Two Hijackers Caught on Video as They Board a Flight to Boston; Footage Shows Two Times

[Archangel]

Abdulaziz Alomari, right, and Mohamed Atta, left (in dark shirt),passing through security in the Portland, Maine, airport. Note the different times on the two time stamps, one in the middle, one at the bottom. [Source: FBI]

Minutes after arriving at the Portland airport, hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari pass through the airport's single security checkpoint, on the way to boarding their 6 a.m. flight to Boston. The checkpoint has a surveillance camera pointing at it, which captures them as they go through. (Mcgeary and van Biema 9/24/2001; 9/11 Commission 8/26/2004, pp. 2-3) Some reports say the pair passes through at 5:53 a.m. (Prial 9/14/2001; Risen and van Natta 9/14/2001; Eggen and Slevin 9/14/2001) Other reports put it earlier, at 5:45 a.m. (Portland Press Herald 10/5/2001; Federal Bureau of Investigation 10/5/2001; 9/11 Commission 8/26/2004, pp. 3) Strangely, when stills from the surveillance camera are later publicly released, they show two time stamps, one of 5:45 and another of 5:53. (Millar 9/21/2001; Federal Bureau of Investigation 10/4/2001) When they'd checked in just minutes earlier, Atta and Alomari were observed wearing ties and jackets (see 5:43 a.m. September 11, 2001). But in the security video footage, they have just open-necked shirts, with no jackets or ties. (Smerconish 2/24/2005; Hench 3/6/2005; CNN 3/3/2006)