"They almost had to hit the towers like they were threading the eye of a needle," said Michael Barr, director of aviation safety programs at the University of Southern California and a former Air Force fighter-bomber pilot.
Neither of his former students was ultimately able to obtain a pilot’s license and both ended up as two of the four muscle men aboard American Airlines Flight 77, threatening the crew and passengers with box cutters and knives, while another terrorist, Hani Hanjour, flew the Boeing into the Pentagon
another terrorist, Hani Hanjour, flew the Boeing into the Pentagon
And another would-be terrorist who was part of this plot decided to just abandon it and head back home because he got bored.
I'm not sure if there's any analysis of the proficiency of the terrorists who flew the planes into the buildings out there, nor how this was determined conclusively, because I haven't done a deep dive into the subject myself.
But what is important to understand is that this paints a picture of how professional, or rather how unprofessional, this operation was.
Hijackers flew skilfully to targets, experts say
Flight trainer flunked 2 9/11 hijackers
And another would-be terrorist who was part of this plot decided to just abandon it and head back home because he got bored.
I'm not sure if there's any analysis of the proficiency of the terrorists who flew the planes into the buildings out there, nor how this was determined conclusively, because I haven't done a deep dive into the subject myself.
But what is important to understand is that this paints a picture of how professional, or rather how unprofessional, this operation was.
Other evidence that points in this direction is the movements of Mohammed Atta (and I believe one of his co-conspirators) on September 10th.
Atta, at least, could fly a plane.