Probe Revisits Saudis' `Phantom Flight'

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGAT0LWU9SD.html

Mar 26, 2004

Probe Revisits Saudis' `Phantom Flight'
By KATHY STEELE and WILLIAM MARCH
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Testimony from the former Bush administration counterterrorism czar and a new book have a 2-year-old story from The Tampa Tribune back in the news - secret flights of Saudi nationals out of the country in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
After Richard Clarke's statements Wednesday to the 9/11 Commission that such flights happened, the FBI confirmed some flights. The agency still denied that a private Lear jet flew three young Saudis from Tampa to Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 13 for a rendezvous with relatives ready to whisk them out of the country.

The flights happened at a time when private air travel was banned by the federal government. Commercial flights were slowly resuming.

In October 2001, spokesman Christopher White of the FAA's southern regional headquarters in Atlanta told the Tribune the flight was ``not in our logs. ... It didn't occur.''

<cut>


But private detective Dan Grossi, who was hired by Tampa police as one of two armed bodyguards, said Thursday that he stands by the story he recounted for an Oct. 5, 2001, story in The Tampa Tribune.

``The truth will really speak for itself here,'' he said. ``I talked about this thing two years ago, and the facts haven't changed. If they want to believe it, they will. If they don't believe it, that's fine, too.''

<cut>

Grossi said he was told the White House authorized the flight after Prince Sultan's family pulled a favor from former President Bush.

..more at Tampa Tribune.


What was special about this one flight that nobody wants to talk about...

[BabsSong]

1. I can't understand this story---because I saw it with my own eyes

There has been a lot about the 'secret flying of bin Laden" family out of US. BUT BUT, honest to god, the media covered it when it happened, complete with pictures. I remember it vividly. They spoke about how some where on various college campuses and ran pictures of colleges along with the story; and then there was the shot through a chain link fence at an airport of people boarding a private jet....one guy had on sunglasses, carrying a brief case and kind of looked Dodi Fiahad (sp.?) like. Then about a year later all of a sudden this story was suppose to be some secret thing just being dug up. It was on national news by the day (12th - 13th whatever) that they rounded them up and flew them out.

[enough]

2. Maybe this will get some legs this time around.

snip>

Judicial Watch, a Washington-based legal watchdog organization, on Thursday released the results of a Freedom of Information request to the United States departments of State, Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, and FAA seeking any documents about the Saudis' departure.

The only information released was by the Customs and Border Protection service of the Department of Homeland Security. It listed 160 Saudis who left the country from Sept. 11 to 15 from more than 20 airports.

It didn't name the passengers.

``You want to make sure the government has all the bases covered. But when it came down to the worst single attack in American history, it allows their nationals to flee the country, including members of the family of the main suspect,'' said Thomas Fitton, Judicial Watch president. ``We still don't know how this happened, who requested it, who considered it, how the decision was made.''

snip>

[gWbush is Mabus]

3. 160!!!!!!!!!! holy shit

i thought it was more like 1 small plane of 6-8.

damn

[bluedog]

4. heres the article .now archived ,,,,

http://web.archive.org/web/20011108145853/http://www.tampatrib.com/MGA3F78EFSC.html


I brought this up in 2001.because my son worked across the road from Raytheon airport.he knew all flights were grounded and noticed that this plane took off...

[Florida_Geek]

5. thanks bluedog

that is a good article that nobody paid any mind to.