Khalid al-Mihdhar

Khalid al-Mihdhar
خالد المحضار
Born	Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (1975-05-16)16 May 1975 Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Died	11 September 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 26) Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. aboard American Airlines Flight 77
Cause of death	Suicide by plane crash (September 11 attacks)
Nationality (legal)	Saudi Arabian
Known for	Helping hijack American 77 and crashing it into The Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks
Spouse	Hoda al-Hada
Children	2 daughters
Relatives	Ahmed al-Darbi (brother-in-law)

Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (Arabic: خالد المحضار, romanized: Khālid al-Miḥḍār; also transliterated as AL Mihdhar; 16 May 1975^[a] – 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the 11 September attacks.

Al-Mihdhar was born in Saudi Arabia. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced and respected jihadist, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Al-Mihdhar arrived in California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000, after traveling to Malaysia for the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. At this point, the CIA was aware of al-Mihdhar, and he was photographed in Malaysia with another al-Qaeda member who was involved in the USS Cole bombing. The CIA did not inform the FBI when it learned that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had entered the United States, and al-Mihdhar was not placed on any watchlists until late August 2001.

Upon arriving in San Diego County, California, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were to train as pilots, but spoke English poorly and did not do well with flight lessons. In June 2000, al-Mihdhar left the United States for Yemen, leaving al-Hazmi behind in San Diego. Al-Mihdhar spent some time in Afghanistan in early 2001 and returned to the United States in early July 2001. He stayed in New Jersey in July and August, before arriving in the Washington, D.C., area at the beginning of September.

On the morning of 11 September 2001, al-Mihdhar boarded American Airlines Flight 77, and assisted in the hijacking of the plane which was hijacked approximately 30 minutes after takeoff. al-Mihdhar and his team of hijackers then deliberately crashed the plane into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people aboard the flight, along with 125 on the ground.

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