Republic 3531 Declares Emergency into MSP after FAM Displays Weapon
UA 3531, an ERJ-170 operated by Republic EWR-MSP, declared an emergency into MSP for security after a Federal Air Marshal apparently displayed his gun to a flight attendant.
The crew said they weren't notified that they had two FAM's onboard. One of the marshals showed his gun but not his badge to a flight attendant enroute and demanded to see the passenger manifest. The flight attendant thought this was suspicious and reported the incident to the flight deck. The FO is an FFDO and he said it was totally against protocol so they decided to declare an emergency.
They landed on 30L and exited A8 to park on the deicing pad and sort things out. Apparently the FAM is still quite agitated and told the flight attendant that she should never have notified the pilots.
Right now the plane is still on the deice pad with the cockpit door locked and cops and SWAT on the way with airstairs to sort things out. United ops sent an ACARS to the crew verifying that two FAM's were indeed onboard.
Last edited by Airbubba; 21st Aug 2018 at 05:12.