Fayez Banihammad

Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al Qadi Banihammad (Arabic: فايز راشد احمد حسن القاضي بني حمد) was named by the FBI as one of the hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Both Banihammad and the media would refer to him alternately by any of a number of his names, including Fayez Ahmad, Banihammad Fayez Abu Dhabi Banihammad, Fayez Rashid Ahmed, Rasid Ahmed Hassen Alqadi, Abu Dhabi Banihammad Ahmed Fayez, and others.

History

2000

Fayez left his family in 'Asir, telling his parents that he hoped to find work with the International Islamic Relief Organization. He only contacted his parents once after that. He is believed to have visited the Philippines for three days from October 17-20, 2000.

Banihammad used the controversial program Visa Express to gain entry into the country together with Saeed al-Ghamdi. Upon later review of his application, it was noticed that he hadn't listed an occupation or reason for visit, and when asked where he would be living in the country, simply wrote No. However, he still received his Visa.

2001

Before the pair arrived in Orlando, Florida on June 27, 2001, Banihammad had opened a bank account in the UAE to which $30,000 was deposited by unknown parties only two days before his arrival. He opened another account with SunTrust Banks in Orlando several days after his arrival, becoming one of nine hijackers to open an account with the bank.

The 9/11 Commission noted: He appears to have played a unique role among the muscle hijackers because of his work with one of the plot's financial facilitators, Mustafa al Hawsawi. On July 18, Banihammad gave Mustafa power-of-attorney over his Dubai bank account, and Mustafa reportedly mailed him a VISA and bank card.

A licensed pilot, he was registered as having trained at the Spartan Aeronautics School in Tulsa, Oklahoma - although the school denies that he ever attended.

The Attack

Fayez Banihammad purchased both his and Mohand al-Shehri's one-way first class tickets for United Airlines Flight 175 online on August 27th or 29th, charging the $4464.50 to a Visa card from Mustafa al Hawsawi, listing their addresses both as a Mailboxes Etc. in Delray Beach. This was not the same postal box used by Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi who purchased their tickets for the same flight a day later with another Mailboxes Etc. postal box in Delray Beach, although both groups listed the same phone number.

Staying in the Milner Hotel from September 8-10, Banihammad asked a hotel clerk to fill out the registration card for the room, citing his poor English. On September 10, 2001, he was one of four hijackers (Marwan, Banihammad, Mohand, and al-Suqami) sharing a room at the Milner Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, where one of them called around for prostitutes, but eventually nixed the idea, possibly based on finances.

The following day, pilots Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi checked into the adjacent room.^*

The next morning, Banihammad drove al-Shehri in a rental car to Logan International Airport, where they returned the car and boarded Flight 175. He sat in seat 2A, adjacent to al-Shehri. About a half an hour into the flight, the plane was hijacked and Marwan al-Shehhi flew it into the south tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.

Aftermath

After the attacks it was reported by some sites that somebody with the same name had attended the DLI at Lackland Air Force Base - a claim that may have been borne of a false address Banihammad had used.