Fayez Banihammad

Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad (March 19, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was an Emirati terrorist hijacker from al-Qaeda who was one of the five terrorist hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 that was flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.

In 1999, Banihammad left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Saudi Arabia, where he joined the al-Qaeda terrorist group. He met Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who allegedly funded the attacks.

He entered the United States with a tourist visa, and on August 29, 2001, Banihammad paid for his flight ticket. United Flight 175 was meant to fly from Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angeles. On September 11, 2001, the day of the attacks, he boarded that same flight, and after the plane took off, he assisted in its hijacking, when his group of hijackers forced their way into the cockpit. Hijacker-pilot Marwan al-Shehhi, the only other Emirati involved in the attacks, took control of the plane, and flew it into the World Trade Center's South Tower, killing everyone on board.

Early life Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad (who used many aliases but is mainly known as Fayez Banihammad He was the son of a school principal, and grew up in the city of Khor Fakkan, which is located in Sharjah, an Emirate of the UAE.

Little is known about Banihammad's life prior to his involvement with al-Qaeda. In an FBI report after the attacks, investigators considered him an 'anomaly'. Banihammad was married to a Syrian national and had a child. It was reported that he worked as an immigration officer in the UAE at some point prior to joining al-Qaeda. According to an FBI report, his bank records with Standard Chartered listed his employment as Al Khatab Aluminum Company located in Khor Fakkan, where it was stated he worked in a managerial position.

Banihammad's family claimed he left the UAE in 1999, saying he was going to join an Islamic relief organization. The fourth target was potentially the U.S Capitol Building, but the fourth plane was unsuccessful in hitting it, because of a revolt by its passengers.

Banihammad was one of the hijackers. However, he still played a "unique role" in his group; during his time in Saudi Arabia, he met Saudi businessman Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who is alleged to have funded the attacks. Banihammad had previously spent one year at university with al-Shehri. He was one of two Emiratis to participate in the attacks, the other being al-Shehhi. Before arriving in the United States, he made bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates, at the same bank and time as al-Hawsawi. Familiar with the country's procedures, Banihammad helped al-Hawsawi complete his account application. He gave al-Hawsawi $3,000 and granted him power of attorney over his own account, so al-Hawsawi could forward a bank card to him while he was in the United States. This is likely when al-Hawsawi's role as a financial facilitator of the attacks began. $30,000 was deposited into Banihammad's account on June 25. On June 27, he arrived in the United States using his tourist visa. He landed at Orlando after taking a flight from London. After that, he made Visa and ATM withdrawals from his UAE accounts.

Banihammad most likely lived in Florida during the planning, potentially with al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta (the attacks' ringleader He reportedly took flight lessons with Atta in Florida. His pilot's license had an address for a flight school in Tulsa, but the school had no record of him attending. A person with his name did attend the Lackland Air Force Base Defense Language Institute in San Antonio. In July, he rented a postal box at Mail Boxes Etc. in Delray Beach, and on August 29, he paid for a first-class seat, 2A, on United Airlines Flight 175, using the postal address.

In early September, al-Hawsawi received a Western Union transfer of $26,000 from Atta, al-Shehhi, Waleed al-Shehri, and Banihammad. The FBI believed this transaction was the hijackers returning their unused funds as they did not want to "die as thieves". al-Hawsawi later cleaned out Banihammad's bank account in Dubai, and he could do so because he had power of attorney over it. They were armed with knives and mace, but none of them were checked by CAPPS. Banihammad was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui.