Passenger Held After Plane Diverted

AP | 1/10/04

[kattracks]

Jan 10, 5:31 PM (ET)

CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) - An American Airlines commuter flight was diverted Saturday after a passenger passed a note to the crew demanding to be taken to Australia, the FBI said. The plane landed safely at Washington's Dulles International Airport and the passenger was in FBI custody.

The FBI said there was no indication that the incident involving Flight 4959, operated by American Eagle and carrying 19 passengers and a crew of five, was terrorism-related.

The passenger, whose identity was not released, was being questioned by the FBI. No charges were immediately filed.

"It was nothing other than the unreasonable demands of an unruly passenger," said Debbie Weierman, spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office.

The flight left New York's LaGuardia Airport at 10:57 a.m. bound for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It landed at about noon at Dulles, which is 33 miles away.

The FBI detained the passenger after questioning the 23 other people on the flight, said Tara Hamilton, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

New York's police commissioner, Ray Kelly, said a passenger passed a note to a crew member during the flight claiming that he had a bomb. The passenger later said he had a grenade, Kelly said.

An American Airlines spokeswoman, Lisa Bailey, said that upon approach to National Airport, a threat was made against the plane and the crew decided to divert to the other Washington area airport.

[putupon]

…..passenger passed a note to the crew demanding to be taken to Australia,……

The flight left New York's LaGuardia Airport at 10:57 a.m. bound for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It landed at about noon at Dulles, which is 33 miles away.

Australia? Sounds like a good idea to me.

ZONE FORECASTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
330 PM EST SAT JAN 10 2004

DCZ001-MDZ011-VAZ054-111000-
ARLINGTON-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALEXANDRIA AND FALLS
CHURCH...BALTIMORE...
WASHINGTON
330 PM EST SAT JAN 10 2004

.TONIGHT...CLEAR AND BITTERLY COLD. LOWS 5 TO 10 ABOVE. NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH...BECOMING NORTHWEST AROUND 5 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT. .SUNDAY...BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY.

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
12	North Carolina	747.00	20	37.35	452	1.65	387.00	24

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[Dante3]

What a nut!

[peter the great]

This nut sounds to me as if he is acting alone. The reason why I say this is that a commuter plane does not have the kind of range that would be able to get you to Australia.