Wail al-Shehri | |
|---|---|
وائل الشهري | |
 Al-Shehri in May 2001 | |
| Born | Wail Mohammed al-Shehri July 31, 1973 Aseer, Saudi Arabia |
| Died | September 11, 2001 (aged 28) North Tower, New York City, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide by plane crash (September 11 attacks) |
| Nationality | Saudi |
| Relatives | Waleed al-Shehri (brother) |
Wail Mohammed al-Shehri (Arabic: وائل الشهري, romanized: Wāīl ash-Shehrī; or Alshehri; July 31, 1973 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi school teacher and terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks.
Wail al-Shehri was an elementary school teacher from Khamis Mushait in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia. In early 2000, he traveled to Medina to seek treatment for mental problems. He and his younger brother Waleed traveled to Afghanistan in March 2000 and joined an Al-Qaeda training camp. The brothers were chosen, along with others from the same region of Saudi Arabia, to participate in the September 11 attacks. Once selected, al-Shehri returned to Saudi Arabia in October 2000 to obtain a clean passport, then returned to Afghanistan. In March 2001, he recorded his last will and testament on video.
Al-Shehri arrived in the United States in early June 2001, staying in budget motels in the Boynton Beach area of south Florida. On September 5, 2001, al-Shehri traveled to Boston and checked into a motel with his brother. Six days later, al-Shehri arrived early in the morning at Boston's Logan International Airport and boarded American Airlines Flight 11. Fifteen minutes after takeoff, al-Shehri, along with his brother and three others, hijacked the airliner. They deliberately crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.
In the aftermath of the attacks, some news reports mistakenly reported that al-Shehri was the son of a Saudi diplomat and was still alive and well. The al-Shehri family in Khamis Mushait spoke to the media, denying those early reports, saying that the al-Shehri brothers had disappeared and have not been heard from since.