Ticket Agent Who checked in 9/11 Hijackers Says He Should Have Trusted His Gut
The 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks is bringing renewed attention to people whose ordinary workday briefly intersected with a defining event in U.S. history. In Maine, retired airline customer service agent Michael Tuohey said he still remembers checking in Mohammad Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari at Portland International Jetport on the morning of September 11, 2001. Tuohey said that, even though he followed airline rules at the time, he has long felt he should have trusted his gut.
A routine check-in that became part of history
Michael Tuohey was working as an airline customer service agent at Portland International Jetport in Maine when Atta and al Omari arrived about 30 minutes before their flight on September 11, 2001. Tuohey said he scanned their paper tickets to see whether they had been recently purchased or paid for in cash, which were warning signs even under pre-9/11 screening standards. He said the tickets had been bought weeks earlier, paid for with credit cards, and were for first class.
Tuohey said the men “never reached that next level” because nothing in the transaction triggered additional review under the rules then in place. He said, “I followed all the guidelines; I did my job.” The two men continued their trip from Maine and later boarded American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
That attack was part of the four coordinated hijackings on September 11, 2001, that killed about 3,000 people. Another plane hit the South Tower, a third struck the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in Pennsylvania.
What this means in Maine, where the trip began
For Maine, Tuohey’s account remains closely tied to Portland International Jetport, where the travel day for two hijackers began. What is confirmed is that Atta and al Omari checked in there before continuing on the route that connected to Flight 11. What is not in dispute is the airport’s place in the timeline of that morning.
What is not known from Tuohey’s account is whether any action at the Portland counter would have changed the outcome that day. Tuohey himself said, “It wasn’t that I was right. It’s just that it could have changed something. Not that it would have, but it could have. Who knows?” His comments stay focused on that moment in Portland rather than on any broader, unverified scenario.
The local connection also shows how a major national event passed through a small New England airport. Tuohey, now 80 and retired in Maine, said the memory of that brief check-in has stayed with him for decades.
The lasting aftermath for one worker and the country
Tuohey said that after September 11 he remained on the job for three more years before retiring after a send-off from US Airways. He later said the memories began to affect his daily life. He described seeing Atta in passing cars near his Maine home and said he would sometimes run inside when a vehicle turned onto his street.
He also said his wife noticed other changes, including times when he sat parked in his driveway or stayed in the shower without realizing how much time had passed. Tuohey said he eventually sought help and was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder. He underwent about six months of therapy, during which he repeatedly revisited the events of September 11.
He said the treatment helped stop the recurring visions and made him feel “normal” again, even though it could not change what happened in 2001. His story also sits within the larger national aftermath of the attacks, which led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and major changes to airport security and U.S. national security policy.
