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Before 9/11, 3 Pentagon hijackers spent time in San Diego
Дата публикации: 11-09-2026 08:18:11



The quotes in this article are from archived interviews gathered by NBC 7 in September 2001. 
Three of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 had ties to San Diego, including two who lived in Clairemont and Lemon Grove, worshiped at a local mosque and sought flight training at Montgomery Field before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In the days after the attacks, FBI agents searched San Diego neighborhoods as investigators examined the local connections of Khalid Al-Midhar, Nawaq Alhamzi and Hani Hanjour.
“We have reason to believe that three of the individuals on board the plane that crashed into the Pentagon had ties to San Diego, that one of them might have been a pilot, and they may have lived here,” an FBI spokesperson told NBC San Diego on Sept. 14, 2001. 
During the investigation that followed, “This place was swarming with FBI agents,” a San Diego resident told NBC 7 at the time.
Agents searched the Parkwood Apartments in Clairemont, where al-Midhar and Alhamzi had lived shortly after arriving in the United States.
“They seemed very polite. They said ‘Hi’ when they were leaving,” a Parkwood neighbor told NBC 7 at the time. 
The two later moved into a Lemon Grove home owned by a Muslim leader they met at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
“He opened his house for those who claimed they were students. They turned out to be murderers and terrorists, unfortunately,” a man at the Islamic Center told NBC 7 while the investigation unfolded. 
One neighbor recalled learning that the men had been living nearby.
“Me, personally, I like freaked out. Freaked out knowing they’re anywhere around the country, much less right in your own backyard,” the Lemon Grove resident told NBC 7. 
Al-Midhar and Alhamzi also sought flying lessons at Montgomery Field. At one point, they specifically said they wanted to learn how to fly Boeing aircraft.
“They came here to learn how to fly, but they wanted to fly larger planes. We didn’t have the larger plane, so we just took them for an intro flight, a short flight, and that’s about it,” Fred Sorbi, of Sorbi’s Flying Club, explained to NBC 7 shortly after learning of the attack. 
The men did not conceal their identities while they were in the area. They used their real names to pay rent, open bank accounts and buy a used car. The car was later found at Dulles International Airport after the attacks and is still kept by the FBI as evidence today.

25th Anniversary of 9/11












9/11

Sep 11



Recap: NYC marks 25 years since 9/11 with ceremonies and tributes in lower Manhattan















San Diego

Sep 10



As nation marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11, San Diegans honor lives lost






The San Diego connection also raised a significant question: What did the FBI know about the men before Sept. 11?
According to a 2005 report released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, that looked into the bureau’s handling of intelligence information prior to the attacks, the men had even lived with an FBI informant. The informant did not notice anything about them that indicated they were plotting an attack.
Still, the review found the circumstances should have drawn greater scrutiny from agents, possibly leading to information that could have given investigators an earlier lead.
The report also said that although the FBI had identified counterterrorism as a priority in 1998, the San Diego field office continued to make drug trafficking its priority in 2001. Adding that the FBI, according to the report, took few steps to ensure San Diego and other field offices were aligned with the bureau’s stated counterterrorism priorities.
Hanjour, the third hijacker with a San Diego connection, was already a trained pilot when he arrived in San Diego in December 2000 to meet one of the other two men. It was a short visit. Within days, Hanjour and the other man left together for Arizona, where Hanjour resumed his flight training.
“He was a weak pilot, but we had no idea, of course, that he was this kind of person,” the man who helped train Hanjour in Arizona said to NBC 7 at the time. 
Al-Midhar, Alhamzi and Hanjour later boarded American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. More than 180 people aboard the plane and on the ground at the Pentagon were killed.
For people in San Diego who learned the hijackers had spent time in their neighborhoods, the discovery shattered a sense of security.
“It’s frightening now. It makes us start looking behind our back, and start looking, and that’s sad,” a Lemon Grove neighbor told NBC 7. 
Overall, the FBI responded to more than half a million leads, conducted more than 167,000 interviews and processed more than 150,000 pieces of evidence.
Present day FBI San Diego Field Office response
FBI San Diego acknowledged the extensive examination of the two hijackers’ time in San Diego, along with “systemic pre-9/11 shortcomings,” according to a statement sent in response to NBC 7. 
It also addressed that the two men happened to be living with an FBI San Diego source who “had not observed nor reported conduct by either man that raised concerns about a possible connection to terrorism.” 
The statement continued to add: 
“Since 9/11, the FBI has adapted its investigative and administrative policies and procedures to better address the ever-evolving terrorism threat landscape and implemented significant changes to enhance our ability to detect and disrupt potential terrorist plots.
Central to that transformation has been strengthening collaboration and timely information sharing among federal, state, local, Tribal, territorial, and international partners, recognizing that no single agency or investigative method can provide a complete threat picture.
Thanks to these lessons learned from 9/11, we are faster, more coordinated, and better equipped to disrupt threats before harm occurs. In 2025 alone, we made more than 700 counterterrorism arrests and disrupted 640 planned attacks.”
Lastly, they reaffirmed the bureau’s commitment to building on progress and protect the nation. 
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.


Основное содержимое страницы с новостью.

The quotes in this article are from archived interviews gathered by NBC 7 in September 2001. 

Three of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 had ties to San Diego, including two who lived in Clairemont and Lemon Grove, worshiped at a local mosque and sought flight training at Montgomery Field before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In the days after the attacks, FBI agents searched San Diego neighborhoods as investigators examined the local connections of Khalid Al-Midhar, Nawaq Alhamzi and Hani Hanjour.

“We have reason to believe that three of the individuals on board the plane that crashed into the Pentagon had ties to San Diego, that one of them might have been a pilot, and they may have lived here,” an FBI spokesperson told NBC San Diego on Sept. 14, 2001. 

During the investigation that followed, “This place was swarming with FBI agents,” a San Diego resident told NBC 7 at the time.

Agents searched the Parkwood Apartments in Clairemont, where al-Midhar and Alhamzi had lived shortly after arriving in the United States.

“They seemed very polite. They said 'Hi' when they were leaving,” a Parkwood neighbor told NBC 7 at the time. 

The two later moved into a Lemon Grove home owned by a Muslim leader they met at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

“He opened his house for those who claimed they were students. They turned out to be murderers and terrorists, unfortunately,” a man at the Islamic Center told NBC 7 while the investigation unfolded. 

One neighbor recalled learning that the men had been living nearby.

“Me, personally, I like freaked out. Freaked out knowing they're anywhere around the country, much less right in your own backyard,” the Lemon Grove resident told NBC 7. 

Al-Midhar and Alhamzi also sought flying lessons at Montgomery Field. At one point, they specifically said they wanted to learn how to fly Boeing aircraft.

“They came here to learn how to fly, but they wanted to fly larger planes. We didn't have the larger plane, so we just took them for an intro flight, a short flight, and that's about it,” Fred Sorbi, of Sorbi's Flying Club, explained to NBC 7 shortly after learning of the attack. 

The men did not conceal their identities while they were in the area. They used their real names to pay rent, open bank accounts and buy a used car. The car was later found at Dulles International Airport after the attacks and is still kept by the FBI as evidence today.

25th Anniversary of 9/11

The San Diego connection also raised a significant question: What did the FBI know about the men before Sept. 11?

According to a 2005 report released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, that looked into the bureau’s handling of intelligence information prior to the attacks, the men had even lived with an FBI informant. The informant did not notice anything about them that indicated they were plotting an attack.

Still, the review found the circumstances should have drawn greater scrutiny from agents, possibly leading to information that could have given investigators an earlier lead.

The report also said that although the FBI had identified counterterrorism as a priority in 1998, the San Diego field office continued to make drug trafficking its priority in 2001. Adding that the FBI, according to the report, took few steps to ensure San Diego and other field offices were aligned with the bureau’s stated counterterrorism priorities.

Hanjour, the third hijacker with a San Diego connection, was already a trained pilot when he arrived in San Diego in December 2000 to meet one of the other two men. It was a short visit. Within days, Hanjour and the other man left together for Arizona, where Hanjour resumed his flight training.

“He was a weak pilot, but we had no idea, of course, that he was this kind of person,” the man who helped train Hanjour in Arizona said to NBC 7 at the time. 

Al-Midhar, Alhamzi and Hanjour later boarded American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. More than 180 people aboard the plane and on the ground at the Pentagon were killed.

For people in San Diego who learned the hijackers had spent time in their neighborhoods, the discovery shattered a sense of security.

“It’s frightening now. It makes us start looking behind our back, and start looking, and that's sad,” a Lemon Grove neighbor told NBC 7. 

Overall, the FBI responded to more than half a million leads, conducted more than 167,000 interviews and processed more than 150,000 pieces of evidence.

Present day FBI San Diego Field Office response

FBI San Diego acknowledged the extensive examination of the two hijackers’ time in San Diego, along with “systemic pre-9/11 shortcomings,” according to a statement sent in response to NBC 7. 

It also addressed that the two men happened to be living with an FBI San Diego source who “had not observed nor reported conduct by either man that raised concerns about a possible connection to terrorism.” 

The statement continued to add: 

“Since 9/11, the FBI has adapted its investigative and administrative policies and procedures to better address the ever-evolving terrorism threat landscape and implemented significant changes to enhance our ability to detect and disrupt potential terrorist plots.

Central to that transformation has been strengthening collaboration and timely information sharing among federal, state, local, Tribal, territorial, and international partners, recognizing that no single agency or investigative method can provide a complete threat picture.

Thanks to these lessons learned from 9/11, we are faster, more coordinated, and better equipped to disrupt threats before harm occurs. In 2025 alone, we made more than 700 counterterrorism arrests and disrupted 640 planned attacks.”

Lastly, they reaffirmed the bureau’s commitment to building on progress and protect the nation. 

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.

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