Airport verifies 9/13 Saudi flight! 9/11 Commission wrong!

[Timefortruth]

TIA now verifies flight of Saudis
The government has long denied that two days after the 9/11 attacks, the three were allowed to fly

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, better known as the 9/11 Commission, sent a list of questions to Tampa International Airport. It appears concerned with the handling of the Tampa flight.
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TAMPA - Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at Tampa International Airport, picked up three young Saudi men and left.

The men, one of them thought to be a member of the Saudi royal family, were accompanied by a former FBI agent and a former Tampa police officer on the flight to Lexington, Ky

***skip***
For nearly three years, White House, aviation and law enforcement officials have insisted the flight never took place and have denied published reports and widespread Internet speculation about its purpose.

http://www.saintpetersburgtimes.com/2004/06/09/Tampabay/TIA_now_verifies_flig.shtml

It looks like the Commission didn't read all the responses to its inquiries.

[samsingh]

1. puts in the entire report in questionable light

these reports are not credible.

[havocmom]

2. Whitewash already peeling off? tsk tsk tsk

The comittee comes to the conclusions the junta wants it to, regardless of the facts that can be produced to the contrary.

What a friggin surprise from the folks who brought you disappearing TANG records and 'the computer will blow up if we give you a copy of the info on foreign lobbyist'.

[papau]

3. US National Media will never report this!

:-)

[RobertSeattle]

4. What exactly is the Commision Wrong About?

I've downloaded the PDF. Here's the text regarding Tampa Airport.

Page 556/557 - Notes on Chapter 10.

Another particular allegation is that a flight carrying Saudi nationals from Tampa, Florida, to Lexington,Kentucky,
was allowed to fly while airspace was closed, with special approval by senior U.S. government officials. On
September 13,Tampa police brought three young Saudis they were protecting on an off-duty security detail to the
airport so they could get on a plane to Lexington. Tampa police arranged for two private investigators to provide
security on the flight.They boarded a chartered Learjet. Dan Grossi interview (May 24, 2004);Manuel Perez interview
(May 27, 2004); John Solomon interview (June 4, 2004); Michael Fendle interview (June 4, 2004).The plane
took off at 4:37 P.M., after national airspace was open, more than five hours after the Tampa airport had reopened,
and after other flights had arrived at and departed from that airport. Hillsborough County Aviation Authority,Tampa
International Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 7, 2004.The plane’s pilot told us there
was “nothing unusual whatsoever” about the flight other than there were few airplanes in the sky.The company’s
owner and director of operations agreed, saying that “it was just a routine little trip for us” and that he would have
556 NOTES TO CHAPTER 10
heard if there had been anything unusual about it.The pilot said he followed standard procedures and filed his flight
plan with the FAA prior to the flight, adding,“I was never questioned about it.”Christopher Steele interview (June
14, 2004); Barry Ellis interview (June 14, 2004). FAA records confirm this account. FAA supplemental response to
Commission questions for the record, June 8, 2004.When the plane arrived at Lexington Blue Grass Airport, that
airport had also been open for more than five hours. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board, Blue Grass
Airport response to Commission questions for the record, June 8, 2004.The three Saudi nationals debarked from
the plane and were met by local police.Their private security guards were paid, and the police then escorted the
three Saudi passengers to a hotel where they joined relatives already in Lexington. Mark Barnard interview (June
7, 2004).The FBI is alleged to have had no record of the flight and denied that it occurred, hence contributing to
the story of a “phantom flight.”This is another misunderstanding.The FBI was initially misinformed about how
the Saudis got to Lexington by a local police officer in Lexington who did not have firsthand knowledge of the
matter.The Bureau subsequently learned about the flight. James M. interview (June 18, 2004).

[KurtNYC]

5. 911 Omission Report

The creation and timing of the 911 committee created the false impression that we didn't have the answers to many of these questions. This in turn created the opportunity for them to try and change the facts through ommission. They know almost no one will read the report so they now can lie about what its conclusions are.

[Caution]

6. National airspace was open. International flights were not allowed

There are times when we must realize that a specific piece of the puzzle turns out to be wrong. The report does not contradict the facts here.

The piece to question is whether or not it was appropriate to allow the Saudis to fly out of the country so early.

Richard Clarke claims to have approved this without getting direct approval from anyone higher up the chain. Why didnt he go higher and if he didnt why didnt those above him see this as problematic and put a stop to it.

If we wish to be credible in our attacks on the policies of the Bush administration we cannot allow ourselves to simply refuse to admit to occasionally being wrong.

The Saudis did NOT fly out of the country until after International travel was once again permitted.

[dennis4868]

7. It is my understanding that...

national airspace was closed for everyone until 9/14...I know I tried to fly on 9/13 and was told I could not....why were the bin ladens allowed to fly on 9/13 from Tampa to Kentucky and I couldn't....and I was in Florida on 9/13 as well!

[Caution]

8. now that's a different question entirely

most flights were still grounded but some were allowed (and not just the bin ladins). The point here is that we can't use this point to discredit the 9/11 commission report.

and frankly from what ive read of it so far, we don't want to. this report is not kind to Bush, no matter what you may be hearing.

[Individualist]

9. Domestic flights were grounded

by the FAA immediately following the 9/11 attacks, and they didn't resume until Thursday. www.cnn.com/2001/TRAVEL/NEWS/09/13/faa.airports/

[spotbird]

10. They were given special consideration,

and many were not questioned before leaving the country.

The government did lie for years about the special consideration given the Saudis and the media is complicit in the lie by ignoring the issue.

Why were the Saudis given special consideration?

[sandnsea]

12. Case-by-case basis

Here's an article about it from that very day. They clearly got special treatment because that's the only way anybody was allowed to fly that day.

"The re-opening of our national airspace is good news for travelers, for the airlines and for our economy," Mineta said. "We will re-open airports and resume flights on a case-by-case basis, only after they implement our more stringent levels of security. This phased approach will assure the highest levels of safety, which remains our primary goal."


http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/news/article/0,3371,10375_883621,00.html

[Old and In the Way]

13. I agree....the issue is not the timing of when they flew out, but

that they were allowed to be gathered up and moved out within days of the attack.

Don't forget this either. The FBI had fingered the terrorists within 24 hours of the 9/11 and we knew Osama and 15/19 were from Saudi Arabia. So why are we shuttling wealthy Sauds out of the USA without questioning them???? The issue here is how compromised Bush is by the Bush family's economic relationship to the House of Saud. Who knows? Maybe the Royal family has some very incriminating evidence on Poppy, Dimson, or both. Think, for a moment, how that effects our national security....

[cthrumatrix]

11. well...let's see our "liberal media" report this and educate amerika

NOT likely