Posted on 04/22/2006 3:38:50 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
April 22, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - A passenger who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport. Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base scrambled to escort the plane.
The A-320 Airbus heading to Sacramento, Calif., from Chicago flew into Denver Friday. The F-16s followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen.
Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega tried to open an door on the Airbus A-320 en route from Chicago to Sacramento, Calif., and then claimed to have a bomb forcing the emergency landing in Denver.
The guy was arrested after the plane landed around 16.30h.
Fellow passengers on the plane subdued the man and three Secret Service agents on board heading between assignments helped detain him.
After the airliner landed, it taxied to a remote part of the airport where the passengers got off and were taken to the terminal.
None of the 138 passengers or six crew members was injured.
Authorities searched the aircraft for explosives and re-screened luggage and passengers before they reboarded the plane, which took off for its original destination around 19.30h.
The apparatus that could ultimately have lead to the plane with 138 passengers and six crew members being shot down - put in place after 911 - was fully operational Friday, with agencies that included the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security on an open phone line monitoring the flight.
Had the plane "been judged as a threat by the highest levels of our government, they could make the decision to have the plane shot down," said Lt. Commander Sean Kelly, a spokesman for NORAD, a U.S.-Canadian military command based outside Colorado Springs that monitors missiles, aircraft and space objects and warns of threats.
President Bush would ultimately make the decision.
A "shoot-don't shoot" scenario didn't develop because the plane was following all FAA instructions. One of the last resorts would have included the fighter pilots either talking to or attempting to talk to the pilot of the airliner, which didn't happen Friday, Kelly said
Since Sept. 11, fighters have been scrambled or if already airborne diverted 2,300. The Transportation Security Administration said it did not have numbers on how many flights have been diverted.
I'm amazed at the things that are passed of as funny here these days.
Someone lost their sense of humor.
I hope you are NOT referring to me.
haha ok, I'll just say if you go threw life and allow yourself to last you'll have a better time.
last = laugh
It is not eeven a matter of reasoning. Just manners.
Considering that the name has a rather Old Mexico flavor to it, I would say that the post is indeed appropriate. (Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega) Also, considering that there are millions of illegals here, there is a very real possibility that Jose could be one.
Oh, and by the way, who made you the overlord of all speech on Free Republic? Most of us like to read more that just your opinion.
Regardless of his intentions, this idiot risked the lives of every man, woman and child on that plane. It was diverted and chased by two F-16s with live ammo, ready to shoot. That is a lot of changes from routine and accidents can happen. Nut job or not, if my loved ones were on that plane, I would want him prosecuted at least to the full limit of the law. Think of the fear, the uncertainty, waiting for loved ones to arrive safely. What about the money spent for fuel for all three jets and wasted man hours? We are not talking about a tiny little thing here.
rageaholic, I'd hope you can do better than an effete "lame". Please explain how this nut job did not terriorize the innocent passengers and crew by his overt intentions and actions.
Americans are fed up with assholes disrupting flights and ARE going to take actions to stop them, including the use of injurious and deadly force.
Please excuse our inability to determine a "nutjobs"'s intentions. Most of us do not have the "privilege" of riding your subway which is apparently overflowing with them.
Most of us still take a persons words and actions at face value, be he a "nutjob" or otherwise.
If someone tries to open the door of the plane while we are in flight, I am going to let loose on him!! You are absolutely correct, we are tired of cowering. Those days are over!
Like I said, lame.
Terrorists read our newspapers and watch our television. On 9/11 the terrorists on flight 93 never expected Americans to respond the way they did. They didn't think we'd fight back. That most certainly prevented other hijackings.
There's nothing heroic about my posting. I'm just intelligent enough to understand that it's very easy to disrupt a flight. Terrorists and nutjobs have known this for decades. That's why they choose them.
Most Americans these days won't be scared by a kook while on a flight. They'll understand the threat and subdue the kook, with or without air marshalls.
If that's what you call lame, so be it.
But I'll bet most people would rather be on a flight with people like me than you.
Got some bad news for you, the vast majority of people dislike sitting next to nervous passengers with diarrhea-of-the mouth.
The world trade center towers would still be standing if the passengers would have fought back. They could have disrupted the terrorists enough to veer the plane off course.
Your wanna-be concept of "doing something", e.g. posting threats on a conservative bulletin board because you think its a direct line to al qaida and you want to inform them of your intentions, is exactly what I've been riduculing. Like I said,
L A M E
Go back to stroking your glock.
Arab terrorists will continue to target blue states because their populations can not distinguish right from wrong. A lot can be said of blue state populations. They piss and moan but when it comes to serious action they're as weak as their name calling. When three thousand of their citizens are slaughtered it matters little to them.
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