in July. Throughout 2000 and 2001, he practiced his flight skills. He also received large sums of money from abroad and traveled extensively in those years, including several trips overseas and much movement within the United States. Atta twice met with other hijackers in Las Vegas, Nevada, possibly finalizing the hijacking plans there. In addition, he is believed to have made practice flights to familiarize himself with the aircraft he intended to hijack. On August 28, 2001, Atta purchased two seats on Flight 11 on American Airline's website for himself and a second hijacker, Abdul Alomari.

On September 10, 2001, Atta and Alomari drove from Boston to Portland, Maine. The next day they flew from Portland to Boston, where they boarded Flight 11 along with three other hijackers. Atta and his four confederates hijacked Flight 11 shortly after the plane reached cruising altitude. His luggage was later discovered at Boston's Logan Airport; it contained a letter outlining how the hijackers should act during their attack.