mike tuohey is the very first. >> i looked at the tickets. oh, first class tickets. you don't see $2100 tickets anymore. and these are real tickets. they were paper tickets. i'm saying oh, good thing. i can check them in. >> the names of the the tickets. the ring leader of the operation. >> i think they were less than 30 minutes prior to their flight. >> reporter: 500 miles away and 1:46 later, vaughn alex was at an american airlines ticket counter at dulles airport where he had worked for 20 years. >> they came in through the doors behind us, walked back and forth a little bit and i had them come right up to my position. vaughn alex is footnote number 12. >> we just finished the morning check in. the counter was clear and i saw these two gentlemen come in. you look back on it and you hate to use words, but it was comical. they came in and they kind of went one way, they looked at our counter, they went the other way. and i turned around to my trainees and i just said flight 77, watch, you know, it's going to be the last two. >> the passengers? two of that flight's f