Naw, I'm sure he said, "Who put the bomp In the bomp bah bomp bah bomp? Who put the ram In the rama lama ding dong?"
Posted on 12/08/2005 12:21:37 PM PST by Rennes Templar
A passenger on Flight 924 gives his account of the shooting and says Rigoberto Alpizar never claimed to have a bomb
By SIOBHAN MORRISSEY/MIAMI
At least one passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 924 maintains the federal air marshals were a little too quick on the draw when they shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar as he frantically attempted to run off the airplane shortly before take-off.
"I don't think they needed to use deadly force with the guy," says John McAlhany, a 44-year-old construction worker from Sebastian, Fla. "He was getting off the plane." McAlhany also maintains that Alpizar never mentioned having a bomb.
"I never heard the word 'bomb' on the plane," McAlhany told TIME in a telephone interview. "I never heard the word bomb until the FBI asked me did you hear the word bomb. That is ridiculous." Even the authorities didn't come out and say bomb, McAlhany says. "They asked, 'Did you hear anything about the b-word?'" he says. "That's what they called it."
When the incident began McAlhany was in seat 24C, in the middle of the plane. "[Alpizar] was in the back," McAlhany says, "a few seats from the back bathroom. He sat down." Then, McAlhany says, "I heard an argument with his wife. He was saying 'I have to get off the plane.' She said, 'Calm down.'"
Alpizar took off running down the aisle, with his wife close behind him. "She was running behind him saying, 'He's sick. He's sick. He's ill. He's got a disorder," McAlhany recalls. "I don't know if she said bipolar disorder [as one witness has alleged]. She was trying to explain to the marshals that he was ill. He just wanted to get off the plane."
McAlhany described Alpizar as carrying a big backpack and wearing a fanny pack in front. He says it would have been impossible for Alpizar to lie flat on the floor of the plane, as marshals ordered him to do, with the fanny pack on. "You can't get on the ground with a fanny pack," he says. "You have to move it to the side."
By the time Alpizar made it to the front of the airplane, the crew had ordered the rest of the passengers to get down between the seats. "I didn't see him get shot," he says. "They kept telling me to get down. I heard about five shots."
McAlhany says he tried to see what was happening just in case he needed to take evasive action. "I wanted to make sure if anything was coming toward me and they were killing passengers I would have a chance to break somebody's neck," he says. "I was looking through the seats because I wanted to see what was coming.
"I was on the phone with my brother. Somebody came down the aisle and put a shotgun to the back of my head and said put your hands on the seat in front of you. I got my cell phone karate chopped out of my hand. Then I realized it was an official."
In the ensuing events, many of the passengers began crying in fear, he recalls. "They were pointing the guns directly at us instead of pointing them to the ground," he says "One little girl was crying. There was a lady crying all the way to the hotel."
McAlhany said he saw Alpizar before the flight and is absolutely stunned by what unfolded on the airplane. He says he saw Alpizar eating a sandwich in the boarding area before getting on the plane. He looked normal at that time, McAlhany says. He thinks the whole thing was a mistake: "I don't believe he should be dead right now."
Wrong!
Alpizar messed up.
the marshal did a great job.
"Actually the guy was running to get off the plane."
I would think it just *might* be a little difficult in a matter of seconds to tell the difference between a lunatic with a bomb in a bag screaming as he runs towards the front of the plane (cockpit?) and a terrorist with a bag who is screaming and running towards the front of the plane (cockpit?)
Add in #4: Plane had landed from Colombia...
Yep. Thanks for pointing that out. No brainer, I'm glad he tagged the guy.
Just to be a little more clear...the plane was still on the ground and he was shot after he was off of the plane.
I'm not saying that it's a bad shoot - in fact, I've been saying since this first happened that it sounded like a good shoot even though it was unfortunate.
If the guy really didn't claim that he had a bomb, then that does change things a bit.
Oh great, then you get a panic attack AND throw up!! :)
susie
Various witnesses report that he was running down the aisle of the plane waving his arms in the air. He was ordered to stop and he refused. The Air Marshals did exactly what they were supposed to do. You might want to give him and any other person charging down the aisle of a plane waving their arms the benefit of the doubt but I don't
must be the Air Marshall's concealed-carry shotgun (?)
Typical of the press: get somebody who wasn't in a position to be an actual witness to the events, instead of asking somebody who was actually near the guy. Then use the statement of the non-witness to contradict what was said by the people who actually did witness the events... as long as the statements of the non-witness furthers the liberal agenda.
Wow, so now terrorists just have to get training in acting like someone with a mental illness before they explode....
susie
The plane was on the ground and the doors hadn't even been closed yet.
Hey....you'll have the whole row of seats to yourself.
Right... because a bomb on a plane doesn't do anything if the plane is on the ground when it detonates.
I didn't understand them either until I had one while caring for my mother in her final illness. I'm certainly glad I'd heard people describing them though, otherwise I'm certain I'd have been at the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack.
That is probably irrelevant in this fact pattern.
The guy had arrived in Miami on a different plane, from Ecuador (IIRC). He went through immigrations and customs, then through TSA security in Miami. He boarded a plane that was destined for Orlando. The plane destined for Orlando originated in Colombia.
That marshal should be rewarded.
>>>The marshal messed up, plain and simple, his job is to shoot terrorists, Rigoberto Alpizar was not a terrorist. It was an understandable error, given the circumstances, but an error none the less.
I heard two; and according to Fox, this guy was at the back of the plane, ran towards First Class, the two air marshalls followed him up the aisle, yelling at him to stop, he did not, so they confronted him in First Class; he broke away and ran into the jetway.
Let's Roll --
"Like a pair of real terrorists couldn't run the same scenario?"
Exactly what I was thinking. If the Marshals had done NOTHING, it would have given the splodydopes a blueprint to use for the next time. And as for Famewhores on Fox (the Airline version), STHU. If a marshal told me to "get down" I'd try to make myself flatter than the carpetting. Too bad the rest of us don't have your incredible sixth sense about what's a real threat and what isn't.
Perhaps you should read further before you jump on THAT bandwagon.
Naw, I'm sure he said, "Who put the bomp In the bomp bah bomp bah bomp? Who put the ram In the rama lama ding dong?"
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