Photo credit: 9/11 Memorial staff
Accession Number: C.2014.431.1
Dimensions: 46 in X 90 in X 1/2 in
Dimensions (Metric): 116.84 cm X 228.6 cm X 2.54 cm
Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum
Description
Black rug with white printed text: "HUFFMAN AVIATION, INC. | VENICE FLYING SERVICE." In the middle of the rug is an image of an airplane in front of a checkered flag. The rug has a low pile meant for outdoors with a black plastic backing.
Historical Notes
In summer 2000, Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah arrived in the United States and enrolled in flight schools in Florida. They came from al-Qaeda’s Hamburg cell, a group of Middle Eastern university students living in Hamburg, Germany. There, the group became increasingly radical at an extremist mosque. They had been recruited by al-Qaeda while traveling in Afghanistan in search of military training. Osama bin Laden designated Atta as the lead hijacker.
Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi attended the Huffman Aviation International flight school in Venice, Florida. They were later implicated as the hijacker pilots of Flight 11 and Flight 175. This rug was at the double-glass door entrance to the Huffman school at the time they were in attendance.