Hijackers trained at flying club in Luzon

A man travelling on a passport in the name of Marwan Al Shehi, linked to the September 11 attacks on the U.S., had stayed in a resort in Mabalacat, central Luzon from 1997 to 1999, the military said.

Their investigations are based on testimony of five former resort workers. Al Shehi, together with another suspected hijacker, Mohammad Atta, were identified by five former employees of the Woodland resort in Mabalacat, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) chief Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said in a report.

"I am sure Al Shehi had been a Woodland guest several times in 1997. I remember him well because I flagged his speeding car at least three times at the gate of Woodland," said former security guard Antonio Sersoza. Al Shehi used different cars and stayed at Woodland on several Saturdays. He knew how to speak Filipino, said Serzosa.

He said he learned of Al Shehi's alleged link in the hijacking when a former colleague, chambermaid Victoria Brocoy, asked him if he remembered seeing Mohammad Atta at the resort. "I am not sure about Atta but I am sure about Al Shehi," he said.

Atta registered under his own name, at the resort in December 1999. He even gave a $1 (P50) tip, said former security guard Ferdinand Abad.

"He was the smallest among the Arab guests. He stood about five feet, six inches and his left eye was smaller than the right. He gave me a P50 tip after he asked what time the Aeroclub vehicle usually picks up flyers staying at Woodlands," Abad said in the report.

Brocoy said she was assigned to clean up Atta's room during his stay at the resort in April 1999, adding he was among other men who took flying lessons at the Aeroclub in Barangay Talimundok in Magalang town.

Atta was picked up at least five times by Aeroclub vehicle. One time, the resort vehicle was used to bring him to the Aeroclub's flying school, said Abad.

Aeroclub is an exclusive club of ultra-light craft flyers which allows guests to take "trial introductory flights" after a payment of a $45 (P2,350) fee.