WASHINGTON, Dec 23: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation was repeatedly warned about a month prior to the Sept 11 attacks that a fuel-laden airplane could be used as a bomb, the New York Times said on Saturday.

A flight instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota had repeatedly contacted his local FBI bureau to alert them to the suspicious behavior of Moroccan-born Frenchman Zacarias Moussaoui, who wished to learn to fly a Boeing 747 despite his visible lack of pilot training.

Minnesota Representative James Oberstar told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the warnings from the instructor were very clear.

“He told them, ‘Do you realize that a 747 loaded with fuel can be used as a bomb?’” said the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, who qualified the instructor as a “hero.”

Moussaoui was identified to authorities on Aug 13 and arrested three days later on immigration violations for remaining in the United States on an expired visa.

Despite the instructor’s entreaties and intelligence forwarded by France about Moussaoui’s affiliation with the Al-Qaeda, the FBI did not pursue an in-depth investigation, the daily reported. It was not until Sept 12 that they realized the enormity of their error.—AFP