Marwan al-Shehhi funds flight training with cash and VISA card

In the United States, Marwan al-Shehhi, a UAE citizen, paid for flight training at Kemper Aviation in Lantana, Florida, on August 8, 2001. He had previously visited the flight school for ground and in-air instruction, making payments with cash or his VISA debit card. Al-Shehhi was one of the four pilots involved in the 9/11 attacks, specifically piloting United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He had arrived in the U.S. on May 29, 2000, and was admitted as a tourist for six months, listing his intended address as the Days Inn Hotel in New York. After purchasing $2,000 worth of American Express travelers' checks, he met with Mohammed Atta, the head of the 9/11 plot, on June 3, 2000. The two had been inseparable since meeting in Hamburg, Germany, where they became involved in radical causes and attended the al Quds mosque alongside other key figures in the plot. Al-Shehhi's background included a scholarship to study engineering in Germany, but he became increasingly disengaged from his studies and more involved in extremist activities. He and Atta moved to Florida, where they lived together and trained at the same flight school, ultimately receiving their pilot's licenses by the end of 2000. The FBI later conducted a thorough investigation into the lives of the 19 hijackers, revealing that despite portrayals of them as 'bad Muslims,' they lived relatively normal lives in America, engaging in typical activities such as renting apartments and attending flight school.