Many newspapers have carried the lists released of the names of the terrorists who hijacked the flights on Tuesday. I would like to know how they have determined which of the passengers on the manifests were the terrorists.
It’s actually relatively straightforward.
The airlines have passenger manifests of everyone who boarded, plus, of course, the flight and cabin crews.
Once one has the lists, they’re checked against, among other things, a database of known members of various groups. And, in this case, I hate to say it, but “obviously” middle-eastern names were almost certainly singled out of the lists for additional scrutiny.
Names are also checked against driver’s license databases, lists of legal immigrants, even taxpayer rolls. Rental car companies help by checking certain names against their files, names are cross-checked through bank and credit-card companies, you name it.
For example, (please forgive the ‘stereotype’, as I’m merely illustrating) say a Mr. Abdul Smith is listed as boarding, and his ticket shows he made a connecting flight from, say Dallas. A check of the Dallas DMV database shows that he just got a driver’s license there three months ago. The ticket was bought with a credit card- the card company shows he received the card two months ago. The company’s credit check shows he stated he had just immigrated in from Furbystan. A call to both the consulate in Furbystan and US Immigration might then show that nobody by the name of Abdul Smith is listed in their passport database or emigrant rolls.
And so on. Yes, it’s time consuming, and yes it can be delayed or side tracked by fake IDs, but in these days of more copy-resistant IDs and computer databases, it can yeild a great deal of information.
The other way is, basically, the process of elimination.
Out of the entire flight manifest- say fifty people- you can find fairly complete information on all but four or five. IE, you can find car rentals, credit card history or connecting flights, and later, with more digging, you find bank records, tax histories, school and college transcripts, military service records, you name it, all of which is called a “paper trail”.
If four or five passengers appear to have come out of nowhere- credit cards and licenses are, say, mere months old, or worse, the license number isn’t in the DMV records (it’s fake, in other words) and have no school records, no home ownership/mortgage records, no immigration records (if applicable) and so on, then that’s evidence suggesting those people may be the hijackers.
Hey Doc Nickel
Great explanation. Thank you. There is a lot more to that than I would have guessed.
A couple of other things have helped as well. Some of the terrorists were identified by passenger phone calls during the hijackings. The car found in Boston was another identifier. Also, once a couple of terrorists were identified, the links between the terrorists were found. For example, the same credit card was used to purchase a number of the tickets, and some of the terrorists lived together.
to add to Doc Nickel’s profile:
I believe the terorists, in some cases, bought their tickets at the last moment, and with cash. They bought business class or first class seats, so they’d be closer to the cockpit.
Thanks for the info.
Wait a minute, until two years ago, I didn’t have a driver’s liscense (still don’t), credit card, mortgage, or home, did not attend school or have family where I now reside.
Suddenly I feel, well, almost invisible.
Hmmm…and maybe a little dangerous.
well then clearly, you have no business being on a plane these days
Elbows- Be that as it may, you still almost certainly have school and/or college records somewhere; presuming you’re male, I assume you registered with the Selective Service, and presumably you have a Social Security number.
If you have, or have had a job, then you’ve paid taxes and/or had taxes withheld, so there’s probably a W2/W4 or 1040 form out there with your name on it. Ever had a phone? How about a beeper or cellphone? Listed as anyone’s dependent? Have a life insurance policy, or listed on anyone elses’? Ever rent a car? Take a flight anywhere?
You’re by no means invisible. Unimportant, perhaps, as far as any investigative agency may be concerned, sure, but hardly invisible.
And JeffB has another bit- One good clue can then lead to any number of others. You have a rental car? Run down the renter’s name. That can lead you, as was the case here, to an apartment and a flight training school. The apartment’s lease led to two or three other names. Those names, when checked with the car rental and school, produced more hits, and led to still more names when checked against phone records. And on and on.
On one plane a lady called & gave the seat numbers of the guys! That one was kinda easy.
I am a person that is also very invisable. I have no Driver’s Licence, the only friends I have all work with me.
The state ID I have still has an address I lived in in 1985. So I am not invisable but I am hard to find.
Since I live in Chicago my mail is so poorly delivered I have everything sent to my job. I only have one bill, my phone bill which I pay electronically over the internet, and my rent includes all utilities and must be paid for by cash.
Matter of fact I discussed this with my coworkers and if I was in the WTC center no one but my cowrkers would know and they would’ve been killed too.
So it is possible to disappear. I recall seeing on 20/20 that they said a majority of missing adults for one reason or another choose to disappear.