Portland FBI kept tabs on Saudi’s plane Pilot wanted for questioning is not suspect in terror attacks

PORTLAND – A small plane flown to Portland International Jetport before the Sept. 11 attacks is owned by a Saudi pilot sought by the FBI’s terrorism investigation, and was placed under surveillance after the attacks, authorities said Thursday.

The single-engine Tampico TB-9 in Portland is one of two purchased in August in Tennessee by Khaled Alzeedi, owner of an aviation company based in Saudi Arabia. The FBI wants to question Alzeedi in connection with its terrorism investigation, but has said Alzeedi is not suspected of any connection to the Sept. 11 attacks.

A London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, reported Tuesday that it had interviewed Alzeedi by telephone from Morocco, and that Alzeedi expressed amazement at the investigation, saying he had already answered investigators’ questions.

According to the newspaper, Alzeedi said he left the plane in Portland for installation of extra fuel tanks, and that the Sept. 11 attacks disrupted his plan to return to pick up the plane. Alzeedi said he planned to bring both planes to Morocco, the newspaper reported.

Portland airport officials learned several days after the terrorist attacks that an airplane at the general aviation terminal was under FBI surveillance.

“We received information several days after Sept. 11 that the FBI was watching this airplane and if anyone called on the airplane or was seen accessing it, that the FBI was to be immediately notified,” Jeff Monroe, the city’s transportation director, said Thursday.

Security at the Portland International Jetport has been increased since Sept. 11, when two suspected terrorists took a flight to Boston and boarded American Airlines Flight 11, the first jet to crash into the World Trade Center.

The FBI and officials from the airport’s general aviation terminal did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration referred calls to the FBI.

Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood said the FBI never alerted his department about the plane, but he said his detectives later learned about it from the federal government.

“Once again, it’s a case of information not being shared,” said Chitwood, who has criticized the FBI in the past for its unwillingness to share details of its investigation with local police.

A stop in Maine wouldn’t be unusual for a pilot planning to cross the Atlantic, according to Rick Voorhis, president of Van Nuys Flight Center in California. The Northeast is also a common place to get an extra fuel tank before a trans-Atlantic trip, Voorhis said.