Posted on 09/11/2002 7:52:40 PM PDT by Shermy
FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A Northwest Airlines jet diverted to Fort Smith on Wednesday after four passengers behaved strangely on the flight, including at least three who locked themselves in a bathroom, officials said.
Flight 979, an Airbus A320 traveling from Memphis, Tenn., to Las Vegas with 94 passengers and a crew of five, landed at Fort Smith late Wednesday morning, Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert said. No one was reported hurt.
Federal officials said the diversion was not related to terrorism.
Sgt. Jarrard Copeland, of the Fort Smith Police Department, said members of the flight crew became concerned about the passengers' behavior and were unable to resolve the situation in the air.
"Some of the crew members became suspicious because of some of the actions taken by the four subjects," Copeland said.
Northwest Airlines said the pilots decided to land at Fort Smith's municipal airport as a precaution.
Passenger Cathy McDougal, of Long Beach, Miss., told 40//29 that the passengers were acting suspiciously minutes before the flight left the ground.
One of the men was pacing up and down the plane's aisle, apparently looking for something, and ignored requests by the flight attendant to sit down, she said.
"(He was) walking up and down, and the stewardess asked him again to sit down, and he went to the back and that's the last I saw of him," McDougal said.
The man and two others then locked themselves in the bathroom, she said.
"The next thing you know, the pilot came on and said that we were making an emergency landing and we went down real fast," McDougal said.
When the plane landed, McDougal said the pilots explained that the men were not cooperating with the flight attendant's request and were going to be taken off the plane.
The FBI will question the suspects, who are of Middle Eastern descent, according to the Fort Smith Police Department.
There were reports that the men might have been trying to shave themselves in the bathroom, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
The FBI questioned the four suspects Wednesday, (two of them are pictured, above), Copeland said.
Three of the four men were later arrested on charges of interfering with a flight crew.
The luggage was being screened so that the plane could continue on to Las Vegas, officials said.
The airport was closed for 30 minutes, and the military says no fighter jets were scrambled to escort the Airbus A320.
Airport Traffic Not Interrupted
Although the diverted airplane caused some tense moments at the Fort Smith Airport, it did little to disrupt the flight schedule.
Two American Eagle flights were canceled Wednesday, but it had nothing to do with the emergency landing, officials said.
Airport manager Bob Johnson said the airport remained secure and operational all day.
The passengers 40/29 talked with said that despite flying on Sept. 11 and the scare, they were not worried.
"The only thing that worries me is that my plane is going to be late, but I'm ready to go," said traveler Mary Gary.
Dan McLeod of Orlando, Fla., said he believes people are "overreacting and more paranoid" since Sept. 11.
"I don't have a problem with people being overcautious -- I'm just not worried about it."
Thursday's flights are expected to run on time, officials said.
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From KPOM TV
http://www.nbc24-51.com/ --U.S. attorney says court appearance slated soon for three men--
Fort Smith -- US Attorney Tom Gean says three men detained by the FBI today after they were taken off a flight diverted to the Fort Smith Airport will appear in federal court soon. Gean said they will either be arraigned tomorrow afternoon or Friday. He said that, of four passengers detained after the plane was diverted to Fort Smith, three were arrested and one was released because of insufficent evidence.
The US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas said charges to be filed would be interference with a flight crew in the furtherance of its duties. He declined to elaborate or say how the three had interfered with the flight crew. He said the suspicious activity began prior to the flight ever leaving Memphis, and then continued on the plane.
The three men will be held in the Sebastian County Jail. Gean declined to release the names of the men or to say if they are US citizens or their country of origin. Gean said the four men were not all traveling together -- two men were together, but the other two were traveling independently.
Gean said a box blown open using what bomb-squad investigators called a "remote entry device" belonged to one of the suspects. Gean said there was information that led authorities to believe there was possiblity of a bomb in that box. That turned out not to be the case, but he would not say what was in the box. officials, speaking on a condition of anonymity, now say today's diversion of a passenger flight to Fort Smith's airport was not related to terrorism. Northwest Airlines says the plane will take off for its destination once baggage is rescreened. State emergency management spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon says four men acted suspiciously during the flight, and they locked themselves in a bathroom on the aircraft. Officials negotiated with the four, and Gordon now says the four, along with passengers and crew from the plane, are now all off the aircraft.
The airline said members of the flight crew became concerned about the passengers' behavior and were unable to resolve the situation in the air. Northwest Airlines says pilots decided to land at Fort Smith's municipal airport as a precaution.
Minneapolis television station KSTP, where Northwest Airlines is based, cites an unnamed source as saying the men were "shaving themselves clean." A source speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that people aboard the airplane gave early-arriving investigators similar accounts.
After last year's terror attacks, documents taken from the luggage of attack leader Mohamed Atta gave what appeared to be instructions for the suicide hijackers. The instructions said "The previous night, shave the extra hair from the body."
The federal Transportation Security Agency says the FBI has begun interrogating the three men.
Sgt. Jarred Copeland of the Fort Smith Police Department tells us that none of the passengers onboard the airplane were harmed in any way. Many passengers did appear to be shaken and distraught as they exited the airplane.
The four passengers who were led away from the airplane were fully cooperating with authorities and were led away in handcuffs.
As soon as the plane was surrounded, the Fort Smith Police Department closed Savannah Street, which borders the airport.
When asked if weapons of any kind were in possession of the four men, Sgt. Copeland could not comment on this matter.
Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert says Flight 979, an Airbus A-320 bound from Memphis, Tennessee, to Las Vegas, departed at 8:47 a.m. Central time and was scheduled to arrive at Las Vegas at 10:19 a.m. Pacific time.
An Airbus A-320, depending on how it is configured, can carry up to 179 passengers. Today's flight had 94 passengers and a crew of five.
The airport was closed for 30 minutes, and the military says NO fighter jets were scrambled to escort the Airbus A-320.
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COURT APPEARANCE SCHEDULED US Attorney Tom Gean says three men detained by the FBI today after they were taken off a flight diverted to the Fort Smith Airport will appear in federal court soon. Gean said they will either be arraigned tomorrow afternoon or Friday. He said that, of four passengers detained after the plane was diverted to Fort Smith, three were arrested and one was released because of insufficent evidence.
The US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas said charges to be filed would be interference with a flight crew in the furtherance of its duties. He declined to elaborate or say how the three had interfered with the flight crew. He said the suspicious activity began prior to the flight ever leaving Memphis, and then continued on the plane.
The three men will be held in the Sebastian County Jail. Gean declined to release the names of the men or to say if they are US citizens or their country of origin. Gean said the four men were not all traveling together -- two men were together, but the other two were traveling independently.
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STATE POLICE: NO BOMB ON FLIGHT Arkansas state police say there was not a bomb on a jetliner diverted today to Fort Smith's airport. John Miller of the state police bomb squad said explosive-sniffing dogs alerted on a passenger's laptop computer because it had traces of fertilizer. Miller said the owner reported using fertilizer in his garden over the weekend and then checking football scores over the laptop. State police did not blow up the laptop. But they did use what they called a "remote entry device" to blow open a cardboard box. Miller said a dog had alerted on the box but no bomb was inside.
The aircraft was diverted from a flight from Memphis, Tennessee, to Las Vegas. It resumed its flight after being parked at the Fort Smith airport for about six hours -- but without four men whose activities raised suspicions by the plane's flight crew. They were taken into FBI custody.
Passengers report that pilots brought the jetliner to the ground because the men took turns in a restroom shaving their body hair and paced nervously in the aisle. Sources tell The Associated Press that pilots were alarmed because the shaving was in line with information in a safety advisory that warned that shaving could be part of a ritual that precedes self-sacrifice.
The pilots decided to land after the men went one after another to the bathroom. This, after being told by the flight crew to stay in their seats. After the plane landed, police rushed the men and held them while the other passengers exited.
He says he was a "friend" of one of them - didn't know the otheres.
So how come three strangers go into a bathroom together?
This is a joke, right?
And you wouldn't be the only one. However, senseless might be a little light ;).
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