Authorities say intoxicated woman tried to choke air marshal on Northwest flight

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 12/31/03 | Associated Press

[Holly_P]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A woman allegedly tried to choke a federal air marshal after she became disruptive on a flight from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis, authorities said.

The air marshal approached the woman, who was allegedly intoxicated, vocal and obnoxious aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 1057 on Tuesday, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said.

After the woman continued to be disruptive, she tried to choke the marshal in a later exchange, Marty said. She also kicked the marshal in the groin and bit a law enforcement officer after she was escorted off the plane, Marty said.

The flight landed at 8:30 p.m. at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with the woman in handcuffs. She was led off the plane by police and placed in federal custody.

The extent of the marshal's injuries was unknown.

Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said he wasn't sure if the woman was served alcohol on the plane.

The woman could face federal charges of assault or interfering with a flight crew, he said.

[bootless]

Cripes. What a lowlife. I bet that if Steve from Jerry Springer had been there, she wouldn't have gotten that far!

[Holly_P]

Steve is a baaaad man!

[Husker24]

For the life of me, I dont understand why they serve alcohol on planes in the first place.

[NormsRevenge]

the kick to the groin and bite were a nice touch.. so ladylike.

Puts here right up there with the biker chick that trashed a bar after her wedding reception and the gal that passed terrorist notes on a cruise ship so she could cut the cruise short and be with her boyfriend.

[farmfriend]

Why is the air marshal bothering with a drunk passenger?

[bootless]

Gawd, can you imagine the amount of mind-soap he has to use?

Getting off-topic, though. This woman SURELY must be criminally clueless.

[JustPiper]

The Marshall shoulda used his stungun!

[Go Gordon]

After the woman continued to be disruptive, she tried to choke the marshal in a later exchange, Marty said. She also kicked the marshal in the groin and bit a law enforcement officer after she was escorted off the plane, Marty said.

Must have been an Eagles fan.

[ladyinred]

I am staying on the ground thank you very much.

[bootless]

I dunno - that could be a profile used by a terrorist - if they're going for the unusual and difficult to profile "presentation."

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Why is the air marshal bothering with a drunk passenger?

I was wondering that too. Good thing someone with a more sinister objective didn't use her as a diversion for a hijacking.

[Hazzardgate]

For the life of me, I dont understand why they serve alcohol on planes in the first place.

[Mark Turbo]

For the life of me, I dont understand why they serve alcohol on planes in the first place.

For what Northwest charges for a beer ($5), nobody has to worry about me being served alcohol on a plane.

[donmeaker]

"Fetch me an Ice Pack!"

Sounds like a case of mission creep on the part of the air marshall. I thought that air marshalls were supposed to be anonymous, and only reveal themselves to foil terrorism. If this is common policy, the Terrorists can have one member of the team act up, to see if there is an Air Marshall on board. If not, then they continue with their mission. The "drunk woman" may function as a reconnaissance force to identify the air marshall, and the team may either postpone their attack, for a later flight, or use plan B to attack the identified air marshall directly.

Best: Require all american citizens who are members of the militia (see title 10, section 311) to carry concealed weapons aboard US flag carriers. Search non-US citizens, and non-militia members to assure that they are disarmed. Require militia members to maintain proficiency in militia weapons on an annual basis.

Any terrorist who stands up with a boxcutter should hear a number of metallic clicks behind him.

[af_vet_1981]

Why is the air marshal bothering with a drunk passenger?

He can't open the door and throw her off the airplane. Someone else may be sucked out the door.

[Squantos]

The air marshal approached the woman, who was allegedly intoxicated, vocal and obnoxious.......Awwwww gheeesh !

This is "not" what the Air Marshal is supposed to do........Air Marshal playing "SkyCop" was suckered into showing themselves........doom on em ...stoopid move ! Had this been a hijacking diversion , the AM would have been ID'd and his/her ability to function as needed would have been seriously hampered.....even if there were more AM's on the same flight that remained in stealth mode.

Just my opinion of course........damn !

[EGPWS]

A woman allegedly tried to choke a federal air marshal after she became disruptive on a flight from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis, authorities said.

I understand that MN may be undesirable politically, but we NOW have Norm and Tim, and Estetically, our state ranks with the greatest, but to achieve such a level of frustration departing Pittsburgh en-route to Minneapolis??

This woman needs some serious treatment!

[Clock King]

"For the life of me, I dont understand why they serve alcohol on planes in the first place."

Because in a better world, people act like ADULTS, and can handle one or two drinks and KNOW when to stop. Not in the current world where adults still act like teenage reprobates.