Fayez Banihammad | |
|---|---|
فايز بني حماد | |
 Banihammad in October 2000 | |
| Born | Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad (1977-03-19)March 19, 1977 Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates |
| Died | September 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 24) New York City, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide byplane crash (September 11 attacks) |
Fayez Banihammad[a] (March 19, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was an Emirati terrorist hijacker fromal-Qaeda who was one of the five terroristhijackers aboardUnited Airlines Flight 175 that was flown into the South Tower of theWorld Trade Center during theSeptember 11 attacks.
In 1999, Banihammad left the United Arab Emirates forSaudi Arabia, where he joined theal-Qaeda terrorist group. He metMustafa al-Hawsawi, who allegedly funded the attacks. He entered the United States with a tourist visa, and on August 29, 2001, Banihammad paid for his flight ticket. Flight 175 was meant to fly from Boston'sLogan Airport to Los Angeles. On the day of the attacks, after the plane took off, his group of hijackers forced their way into the cockpit.Marwan al-Shehhi, the only other Emirati involved in the attacks, took control of the plane, and flew it into the World Trade Center South Tower, killing everyone on board.
Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad (who used many aliases but is mainly known as Fayez Banihammad[1][2]) was born on March 19, 1977.[2] He was allegedly the son of a school principal,[3] and grew up in theKhor Fakkan region of theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE).[4][5]
Little is known about Banihammad's life prior to his involvement with al-Qaeda. In an FBI report after the attacks, investigators considered him an 'anomaly'.[6] Banihammad was married to a Syrian national and had a child. It has been stated that he worked as an immigration officer in the UAE at some point prior to joining al-Qaeda.[7] According to an FBI report, his bank records with Standard Chartered listed his employment as Al Khatab Aluminum Company located in Khor Fakkan, where it was stated he worked in a managerial position.[8]
Banihammad's family claimed he left the UAE in 1999, saying he was going to join an Islamicrelief organization.[3] Instead, he would go toSaudi Arabia, where he joined theal-Qaeda terrorist group.[5] He and his family had only one phone call after he left.[3]
TheSeptember 11 attacks were a series of terrorist attacks on theUnited States in 2001, formulated by theal-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden andKhalid Sheikh Mohammad.[9][10] They would be committed by 19 attackers, targeting four locations with hijacked commercial planes. Three of these locations were each of the Twin Towers of theWorld Trade Center in New York City, and thePentagon in Washington D.C.[10][11] The fourth target was potentially theU.S Capitol Building, but the fourth plane was unsuccessful in hitting it, because of arevolt by its passengers.[11][12]
Banihammad was one of the hijackers.[9] He was described as one of the "bit players" within his group, which targeted the World Trade Center's South Tower.[3] The others wereAhmed al-Ghamdi,Hamza al-Ghamdi,Marwan al-Shehhi, andMohand al-Shehri.[13] However, he still played a "unique role" in his group; during his time in Saudi Arabia, he met Saudi businessmanMustafa al-Hawsawi, who is alleged to have funded the attacks.[5][14] Banihammad had previously spent one year at university with al-Shehri.[15] He was one of two Emiratis to participate in the attacks, the other being al-Shehhi.[9] At the time of the attacks, he was 24.[5]
Banihammad received his tourist visa on June 18, 2001, one of three hijackers which received their visa much later than the others. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad claimed these three hijackers were not replacements for unsuccessful candidates, but rather extra men to increase the odds of success.[5][16] Before arriving in the United States, he made bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates, at the same bank and time as al-Hawsawi. Familiar with the country's procedures, Banihammad helped al-Hawsawi complete his account application. He gave al-Hawsawi $3,000 and granted himpower of attorney over his own account, so al-Hawsawi could forward a bank card to him while he was in the United States. This is likely when al-Hawsawi's role as a financial facilitator of the attacks began. $30,000 was deposited into Banihammad's account on June 25. On June 27, he arrived in the United States using his tourist visa. He landed atOrlando after taking a flight from London. After that, he made Visa and ATM withdrawals from his UAE accounts.[5][17]
Banihammad most likely lived in Florida during the planning, potentially with al-Shehhi andMohamed Atta (the attacks' ringleader[18]) at their apartment inHollywood, or with other hijackers.[19][20] He reportedly took flight lessons with Atta in Florida. His pilot's license had an address for a flight school inTulsa, but the school had no record of him attending. A person with his name did attend theLackland Air Force BaseDefense Language Institute inSan Antonio.[19] In July, he rented a postal box atMail Boxes Etc. inDelray Beach, and on August 29, he paid for a first-class seat, 2A, onUnited Airlines Flight 175, using the postal address.[1] The flight was scheduled to fly from Boston'sLogan Airport to Los Angeles on September 11.[9] It would depart from Logan Airport along withAmerican Airlines Flight 11, which Atta was on.[18]
In early September, al-Hawsawi received aWestern Union transfer of $26,000 from Atta, al-Shehhi,Waleed al-Shehri, and Banihammad.[15][21] The FBI believed this transaction was the hijackers returning their unused funds as they did not want to "die as thieves". al-Hawsawi later cleaned out Banihammad's bank account in Dubai, and he could do so because he had power of attorney over it.[21]
On September 11, Banihammad and his group checked in for Flight 175, which was scheduled to depart at 8:00 a.m.[22] They were armed with knives and mace,[23] but none of them were checked byCAPPS.[22] Between 7:23 and 7:28, the group boarded. Banihammad sat in seat 2A.[22] There were 56 passengers and 9 crew on board in total.[13] At some point, while both Flight 11 and 175 were on the Logan tarmac, Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi talked on their cell phones, confirming their final plan.[18] 175 departed Logan at 8:14. Around 8:42 to 8:46, the hijackers likely forced their way into the cockpit and stabbed the pilots to death.[13][23] One of the hijackers stabbed the flight crew and told the other passengers to get back.[13] Al-Shehhi started controlling the plane.[13][23] Five minutes later, he changed course.[13]
At 9:03 a.m., Flight 175 struck the South Tower.[9][11] The plane, flying at around 590 miles per hour, hit the 81st floor, and made a hole from the 77th to the 85th floors. All 65 people on board the plane, including the hijackers, died.[23] Flights 11 and 175 each heavily damaged their respective targets, andboth towers collapsed. The South Tower collapsed first, at 9:59 a.m.[11] More than 600 deaths came from the attack on the South Tower.[13][23]
During theFBI's investigation into the attacks, they learned from Ahmed al-Hada, the father-in-law of hijackerKhalid al-Mihdhar, that Banihammad was Emirati.[24] Banihammad was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment ofZacarias Moussaoui.[19]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)ABC News. 2003.
Media related toFayez Banihammad at Wikimedia Commons
