Ahmed al - Ghamdi Ahmed Salah Said al - Ghamdi ( , , also transliterated as Alghamdi ) ( July 2 , 1979 – September 11 , 2001 ) was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks . Ghamdi was born in Saudi Arabia in 1979 . He dropped out of school to fight in Chechnya and was probably sent to train in Al - Qaeda camps in Afghanistan where he would be chosen by Osama bin Laden to participate in the terrorist attacks in America . He arrived in the United States in May 2001 on a tourist visa and helped plan out how the attacks would take place . On September 11 , 2001 , he boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane so that Marwan al - Shehhi could crash it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center , as part of the coordinated attacks . History . An Imam , Ghamdi was from the al Bahah Province of Saudi Arabia , a province in the south west of Saudi Arabia . It is the capital of Al Bahah Province nestled between the resorts of Mecca and Abha , Al Bahah is one of the Kingdom ’ s prime tourist attractions . Ghamdi shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Saeed al - Ghamdi , Hamza al - Ghamdi , and Ahmed al - Haznawi . This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers , and they are thought to have met each other some time in 1999 . Known as " al - Jaraah al - Ghamdi " during the preparations , the only one of the hijackers to use a variation on his own name , Ghamdi quit school to fight in Chechnya against the Russia ns in 2000 , and received a US Visa on September 3 of that year . In November , both he and Salem al - Hazmi flew to Beirut , though on separate flights and at different times . Ghamdi flew on the same flight as a senior Hezbollah operative , although the 9 / 11 Commission could find no evidence that either knew the other . His family claims to have last seen him in December . In March 2001 , Ghamdi is reported to have met with a Jordanian who has been charged with providing false identification to at least 50 illegal aliens . Hijackers Majed Moqed , Hani Hanjour , and Nawaf al - Hazmi are reported to have met with him at the same time . Inexplicably , this is more than a month before Ghamdi first arrived in the United States , according to the FBI and the 9 / 11 Commission . On May 2 , Ghamdi arrived in the U . S . with fellow - hijacker Moqed , on a student visa . He listed the Naval Air Station in Pensacola , Florida as his permanent address on his driver ' s license . He and Moqed moved in with Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al - Hazmi in Falls Church , Virginia . All four later moved into an apartment in Paterson , New Jersey . He called his parents in July 2001 , but did not mention being in the United States . Attacks . Hamza al - Ghamdi purchased Ahmed ' s ticket online for United Airlines Flight 175 on August 29 or August 30 , after buying his own . He listed a Mail Boxes Etc . address for Ahmed . Hamza and Ahmed al - Ghamdi stayed at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge , Massachusetts . On September 8 they checked out of the hotel , and moved into the Days Hotel on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton where they remained up until the attacks . On the morning of September 11 , 2001 , Ahmed left the hotel with Hamza , the two of them sharing a taxicab to get to Logan International Airport . There , Ghamdi showed his Virginia ID Card as identification , and boarded Flight 175 where he sat the furthest back of the hijackers , in seat 9D , helped to hijack it , and assisted as the plane crashed into the World Trade Center . Ahmed and younger brother Hamza al - Ghamdi pushed the passengers and crew to the back of the plane while Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al - Shehri killed the pilots allowing Marwan al - Shehhi to take control of the plane .