Majed Moqed (; 18 June 197711 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker affiliated with

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. He hijacked

American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. The Boeing 757-200 aircraft serving the flig ...

and was one of the five hijackers who crashed the

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

into

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

as part of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Moqed studied law at a college in Saudi Arabia before joining al-Qaeda in 1999. He was personally selected by

Ramzi bin al-Shibh Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah bin al-Shibh (; born May 1, 1972) is a Yemenis, Yemeni Terrorism, terrorist who served as al-Qaeda's communications officer. He has been detained by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (NSGB) since 200 ...

to participate in the 9/11 attacks. Al-Shibh sent him to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in May 2001 to study how to carry out the attacks.

Early life and activities

Moqed was a law student from the small town of Al-Nakhil,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

(west of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

), studying at King Fahd University's Faculty of Administration and Economics. Before he dropped out, he was apparently recruited into

in 1999 along with friend

Satam al-Suqami Satam Muhammad Abd al-Rahman al-Suqami (; June 28, 1976September 11, 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Al-Suqami was recruited into al ...

, a hijacker of

American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic Airline, passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijacked airliner was deliberately crashed into ...

, with whom he had earlier shared a college room. The two trained at Khalden, a large training facility near

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

that was run by

Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (; born Ali Mohamed Abdul Aziz al-Fakheri; 1963 – May 10, 2009) was a Libyan national captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 after the fall of the Taliban; he was interrogated by American and Egyptian forces. The inform ...

. A friend in

claimed he was last seen there in 2000, before leaving to study English in the United States. In November 2000, Moqed and al-Suqami flew into

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

together. Some time late in 2000, Moqed traveled to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, where he purchased traveler's cheques presumed to have been paid for by 9/11 financier Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. Five other hijackers also passed through the UAE and purchased travellers cheques, including

Wail al-Shehri Wail Mohammed al-Shehri (; or Alshehri; July 31, 1973September 11, 2001) was a Saudi school teacher and terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade C ...

Saeed al-Ghamdi Saeed Abdullah Ali Sulayman al-Ghamdi (; 21 November 1979 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of four terrorist hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the 11 September attacks. Despite his name, he was n ...

Hamza al-Ghamdi Hamza Salah Sa'id al-Ghamdi (; 18 November 1980 – 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the 11 September attacks. Born in Saudi Arabia, Hamza al-Ghamdi left ...

, Ahmed al-Haznawi, and Ahmed al-Nami. Known as ''al-Ahlaf'' during the preparations,Videotape of recorded will of Abdulaziz al-Omari and others Moqed then moved in with hijackers Salem al-Hazmi,

Abdulaziz al-Omari Abdulaziz al-Omari (, , also transliterated as Alomari or al-Umari; 28 May 1979 – 11 September 2001) was a Saudi imam and terrorist who was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Pri ...

, and

Khalid al-Mihdhar Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (; also transliterated as AL Mihdhar; 16 May 1975 – 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as ...

in an apartment in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Ahmed al-Ghamdi. Later that year, Moqed,

Hani Hanjour Hani Salih Hasan Hanjour (; 30 August 197211 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist who was the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, crashing the plane into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Hanjour first went ...

, Hazmi, and Ahmed al-Ghamdi rented a minivan and travelled to

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

. There they met a contact in the parking lot of a local convenience store who provided them with false IDs. (This was possibly Eyad Alrababah, a Jordanian charged with document fraud). Moqed was one of the five hijackers who asked for a state identity card on 2 August 2001. On 24 August, both Mihdhar and Moqed tried to purchase flight tickets from the

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

online ticket-merchant, but had technical difficulties resolving their address and gave up. Employees at Advance Travel Service in

Totowa, New Jersey Totowa (pronounced "TO-tuh-wuh" ) is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,065, an increase of 261 (+ ...

, later claimed that Moqed and Hanjour had both purchased tickets there. They claimed that Hani Hanjour spoke very little English, and Moqed did most of the speaking. Hanjour requested a seat in the front row of the airplane. Their credit card failed to authorize, and after being told the agency did not accept personal

cheque A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...

s, the pair left to withdraw cash. They returned shortly afterwards and paid $1842.25 in cash. During this time, Moqed was staying in Room 343 of the Valencia Motel. On September 2, Moqed paid cash for a $30 weekly membership at

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international wikt:co-ed, co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice, Los Angeles, Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of ca ...

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental ...

. Three days later he was seen on an ATM camera with

. After the attacks, the manager at an adult video store, Adult Lingerie Center, in Beltsville claimed that Moqed had been in the store three times.

Attacks

On September 11 2001, Moqed arrived at

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

. According to the ''

9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'', officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States'', is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prep ...

'', Moqed set off the metal detector at the airport and was screened with a hand-wand. He passed the cursory inspection, and was able to board his flight at 7:50. He was seated in 12A, adjacent to Mihdhar who was in 12B. Moqed helped to hijack the plane and assisted

in crashing the plane into

at 9:37 a.m., killing 189 people (64 on the plane and 125 on the ground). The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:10, but ended up departing 10 minutes late from Gate D26 at Dulles. The last normal radio communications from the aircraft to

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

occurred at 08:50:51. At 08:54, Flight 77 began to deviate from its normal, assigned flight path and turned south, and then hijackers set the flight's

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

heading for Washington, D.C. Passenger

Barbara Olson Barbara Kay Olson (née Bracher; December 27, 1955September 11, 2001) was an American lawyer and conservative television commentator who worked for CNN, Fox News Channel, and several other outlets. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight ...

called her husband,

United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

Theodore Olson Theodore Bevry Olson (September 11, 1940 – November 13, 2024) was an American lawyer who served as the 42nd solicitor general of the United States from 2001 to 2004 in the administration of President George W. Bush. He previously served as t ...

, and reported that the plane had been hijacked and that the assailants had box cutters and knives. At 09:37, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west facade of

, killing all 64 aboard (including the hijackers), along with 125 on the ground in the Pentagon. In the recovery process at the Pentagon, remains of all five Flight 77 hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, as not matching any

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

samples for the victims, and put into custody of the FBI. After the attacks his family told ''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...

'' that Moqed had been a fan of sports, and enjoyed travelling. Additionally, the U.S. announced it had found a "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Student Identity Card" bearing Moqed's name in the rubble surrounding the Pentagon. They also stated that it appeared to have been a forgery.

References

External links

The Final 9/11 Commission Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moqed, Majed 1977 births 2001 deaths 2001 suicides American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers Male suicides Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members Saudi Arabian mass murderers Saudi Arabian murderers of children

Early life and activities

Attacks

See also

References

External links