A Delta pilot who dodged a bullet, re United 93

Since 01-01-07

This is the response from a retired Delta pilot in response to questions
about whether he was planning to see "United 93":

"I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I intend to when I get the chance.
Retirement has made me busier than ever, and I haven't had the chance to see
many movies lately.

As a Delta B-767 captain myself at the time of the attacks on 9/11 I was in
crew rest in Orlando that morning. I had just turned on the TV in my hotel
room only to see the WTC tower on fire, then saw the second airplane hit the
other tower. My immediate reaction was "Terrorists...we're at war", followed
by the realization that we airline crewmembers had all dodged a bullet; it
could have been any one of us flying those planes. As soon as the news
stations flashed the first pictures of the terrorists I knew just how close
and personal the bullet I dodged was. There, on the screen for all to see,
was a man who had sat in my jumpseat the previous July.

His name was Mohammad Atta, the leader of the terrorist hijackers. Atta had
boarded my flight from Baltimore to Atlanta on July 26, 2001 wearing an
American Airlines first officer uniform. He had the corresponding AA company
ID identifying him as a pilot, not to mention the required FAA pilot license
and medical certificate that he was required to show me as proof of his
aircrew status for access to my jumpseat. An airline pilot riding a cockpit
jumpseat is a long established protocol among the airlines of the world, a
courtesy extended by the management and captains of one airline to pilots
and flight attendants of other airlines in recognition of their aircrew
status. My admission of Mohammad Atta to my cockpit jumpseat that day was
merely a routine exercise of this protocol.

Something seemed a bit different about this jumpseat rider, though, because
in my usual course of conversation with him as we reached cruise altitude he
avoided all my questions about his personal life and focused very intently
upon the cockpit instruments and our operation of the aircraft. I asked him
what he flew at American and he said, "These", but he asked incessant
questions about how we did this or why we did that. I said, "This is a 767.
They all operate the same way." But he said, "No, we operate them
differently at American." That seemed very strange, because I knew better. I
asked him about his background, and he admitted he was from Saudi Arabia. I
asked him when he came over to this country and he said "A couple of years
ago.", to which I asked, "Are you a US citizen?" He said no. I also found
that very strange because I know that in order to have an Airline Transport
Pilot rating, the rating required to be an airline captain, one has to be a
US citizen, and knowing the US airlines and their hiring processes as I do,
I found it hard to believe that American Airlines would hire a non-US
citizen who couldn't upgrade to captain when the time came. He said, "The
rules have changed.", which I also knew to be untrue. Besides, he was just,
shall I say, "Creepy"? My copilot and I were both glad to get rid of this
guy when we got to Atlanta.

There was nothing to indicate, though, that he was anything other than who
or what he said he was, because he had the documentation to prove who he
was. In retrospect, we now know his uniform was stolen and his documents
were forged. Information later came to light as to how this was done.

It seems that Mohammad Atta and his cronies had possibly stolen pilot
uniforms and credentials from hotel rooms during the previous year. We had
many security alerts at the airline to watch out for our personal items in
hotel rooms because these were mysteriously disappearing, but nobody knew
why. Atta and his men used these to make dry runs prior to their actual
hijackings on 9/11. How do I know? I called the FBI as soon as I saw his
face on the TV that day, and the agent on the other end of the line took my
information and told me I'd hear back from them when all the dust settled. A
few weeks later I got a letter from the Bureau saying that my call was one
of at least half a dozen calls that day from other pilots who had had the
same experience. Flights were being selected at random to make test runs for
accessing the cockpit. It seems we had all dodged bullets.

Over the years my attitude towards the War Against Terrorism and the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq have been known to be on the red neck, warmongering,
rah-rah-shoot-em-up side of things. I've been known to lose my patience with
those who say the war in Iraq or anywhere else in the Muslim world is wrong,
or who say we shouldn't become involved in that area of the world for
political correctness reasons. Maybe it's because I dodged the bullet so
closely back in 2001 that I feel this way. I have very little patience for
political rhetoric or debate against this war because for a couple of hours
back in July 2001, when I was engaged in conversation with a major
perpetrator in this war, I came so close to being one of its victims that I
can think in no other terms.

I don't mind admitting that one of the reasons I retired early from Delta
last May, other than to protect my disappearing company retirement, was
because it became harder and harder for me to go to work every day knowing
that the war wasn't being taken seriously by the general public. The worst
offenders were the Liberal detractors to the present administration, and
right or wrong, this administration is at least taking the bull by the horns
and fighting our enemies, which is something concrete that I can appreciate.
Nobody was taking this war seriously, and it seems everyone found fault with
the US government rather than with those who attacked us. I found that
incomprehensible.

I also found myself being scrutinized by TSA screeners more and more every
day when I went to work, and suffered the humiliating indignity of being
identified about half the time for body searches in front of the general
flying public who looked at the entire process as being ludicrous. "They
don't even trust their own pilots!" accompanied by an unbelieving snicker
was the usual response. Here I was, a retired USAF officer who had been
entrusted to fly nuclear weapons around the world, who had been granted a
Top Secret clearance and had been on missions over the course of 21 years in
the military that I still can't talk about without fear of prosecution by
the DoD, who was being scanned by a flunkie TSA screener looking for any
sign of a pen knife or nail file on my person.

It wasn't until six months after my retirement when my wife and I flew to
Key West, FL last November that I was finally able to rid myself of the
visage of Mohammad Atta sitting behind me on my jumpseat, watching my every
action in the cockpit and willing to slit my throat at the slightest
provocation. I missed being a headline by a mere 47 days, and could very
well have been among the aircrew casualties on 9/11 had one of my flights on
my monthly schedule been a transcontinental flight from Boston or New York
to the west coast on the 11th of September. Very few people know that, while
only four airliners crashed that day, four more were targeted, and two of
them were Delta flights. The only reason these four weren't involved is
because they either had minor maintenance problems which delayed them at the
gate or they were scheduled to depart after the FAA decided to ground all
flights. Theirs are the pilots and flight attendants who REALLY dodged the
bullet that day, and my faith in a higher power is restored as a result.

I will see United 93 when I get the chance, and I will probably enjoy the
movie for its realness and historical significance, but forgive me if I do
not embrace the Muslim world for the rest of my life. The Islamic world is
no friend of the West, and although we may be able to get along with their
governments in the future, the stated goal of Islam is world conquest
through Jihad and it is the extremist Jihadists, backed and funded by
"friendly" Moslem governments, whom we have to fear the most. We must have a
presence in the Middle East, and we must have friends in the Middle East,
even if we have to fight wars to get them. Only someone who has dodged a
bullet can fully appreciate that fact.

Best to all,
Pat Gilmore

Editor's Note: For some reason which is beyond me, some people do not want
to believe this. Perhaps they do not want to believe that Jihadist terrorism
actually exists, because it someone doesn't believe it yet, they never will.
Capt. Gilmore himself posted this comment, in our comments below, but I will
put it here for all to see:

I assure you this letter is true. As to the fact that I wrote that a holder
of an Airline Transport Pilot rating (ATP) must be a US citizen, I admit
that I was mistaken here. I had always assumed so, because that's what I had
heard, so I looked up the requrements for an ATP just now. There is nothing
that says that US citizenship is required. Okay, I'll bite the bullet on
that one. I recieved my ATP back in 1975 and now that I think of it I do not
remember having to prove my citizenship. However, the rest of the story is true.

As for my airline career, I worked for Western Airlines (who merged with
Delta in 1987), Jet America Airlines (who was bought by Alaska Airlines in
1988), and Delta Airlines, as well as a few "fly by night" cargo airlines
during my furlough period from Western from 1981-1985. I also flew in
Vietnam as a transport pilot and retired from the USAF Reserve in 1991 after
the Gulf War. I have 21,500+ flight hours in T-41, T-37, T-38, C-141/L-300,
CE-500, CV-440, MD-80/82, B-727, B-737, B-757, and B-767 aircraft, all
logged between 1970 and 2005 when I retired from Delta.

Trust me, folks, this was real. I must admit I am quite surprised that my
letter made it this far on the internet. The letter was nothing more than am
innocent reply to a group of friends, one of whom sent me a similar letter
from another Delta pilot who had been flying the morning of 9/11 and who had
experienced the flying that day for himself. His letter had detailed his
thoughts as he viewed the movie "United 93", and he also told in detail how
he had been diverted to Knoxville when the FAA shut down the airspace. My
friend had asked me if I had known of any other similar experiences, so I
wrote him what I had encountered myself a few months before. This was my
letter to him.

Another retired Delta captain contacted me yesterday after reading this blog
and related an experience his wife had on a flight from Portland, OR to
Atlanta in August 2001, just a week or so after my experience with Atta. She
was riding on a company pass and seated in First Class. A person of "Middle
Eastern" descent had sought permission to sit on the cockpit jump seat, but
was denied access by the captain because he did not have an FAA Medical
certificate. She said he ranted and raved because he couldn't ride the
cockpit jump seat, even though there were three empty seats in First Class,
which the captain offered him. What pilot in his right mind would refuse a
First Class seat over a cramped cockpit jump seat? He stormed off the
aircraft and they left him at the gate. You see? Mine wasn't the only
experience leading up to 9/11.

Delta Airlines Corporate Security even contacted me a few days ago to ask if
I had, indeed, written this letter. I wrote them back that I had. They were
worried that someone was using my name without my knowledge. I assured them
I was the author.

Keep the faith, and don't let the bastards get you down."