Posted on 12/03/2018 5:56:31 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
A mishap that led to a flight crew not being notified of the presence of two federal air marshals on board a United Airlines flight in August prompted concerns of a possible hijacking, according to a newly released report. Through a public information request, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS obtained an incident report from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport police, which details the confusion aboard United Airlines flight 3531 from Newark to Minneapolis the night of Aug. 20.
Two armed federal air marshals were among the 64 passengers on United flight 3531. However, neither the flight attendants nor the pilot were aware marshals had boarded the plane.
When one of the air marshals made his presence known, it sparked an emergency on board.
According to the incident report, a flight attendant told investigators she was sitting in the front gallery when a passenger approached and, "demanded to see the passenger manifest."
After telling him no, she said the passenger responded by saying, "didn't they tell you me and my partner (redacted) were on board?"
When the flight attendant asked for his credentials, she says he said "how about this for credentials," and then lifted up his shirt to reveal a handgun.
The flight attendant told police "her heart was racing and that she was scared" after seeing the weapon. She notified the pilot who said he was, "unaware of any (federal air marshals) aboard the aircraft."
According to the report, the pilot told her, "to not create any suspicion until he could contact dispatch." An air traffic controller told investigators the information they first received suggested a possible hijacking attempt.
That information, according to the incident report, indicated "a person on board the aircraft with a gun causing a disturbance, not breached the cockpit yet." The flight attendant told investigators one of the air marshals got out of his seat to check his bag in the overhead compartments while the plane was still taxiing down the runway. When she instructed him to sit down, the report states the air marshal refused to listen. The marshal retrieved his Federal Air Marshal badge from his bag and showed it to the flight attendant.
Once the plane landed, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport police arrested and disarmed two men.
During questioning, the two presented their Federal Air Marshal identification cards, and they were subsequently released from custody.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to Republic Airlines, who was operating the flight for United Airlines, as well as the Transportation Security Administration. However, the airlines and the TSA have yet to respond with a comment.
Incompetent airline and boneheaded air marshal.
No wonder folks don't like to fly anymore.
thank goodness there were TWO on the flight.
Those air Marshalls will be working in the file room for some time.
Yeah, that’s how I read it.
Pretty stupid way to show his credentials, in my opinion. But the problem stems from the flight crew not being notified of their presence before takeoff. So glad I don’t have to fly anymore.
Either the Air Marshals Service failed to notify the airlines or the airlines failed to relay the information to the crew.
Either way, Dirty Harry was no help.
Not since May, 1996 and counting. Beautiful country we have. Drive instead of fly if you can.
Dumbass with a gun on a power trip.
...”how about this for credentials,” and then lifted up his shirt to reveal a handgun.
When the article said “two marshals boarded” - I was waiting for the story to develop along the lines that they didn’t know the other was on board, one of them sees or can tell the other guy has a gun, then draws on him!
This had the potential to go sideways in a hurry.
What’s the point in looking at the flight manifest out of Minneapolis, the passengers names are all some form of Mohamed. No need to bother the flight crew - dumb move by the marshals.
They lost a great chance for promotion when they didn’t shoot the attendants... Oh wait! That’s the FBI instruction manual...
Idiot thought the rules didn’t apply to him.
Lol
"SIT DOWN!"
Nice...
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