Could the hijackers fly those planes?

The Commission does not hide Hanjour’s weaknesses. In late 2000 an instructor at his old Arizona school advised him to quit multi-engine training because his English was not good enough. In early 2001 an instructor on a Boeing 737 simulator found his work “well below standard” and discouraged him; he completed the course anyway. [1] An FBI memo quoted another instructor calling him “a terrible pilot.” [2]

In the summer of 2001 he flew the Hudson Corridor, a low-altitude route past the World Trade Center, at a New Jersey school, but the instructor declined a second request. [3]

Flight 77 was taken over at cruising altitude, with the autopilot available. The final approach, as recorded, was a wide descending turn followed by a full-power dive. The plane hit the ground floor nearly level at about 460 knots. [1][2]

Skeptics, including pilots in the Pilots for 9/11 Truth group, say an amateur could not have held a 757 that low at that speed. Others point out that no landing was attempted, the Pentagon’s west face alone is hundreds of feet long, and the plane was recorded clipping light poles on the way in. The Commission treats the pilots’ training, including simulator time on large jets, as enough for what they did. [3]