Bandar al-Hazmi, a Saudi piloting student, played a background role in the resulting investigations stemming from the September 11 attacks.[1]
Alleged pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 Hani Hanjour lived with Bandar in Phoenix, Arizona for several months starting in late November 1997, allegedly after the two met while studying English at the same school in Florida. The story was corroborated by Rayed Abdullah, a high school friend and fellow pilot who also fell under brief suspicion.
In January 1998, the two of them both took flying lessons at Arizona Aviation, where Hanjour eventually earned his commercial pilot rating.
After moving out of Bandar's place, Hanjour lived in several apartments in Tempe, Mesa and Phoenix. Bandar continued his intermittent flight training, taking frequent trips back to Saudi Arabia - finally returning for good in January 2000.
On January 15, 2002, a formal FBI investigation was brought against Bandar, as agents looked for a familial relation between Bandar and the brothers Nawaf and Salem al-Hazmi.