Fayez Banihamed
From September 11 Memories
Fayez Banihamed (الله أَكْبَر) was a Muslim and a hijacker aboard United Airlines Flight 175 on September 11, 2001.
He grew up in the United Arab Emirates and left home in July, 2000. Before he 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 Report noted, He appeared 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.
He 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 in Boston 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, sharing a room at the Milner Hotel).
It is supsected he was one of the two hijackers, the other being Mohand al-Shehri to started the hijacking on United 175.
Aftermath
After the attacks it was reported by ABC News that somebody with the same name had attended the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base - a claim that may have been borne of a false address Banihammad had used.
