“You have to learn in this first,” Garza stressed, pointing to the small Cessna 172. Then they pointed to a larger plane - a King Air - then a jet. Without missing a beat, they pointed to a twin-engine plane parked nearby, and asked if they could learn to fly it. Garza explained they were going to have trouble expressing themselves if they continued training. When asked to explain back to him what they’d read, they gave what had become their standard response: “Yes, very good, very good.” ”He wouldn’t give me an answer, just kind of shook his head,” Garza remembered.Īt one point, Garza pulled out the regulation book and asked them to read one of the requirements to becoming a pilot: to read, write and understand English. On their introductory flight, as they neared landing, al-Midhar began praying aloud in the back seat, not stopping until they’d touched down.Īfterward, Garza approached Alhazmi and asked: “‘I’m a spiritual person myself. “Did you read chapters one through three? How far did you get?” Garza asked. They couldn’t repeat back, much less remember, the French word for the rear components of an airplane. ![]() It was apparent by that next meeting that they hadn’t. He seemed like an honest man.”Īt their first lesson, Garza told the men to read the first three chapters of their flight textbook before their next meeting. That’s the one I had more interaction with. “Nawaf (Alhazmi) actually seemed interested, seemed like a very nice gentleman. “He was very quiet, he had those wandering eyes, always looking around,” Garza said.Īlhazmi understood English better and ended up doing most of the talking. To Garza, Al-Midhar looked a bit sinister with what appeared to be a knife scar across one cheek. However, it was clear early on that these guys would be a challenge.Īn instructor at another local flight school had already turned down one of the men after a lesson because of his poor English. He was also used to navigating language barriers. He was used to teaching would-be pilots from all over - Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Germany - who came to the United States because the cost of instruction was more affordable. These weren’t Garza’s first foreign students. The Saudi men had the funds to pay and the desire to learn, and Sorbi’s Flying Club told them to come on over. The flight instruction of al-Midhar and Alhazmi was set into motion with a phone call from the Middle East. In May 2000, he’d take on his most infamous clients. “I loved aviation and I loved teaching people. In his early 40s by then, Garza quickly became a popular instructor at Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa. He’s got 24 jumps under his belt.) When the company closed about three years later, he decided to teach flying full time. He flew on weekends and days off for Parachutes Over San Diego, dropping jumpers out of a modified Cessna 182. He said the ink was practically still wet on his commercial pilot’s license when he applied at the skydiving place from his boyhood. It wasn’t until his 30s, after working several years in Navy shipyards, that Garza decided to pursue his passion. “I knew that was something I wanted to get involved with at an early age,” he said. They came home after dark, exhausted, dehydrated and in trouble with his mom. He read up on the sport and, in a burst of childhood enthusiasm, goaded his friend into riding their bikes some 20 miles to get a closer look. “I found out they were skydivers,” he remembered. ‘I loved aviation’Īs a boy, Garza would climb to the roof of his parents’ Bonita home and stare through binoculars at “these little dots dropping out of the sky.” But the bad dreams have since faded, and his flying career is far from over. The attacks derailed Garza’s shot at becoming an airline pilot, and haunted him with nightmares. Life as we know it changed for all Americans after that, some more than others. All 64 people aboard the aircraft, including the hijackers, were killed, as well as 125 victims on the ground. ![]() Neither of his former students was ultimately able to obtain a pilot’s license and both ended up as two of the four muscle men aboard American Airlines Flight 77, threatening the crew and passengers with box cutters and knives, while another terrorist, Hani Hanjour, flew the Boeing into the Pentagon. “I remember just being on my hands and knees and thanking (God) for helping me make that right decision,” Garza said. Instead, Garza credits his connection to the attackers - and his conviction to flunk both of them out of flight training - to divine intervention. ![]() ![]() “I remember right after 9/11, my biggest fear was my name was going to be in every history book, and there’s going to be something negative associated with it,” Garza, 56, recalled.
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