03/13/02
Huffman notified of approval of terrorists visas
VENICE -- Exactly six months after two terrorists died in the World Trade Center crash, the Venice flight school where they learned to fly has received their student visa approval forms from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Huffman Aviation owner Rudi Dekkers said he can now prove he followed government rules and regulations in allowing Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi to enter flight training at his school. Atta and Al-Shehhi were two ringleaders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. "Yesterday, I received their two applications (for student visas) approved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service," Dekkers said at a news conference at Huffman late Tuesday afternoon. "This flight school did nothing wrong -- the rules were in place and we followed the rules." The visa approval forms arrived by mail Monday at Huffman Aviation. INS spokesman Russ Bergeron said Tuesday that a backlog in data entry caused the delay, and that the agency couldn't have known before the attacks that Atta and Al-Shehhi had ties to terrorism. ''It's regrettable that the flight school is receiving the paperwork on this late date,'' Bergeron said. ''The important thing to recognize is the decisions to change their status were made ... before Sept. 11, and at the time there was no information made available to INS regarding these people and their link to terrorism,'' Bergeron said. ***START TRIM The approved forms for Atta and Al-Shehhi state: "The student named above has been accepted for a full course of study at this school, majoring in (a) professional pilot program. The student is expected to report to the school not later than Sept. 1, 2000, and complete studies not later than Sept. 1, 2001." The forms also state that tuition for the flight training program for each man was $18,000, and living expenses would cost $9,300, for a total of $27,300. ***END TRIM Critics had lambasted Dekkers for not following procedures and regulations in allowing Atta and Al-Shehhi to train at Huffman. Dekkers said he was confident he followed government regulations. "We could not prove we applied for the M-1s (non-immigrant status for vocational students)," Dekkers said, "because the FBI had seized all my files and records and wouldn't let me make copies." The applications were dated Aug. 29, 2000. Dekkers said he is not surprised it took so long for the INS to return the applications. "It can take anywhere from three days to months for these things to come back," he said. Dekkers said the two terrorists were in the United States on tourist visas, which meant they could not enter a professional flight training program without first applying for student visas. Once the applications were submitted, however, the men could begin their training, he said. Atta's visa was approved by the INS almost a year after the paperwork was completed, on July 17, 2001, according to the forms. INS approved Al-Shehhi's student visa on Aug. 9, 2001. Both men were cleared to stay in the United States until Oct. 1, 2001, the forms showed. The men completed their course Jan. 3, 2001, more than six months before their visas were even approved. ***START TRIM Bergeron said the notification received by the school was the second one sent. The INS notified Atta and Al-Shehhi that their visa applications were accepted shortly after they were approved, Bergeron said The INS employs a contractor to handle its data entry and mail out notifications, Bergeron said. But the contractor wasn't told that the data entry on the cases of Atta and Al-Shehhi no longer was necessary and no notification had to be sent to the flight school, Bergeron said. The forms, filled out by an assistant at Huffman, indicated that both men met the English language requirements to study at the school. Atta listed his nationality as Egyptian, while Al-Shehhi said he was from United Arab Emirates. On the form, Atta's name is spelled ''Mohomed.'' ***END TRIM Atta, suspected of being at the controls of American Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, was allowed to enter the United States after immigration officials determined that he had an application for a student visa pending. Al-Shehhi was on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. ***START TRIM Both men studied at the Technical University in Hamburg, received pilot training at Huffman and practiced their flying on a Boeing 727 flight simulator in the Miami suburb of Opa-locka. Foreign students are generally allowed to study in the United States as long as they apply for student visas, Bergeron said. ***END TRIM Dekkers said Huffman went beyond what it was supposed to do in checking Atta and Al-Shehhi when they first came to the school July 1, 2000. "They just walked through the front door," Dekkers said. "We do not have an obligation to ask for their passports, but we did." ***STORY CAN END HERE On a related matter, Dekkers said the events of Sept. 11 have all but ruined the flight school business. "I had to quit my flight school in Naples (Ambassador Airways)," Dekkers said. "I keep this (Huffman) going because I sell fuel." Prior to Sept. 11, 25 percent of Dekkers' students were from other countries. Now, only about 10 percent are foreigners, he said. He said he will not respond to flight school inquiries from those residing in certain countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
You can e-mail Tommy McIntyre attmcintyre@venicegondolier.com.
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