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 As strange as it sounds, Michael Guess, the co-pilot on Wellstone's fateful flight to Eveleth MN, had previously had a strange encounter with the accused "20th Hijacker" Zacharias Moussaoui:
A SENATOR'S DEATH ; Co-pilot played minor role in story of Moussaoui Greg Gordon, Mike Kaszuba, Staff Writers. Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.: Oct26, 2002. pg. 20.A
  "The co-pilot who died in Friday's plane crash with Sen. Paul Wellstone played a minor role in the story involving Zacarias Moussaoui, the accused Sept. 11 conspirator who briefly attended an Eagan flight school. Co-pilot Michael Guess, 30, had performed administrative work at the Pan Am International Flight Academy last year as he continued accumulating flying hours. There he met Moussaoui, the school's most infamous student. Two former Pan Am program managers who tipped the FBI to Moussaoui's suspicious behavior at the school in August 2001 said Guess inadvertently gave Moussaoui unattended access to a computer program on flying a 747 jumbo jet. One of the ex-managers said Guess placed a CD-ROM containing the 747 software at a work station in advance of one of Moussaoui's training sessions, before his flight instructor arrived. After Moussaoui was arrested and the FBI searched his belongings, they found the proprietary program copied on his laptop computer, the ex- manager said. Guess, a graduate of the University of North Dakota, was a victim of layoffs several weeks ago at the flight academy, where he had hoped to become a flight instructor. At Executive Aviation in Eden Prairie, where Guess had been employed as a pilot since June 2001, a spokesman said colleagues remembered Guess telling them he had played a more significant role regarding the suspicions concerning Moussaoui. Dave Mona, a spokesman for Executive Aviation, said Guess' colleagues had said Guess had described himself as "at least a role player" in the detection of Moussaoui. Mona said Guess had told his colleagues that "he and the receptionist. . . thought what [Moussaoui] was requesting was unusual" and had raised the issue with others."
Wellstone's co-pilot has family in area
CAROL KNAPP. South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Ind.: Oct 29, 2002. pg. 1
"A co-pilot of the plane that crashed, who died along with U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone on Friday, had ties to southwest Michigan. Michael Jenkins Guess, 30, the son of Dufferian Jenkins Contreras, of St. Joseph, was among eight people on board the twin- engine plane that went down in a swampy forest about 135 miles north of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Wellstone's wife and daughter, three staff members and another pilot also died. The plane, a Beechcraft King Air A 100, was licensed to Executive Aviation, of Eden Prairie, Minn., where Guess had been employed as a pilot since June 2001. The accident that took Guess's life marked his second involvement in a major news story. Colleagues recalled him saying that he was "at least a role player" in the detection of Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of aiding in the Sept. 11 terrorist plot. Executive Aviation spokesman Dave Mona said Guess told co-workers he became suspicious of Moussaoui when the two came in contact at the Pan Am International Flight Academy near Minneapolis in August 2001, and he raised the issue with others. Guess was performing administrative work at the academy while accumulating additional flying hours. It's unknown if Guess or senior pilot Richard Conry had misgivings about Friday's flight. There was no cockpit voice recorder on the plane, which sources say was engulfed in poor weather throughout the trip from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Authorities close to the crash investigation said the two pilots were advised several times during the flight of "adverse icing conditions." A statement released by Executive Aviation Friday afternoon said, "Our family is deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of two of our pilots, Captain Richard Conry and Co-pilot Michael Guess. Both were very dear to us and will be greatly missed. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families and friends." The statement went on to say that Wellstone, a prominent liberal Democrat seeking re-election in November, had flown in the same aircraft with the same pilots a number of times and that both pilots had extensive service in all weather conditions. Guess's mother, who talked to him a day or two before the accident, was still reeling from news of the tragedy Monday morning. "The only thing I want to say is, he called me and told me, 'I love you, Mom. No matter what.' Those were the last words he ever spoke to me," his mother said. Guess graduated from Cretin-Derham Hall High School, a private Catholic school, in St. Paul, in 1991. A classmate, Israel Moses, remembered him as smart and outgoing, although somewhat reserved among strangers. "Mike was the type of person who was always ready to lend a hand, whether you needed a ride to school or help with your homework," Moses said. "He always wanted to be a pilot, and he was so excited about being accepted into flight school (at the University of North Dakota). I went to a rival school, North Dakota State, about 45 miles down the road, and we'd tease each other about that. He would come up to watch me play football, though. He was real supportive, a great friend." Guess, who had logged 650 hours as a certified commercial pilot, was a graduate of the University of North Dakota aeronautics program. He lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and was about to be married. National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they had few hard clues about the cause of the crash."
Sources:
[1] A SENATOR'S DEATH ; Co-pilot played minor role in story of Moussaoui Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.: Oct26, 2002. pg. 20.A
[2] Wellstone's co-pilot has family in area CAROL KNAPP. South Bend Tribune South Bend, Ind.: Oct 29, 2002. pg. 1
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