Raleigh, North Carolina | Friday
THE name of an ex-South African Airways pilot has been found on a document in a cave in Afghanistan.
Isaiah Nombo, a Tanzanian, has been detained on immigration charges in the US after his name was found on a document in the cave.
He also appears to be the same man who had worked as a South African Airways pilot but left before being sentenced in March 2001 on charges related to buying papers to pass a pilot’s exam.
Federal Aviation Administration representative Les Dorr said Nombo had a Tanzanian airman’s certificate that qualified him to fly commercial aircraft. He did not say when it was granted or whether Nombo had worked as a professional pilot.
Nombo was arrested by federal agents on Monday, along with two other people. Perry declined to describe the others but said all three were being held on visa violations.
Two US officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Nombo was found with a counterfeit work permit and Social Security card.
US officials said on Thursday there was no evidence to suggest Issaya Nombo (44) was involved in terrorist activity.
“It is premature, grossly so, to say he’s connected with 9-11,” said Frank Perry, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Raleigh office. “There is no information whatsoever to link him with terrorism.”
During interviews with federal agents, Nombo said he was Roman Catholic, suggesting an unlikely alignment with Muslim extremists, Perry said.
The document found in Afghanistan had appeared on the Web site of Voyager Aviation in Titusville, Florida, which includes a congratulatory note to Nombo and two other students for completing their training.
Perry said it’s possible someone in Afghanistan copied Nombo’s name from the Web site without knowing him personally. Voyager Aviation’s Web site had been taken down on Thursday.
US and allied soldiers found the document while combing caves abandoned after battles with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. Other names found in the same place were being checked, Perry said. Other details of Nombo’s case also attracted interest and led to an urgent FBI order to find and question him, Perry said.
Nombo said he was from Dar es Salaam, where the US Embassy was bombed in 1998, an attack blamed on al-Qaida and suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Several hijackers in the September 11 attacks also had taken flight lessons in Florida.
Nombo’s visa, issued for students attending technical schools, required that he leave the United States by August 23, 2001.
Immigration officials believe he left Florida after his flight training and moved to North Carolina.
Perry said on Thursday that Nombo was in custody.
In 2001, Nombo was convicted in South Africa of fraud for having twice bought exam papers in order to pass his international pilot’s licence test.
The Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court found that Nombo had bought the exam papers from a former transport ministry official for R7 000 in 1997.
The official, Brandon Harris, told the court he had ensured that the same set of papers were given to Nombo when he wrote the examinations.
When Nombo failed one paper, Harris sold another to him for a further R500, which he passed. In his evidence, Nombo denied that any such transactions ever happened.
Nombo began working for the airline in February 2000 but was suspended within months when it emerged that several pilots and aviation officials, including the head of the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, were suspected of licence fraud.
SAA representative Madeleine Rocher said at the time that the airline “would immediately move to dismiss” Nombo.
She said Nombo co-piloted international flights, but as an assistant pilot he was never allowed to perform landings or take-offs.
Gary Evans, owner of Voyager Aviation in the US, said Nombo earned a license at Voyager that qualified him to fly propeller-driven passenger planes that carry 10 to 15 people.
Nombo finished his training there in June 2001, but contacted the school late that summer, requesting help in extending his student visa, Evans said. He said the request was turned down since Nombo had moved to North Carolina.
Dorr said Nombo was able to receive a US airman’s certificate automatically because Tanzania is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization. But he still had to take a written test from an FAA-approved examiner to qualify for his US airline transport pilot and multiengine land ratings, which he did at Voyager, Dorr said.
Nombo passed the written test in May 2001, and FAA gave him a temporary airman’s certificate in June, Dorr said.
“Our records indicated Nombo had accumulated considerable flight experience as a commercial pilot flying various large aircraft in Africa,” Evans said.