America's latest Air Scare.

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Aardvark
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America's latest Air Scare.

Post by Aardvark » April 8, 2010, 11:15 am

It came over the News that someone had tried to blow up a Plane in the US, however according to the New York Times it's not true......http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/us/08 ... ml?src=twr



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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by BangkokButcher » April 8, 2010, 11:31 am

Various quotes being made on the topic now:
Qatari diplomat questioned after incident on US flight

A Qatari diplomat is being questioned by the FBI after a disturbance on a flight from Washington to Denver that could prove to be a major terrorism incident or a huge misunderstanding.

Officials said the man, identified by ABC News as Mohammed al Modadi, was subdued by plain clothes air marshals on United Airlines flight 663 after officials suspected he was attempting to "light his shoes on fire" and detonate explosives.

Half an hour before United Airlines Flight 663 was due to land in Denver carrying 157 passengers and six crew, a plain clothes air marshal smelled smoke and confronted the man, who had spent an extended period of time in the lavatory.

Bomb-sniffing dogs however found no traces of explosives aboard the aircraft, and security officials did not confirm that an attempted act of terrorism had taken place. Amid conflicting reports, CNN said explosives had not been found in his shoes.

Other accounts said he may have been joking or may simply have been smoking in the toilet. As the third secretary and vice-consul at Qatar's embassy in Washington, he has full diplomatic immunity.

Fighter jets were scrambled but the plane landed safely at Denver and no injuries were reported.

The US authorities have been increasingly edgy about air-borne terrorism after a Nigerian man was arrested for trying to set off explosives hidden in his underwear on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

In December 2001, Richard Reid, a self-confessed member of al-Qaeda, was subdued on a trans-Atlantic flight diverted to Boston. He had been attempting to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes. He pleaded guilty to eight counts related to terrorism and was sentenced to life in prison.

The tiny emirate of Qatar is a major US ally in the Middle East, and provided the major regional launch pad for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... light.html

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nkstan
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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by nkstan » April 8, 2010, 6:00 pm

Sounds like an addicted smoker willing to take the chance,since his diplomatic Immunity would protect him.Good Job by the Security forces! =D>

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by bumper » April 9, 2010, 6:18 am

Yep thank goodness for patches and gum :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by Farang1 » April 10, 2010, 9:22 am

No, he can't be prosecuted but, he could be expelled which, they should do. That is, if they take this "Homeland security" thing seriously.

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by rickfarang » April 11, 2010, 2:01 am

Smoking in the restroom is not terrorism, but it is reckless disregard for the safety of others. But at this point, for all we know, it might be the air marshal's imagination or that of somebody who tipped him off. At a minimum it smells (pun intended) of racial profiling, which is abhorant to me.

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by parrot » April 11, 2010, 8:29 pm

The guy walks out of a bathroom that smells of smoke. The stewardess asks if he was smoking. He says, "No." The stewardess alerts an air marshall. The marshall asks if he was smoking. The guy says, "No" then says he was merely trying to light his shoes on fire.
"Hi Jack, Hi Jack".......oh, I'm sorry, I was just joking. I consider myself pretty sensitive about things like racial profiling, but in this case, the guy should have been ejected out of the back hatch, black white red green muslim christian jew......you just don't joke about stuff like that after clearly breaking the law.

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by Farang1 » April 12, 2010, 11:36 am

parrot wrote:"Hi Jack, Hi Jack".......oh, I'm sorry, I was just joking. I consider myself pretty sensitive about things like racial profiling, but in this case, the guy should have been ejected out of the back hatch, black white red green muslim christian jew......you just don't joke about stuff like that after clearly breaking the law.

Exactly! But, the guy can do whatever he wants because he hides behind "diplomatic immunity. Which is why, if homeland security is for serious, he should be expelled. But, they will just shine it off as a miss-understanding, not wanting to offend. Then, some "diplomat" will blow a plane out of the sky. Would anybody be offended by that?

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Re: America's latest Air Scare.

Post by Aardvark » April 12, 2010, 11:52 am

Farang1 wrote:
parrot wrote:"Hi Jack, Hi Jack".......oh, I'm sorry, I was just joking. I consider myself pretty sensitive about things like racial profiling, but in this case, the guy should have been ejected out of the back hatch, black white red green muslim christian jew......you just don't joke about stuff like that after clearly breaking the law.

Exactly! But, the guy can do whatever he wants because he hides behind "diplomatic immunity. Which is why, if homeland security is for serious, he should be expelled. But, they will just shine it off as a miss-understanding, not wanting to offend. Then, some "diplomat" will blow a plane out of the sky. Would anybody be offended by that?
Good point, and a scary one. What if this was just testing the Waters so to speak 8)

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