Following is a little more information on the AC scare.
---
Iranian arrested in LA hijack scare
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- An Air Canada jet made a dramatic
unprecedented landing accompanied by two Air Force fighter jets at Los
Angeles International Airport on Thursday after an Iranian passenger
reportedly created a loud disturbance that apparently triggered a near panic
among the other 137 passengers.
On the same day that President George W. Bush spoke at a rally in Chicago
to "get back on board" U.S. airlines, the Boeing 767 touched down with an
F-16 flying off each wingtip and a bevy of police officers and an FBI SWAT
team waiting.
The gray F-16s roared off over the Pacific after the airliner taxied to a
remote area of the airport and was quickly boarded by the heavily armed
agents dressed in all black.
"We were looking down the corridor, and there must have been 10 of them
(SWAT agents), side by side and all tightly packed together with their guns
out, totally covered in black and screaming 'get your head down,'" passenger
Bruce Fitzgerald told KABC-TV. "That was a really frightening experience. It
almost seemed like a movie."
Air Canada Flight 792 had been en route from Los Angeles to Toronto with
138 passengers and seven crew members when a passenger identified as Javid
Naghani, 37, allegedly lit up a cigarette in a lavatory.
"We all knew as soon as we smelled smoke that we were probably going to
have to turn back," another passenger, Kim Powell, told reporters.
Witnesses on the flight told agents that Naghani was discovered by a
flight attendant who loudly told him smoking on airliners was banned by U.S.
law.
"The male passenger allegedly became abusive with the flight attendant and
made disparaging statements against the United States," the FBI said in a
press release. "The pilot communicated information and stated that he would
be returning to the airport as a precautionary measure."
The incident, however, shook up the other passengers, many of whom said
they were shocked at the aggressive response by the authorities.
"When we landed, that's when things got a little surreal," said passenger
Joe Futtner. "That was a little disconcerting."
The pair of Air Force fighter jets was dispatched to escort the Canadian
jet back to Los Angeles where Naghani was taken into custody and turned over
to the FBI, which routinely investigates disruptions aboard airliners, on
suspicion of interfering with a flight crew.
The suspect will be in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday
morning.