"I like to pray before meals even in a restaurant or on a plane. But I do not call attention to myself. "
My point - which wasn't obvious - is that evening prayers were at 6:05 PM for Muslims in Minneapolis. Boarding for the plane would have been 20-30 minutes prior to scheduled takeoff, apparently 4:45 or so. They broke the rules no matter how you look at it.
You can infer from these times that these grandstanding imams had plenty of time to do their ritual on the ground, in the airport, and not to make a spectacle of themselves on the plane. But since they were still on the ground, it appears they were "praying" much earlier than called for under their religion.
None of these times really match up. One can only conclude that this was an act which was intended to cause disruption on the flight.
I'm still wondering how they aligned themselves with Mecca; where they placed their prayer rugs; and how they found the space to get down on their knees and supplicate to Allah. Were they in the restroom area? In the galleys?
None of this makese sense.