Federal aviation authorities were alerted in early 2001 that an Arizona
flight school believed one of the eventual Sept. 11 hijackers lacked the
English and flying skills necessary for the commercial pilot's license
he already held. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector even sat
next to the hijacker, Hani Hanjour, in one of the Arizona classes,
checked records to ensure Hanjour's 1999 pilot's license was legitimate
but concluded no other action was warranted. Hanjour is believed to have
piloted the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. The
operations manager for the now-defunct JetTech flight school in Phoenix
said she called the FAA inspector that oversaw her school three times
in January and February 2001 to express her concerns about Hanjour. "I
couldn't believe he had a commercial license of any kind with the skills
that he had," said Peggy Chevrette, the JetTech manager. She
also has been interviewed by the FBI. Marilyn Ladner, a vice president
for the Pan Am International Flight Academy that owned JetTech before it
closed in the aftermath of Sept. 11, said the flight school expressed
its concerns and believes the FAA official observed Hanjour's weaknesses
firsthand. The Arizona school's alert is the latest revelation about
the extent of information the government possessed before Sept. 11
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