Homeland Security Agents Force Plane to Land in San Antonio

WOAI ^ | 1/24/2005 | ElephantinTexas

[ElephantinTexas]

This is my first post so I hope I got it right.

This is breaking here in San Anonio. A single engine plane has been forced down at Stenson Field south of San Antonio. Homeland Security, DPS and SAPD are on the scene. They are waiting for a Chinese tranlator but they have Chinese illegals in custody and said that the pilot was someone Homeland Security has been looking for.

I'll post more as it comes available.

[conservative in nyc]

Thanks for the link. I refuse to give personal info to the government to perform a search, so I'm not checking it.

You don't need a pilot's certificate to own a plane (or a flight school). But one theory is that Afzal Hameed was flying the plane. He'd be less likely to do so if he wasn't licensed.

The story is filling in. but we still don't know all the facts. The print reports haven't identified the pilot. Could be Hameed. Could be Taylor. Could be one of their students out for a joy ride.

By the way, if my information that Afzal Hameed and Taylor have been married for 24+ years is correct, he could be an American citizen through marriage.

[mimmson]

Michelle Malkin adds this: Guess who trained at Alpha Tango Flying Services--which, by the way, caters to Saudi Arabian flight students(!!!!):

Among their clients were three Arab flight students investigated by the FBI, including Al Qaeda operative Abdul Hakim Murad , who was arrested in Manila in 1995 and later convicted in New York of plotting to blow up a dozen U.S. airliners over the Pacific, then crash a suicide plane into CIA headquarters.

The FBI has been keeping tabs on Alpha Tango since Sept. 11. So, now, a plane co-owned by Alpha Tango's president, who is incommunicado, has been forced down with a planeful of Chinese illegal aliens in the wake of a terror alert involving Chinese illegal aliens.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[evets]

There is an Alyce Taylor who is a member of the San Antonio 99's Women's pilot organization. They have some phots of there travels to China here: http://sanantonio99s.org

[robomurph]

How far is SA from the Mexican border? I wonder if this guy has been making regular flights at night after the tower closes?

The flight school is at San Antonio International. Does anyone know if the tower there closes at night?

[Jeff F]

The Chinese language web page ("http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/1/6/14/n98873.htm") is strangely enough one about aviation. However this seems to be purely a coincidence as the N98873 tail number simply matches an instance of the sites page naming scheme. There are n98874.htm and n98875.htm pages on the site as well.

[jimbo123]

Operation Jihad Falcon has be stopped. Now we know where they were going to get their airplanes to fly over the target cities.

[God bless Texas]

I SURRENDER!!!!!

[planekT]

Welcome to Free Republic my fellow San Antonian!

[God bless Texas]

Posse Comitatus?

[conservative in nyc]

Courtesy of billorites on the other thread. Hameed Afzal is a certified pilot. His names seem to often be used backwards:

---

Ton of U.S issued ratings.

Private Pilot license issued in Pakistan in 1980.

BTW, one of my best instructors was a Turk named Ghenghis.

FAA Registry
Name Inquiry Results
HAMEED AFZAL

Address
Street 6822 LAGUNA VERDE
City SAN ANTONIO State TEXAS
County BEXAR Zip Code 78239-3628
Country UNITED STATES


Medical

Medical Class : Second Medical Date: 08/2004

* MUST WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES.



Certificates
1 of 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

DOI : 07/15/1988
Certificate: AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT
Rating(s):

AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
COMMERCIAL PRIVILEGES
AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND

32 posted on 01/25/2005 11:15:10 AM EST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1328038/posts?page=32#32

[JustAnotherSavage]

I'm wondering if anyone has heard about this, last night on the "ticker" on CNN:

"15 illeal immigrants from S.KOREA and man accused of trying to smuggle them across the US were arrested in New Mexico on NY bound Amtrak train"

[conservative in nyc]

San Antonio is 150 or so miles from the border by road.

San Antonio International's tower is continuously manned. Stinson's is open 0700-2200.

[ASA Vet]

A hellfire would have worked quite nicely

A SAM or AAM might be a better choice than the hellfire AGM.

[ElephantinTexas]

I just want to give a Big Thank You to everyone for the welcome (esp. the Texas FReepers!) and to conservative in nyc for your help.

I am really, REALLY enjoying my very first post to Free Republic!

[JustAnotherSavage]

Per CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/25/plane.held.ap/index.html
Plane forced down; suspected illegal immigrants held


Tuesday, January 25, 2005 Posted: 8:18 AM EST (1318 GMT)
A small plane rests at the Texas airport where it was forced to land Monday night.

San Antonio (Texas)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)


SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- A group of suspected illegal immigrants was being questioned early Tuesday after federal officials forced their single-engine plane to land here.

The Cessna carried at least four suspected illegal immigrants who were detained along with the craft's pilot by homeland security officials in connection with a possible smuggling operation, according to newspaper and broadcast reports.

A police dispatcher said federal authorities forced the craft to land just before 10 p.m. Monday at Stinson Municipal Airport, a few miles south of downtown San Antonio.

"They brought a plane down. They are holding it," a San Antonio Police Department dispatcher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press. "They asked us to assist them. The FBI is handling it now."

Representatives of the Homeland Security Department, FBI and Federal Aviation Administration did not return telephone calls early Tuesday from the AP.

Online records of the Federal Aviation Administration show the 20-year-old plane is co-owned by Afzal Hameed of Dover, Delaware. The other co-owner is listed as Alyce S. Taylor, but no address is given for her.

The FAA records state that the plane's last three-year registration was filed in 1999, and that the agency received no response in 2002 after mailing new registration forms to Hameed.

Capt. Jeff Humphrey, San Antonio police special operations commander, told the San Antonio Express-News in Tuesday's editions that the five suspects were under investigation in connection with a smuggling operation involving Chinese nationals.

The newspaper said the five had been flying south of San Antonio when they were intercepted and ordered to land. Federal agents and San Antonio police surrounded the plane after it landed.

Federal authorities said the plane was flying in American airspace illegally and that those aboard the craft appeared to be Chinese, according to San Antonio television and radio station WOAI.

The Express-News said federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials asked for backup from San Antonio police, who provided a Chinese linguist to translate for the two male and two female passengers.

AND:
Man questioned about Boston terror plot tip


Tuesday, January 25, 2005 Posted: 7:43 AM EST (1243 GMT)

• FBI adds 10 names to probe

• FBI: Woman named in Boston probe in custody

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Mexico


SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A man suspected of telling authorities about a possible terror threat in Boston has been detained in a Mexican border town and was being questioned about last week's tip and his motivation for calling it in, FBI officials said.

Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinones was taken into custody Monday in Mexicali by Mexican state judicial police, Dan Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego division, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. --snip
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/25/terror.probe.ap/index.html

[naturalized]

How about this Washington Post article from September 2001:

FBI Knew Terrorists Were Using Flight Schools

Same guy, same school.

[KC_for_Freedom]

The flight school is at San Antonio International. Does anyone know if the tower there closes at night?

A major airport like San Antonio would not close, but there are numerous smaller airports in the south Texas region.

In the 1980's my firm was flight testing a UAV for possible sale to the US Army, we flew "captive carry" flights out of Alice Texas and our flights were basic survellence missions that an Unmanned Air Vehicle would fly. We flew at night with IR and in day with normal TV. One day when we tossed a roll of test data out the window to our flight base near the Mexican border, we were met with several members of the DEA who had been watching our flights with interest. They demanded to see the roll of test paper then they intercepted and inspected the plane when it landed in Alice. You can guess what they thought our operation was intended to do. The point is that lots of eyes watch these airports and landing strips, but in the desert, a landing strip can be made quickly and simply and would not be well known until people were detected using it.

[nw_arizona_granny]

I did find this for the pilot. Is this a different plane?

I checked your link and at the bottom it says your link is in with something 2000 Ga, they seem to be a publishing group that supports flying, it led me right back to your link.........

This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_for_sale_detail/Cessna_210/1979_Cessna_T210/2004.htm as retrieved on Jan 14, 2005
10:39:42 GMT.
G o o g l e's cache is the snapshot that we took of the page as we crawled the web.
The page may have changed since that time. Click here for the current page without highlighting.
This cached page may reference images which are no longer available. Click here for the cached text only.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:y40o_rw_S4AJ:www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft_for_sale_detail/Cessna_210/1979_Cessna_T210/2004.htm+Afzal+Hameed&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet

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afzal
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January 14, 2005



1979 Cessna T210





Manufacturer
Short
Description
1979 Cessna
T210
Price
$165,000.00
TTAF
1400
State
Texas
Country
UNITED
STATES
Registration
Number
Serial Number

Aircraft Details


1979 Cessna T210

Price: $165,000 . . . Total Time: 1400 Hours

50 SMOH, 400 ARC Radio, Trimble GPS, 400 ARC A/Pilot.



Contact: Hameed Afzal

Tel: 210-872-7199










Hameed Afzal
, TX.
Phone: 210-872-7199
satalphata@aol.com

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for helping with the China page.

Shame it wasn't more important, I have found my best finds, by accident......LOL, more than once.

[ElephantinTexas]

Great find. Here's the story and a pic of the plane at pMSNBC. I think they got their info here at FR. Hell I had this story at 10:30 last night. It just took to midnite for me to figure out that that I didn't have the 'topics' field filled out right for it to posts! lol...

Here's the link...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6864733/