One Test Short of a Pilot’s License — and a Catastrophe in a Major U.S. City

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was in the heart of Atlanta, taking a class at Georgia State University. I'd parked next door at the Georgia State Capitol building, and I remember rushing to my car through a sea of men in uniform, carrying guns, and looking to the skies, wondering if the next plane would hit one of the buildings around me before I could get on the interstate and drive home to my family.

Thankfully, that never happened back then, but if Cholo Abdi Abdullah had gotten his way, it could have at some point.

Born in Kenya in 1990, Abdullah joined Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen — often shortened to just al-Shabaab, which means "the youth" in Arabic — in 2015, a Somalia-based Islamist terrorist organization and official al-Qaeda affiliate. The group is highly focused on spreading the harshest interpretations of Sharia Law and eradicating Western values.  

In 2008, the U.S State Department designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It claimed responsibility for the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, as well as the 2020 attack on Camp Simba, a U.S.-Kenyan military base. Members recruit and radicalize people in Africa with the larger goal of planning major attacks on United States soil. 

So, back to Abdullah. The 34-year-old joined this terrorist organization a decade ago, and according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), "He agreed to join al-Shabaab's international scheme to execute a mass-casualty terrorist attack, which would involve Abdullah training to become an airline pilot so that he could hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a building in the U.S."  

But he didn't just talk the talk. In 2017, Abdullah moved to the Philippines and began training as a commercial pilot. After two years of training, he had one requirement left to get his license, but he was arrested "under the suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization following an investigation."  

Abdullah eventually confessed to the FBI that he was training to become a pilot so he could hijack a plane and commit an act of terrorism on U.S. soil. His internet searches included terms related to aviation, cockpit doors, air marshals, Delta flights, and the "tallest building in Atlanta." 

The DOJ determined that he was planning to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into that "tallest building in Atlanta," the 55-story Bank of America Plaza, which, up until August, was also the tallest building in any U.S. state capital. In 2020, Abdullah was extradited to the United States, and on Nov. 4, 2024, he finally stood trial. He represented himself, did not make an opening statement, and did not question witnesses. 

A judge found him guilty on six counts: 

• Conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison;
• Providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison;
• Conspiring to murder U.S. nationals abroad, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison;
• Conspiring to commit aircraft piracy, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison;
• Conspiring to destroy aircraft, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and
• Conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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On Monday, Abdullah was finally sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, as well as a lifetime of supervised release. In other words, he'll never see the light of day, but if for some strange reason he does, he'll never live a life of freedom. 

"Today, justice has been served," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said of the sentencing. "Abdullah, an al-Shabaab terrorist, sought to replicate the most horrific terrorist attack in our history, as he prepared to hijack a commercial airliner to take down a building on U.S. soil. We thwarted this plot due to the relentless efforts of U.S. law enforcement and thereby likely saved many innocent lives. His life sentence is a powerful reminder that those who plot attacks against the United States will be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law."

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