Pilot awarded $5 million for Sept. 11 tip

[GatorFC]

Flight instructor urged bosses to contact FBI about Moussaoui

Originally Posted by MSNBC

The Bush administration paid a $5 million reward to a former Minnesota flight instructor who provided authorities with information that led to the arrest and conviction of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

[athomeinthesky]

I saw that on the news tonight, good for him. I believe he was an ex-NWA pilot.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by athomeinthesky

I believe he was an ex-NWA pilot.

That is correct; the NWA training center (NATCO) includes the Pan Am school. NWA rents the sims out in the middle of the night.

[JEP]

there always has to be controversy. this was taken from a MSP paper about two others who made the calls and were earlier recognized:

Two other former employees of the Pan American International Flight Academy in Eagan who tipped the FBI that a terrorist might be in their midst were overlooked, however.

Both men, who were honored by a Senate resolution in 2005, reacted with disbelief at learning that they had been left out.

Tim Nelson, a former program manager at the school, said that if he or fellow flight manager Hugh Sims hadn't phoned the FBI on Aug. 15, 2001, "they don't have a case."

"Clancy [Prevost] didn't call. The fact is, the two of us called."

Prevost, 70, testified at Moussaoui's 2006 death penalty trial.

Prevost was handed a check during a ceremony attended by representatives of the FBI, State Department and Justice Department, said several government officials who declined to be identified.

Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2006 after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hijack planes and crash them into buildings. He later tried to withdraw the plea, but federal sentencing rules prohibited that.

Awards under the 23-year-old counterterrorism program are generally made in secret to protect the safety of those honored, and government officials declined to comment about Thursday's award. The program has paid more than $82 million to more than 50 people whose information helped to thwart attacks or led to the arrests and prosecutions of terrorists.

Dispute over credit

Questions about who deserves credit for helping federal agents arrest Moussaoui surfaced several years ago.

Prevost, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot who spent two days teaching Moussaoui, told a jury that the young French citizen of Moroccan descent was unlike any student he'd taught: He wanted to learn to fly a jumbo jet without ever soloing in a Cessna. Prevost said Moussaoui had paid the school $8,300, including $6,800 in hundred-dollar bills, and had behaved oddly.

Prevost said he asked Alan McHale, the school's training director, whether the school should seek an FBI background check on Moussaoui. Prevost didn't contact the FBI, but government officials said he took other actions that assisted the bureau, which they said they couldn't discuss.

But McHale, who said he was "totally stunned" by Thursday's award, said he has no recollection of Prevost urging him to call the FBI. However, he said, Nelson and Sims "were screaming to me" to do so.

Nelson and Sims said they phoned the bureau about an hour apart because they were convinced that the school wouldn't.

Reached in Minnesota, Nelson said he never had a reward in mind when he informed the FBI about Moussaoui, but is "shocked that the FBI or State Department would single out one person, given what was done."

"I'm dumbfounded ... speechless that calling the FBI and risking your job and putting your life out there ... and this is what the FBI does," Nelson said.

Nelson, 47, said that while he and Sims were racing to prevent Moussaoui from taking his first training session in a Boeing 747 flight simulator, Prevost let him watch a training session in one.

Sims, 68, a retired military pilot who lives in Fort Myers, Fla., said he's "surprised and flabbergasted that there was even money for doing what we should have done in the first place."

But, he said, "if monies are to be distributed, I would think at least three equal shares ... would be justified."

Prevost couldn't be reached for comment.

[athomeinthesky]

Even if he was not the guy that called the FBI he is still the guy that brought it to peoples attention that there was something up with that guy. Only for him nobody would have probably ever taken notice of this guy.

Whenever a large amount of money gets involved its hard to make out who is telling or stretching the truth so really I don't know. I think I still have a little fate in the FBI for them to figure out who deserves the money.

[trafficinsight]

Prevost didn't contact the FBI, but government officials said he took other actions that assisted the bureau, which they said they couldn't discuss.

So it seems like no one but he and the feds know what he did or didn't do.

Either way, good for him!

[Milesar]

There is money to be made instructing! See??

[tonyw]

Yeah, that tip sure did a lot of good, didn't it?

Why reward someone for something that did NOTHING?

If I sit on my ass with one thumb up my butt and one thumb in my mouth and play switch, can I apply for a reward from the federales, too?

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Originally Posted by tonyw

If I sit on my ass with one thumb up my butt and one thumb in my mouth and play switch, can I apply for a reward from the federales, too?

Only if you mix it up with a little "stranger" every now and then.

PS. If anyone doesn't know what "stranger" is, don't ask.

[Doug Taylor]

I thought it was "strange", no?

[HOTDOG]

Originally Posted by tonyw

Yeah, that tip sure did a lot of good, didn't it?

Why reward someone for something that did NOTHING?

If I sit on my ass with one thumb up my butt and one thumb in my mouth and play switch, can I apply for a reward from the federales, too?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[Schinpop]

$5 million is a ridiculous amount. Should be 5 figures, tops.

[PGT]

Originally Posted by Schinpop

$5 million is a ridiculous amount. Should be 5 figures, tops.

I agree but if you haven't noticed, the current administration acts like the country has an endless supply of money.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by PGT

I agree but if you haven't noticed, the current administration acts like the country has an endless supply of money.

"Aw shucks...we'll jest print some more, don'cha know?"

Reminds me of "Whadda ya mean, overdrawn?!? I can't be out of money, I still have checks left!"

[flyover]

Originally Posted by tonyw

Yeah, that tip sure did a lot of good, didn't it?

Why reward someone for something that did NOTHING?

If I sit on my ass with one thumb up my butt and one thumb in my mouth and play switch, can I apply for a reward from the federales, too?

I got to talk with one of the guys involved in this. It would take an incredibly stupid, irresponsible person to not report what was going on. And the guys that did report it did it at risk of their job. They deserve our thanks for doing the right thing.

And this reward thing was not an issue at all. I don't think any of them involved had any ideas about rewards.

[Velocipede]

Its just too bad that they had to risk their jobs to do what's right. And what a surprise that the school's management didn't want to get involved. They just wanted to get paid.

[SeanD]

This raises a question for me. So there was to be a 5th attack if this guy would have gone undetected seeing the pilots for the 4 successful attacks were already trained and in place?