Intelligence reports presented to President Bill Clinton in December 1998, specifically in the President's Daily Brief (PDB), detailed concerns that Osama bin Laden and his allies were preparing for attacks in the United States. These reports, later declassified, highlighted a suspected plot involving aircraft hijackings. The primary goal of these hijackings was to force the release of imprisoned individuals such as Shaykh 'Umar 'Abd al-Rahman, Ramzi Yousef, and Muhammad Sadiq 'Awda, who were linked to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The intelligence, gleaned from various sources by the CIA, indicated collaboration between al-Qaeda and the Egyptian group Gama'at al-Islamiyya (IG) on the hijacking plot. One report quoted a senior IG member stating that planning for a US operation on behalf of Bin Ladin was complete by late October 1998, though it was on hold. A senior Bin Ladin operative was expected to meet IG counterparts in the US to discuss options, potentially including an aircraft hijacking. The PDB also noted that some members of Bin Ladin's network had received hijack training, although no al-Qaeda-affiliated group had previously executed an aircraft hijacking. Alternative attack methods, such as using SA-7 missiles to target US aircraft, were also mentioned as a possibility.
The reports spurred immediate action, with US counter-terrorism officials placing New York airports on high security and sharing relevant intelligence with the NYPD, FAA, FBI, and airlines. A source later suggested the hijacking plan was stalled due to the arrest of two operatives near New York or Washington, though this could not be independently verified. The airport alert eventually concluded on January 31, 1999, but the intelligence underscored that the intelligence community and White House were aware of al-Qaeda's interest in hijacking US airliners well before the September 11, 2001 attacks.
