Folks, you just can't make this stuff up...
Flight took off with disruptive passenger despite red flags
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
HONOLULU (AP) — Anil Uskanli, who authorities say inspired so much fear among flight attendants that military fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane to Hawaii, raised a series of possible red flags between purchasing his ticket and being the first passenger to board the American Airlines flight.
Uskanli, 25, of Turkey, purchased his ticket about midnight and went through security screening at Los Angeles International Airport. About 2:45 a.m. he opened a door that led to an airfield ramp, airport police said.
He smelled of alcohol, but he wasn’t intoxicated enough to be held for public drunkenness, so police cited and released him.
Uksanli’s boarding pass was confiscated, and he was walked out to a public area of the airport, police said. He went back, got another boarding pass for the flight and went through security screening again.
Before takeoff, he sat in a first-class seat and had to be asked several times to move to his assigned seat toward the back of the plane, the complaint said.
Originally Posted by
EEngr
noting he was carrying a laptop
That does it! Take the
down!
Yep, that's exactly what happened:
While the six-hour flight was midair, Uskanli, with his head swathed in a blanket, tried to get to the front of the plane.
When he put his laptop on a drink cart a flight attendant used to block him, flight attendants feared the computer contained explosives, prompting the captain to initiate bomb-threat procedures.
Two Hawaii National Guard fighter jets escorted the plane to Honolulu, and Uskanli was arrested when it landed.
Since he was drunk, he was boarded first as a passenger with disabilities
:
Because he had walked into the restricted area at the airport and he was determined to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, crew members helped him to the plane using a wheelchair, the complaint said.
At the door of the plane, flight attendants helped Uskanli, the complaint said.
Flight attendants were afraid of his laptop, the complaint said, because they are aware “that laptop computers potentially pose a new threat to airplane security because they may contain explosives that are undetected by airport screening measures.”
The captain initiated bomb threat procedures, and flight attendants barricaded the laptop with crew bags. An off-duty law enforcement officer sat with Uskanli for the remainder of the flight, the complaint said.
Fortunately, this guy turned out to be harmless, no explosives, had normal jihadi ideations like everyone, made poor choices, was trying to turn his life around etc. as his attorney will inevitably claim in district court:
No explosives were found after the plane landed. FBI agents then interviewed Uskanli.
“When I asked him if he ever had terroristic thoughts, he responded, ‘We all have those ideas,’” an agent wrote in an affidavit.
The agent asked again later about terroristic thoughts. In response, Uskanli made a gun shape with his fingers and pretended to shoot her, she wrote.
“He then did a gesture simulating a chopping motion toward my neck,” the agent wrote.
He then told another agent, “I’ll kill her, get out the following day and shoot myself,” according to the court documents.
https://apnews.com/c27c975ce28f4545a...pite-red-flags