Latest on Fort Smith airliner diversion; new details (LITERAL BARF ALERT)

Associated Press | September 12, 2002

[3AngelaD]

Notice the Hispanic suspect got up to ..... barf. Also, I particularly enjoyed the part at the end regarding what the guy with the laptop had been doing earlier. You couldn't make this stuff up.

[ZinGirl]

a dog alerted on a laptop

eeeewwwwwwww....I wouldn't want that laptop back....

[dubyagee]

Testing...testing...1..2..3...

[thegreatbeast]

I was hoping for more detail. How is it that these guys disobeyed the orders of the flight crew? I'm looking for more specifics.

[What Is Ain't]

The owner of the laptop said he had used the computer during the weekend after working with fertilizer.

Sounds like he was spending some time over at DU.

[3AngelaD]

I am trying to teach my Yorkies not to alert on my oriental (oops, Asian) rug, without much luck. Usually they're pretty good about alerting in the back yard, but sometimes they get excited and, well, alert. I have attempted to impose a one-alert and you're out policy, however, it doesn't always stick in their tiny minds.

[gridlock]

Twenty years sounds about right. If we start throwing the book at these guys, it will get much more inconvenient to have these "test runs".

[hellinahandcart]

Why sure. I always wait until I'm actually flying somewhere to remove the excess hair from my body, and I always make sure everyone can see me doing it. Doesn't everyone?

[zarf]

20 years? This is a lawsuit baby. A lawyer will be all over this one.

[The Old Hoosier]

He said the FBI questioned him about whether he knew the other suspects and whether he's a Muslim.

This is a very good sign.

[1234]

"Carlos Nieves said flight attendants singled him out because he is dark skinned, thinking he was Arab. Nieves' father is Puerto Rican and his mother is Costa Rican, he said. "

heartening to FINALLY have some explicit attempts at racial/ethnic physical profiling.

[verity]

You are entering the Twilight Zone where men shaving and dogs 'alerting'.................

[mountaineer]

the FBI questioned him about whether he knew the other suspects and whether he's a Muslim.

Norm Mineta must be having fits. "The old white women! You're supposed to stop and search the old white women!"

[LisaFab]

Hey Hoos, how've you been. You are right. This is a very encouraging sign.

[piasa]

They were asked to return to their seats and they refused. One guy kept pacing up and down the aisle in spite of the steward/stewardesses request for him to be seated, etc.

[piasa]

U.S. Attorney Tom Gean said he will charge the three with interfering with a flight crew.

[John H K]

Ok, let's review the "facts" so far:

1) Seems the idea that more than 1 was in the bathroom at any one time, that they'd "locked" themselves in there, that they had to be "negotiated" out is wholly and completely bogus.

2) Only 1 of the men is ACTUALLY "Middle Eastern" or "Arab." And religion is highly unclear. If they are their real names it's highly unlikely either of the two Indians are Muslims.

3) THERE IS NO EVIDENCE ANYONE SHAVED THEIR BODY HAIR. Actually, the number of "shavers" seems down to ONE in a more recent AP story; one was seen with shaving cream on his face and his shirt off when the bathroom door was open.

"But 45-year-old passenger Jim Humphrey of Winchester, Kentucky, said the four passengers who alarmed the flight crew didn't act in a threatening way. He said they just engaged in irregular activity. The six-foot, 260-pound Humphrey said he was asked by a flight attendant to help with the men.

Humphrey said suspicions were raised when the men boarded moments before the gate closed. He said they carried identical small bags similar to shaving kits.

He said that, after one of the men went to the lavatory, a noise could be heard inside the bathroom that couldn't be identified. He said that, when a flight attendant knocked on the door and asked the man inside what he was doing, the door opened to reveal the man with his shirt off and shaving cream on his face.

Humphrey said that, later, this man got into conversation in a foreign language with another of the four men regarded as suspicious. Humphrey said the big concern was the unknown. He credited the pilots and flight crew with making the best call that they could in deciding to land at Fort Smith."

4) NO weapons seem to have been found on ANYONE.

5) So far it seems that one is guilty of removing his shirt (I personally never shave with a shirt on since shaving cream will fall on the shirt) to shave, and talking in a foreign language. Sounds like execution-material to me.

[truenospinzone]

Also, a dog alerted on a laptop.

Just rub the dog's face in it...

[Steve_Seattle]

Well, from this lousy story it's difficult to tell exactly what the men did that caused the concern. But IF it's true that three Arab-looking men were in the restroom at once, shaving and making unusual noises, I don't blame the flight crew for being concerned. It's easy to be calm in the comfort of one's living room, but not at 30,000 feet.