Ned
08-18-2006, 06:40 AM
"Gov. Mitt Romney said the 59-year-old woman was from Vermont and became so claustrophobic and upset that she needed to be restrained. The FBI in Boston said the woman, a U.S. citizen, was arrested on charges of interfering with a flight crew. She was not identified."
Ok, she was claustrophobic, clearly upset while pacing the floor, was thought to have uttered the word "Pakistan," was supposedly inchoherent, and went to the bathroom often. I ask you. Was this a reason to tackle her, and handcuff her? So what are the federal charges going to be, 1 count of excessive urination (hell my heart medication causes me to go to the bathroom constantly sometimes), and 1 count of babble, or perhaps 1 count of claustrophobia? I know they found matches and a bottle of liquid makeup when they searched her carry-on after handcuffing her, but even Governor Romney agrees she was no terrorist.
So far no one on the crew has owned up to trying to first calm the woman down or do anything to help her. What they did was have her tackled, handcuffed, arrested, call in the military, divert the plane from its destination, line up the emergency vehicles on the airfield and scare the passengers out of their wits.
This sounds like a classic overreaction to me, due to the hysteria of the day. This is just what the real terrorists have hoped their actions would cause; terror and hysteria. I'll bet Bin Laden is having a big laugh over his morning meal about the "stupid" Americans.
Originally posted by for AP via CNN.com - August 17 2006
Passenger describes dramatic events on diverted flight
'I said, "Oh my God." And then we saw the emergency vehicles.'
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Antony Nash grew nervous watching the petite woman in a jogging suit seated near him in the back of United 923 as the plane flew over the Atlantic from London toward Washington.
She had been pacing the aisle, mumbling incoherent phrases peppered with the word "Pakistan," and making too many visits to the restroom, he said.
Suddenly, two men in plain clothes and flight attendants raced up the aisle and tackled the woman, thrusting her onto the bathroom door, then to the ground, and putting her in handcuffs, Nash and other passengers said.
The TV screens on the airplane seats that had been showing the flight path to Washington suddenly started showing a map of Boston -- then went blank -- as the plane descended steeply. Nash, 31, of San Diego, looked out the window and saw two military jets.
"I noticed F-15s next to the plane. I said, 'Oh my God.' And then we saw the emergency vehicles," Nash said.
The flight with 182 passengers and 12 crew members landed safely at Logan International Airport on Wednesday. Federal authorities said there was no indication that terrorism was involved in the disturbance. The woman was held overnight and was expected to face federal charges on Thursday.
Gov. Mitt Romney said the 59-year-old woman was from Vermont and became so claustrophobic and upset that she needed to be restrained. The FBI in Boston said the woman, a U.S. citizen, was arrested on charges of interfering with a flight crew. She was not identified.
The other passengers were flown on to Washington on Wednesday evening, but only after they were interviewed and their luggage was spread out on the tarmac, where it was rechecked by security officials and trained dogs.
The disturbance -- coming just a week after authorities in London said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights -- was enough to compel the pilot to issue an alert, which activated two fighter jets to escort the plane into Logan, said George Naccara, security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts' airport.
"It was a harrowing two hours," Nash said.
Two F-15s were sent from Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod to escort the airliner, said Master Sgt. Anthony Hill, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. State police and federal agencies took control of the plane after it landed.
Joan Bartko, of Manassas, Virginia, said everyone on the plane did as they were told. "It was sort of surreal," she said. "You just know the best thing to do is stay calm."
Nash said he noticed the woman's oversized handbag appeared to contain items such as lotion that he believed should not have been allowed on the plane since new safety regulations were put in place after last week's terror plot revelations.
Romney said a search of the woman's bag turned up matches and a gelatin-like substance, which he did not define, but there was no indication the items were related to terrorism. Naccara said he did not believe any items she was carrying were the cause of the emergency...
Go to Passenger describes dramatic events... (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/17/flight.diverted.scare.ap/index.html) to read the entire article.
Ok, she was claustrophobic, clearly upset while pacing the floor, was thought to have uttered the word "Pakistan," was supposedly inchoherent, and went to the bathroom often. I ask you. Was this a reason to tackle her, and handcuff her? So what are the federal charges going to be, 1 count of excessive urination (hell my heart medication causes me to go to the bathroom constantly sometimes), and 1 count of babble, or perhaps 1 count of claustrophobia? I know they found matches and a bottle of liquid makeup when they searched her carry-on after handcuffing her, but even Governor Romney agrees she was no terrorist.
So far no one on the crew has owned up to trying to first calm the woman down or do anything to help her. What they did was have her tackled, handcuffed, arrested, call in the military, divert the plane from its destination, line up the emergency vehicles on the airfield and scare the passengers out of their wits.
This sounds like a classic overreaction to me, due to the hysteria of the day. This is just what the real terrorists have hoped their actions would cause; terror and hysteria. I'll bet Bin Laden is having a big laugh over his morning meal about the "stupid" Americans.
Originally posted by for AP via CNN.com - August 17 2006
Passenger describes dramatic events on diverted flight
'I said, "Oh my God." And then we saw the emergency vehicles.'
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Antony Nash grew nervous watching the petite woman in a jogging suit seated near him in the back of United 923 as the plane flew over the Atlantic from London toward Washington.
She had been pacing the aisle, mumbling incoherent phrases peppered with the word "Pakistan," and making too many visits to the restroom, he said.
Suddenly, two men in plain clothes and flight attendants raced up the aisle and tackled the woman, thrusting her onto the bathroom door, then to the ground, and putting her in handcuffs, Nash and other passengers said.
The TV screens on the airplane seats that had been showing the flight path to Washington suddenly started showing a map of Boston -- then went blank -- as the plane descended steeply. Nash, 31, of San Diego, looked out the window and saw two military jets.
"I noticed F-15s next to the plane. I said, 'Oh my God.' And then we saw the emergency vehicles," Nash said.
The flight with 182 passengers and 12 crew members landed safely at Logan International Airport on Wednesday. Federal authorities said there was no indication that terrorism was involved in the disturbance. The woman was held overnight and was expected to face federal charges on Thursday.
Gov. Mitt Romney said the 59-year-old woman was from Vermont and became so claustrophobic and upset that she needed to be restrained. The FBI in Boston said the woman, a U.S. citizen, was arrested on charges of interfering with a flight crew. She was not identified.
The other passengers were flown on to Washington on Wednesday evening, but only after they were interviewed and their luggage was spread out on the tarmac, where it was rechecked by security officials and trained dogs.
The disturbance -- coming just a week after authorities in London said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights -- was enough to compel the pilot to issue an alert, which activated two fighter jets to escort the plane into Logan, said George Naccara, security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts' airport.
"It was a harrowing two hours," Nash said.
Two F-15s were sent from Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod to escort the airliner, said Master Sgt. Anthony Hill, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. State police and federal agencies took control of the plane after it landed.
Joan Bartko, of Manassas, Virginia, said everyone on the plane did as they were told. "It was sort of surreal," she said. "You just know the best thing to do is stay calm."
Nash said he noticed the woman's oversized handbag appeared to contain items such as lotion that he believed should not have been allowed on the plane since new safety regulations were put in place after last week's terror plot revelations.
Romney said a search of the woman's bag turned up matches and a gelatin-like substance, which he did not define, but there was no indication the items were related to terrorism. Naccara said he did not believe any items she was carrying were the cause of the emergency...
Go to Passenger describes dramatic events... (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/17/flight.diverted.scare.ap/index.html) to read the entire article.