Notorious extremist Osama bin Laden was inspired to unleash the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on US soil from the actions of a pilot on an EgyptAir flight, it has been revealed.
In the latest edition of terrorist organisation al-Qaeda’s weekly magazine it has been claimed that Egypt Air flight 990 served as the inspiration for the deadly terror attacks, which killed almost 3,000 innocent people and injured 6,000 more.
In October 1999, co-pilot Gamil el-Batouty allegedly downed the plane as an act of revenge against Egypt Airlines executive, Hatem Rushdy, who told him he was no longer allowed to fly US routes again, following serious sexual misconduct.
Rushdy had stood el-Batouty down from the routes after it emerged the co-pilot had exposed himself to teenage girls, propositioned hotel staff and stalked hotel guests.
Speaking with a media channel in 2002, former EgyptAir Captain Hanofy Taha Mahmoud Hamdy described the downing as a vengeful act.
"Rushdy had said [to him], 'This is your last flight'," "And Batouty's attitude was, 'This is the last flight for all of you too'." Taha told.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of the September 11 attacks, had initially planned on crashing 12 American planes at once however after hearing about the EgyptAir flight broadened their attack, The Jerusalem Post reports.
The two combined their plans and on September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked.
American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 were flown into New York's World Trade Centre - killing 2,606 people inside the two towers and 147 civilians aboard the two planes.
American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia - killing 125 US Department of Defence employees and 59 passengers.
Those aboard United Airlines flight 93 attempted to overpower the hijackers - with the plane crashing in Pennsylvania during the struggle. The crash killed all 40 passengers and crew members on board. It is believed the hijackers’ target was either the White House or the Capitol Building.
