But the prosecutor also said Alani admitted to investigators that his tampering with the plane’s navigation system was dangerous. When they asked him whether he would allow himself or his own family to fly on the jet without the system, he said “no,” Medetis said.
Medetis said investigators also spoke with the American Airlines pilot of the targeted plane, and he said that without a functional navigation system “it could have resulted in a crash.” The plane’s so-called air data module is a system that reports aircraft speed, pitch and other critical flight data to pilots. Alani is accused of disabling the system that served the pilot.
But Alani’s assistant federal public defender, Christian Dunham, said the prosecutors were exaggerating the evidence. He pointed out that there was a second navigation system still working on the plane so his alleged sabotage could not have caused it to crash.
“We don’t believe he intentionally endangered the safety of people” on that flight, said Dunham, who sought a pretrial bond signed by Alani’s family members in California and Florida. “I think the government is blowing this out of proportion.”