Rod “MAC” McAlear, Major USAF (Retired) flew in the Air Force and as commercial airline pilot for over 23 years. One week in March 2001, while working at a Flight School in Phoenix, AZ, he taught a ground school with a student named Hani Hanjour, the hijacker ultimately responsible for flying a plane into the Pentagon.
During the course of the ground school, he and the school reported the suspicious individual to the FAA, as mentioned on page 521 of the 9/11 Commission Report. He has never spoken publicly about his experience until now.
CAMP NEWSLETTER HERE: https://linktw.in/lcFrfQ
THANK YOU!
Morgan & Morgan, Prizepicks, Bashmouth and Bluechew
for making this show possible and paying these editors and stuff haha
Intro: Chifftie
Edited and produced: Christos Papastefanou
00:00 Intro
1:15 Mac's flying history + flight sims
5:07 Typical students at the time + advanced sims today
9:01 First day training the Hijacker + ground school
16:12 Hijacker wasn't good enough for ground school
19:45 Commercial license
22:22 How advanced was his training?
23:40 Reached out to FAA with suspicions
27:56 9/11 + scheduled to fly to NY
33:33 Hijackers' names release + Where did they take off from?
38:48 Government reaching out + law change
43:20 Anyone else report? Named in the Commission + pre-plans
49:00 Feeling any guilt? Could FAA done more?
52:56 Mac continued teaching + Checks & balances now
57:07 Other connections to hijackers + Pentagon
1:04:51 Pre & post 9/11
1:10:18 Theories surrounding 9/11 + other attempts
1:14:02 Being comfortable talking about it + making peace
1:17:47 Mac's career + scariest thing that happened
1:24:10 Planes landing themselves + unruly passengers
1:30:09 High profile passengers + medical emergencies
1:34:55 How do you make up time?
1:36:36 Worst airports? Annoying co-pilots + Yappers
1:41:17 Are pilots out here cheating? Drinkers too
1:45:01 Female pilots are GOOD
1:46:50 Sky King
1:49:25 Boeing + crazy plane stories