Mid-air cigarette break sparks terrorism scare
Source: Agencies |
April 9, 2010, Friday
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QATAR'S ambassador to the United States defended an envoy who authorities say grabbed a surreptitious smoke in a jetliner's bathroom, sparking a bomb scare and widespread alert.
Jets were sent to intercept the Denver-bound flight, but no explosives were found and authorities speaking on condition of anonymity said they don't think he was trying to hurt anyone during Wednesday's scare and he will not be criminally charged.
Qatar's US ambassador, Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri, cautioned against a rush to judgment.
"This diplomat was traveling to Denver on official embassy business on my instructions, and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity," he said. "The facts will reveal that this was a mistake."
A law firm representing the Qatar embassy says the diplomat who prompted an airplane bomb scare has been released by authorities after questioning. The law firm, Brown Lloyd James, said yesterday the diplomat, embassy third secretary Mohammed Al-Madadi, was on his way back to Washington.
Wednesday's scare came three months after the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day when a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner. Since then, law enforcement, flight crews and passengers have been on high alert for suspicious activity on airplanes. The scare exposed major holes in the country's national security and prompted immediate changes in terror-screening policies.
Two law enforcement officials said investigators were told the man was asked about the smell of smoke in the bathroom and he made a joke that he had been trying to light his shoes - an apparent reference to 2001 "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
Officials said air marshals aboard the flight restrained the man and he was questioned. The plane landed safely as military jets were scrambled.
The envoy was interviewed for several hours by investigators, but authorities declined to provide any details about him or his status.
The Boeing 757 was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members, United Airlines spokesman Michael Trevino said. The flight crew radioed air traffic control to ask that the flight be met on the ground by law enforcement, Trevino said.
Dave Klaversma, 55, of Parker, Colorado, said his wife, Laura, was sitting behind the man in the first-class section of the plane. She said she saw him go into the bathroom and that moments later he said something to the flight crew.
After that, two US marshals apprehended the man and sat next to him for the remainder of the flight. Klaversma said his wife told him it all happened very quietly and that "there was no hysteria, no struggle, nothing."
(AP)
Jets were sent to intercept the Denver-bound flight, but no explosives were found and authorities speaking on condition of anonymity said they don't think he was trying to hurt anyone during Wednesday's scare and he will not be criminally charged.
Qatar's US ambassador, Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri, cautioned against a rush to judgment.
"This diplomat was traveling to Denver on official embassy business on my instructions, and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity," he said. "The facts will reveal that this was a mistake."
A law firm representing the Qatar embassy says the diplomat who prompted an airplane bomb scare has been released by authorities after questioning. The law firm, Brown Lloyd James, said yesterday the diplomat, embassy third secretary Mohammed Al-Madadi, was on his way back to Washington.
Wednesday's scare came three months after the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day when a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner. Since then, law enforcement, flight crews and passengers have been on high alert for suspicious activity on airplanes. The scare exposed major holes in the country's national security and prompted immediate changes in terror-screening policies.
Two law enforcement officials said investigators were told the man was asked about the smell of smoke in the bathroom and he made a joke that he had been trying to light his shoes - an apparent reference to 2001 "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
Officials said air marshals aboard the flight restrained the man and he was questioned. The plane landed safely as military jets were scrambled.
The envoy was interviewed for several hours by investigators, but authorities declined to provide any details about him or his status.
The Boeing 757 was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members, United Airlines spokesman Michael Trevino said. The flight crew radioed air traffic control to ask that the flight be met on the ground by law enforcement, Trevino said.
Dave Klaversma, 55, of Parker, Colorado, said his wife, Laura, was sitting behind the man in the first-class section of the plane. She said she saw him go into the bathroom and that moments later he said something to the flight crew.
After that, two US marshals apprehended the man and sat next to him for the remainder of the flight. Klaversma said his wife told him it all happened very quietly and that "there was no hysteria, no struggle, nothing."
(AP)
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