Free Republic

<p>A flight had to be diverted to Denver after a passenger allegedly tried to open an exterior door of a United jet while it was in flight Saturday afternoon, according to officials at Denver International Airport.</p> <p>DIA spokesman Jeff Green said the incident happened on United Flight 223 traveling from Washington Dulles International Airport to Las Vegas.</p>

STERLING, Va. - A close inspection by Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles International Airport turned up something unexpected. Inside a fully-cooked chicken they found cocaine with an estimated street value of $4,300. The 60.4 grams (2.3 ounces) of coke was found inside two small, clear plastic bags inside the chicken's cavity. Officers discovered the white powdery substance during a secondary inspection after a flight from El Salvador arrived shortly after midnight Saturday. It tested positive for cocaine. "CBP officers have seen many unique narcotics concealment methods, and they all present the same challenges to discover them. Our officers'...

LONDON -- A breast-feeding mother accidentally smothered her four-week old child aboard a United Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., to Kuwait, a British tabloid reported Tuesday. The Sun newspaper said that the mother, who it said was a 29-year-old Egyptian-born woman, fell asleep as she breast-fed on the jet and awoke to find that the child had been smothered. The paper said the plane was diverted to London's Heathrow in an attempt to save the baby's life. The paper cited an unnamed police source in its reporting. Scotland Yard confirmed that a United Airlines plane had been diverted to Heathrow...

Six Missing Israeli Soldiers By Norma Zager and Ari Bussel “The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see…” Ayn Rand Three years ago a Jewish son was taken from his parents. Hamas terror organization kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad during an incursion from Gaza into Israel. His captors have denied access to him by Red Cross workers in violation of the Geneva Convention. For three years his parents have suffered with worry for their son. For three years a merciless enemy has held captive a young man, a soldier. While Gilad Shalit became...

A United Airlines flight from Munich to Washington has been diverted to Boston's Logan International Airport because a female passenger complained of flu symptoms, an airport official said. Flight 903, a 737 containing 245 passengers and 16 crew, has been isolated in the north cargo area of the airport, said airport spokesman Phil Orlandella. One patient was removed from the plane and was being taken to Masachusetts General Hospital, said Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman for Boston Emergency Medical Services. The other passengers are expected to stay on board and continue to Washington after refueling, airport officials said. A United Airlines...

BOSTON — A flight from Munich, Germany to Washington has been diverted to Boston because a passenger complained of "flu-like symptoms." Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said United flight 903 was being diverted to Boston early Friday afternoon after a 53-year-old female passenger told flight attendants about her symptoms.

A member of the U.S. delegation that traveled to Mexico City as part of the advance security team for Energy Secretary Steven Chu exhibited swine flu-like symptoms upon his return, and three members of his family have tested positive for the A H1N1 virus, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced on Thursday. The unnamed staffer tested negative himself, but Gibbs attributed that to the amount of time that had elapsed since the onset of his own symptoms. The staffer felt ill three days after his arrival in Mexico City, which was April 13th. On the following day (April 17th),...

Louisiana Sen David Vitter missed his plane and Dulles Airport last Wednesday, and he was not amused. Vitter, who recently gained infamy after being identified on the D.C. Madam's Phone List, found his gate closed, so he went through an armed security door. Why not? He's got that Senator's pin, after all, right? That gives you access to all areas of the airport ... right? As you might expect, an alarm went off as he then tried to verbally rip an unsuspecting United Airlines gate attendant a new one. Apparently, he even tried to pull rank. Come on. Would that...

The crew of a United Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N644UA performing flight UA-938 (dep. Dec 28th) from Chicago O'Hare,IL (USA) to London Heathrow,EN (UK), reported unspecified mechanical problems while enroute at approx. N5051 W5500 at FL350 and requested to return to Boston,MA (USA), later changed the request to divert to Washington Dulles, DC. The airplane landed safely at Washington International Airport 3:15 hours later. A replacement Boeing 767-300 N654UA resumed the flight and reached London with a delay of 9 hours. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL938/history/20081229/0332Z/KORD/EGLL

A group of family members, survivors and first responders shared their thoughts about 9/11 while visiting the nearly completed Pentagon Memorial here on Aug. 28. Pentagon Memorial Fund manager Jim Laychak visits the Pentagon Memorial, Aug. 28, 2008. Laychak lost his younger brother, David, an Army civilian employee, during the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. The $22 million memorial, Laychak said, is a culmination of years of effort and hard work. “It is a great feeling of pride and accomplishment. Everybody has worked together on this over the past five and a half years,” he said. Tom Heidenberger, 62, lost...

DULLES, Va. - Forty-two men in the U.S. illegally have been rounded up and arrested at Dulles International Airport. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the illegal aliens Wednesday morning on airport grounds at a checkpoint established to verify the identity and immigration status of workers entering a service gate. Most of the men were working construction projects at the airport. Mark McGraw, special agent in charge of ICE's Washington field office, says it's important Homeland Security knows who enters sensitive areas like airports, military bases and power plants. "This operation illustrates ICE's ongoing efforts in partnership with federal...

Federal transportation officials today told Congress and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) that they have approved the proposed 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport, reversing their announcement in January that the project was unfit for federal funding. In a letter to Kaine and in a 10 a.m. conference call with the governor and Virginia congressional leaders, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the $5 billion project had finally met the Federal Transit Administration's standards for cost efficiency, construction and expected ridership. The project will now move into the final design phase, a major step toward receiving $900...

A pilot's laptop, filled with top secret security information was reported missing at Dulles Airport and the ripple effects were felt across the country. The Mesa Airlines employee couldn't find the personal laptop he brought with him while co-piloting a United Express flight from Birmingham, Alabama to Dulles International Airport. 17 airports were forced to make emergency changes to access codes at Dulles, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago's O'Hare and San Antonio. Various officials within the airline industry admit that with these access codes, someone who went though security could, with the touch of a few buttons, get onto a plane or...

RICHMOND — The same court that two months ago struck down Virginia's regional transportation-financing plans is now considering a similar case challenging the state's planned transfer of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a lawsuit filed by two Northern Virginia residents against state transportation officials and agencies. The lawsuit says the transfer would violate the state constitution because it wasn't approved by the General Assembly. Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer dismissed the lawsuit in March 2007, ruling that the state has sovereign immunity against such claims....

LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 18 suicide bombers may have planned to take part in an Islamist terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic airliners which could have killed more than 1,500 people, a London court heard on Thursday. Prosecutors said a gang of Britons planned to simultaneously explode passenger aircraft in mid-air between London's Heathrow airport and the United States and Canada. They were close to putting their scheme into action when they were arrested in August 2006, the court was told. "It is the prosecution case that these men and others were engaged in a deadly plan designed to...

The head of the main US spy agency has warned that Al-Qaeda is training operatives who "look western" and could enter the United States undetected to conduct terrorist attacks. Central Intelligence Agency Director General Michael Hayden also said the terror network, which over the past 18 months has established a "safe haven" in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghanistan border, has shed its operational reliance on mastermind Osama bin Laden. "They are bringing operatives into that region for training -- operatives that, a phrase I would use, wouldn't attract your attention if they were going through the customs line at...

A Seattle-area man has been charged by federal air marshals with groping a female passenger aboard a United Airlines flight that was diverted to Pittsburgh as a result of the alleged incident. Michael L. Holland, 46, made his initial appearance before a magistrate on Monday on a charge of abusive sexual contact, according to Ted Hresko, special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh air marshals' office. Holland had been chatting with the woman Sunday on United Flight 917, which was bound for Seattle from Dulles International Airport near Washington D.C., Hresko said. ""The next thing you know, he's groping her,"...

An airline employee is calling an apology from San Diego Congressman Bob Filner pathetic. In August, Joanne Kay Kunkel says Filner screamed at her and shoved her aside as he headed into an employees-only area in search of his missing luggage. Filner was fined $100 and told to write Kunkel an apology. "It was a misunderstanding that escalated… I apologized to her," Filner said. "I do wish the airlines would treat us with a little more respect as passengers." Kunkel says she's still considering a civil suit against Filner

JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes may have been testing air routes for a possible attack against Iran when they were fired on by Syrian forces, experts said yesterday. The official Syrian Arab News Agency Thursday quoted a military official as saying that Israeli jets broke the sound barrier flying over northern Syria earlier in the day, then "dropped munitions" onto deserted areas after being shot at by Syria's air defenses. Israel's air force may have been testing an air path to Iran, in case it decides to carry out an attack against that country's nuclear facilities, analysts said. The corridor of...

ABC 7 has learned the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have charged Representative Robert Filner of California with assault and battery following an incident at Dulles International Airport Sunday night. Police say they were called to the baggage claim area around 6 p.m. when a passenger attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only. ABC 7 spoke with several witnesses who say they saw Filner push aside an United Airlines employee and refused to leave the office. When officers arrived on scene, they found Filner waiting outside the office and informed him the airline employee would be pursuing charges....