Mystery: Why Portland? (re:Atta and 9/11)

[MaineDem]

The Sept. 11 commission reviewed more than 2.5 million pages of documents, interviewed hundreds of officials and interrogated captured terrorists. But one question on the minds of Mainers remains unanswered:

Why did Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al Omari, two of the 19 hijackers who crashed airliners in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, start their trip in Portland?

The commission's final report, released Thursday, cannot say.

"No physical, documentary or analytical evidence provides a convincing explanation of why Atta and al Omari drove to Portland, Maine, from Boston on the morning of Sept. 10, only to return to Logan on Flight 5930 on the morning of September 11," reads the first footnote in the 567-page report.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/040723911side.shtml

[GCP]

1. Delete this post, foot-in-mouth syndrome

Should have read the link first.

[Woody Box]

2. Answer

My guess is that they wanted to achieve a special access to Logan Airport - straight after the landing they went to gate B-32 (same terminal as the one they arrived), avoiding the usual security measures, and "stole" the airplane AA 11:

Flight 11 - the Twin Flight

http://911wideopen.com/mirror/twin11-1/twin-11-mod.htm

[gasperc]

3. smaller airports have laxer security, generally

When I've traveled to small airports like Scranton,PA(where I was born) they had maybe two screeners and an x-ray machine. Boston had much better and much much more security(dubious). I suspect that the hyjackers felt they could slip through Portland easier than Boston. Once in Boston they didn't have to go through security again. I am somewhat skeptical that soley box cutters and razors were used. They likely slipped through with much more than that.

And did the commission report on the rubble that was examined by the FBI before it was dumped???

[GCP]

4. If you read the link, they DID have to go through security

again at Logan. I originally thought the same thing, but the link states a second security check. Maybe they were banking on not having to go through a second time.

[jmcgowanjm]

5. An operation done w/ military precision and they were "banking"?,

as in hoping?

As they were banking on having an hour and 20 minutes
in air to complete their operation?

"This is the first security video I have ever seen that does
NOT HAVE A DATE AND TIME STAMP ON IT. This tape would
be useless in a court of law because there is no way of
proving when the video was shot."

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/hijackers_video.html

[gasperc]

8. true they took nothing to chance

and I read that on one flight a former Isralli defense guy tried to stop the hyjackers in front of him but was attacked himself from behind. So, I have to agree this "mission" had military precision. Although, it seems that more have could have been learned as to why, or advantages or dis advantages of going through Portland.

[AP]

6. My first impression was that they wanted it to seem like they crossed

the border into the US in Canada -- but there was so much other evidence that they had been in the US, it really doesn't make sense that they thought that none of it would be discovered.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Personally, I think the whole Atta story

is just so much smoke.

[DulceDecorum]

9. No evidence of a Portland connection: VERIFED by BTS Stats.

No evidence of a Portland connection was ever found, and no record of an earlier visit to Portland is included in the commission's tracking of the terrorists' travels.
The hijackers may have picked Portland the way any passenger might - convenience.
"Whatever their reason," the report concludes, "the Portland jetport was the nearest airport to Boston with a 9/11 flight that would have arrived at Logan in time for the passengers to transfer to American Airlines Flight 11, which had a scheduled departure time of 7:45 a.m."
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/040723911side.shtml

The Commission got that last bit wrong.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has a database which reports the times of arrivals and departures of airlines that account for one percent or more of US domestic travel.
US Airways is in that group and so has to report its flights to the BTS.
US Airways has a group of nine smaller airlines working for it as sub-contractors. These airlines are the US Airways Express. These tiny airlines all have codeshare agreements with US Airways and their flights are reported to the BTS as US Airways flights, due to this codeshare agreement. That way, the tiny airline gets more bookings and US Airways doesn't have to bother with those small runs to offbeat markets.
The US Express planes and uniforms and just about every single thing you can think of, FLIGHT NUMBERS INCLUDED, are exactly the same as those of the US Airways. The paychecks are probably different, but as far as we are concerned, US Express is part of US Airways and US Airways therefore has to report US Express codeshare flights to the BTS.

If you check the BTS stats for Portland Jetport and Logan, you will find that it was PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for Atta/Bukhari/Alomari/Whoever
to have caught a US Express/Colgan Air flight out of Portland and then hijacked Flight 11. Colgan Air/US Express didn't even fly out of Portland Jetport directly to Boston on that day,
-- or on all the other other days that were checked.
Therefore no US Express/Us Airways flights were reported to the BTS and we have no idea HOW
Atta/Bukhari/Alomari/Whoever
EVER got into Logan in the first place,
and forget about punctuality.


More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=12490&mesg_id=13789&page=

[lovuian]

10. Wow so this is smoke screen perpetuated by 9/11 Commission

just like the commission even get the right number of Saudis on the Bin Laudin flight out of the country..their report says 23

but Lautenburgs publication says 25

9/11 Commission even with all the documents when examined has major holes in it

[pschoeb]

11. Needed to stop by Kennebunkport?