FBI: Man Attemps to Hijack Medical Transport Plane at New Mexico Airport

AP Wire ^ | Oct 6, 2001 | The Associated Press

[Fighting Irish]

DEMING, N.M. (AP) - Authorities were searching Saturday for a man who held a knife to the neck of a pilot and attempted to hijack a medical transport plane before fleeing a tiny airport in southern New Mexico. FBI supervisory agent Doug Beldon said Friday night's incident appeared to be isolated and unrelated to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. No arrests have been made.

The University of New Mexico Hospital plane arrived at the Deming Municipal Airport around 9:45 p.m. to transport a baby from an area hospital. Paramedics had gone to get the child and the pilot stayed behind.

A man entered the back door of the plane and put a knife to the neck of the pilot and said, "Let's fly," Beldon said.

"It was very dark," he said. "The pilot certainly felt the knife to her neck."

The man was carrying a knife and a radio or police scanner. He was also wearing dark clothes that included a black hood with the eyes cut out.

The pilot started the King Air twin turbo-prop plane and headed down the runway when the back door opened and made a loud crashing noise. The pilot veered off the runway, Beldon said.

"Just after she veered off the runway, he struck her in the head three times with the radio device," he said. He said the man periodically repeated a word that sounded like "salama." Beldon could not identify the language of the word or give the exact spelling.

"He did speak with a foreign accent," which did not seem to be Spanish, Beldon said.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Another unrelated and isolated incident

I was going to say the Daily unrelated and isolated incident, but we are up to about two per day now.

[michaelt]

I think the idea with stealing an ambulance was that they could plant a bomb in it and drive it to the WTC without suspicion.

[SamAdams76]

Glad to see that this was just a random incident and not connected to terrorism.

[L`enn]

and in Brooklyn they say "ma bologna" right?

[L`enn]

The REAL conspiracy is how this stuff is ONLY getting on low-level national radar! Every cable and networks news outlet is running round the clock stories about what the next terrorism attack will be like, while in reality it is happening now all about them and they are barely reporting it. And if they find the time to devote two sentences to it, its ALWAYS with the disclaimer that "authorities state this is an unrelated isolated incident not tied to the events of September 11"

[L`enn]

This is getting boring. Every hour another isolated incident.

I posted this reply 3 unrelated incidents ago, about 1 this afternoon.

[MaeWest]

"King Sky"

Thanks. Sky King was an old TV show, wasn't it?

[CindyDawg]

I have no idea if any or all of these events are related but I know what you mean. It's like they are in denial. On the 11th I was watching the news and the reporter was talking about how this was probably an accident as the 2nd plane hit. His response was " this MAY have been intentional" He saw the crash with his own eyes! When they conclude something is isolated without taking the time to investigate first what do they expect us to think?

[jlogajan]

Sky King was an old TV show, wasn't it?

Sky King and Penny.

[Celtic Conservative]

ma salama has a first name, it's o-s-a-m-a. ma salama has a second name, its b-i-n l-a-d-e-n...(with humblest apologies to oscar mayer!)

slainte,

CC

[eniapmot]

"salama" Indeed!

Bologna!

[FITZ]

He escaped.

That's true, supposedly all the FBI knows is what we have read, the guy escaped so they can't know who he is or what his motives were so why are they so quick to tell us it's an isolated unrelated incident? I hope they're watching for planes being stolen on the other side of the border.

[garyhope]

My Sharona, rock song.

[goldstategop]

Friends and Freepers we now have what the Israelis have faced every day for a century that is going to be a fact of life here in the U.S: terrorism has come to our shores and its NEVER going to go away. And for any one who believed that what happened on Sept. 11th was an aberration, well the incident that's just transpired has provided a sobering wake-up call.

[Nita Nupress]

If you think about it, the attack on the WTC and Pentagon was an "isolated incident." We haven't had such a thing since then, have we?

Move along, please.

[Nita Nupress]

Another unrelated and isolated incident

I was going to say the Daily unrelated and isolated incident, but we are up to about two per day now.

We need to make a "Unrelated & Isolated Incident" list so we can keep up. They're all blending together.

Let's see... the bus accident... the Floridian who died from anthrax...

See?! I've already fogotten them!

[GVnana]

Hmmm. New Mexico. Last week on a radio program I heard a cop from Texas say the FBI had issued a "Attempt to Find" bulletin about a 40 ft. rental truck with the decals removed that had not been returned. Last seen driven by "two Middle-Eastern men." What's in New Mexico? Los Alamos?

[GVnana]

P.S. If these guys are wise to commercial/freight airports in the US they have this country very well mapped-out.

[VA Advogado]

Yes it has to be unrelated to the terrorism.

Alleged terrorism. lol

[FITZ]

White Sands missle range, Patriot missles, Holloman Air Force base, another AFB in Albuquerque, Los Alamos, Mexican border, Fort Bliss Army base.