Ahmed al-Ghamdi

File:Ahmed al-ghamdi.jpg

Ahmed al-Ghamdi was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.

Ghamdi was born in Saudi Arabia in 1979. He dropped out of school to fight in Chechnya and was probably sent to train in Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan where he would be chosen by Osama bin Laden to participate in the terrorist attacks in America.

He arrived in the United States in May 2001 on a tourist visa and helped plan out how the attacks would take place. On September 11, 2001, he boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane so that Marwan al-Shehhi could crash it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, as part of the coordinated attacks.

Hamza al-Ghamdi purchased Ahmed's ticket online for United Airlines Flight 175 on August 29 or August 30, after buying his own. He listed a Mail Boxes Etc. address for Ahmed.

Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi stayed at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On September 8 they checked out of the hotel, and moved into the Days Hotel on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton where they remained up until the attacks.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Ahmed left the hotel with Hamza, the two of them sharing a taxicab to get to Logan International Airport. There, Ghamdi showed his Virginia ID Card as identification, and boarded Flight 175 where he sat the furthest back of the hijackers, in seat 9D, helped to hijack it, and assisted as the plane crashed into the World Trade Center.[citation needed] Ahmed and younger brother Hamza al-Ghamdi pushed the passengers and crew to the back of the plane while Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri killed the pilots allowing Marwan Al-Shehhi to take control of the plane.