Waleed al-Shehri

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Waleed al Shehri (December 20, 1978 - September 11, 2001) was one of the hijackers of 9/11. He was one of the five hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  Born in Saudi Arabia, Shehri had been a student until he accompanied his mentally ill brother to Medina. He later went to fight in Chechnya along with his brother Wail, but was redirected to Afghanistan, where he was recruited for the attacks.  Shehri arrived in the United States in April 2001 on a tourist visa. On September 11, 2001, Waleed along with his brother, Wail, boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and was one of five that helped hijack it, so that Mohamed Atta could fly the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  Waleed al-Shehri, his brother Wail, and Satam al-Suqami arrived together at Logan Airport at 06:45 on the morning of September 11, 2001, having left their Ford Focus rental car in the airport parking facility. Upon check-in, Wail al-Shehri was selected by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS), as was his brother Waleed, and Flight 11 hijacker Satam al-Suqami. Mohamed Atta, the pilot hijacker on Flight 11 had also been selected in Portland. Being selected by CAPPS meant that their checked baggage were subject to extra screening. As the CAPPS was only for luggage, the three hijackers did not undergo any extra scrutiny at the passenger security checkpoint. One of the five Globe Aviation security-screeners on-duty later reported that either Wail or Waleed had been using a crutch when they passed through security - and that the crutch had been X-rayed as per regulations.  By 7:40 a.m., all five hijackers were aboard the flight, which was scheduled to depart at 7:45 a.m. Wail and Waleed al-Shehri sat together in first class in seats 2A and 2B respectively. The aircraft taxied away from Gate 26 and departed Logan International Airport at 7:59 a.m. from runway 4R after a 14-minute delay. The hijacking of Flight 11 began at approximately 08:14, which is when the pilot stopped responding to air traffic control. Once the hijacking began, the brothers are suspected of having stabbed two flight attendants. At 08:46:40, Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center. The damage caused to the North Tower destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone, trapping 1,344 people. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28, after burning for 102 minutes.