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Eyewitness: "I Never Heard the Word 'Bomb'"
TIME.com ^ | Dec. 8, 2005 | Siobhan Morrissey

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."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1lessloon; airlinesecurity; alpizar; bfd; dumcalhany; flight924; johnmcalhany; liar; mcalhany
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To: Cboldt
The guy had arrived in Miami on a different plane, from Ecuador (IIRC).

Right. The Air Marshalls should have gotten out the flight manifest and read it in the .5 seconds that they had to make a decision.

181 posted on 12/08/2005 1:07:11 PM PST by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: dennis1x
shoot first, ask questions later. god bless america.

Amen!

182 posted on 12/08/2005 1:07:12 PM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Rennes Templar

Anything to make the Feds look bad...


183 posted on 12/08/2005 1:07:23 PM PST by mhking (The world needs a wake up call gentlemen...we're gonna phone it in.)
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To: Rakkasan1

maybe he wrote a note saying "I have a gub."


184 posted on 12/08/2005 1:07:31 PM PST by steve8714
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To: wyattearp

You're probably right; from the way he's "adjusting" his story, before the night is over, he'll probably show himself to be the liar I think he is.


185 posted on 12/08/2005 1:07:53 PM PST by Howlin
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To: Palladin

Good point....
susie


186 posted on 12/08/2005 1:08:02 PM PST by brytlea (I'm not a conspiracy theorist....really.)
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To: Rodney King

Especially if the doors are still open!
susie


187 posted on 12/08/2005 1:08:29 PM PST by brytlea (I'm not a conspiracy theorist....really.)
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To: hedgie

Yu said "The marshal messed up, plain and simple, his job is to shoot terrorists, Rigoberto Alpizar was not a terrorist."

Tha air marshals didn't mess up, the passenger did.

The air marshals were faced with a LOUSY tactical situation and only a few seconds to make a decision. They had a hundred or so lives to deal with in the decision process.

They made the EXACT decision I would want them to make. They had no way of knowing that he was not a terrorist. With lives in the balance and only a split second to make the decision, they chose the route designed to protect the largest number of people.


188 posted on 12/08/2005 1:08:40 PM PST by Bryan24 (When in doubt, move to the right....)
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To: Revolting cat!

Who was that man? I'd like to shake his hand.


189 posted on 12/08/2005 1:08:45 PM PST by wideawake
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To: Rodney King
Right... because a bomb on a plane doesn't do anything if the plane is on the ground when it detonates.

Then why even worry about him running toward the cockpit? Why would a guy with a bomb run toward the cockpit on a plane still on the ground with a bomb if he just wanted to blow it up anyway?

Think man...

190 posted on 12/08/2005 1:09:20 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: Rennes Templar

Keystone Cop Ping!


191 posted on 12/08/2005 1:09:55 PM PST by opinionator
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To: TexasCajun
“44 year old construction worker from Sebastian, FL”

44 year old grifter on disability who thinks he might make a few bucks out'a this.

192 posted on 12/08/2005 1:10:00 PM PST by johnny7 (“You have a corpse in a car, minus a head, in the garage. Take me to it.”)
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To: N. Theknow

Just reading through this thread and saw your tagline---funniest thing I've ever seen.

I hope you didn't copyright it---I really want to use it. LOL


193 posted on 12/08/2005 1:10:05 PM PST by Mears (The Killer Queen)
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To: TexasCajun
Crowds and confined places like planes really set her off.

Don't repeat this aboard a plane...

194 posted on 12/08/2005 1:10:32 PM PST by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: Howlin
It would be interesting to find out if it is standard operating procedure for 2 Air Marshalls to be onboard when a plane is being protected.

One for 1st Class and one for coach?

Seems a lot more planes could be covered if one armed marshall was on board instead of two?

195 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:03 PM PST by TexasCajun
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To: CounterCounterCulture
From Airplane II (the one with Sonny Bono with a bomb)

Bomb? Don't you mean a ba-?

And where's Scraps when you need him?

196 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:04 PM PST by LRS
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To: JeffAtlanta
Then why even worry about him running toward the cockpit? Why would a guy with a bomb run toward the cockpit on a plane still on the ground with a bomb if he just wanted to blow it up anyway? Think man...

Don't know. But I do know that if you are running up the aisle and raving like a lunatic that you shouldn't be surprised if you get shot.

197 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:07 PM PST by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: Rodney King
Right. The Air Marshalls should have gotten out the flight manifest and read it in the .5 seconds that they had to make a decision.

You're usually pretty reasonable. The point was that the origination of the plane is irrelevant.

198 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:40 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: cripplecreek

Sounds like someone who wants to insert himself in the story. Notice how he sets up his potential heroism by describing how he was ready to break someone's neck if necessary


199 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:40 PM PST by wally-balls
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To: Howlin

I'm not jumping on any bandwagons. I just think it's premature to assume we know all the facts, and there is no reason we have to believe that the guy actually announced that he had a bomb for the shooting to be justified.


200 posted on 12/08/2005 1:11:56 PM PST by B Knotts
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