Mohamed Atta

Mohamed Atta was born on September 1, 1968, in Egypt. He came from a well off family, with both parents holding respectable jobs in their fields. Atta moved to Germany in 1992 to continue his studies. He was often described by his dorm roommates as being introverted and close-minded. Throughout his stay in Germany, Atta became more and more affiliated with Islam and began feeling angry towards the world around him. Atta eventually came in contact with Al Qaeda, a radical Islamic association that was in need of recruitment. It is believed that Atta trained in Al Qaeda camps between 1999 and 2000. As Atta became more affiliated with Al Qaeda, he became fascinated by the idea of being able to be part of an attack against the United States, so much so that he volunteered on a suicide mission orchestrated by Bin Laden, which would later become known as 9/11. Atta took flight training in the year 2000 in the United States. He became specialized in piloting commercial aircrafts during his stay in the US. On September 11, 2001, Atta checked in for American Airlines Flight 11. 15 minutes after the flight departed, Atta and 4 other hijackers took control of the plane and crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The crash lead to the collapse of the tower 102 minutes later, and ultimately caused the death of over 1600 people.