In the absence of Petruna being willing to front up and prove he was on the plane, it seems awfully likely he was just trying to bignote himself to friends and family.
Then how is it other people on the flight have identified him in Debbie Schlussel’s article posted her on Fr yesterday?
Probably. But what's clear and evidently not in dispute is that there was a serious incident--serious enough to turn around the plane, disembark passengers, and replace the flight crew. Hardly indicative of a Spanish language barrier over a camera.
Petruna is, essentially, a side story. Certainly, the truth of where he was is pertinent to the details of his "eyewitness" account, but one can dismiss him altogether and still be left with an evidently critical situation that is not explained by the scenario painted by AirTran via the AJC.