The pilot who kicked roughly 50 Jewish children and teenagers visiting Spain off a flight from Valencia to Paris trained two of the 9/11 hijackers, including Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the plot that lead to the deaths of 3,000 Americans.

Vueling Airlines confirmed that Ivan Chirivella was the pilot who removed the Jewish teenagers from a Wednesday flight. The children, who were attending summer camp, were on their way to Paris.

“Many of the children were wearing tzitzit and Star of David symbols, and their singing is said to have been consistent with customs of Jewish youth groups,” Israel National News reported, adding, “Flight crew reportedly asked the children to stop singing. When they did not comply, local police were called. Officers instructed the group to place their cell phones on the ground to prevent the incident from being recorded.”

“Chirivella has previously made headlines after his realization that he taught Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi to fly at Jones Aviation prior to the attacks of 9/11.  A year before the World Trade Center attacks, Chirivella flew with the two future hijackers nearly every day for several months,” The Jewish Chronicle reported.

Actualización – Comunicado de Vueling en relación con el desembarque por comportamiento conflictivo en el vuelo VY8166 pic.twitter.com/ksAFHogFeW

— Vueling Airlines (@vueling) July 25, 2025

“Iván Chirivella, originally from the Canary Islands and a Vueling pilot since 2006, operated the flight,” the airline shared. “Throughout his 19-year career with the airline, he has accumulated more than 12,500 flight hours, covering routes connecting to more than 30 countries. In addition to his role as captain, Iván Chirivella—like many pilots—also works as an instructor for aviation professionals at an independent flight school,” the airline posted.

A group leader was reportedly thrown to the ground, handcuffed and taken into custody when she protested the way police had intervened. “She was later released after signing a non-disclosure agreement, according to witnesses,” Israel National News noted.

A mother of one of the children told i24NEWS that flight staff threatened him for singing in Hebrew. “If you continue, we will call the police,” she said the staff told him.

The airline issued a statement saying that a “group of teenagers displayed disruptive and confrontational behavior,” adding, “The cabin crew was alerted that the group of teenagers was tampering with passenger safety equipment, posing a high risk to the aircraft, passengers, and crew. These actions included attempts to grab life jackets, tamper with overhead oxygen masks, and remove the high-pressure oxygen cylinder—conduct that potentially poses a serious hazard in the cabin.”

“As with any other incident involving safety, the captain was forced to request the intervention of the Civil Guard. After assessing the situation, the Civil Guard proceeded to disembark the group to safeguard the safety of the remaining passengers,” the airline stated.

But testimony came from at least one of the children that the airline was not telling the truth.

Breaking: One of the French Jewish teenagers thrown off a plane in Spain testifies about what happened and what was said to cause such a reaction. pic.twitter.com/SfgUORxs6H

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 25, 2025

In addition, a passenger on the flight who was a religious Christian seated in the eighth row said the children behaved politely and there was no reason for concern.

🚨✈️ EXCLUSIVE TESTIMONY FROM A PASSENGER ON VUELING FLIGHT VY8166 🇪🇸

50 French Jewish teenagers, aged 15, were expelled from a @vueling flight… because one of them simply said the word “Limot” (meaning “the days” in Hebrew), attempting (unsuccessfully) to start a summer camp… pic.twitter.com/cFCpI6wODk

— SwordOfSalomon (@SwordOfSalomon) July 24, 2025

President Donald Trump called Hulk Hogan a “great friend” on Friday after the professional wrestling legend’s passing a day earlier, adding that the six-time WWE champion was “angry at himself” for not getting political sooner.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Gene Bollea, died Thursday in his Clearwater, Florida, home surrounded by his family after suffering a cardiac arrest earlier that morning. He was 71.

“He was a great guy. He was an unbelievable showman. I’ll tell you what he really was. He was a physical specimen,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday. “I’ve watched him lift 350-pound men over his head and throw them out of the ring.”

Hogan was a WWE Hall of Famer who became a pop culture icon in the 1980s with the growth of cable television. As the face of Hulkamania, he emerged as the most recognizable wrestling star in the world.

“He was the real deal. He was MAGA all the way,” Trump said. “He said, ‘I’ve always loved you.’ You know, we’ve always been friends, but he wasn’t a political guy, and in the last three years I’d say, he became really political.”

“He said, ‘I’m so angry at myself for not doing it earlier.’ He was happy,” Trump said.

Hogan gave a rip-roaring speech in support of Trump at the Republican National Convention in July last year, which began just two days after Trump was shot in the ear in an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally.

“When they took a shot at my hero, and they tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough, and I said, let Trumpamania run wild, brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” Hogan shouted as he ripped off his shirt to reveal a Trump campaign shirt underneath.

HULK HOGAN GOES FULL WWE AT THE RNC

TEARS HIS SHIRT OFF, CROWD ERUPTS IN USA CHANTS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ymwRvd5I7B

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) July 19, 2024

Trump also said Hogan had long suffered from various health issues before his death due to his career in the wrestling industry.

“You know, he took a beating. When you look at the life that they lived, he would wrestle sometimes 200 times a year. Think of that. I say, what, do you wrestle every weekend, no, he said, sometimes you wrestle every night, and it’s hard to believe,” the president said.

“Being a friend, I got to see his wife a little bit, and his knees were in trouble, his back was in trouble. He was in such trouble, but he was great,” Trump said.

Hogan had undergone neck surgery in May. Before that, he had gone through several other back surgeries that did not completely resolve his problems.

“He was a great man, he was an incredible showman, and he was really a great friend, and he was a great friend to MAGA,” the president said.